Ski Binding Toe Unit

Abstract

A pin binding toe unit for holding a footwear toe to a snow travel aid has a pair of pivotal jaws with respective teeth for engaging concavities in sides of the footwear toe, and a biasing element operable to bias the jaws into open and closed positions. In contrast to conventional incorporation of multiple biasing elements into the jaws, the biasing element is instead uniquely housed in the mode lever by which the jaws are openable and closeable, and in this housed relation to the mode lever, the biasing element is constrained to a uniform horizontal orientation through the full range of jaw motion. The assembly is simplified, torque leverage on the jaws is advantageously varied within the range of the jaw motion for improved energy absorption, and the trigger of the mode lever is uniquely widened for easier user step-in. Threaded pivots enable disassembly of components for service and end-of-life recycling, with the two threaded jaw pivots being characterized by opposing thread directionality or opposing insertion orientation for self-prevented loosening of the threaded jaw pivots over repeated open-close cycles.

1 . An apparatus for holding a footwear toe to a snow travel aid having a longitudinal axis denoting a travel direction of said snow travel aid, the apparatus comprising:
 a pair of jaws pivotable between open and closed positions about respective pivot axes that are oriented to lie longitudinally to the snow travel aid;   a pair of teeth respectively carried on said jaws for engagement with respective concavities in opposite side portions of the footwear toe when the jaws are closed to grasp the footwear toe while permitting pivotal footwear movement in upwardly forward and downwardly rearward directions, said teeth being disengageable from said concavities via opening of the jaws; and   at least one biasing element installed in operable relationship to the jaws to impart biasing thereof into at least one of the open and closed positions;   wherein said at least one biasing element is constrained to a uniformly consistent orientation that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and independent of jaw position and orientation, throughout movement of the jaws between the open and closed positions.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a mode lever operably linked to the jaws to effect movement thereof between the open and closed positions, wherein said at least one biasing element is carried by said mode lever for movement therewith during said movement of the jaws. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein said at least one biasing element is housed, and constrained in said uniformly consistent orientation, by said mode lever. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a mode lever operably linked to the jaws to effect movement thereof between the open and closed positions, wherein a width of said mode lever at a location overlying the at least one biasing element measures at least 40% of a distance between the pivot axes of the jaws. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein said width of the mode levers measures at least 50% of said distance between the pivot axes of the jaws. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a mode lever operably linked to the jaws to effect movement thereof between the open and closed positions, wherein a width of said mode lever exceeds 40 mm at a widest region of said mode lever. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein uniformly consistent orientation is parallel to a lateral reference axis intersecting the pivot axes of the jaws. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein opposing ends of said biasing element abut a pair of respective plungers, each of which abuts a respective one of the jaws at a rounded inner end thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said pair of jaws are pivotally supported by a respective pair of threaded jaw pivots that are characterized from one another by one of either:
 opposing thread directionality; or   matching thread directionality and opposing longitudinal orientation.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one biasing element consists of a singular biasing element. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one biasing element is a compression spring. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus for holding a footwear toe to a snow travel aid having a longitudinal axis denoting a travel direction of said snow travel aid, the apparatus comprising:
 a pair of jaws pivotable between open and closed positions about respective pivot axes that are oriented to lie longitudinally the snow travel aid; and   a pair of teeth respectively carried on said jaws for engagement with respective concavities in opposite side portions of the footwear toe when the jaws are closed to grasp the footwear toe while permitting pivotal footwear movement in upwardly forward and downwardly rearward directions, said teeth being disengageable from said concavities via opening of the jaws;   wherein said pair of jaws are pivotally supported by a respective pair of threaded jaw pivots which are protected against inadvertent loosening and backing out thereof by at least one of the following:   (a) a pair of backout preventers each engaging with, or blocking axial displacement of, a respective one of the jaw pivots; and/or   (b) characterization of the threaded jaw pivots by one of either:
 (i) opposing thread directionality; or 
 (ii) matching thread directionality and opposing longitudinal orientation. 
   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein said threaded jaw pivots are characterized by said opposing thread directionality. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein said threaded jaw pivots are characterized by said matching thread directionality and opposing longitudinal orientation. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 12  comprising said pair of backout preventers. 
     
     
         16 . An apparatus for holding a footwear toe to a snow travel aid having a longitudinal axis denoting a travel direction of said snow travel aid, the apparatus comprising:
 a pair of jaws pivotable between open and closed positions about respective pivot axes that are oriented to lie longitudinally the snow travel aid;   a pair of teeth respectively carried on said jaws for engagement with respective concavities in opposite side portions of the footwear toe when the jaws are closed to grasp the footwear toe while permitting pivotal footwear movement in upwardly forward and downwardly rearward directions, said teeth being disengageable from said concavities via opening of the jaws;   one or more biasing elements installed in operable relationship to the jaws to impart biasing thereof into at least one of the open and closed positions; and   a mode lever operably linked to the jaws to effect movement thereof between the open and closed positions;   wherein the mode lever is characterized by at least one of the following features:   (a) a width of said mode lever, at a location overlying the one or more biasing elements measures at least 40% of a distance between the pivot axes of the jaws; and   (b) said width of said mode lever, at a widest region thereof, exceeds 40 mm.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the mode lever is characterized by at least feature (a). 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the mode lever is characterized by at least feature (b). 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the mode lever is characterized by features (a) and (b). 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein said width of the mode lever, at said location overlying the one or more biasing elements, exceeds 50% of said distance between the pivot axes of the jaws.