Touring heel binding having a dynamic sliding region

Abstract

A heel piece for a ski binding, particularly a touring ski binding, comprises a base element for installing the heel piece on the ski upper face and a slide mounted on the base element, on which slide is arranged a heel holder having at least one retaining means for retaining the heel of a ski boot. Said heel piece has a downhill position, in which the retaining means locks the ski boot in a lowered position. Said heel piece also has at least one uphill position, in which the heel region of the ski boot retained in the ski binding is released. In the downhill position, the slide can be moved together with the heel holder relative to the base element in the longitudinal direction of the ski.

1 . An automatic heel unit for a ski binding, in particular a ski-touring binding, with a base element for mounting the automatic heel unit on the upper side of a ski and a carriage which is mounted on the base element and on which there is arranged a heel holder with two holding means for holding a ski boot in a heel region of the ski boot, wherein the two holding means are pins, which are aligned substantially in the longitudinal direction of the ski and as a result can engage in at least one corresponding opening in the heel region of the ski boot
 a) wherein the automatic heel unit has a downhill position, in which the at least one holding means can interact with the heel region of the ski boot held in the ski binding in such a way that the ski boot is arrested in a lowered position,   b) and the automatic heel unit has at least one climbing position, in which the heel region of the ski boot held in the ski binding is released,   
       characterized in that, in the downhill position, the carriage with the heel holder is movable with respect to the base element in the longitudinal direction of the ski along a dynamic region and is acted upon by an elastic element with a forwardly directed force and is pressed in the direction of a front end of the dynamic region. 
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized by at least one holding element, which is mounted on the heel holder rotatably about an axis aligned substantially in the longitudinal direction of the ski, the at least one holding means being arranged on the at least one holding element at a distance from a straight line defined by the axis aligned substantially in the longitudinal direction of the ski, and as a result is pivotable substantially in the transverse direction of the ski about the axis aligned substantially in the longitudinal direction of the ski. 
     
     
         4 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 3 , characterized in that the automatic heel unit comprises at least two holding elements, on each of which at least one holding means is arranged. 
     
     
         5 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 4 , characterized in that the holding elements have an elongated, lever-like form and are mounted on the heel holder such that they are aligned substantially vertically. 
     
     
         6 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 5 , characterized in that
 a) the holding means are respectively arranged in a first region at a first end of the holding elements, in that   b) the axes of the holding elements that are aligned substantially in the longitudinal direction of the ski are respectively arranged in a middle region of the holding elements, and in that   c) the holding elements respectively have a second region at a second end of the holding elements, the second region being respectively arranged on a side of the middle region that is opposite from the first region.   
     
     
         7 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 4 , characterized in that the automatic heel unit comprises precisely two holding elements, on each of which a holding means is arranged. 
     
     
         8 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 7 , characterized by a ram, which can interact with the second regions of the holding elements and which can be subjected to a force applied by an elastic element, so that a torque acting on the holding elements can be produced. 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that the heel holder is rotatable about an axis substantially perpendicular to the ski and,
 a) in the downhill position, the heel holder is turned about the axis substantially perpendicular to the ski into an alignment parallel to the ski, whereby the at least one holding means can interact with the heel region of the ski boot held in the ski binding in such a way that the ski boot is arrested in a lowered position and   b) in the at least one climbing position, the heel holder is turned away from an alignment parallel to the ski about the axis substantially perpendicular to the ski, so that the heel region of the ski boot held in the ski binding is released.   
     
     
         11 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that
 a) in the downhill position, the carriage has been displaced together with the heel holder in the forward direction with respect to the base element, whereby the at least one holding means can interact with the heel region of the ski boot held in the ski binding in such a way that the ski boot is arrested in a lowered position and   b) in the at least one climbing position, the carriage has been displaced together with the heel holder with respect to the base element into a rearward position in such a way that the heel region of the ski boot held in the ski binding is released.   
     
     
         12 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 11 , characterized by an intermediate piece which is displaceable with respect to the base element in the longitudinal direction of the ski, is acted upon by an elastic element with a forwardly directed force with respect to the base element and on which the carriage is displaceably mounted, wherein the carriage
 a) is displaced into a rearward position with respect to the intermediate piece in the at least one climbing position and   b) is displaced into a forward position with respect to the intermediate piece in the downhill position and is movable together with the intermediate piece with respect to the base element in the longitudinal direction of the ski along the dynamic region.   
     
     
         13 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 11 , characterized by an adjusting lever, which has a downhill position and at least one climbing position, wherein, by positioning the adjusting lever in the downhill position, the automatic heel unit can be brought into the downhill position and, by positioning the adjusting lever in one of the at least one climbing positions, it can be brought into the corresponding one of the at least one climbing positions. 
     
     
         14 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 13 , characterized in that the adjusting lever is mounted on the base element pivotably about an axis of rotation oriented horizontally in the transverse direction of the ski. 
     
     
         15 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 11 , characterized in that the adjusting lever has a support for the heel region of the ski boot that has been pivoted into the path of movement of the heel region when the adjusting lever is positioned in a corresponding one of the at least one climbing positions and, as a result, limits lowering of the heel region of the ski boot toward the ski. 
     
     
         16 . The automatic heel unit as claimed in  claim 11 , characterized by a ski brake with a braking member, which comprises a rest position and a braking position, the braking member being assigned an actuating member, which can be actuated in such a way that the braking member goes over from the braking position into the rest position when the heel region of the ski boot is lowered toward the ski when stepping into the binding, wherein, in the climbing position, the braking member of the ski brake can be kept in the rest position by a holding mechanism, by a first element of the holding mechanism that is arranged on the base element and a second element of the holding mechanism that is arranged on the ski brake interacting, wherein the ski brake is arranged on the carriage, whereby
 a) in the downhill position, the ski brake together with the carriage is pushed in the forward direction and the first element and the second element are at a distance from one another and   b) in the at least one climbing position, the ski brake together with the carriage is pushed into the rearward position, whereby the first element and the second element can interact.