Edging adjustment for ski boots

Feb. 14, 1967 f. _D. werner etal 3,303,584

EDGING ADJUSTMENT FOR SKI BOOTS

Filed Deo. 24, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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Feb. 14, 1967

3,303,584

F. D. WERNER ETAL

EDGING ADJUSTMENT FOR SKI BOOTS

Filed Dec. 24, 1964

Sheets-Sheet 2

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INVENTORS

MAAZVW a.

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3,303,584

Patented Feb. 14, 1967

United States Patent Office

3,303,584

EDGING ADJUSTMENT FOR SKI BOOTS Frank D. Werner, Minneapolis, and Marvin A. Luger,

St. Paul, Minn., assignors to Rosemount Engineering Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota

Filed Dec. 24,1964, Ser. No. 420,936

Claims. (Cl. 36—2.5)

This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application, Serial No. 318,370 filed October 23, 1963, for Ski Boot and Conformable Pad for Same, now abandoned.

The present invention has relation to what is termed an edging adjustment for ski boots and more particularly to an adjustment for changing the angle of the plane of pivotal movement of the ankle piece or cuff of a ski boot with respect to the sole of the boot in order to adjust the ankle piece so that proper control of the boot and ski can be had by people with foot and leg irregularities.

In recent years the art of skiing has been becoming more and more advanced and scientific. In order to obtain perfect control, the skier needs to have a very rigid boot which will transfer motions of the leg to the skis in order to get the proper edging of the skis to obtain perfect control. The modern boots are therefore made of rigid or semi-rigid uppers. The ankle cuff portion of a ski boot may or may not be hinged about a transverse pivot to permit the foot to pivot about the ankle joint and this is done in a number of different boots. However, no boots have provisions for movement of the foot about a longitudinal axis with respect to the leg above the ankle joint. The boots are all rigid and no lateral movement of the ankle or foot is possible.

The rigid boots give excellent control of course, but the boots are made to fit the average man with normal feet and leg configuration. Some people do not have the proper foot and leg bone configuration and when a pair of modem rigid ski boots is put on, the effect is very noticeable. With the legs in normal position the feet should be flat on the floor. However, some people have bowed legs or knock knees and while the joints of the feet compensate for this when ordinary shoes are worn, when ski boots are put on the edges of the boot will be lifted up slightly at one edge or the other with the legs in normal position.

For example, if a person who is bowlegged puts on a pair of rigid ski boots or even heavy leather boots made for normal legs and holds his legs in their normal position, the inner edges of the rigid boot will be lifted up slightly and the boot sole (and the skis attached) will not stay flat on the ground or snow. This causes considerable difficulty when the bowlegged skier tries to edge the inside edges of the skis when executing a turn. A normal amount of inward movement of the knees in attempting to edge the inner edges of the skis will merely cause the skis to· remain flat. It can be seen that the uphill edge of the lower ski in the turn will not get a good grip on the snow if the ski is flat. Therefore the control is reduced and it is also possible that the ski edges will catch and cause severe falls.

In order to provide for easy adjustment of the ski boots to compensate for foot irregularities, the present invention has been advanced. Many rigid boots, whether they are made of thick heavy leather or a light weight rigid shell, such as a fiberglass reinforced plastic, use transverse pivots for attaching the ankle portion of the boot to the lower portion. The ankle portion is pivoted about an axis substantially'aligning with the pivotal axis of the ankle bone and fore and aft pivoting of the leg with respect to the foot is permitted.

In the form of the invention as shown, suitable support straps are pivotally mounted to the lower portions of the boot and hold an ankle cuff piece. The ankle piece is independently vertically adjustably mounted onto the straps. One side of the ankle piece can be moved to a different height on its strap than the other side. This will cause the ankle piece or cuff of the boot to cock or, in other words, the upright axis of the ankle piece will be inclined from a vertical line perpendicular to the sole of the boot. Stated another way, the plane of movement of the ankle cuff as it pivots about the transverse axis can be changed or adjusted.

The axis of the ankle piece which fits onto the portion of the wearer’s leg above the pivotal axis of the ankle will move in a plane which is not perpendicular to the plane of the boot sole. Therefore, the plane of movement of the ankle piece and the normal plane of movement of the bowed leg with respect to the sole of the foot when the boot is resting flat on the floor, can be made to coincide with each other. Then the wearer will be able to keep his skis flat on the snow with his legs in their normal position. The skis will properly edge when the skier moves his leg.

The ankle pieces, as shown, are adjustable so that the angle of the plane of movement of the axis of the ankle piece can be on either side of a plane perpendicular to the sole of the boot and bisecting the boot.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to present an easily adjustable ankle portion for a ski boot which permits the angle of the upright axis of the ankle portion to be changed with respect to a horizontal plane.

It is a further object of the present invention to present an adjustment device for an ankle portion of the ski boot which is easily made and simply adjusted.

It is a still further object of the present invention to present an adjustment for the ankle portions of ski boots which can be adjusted so that the angle of the plane of movement of the ankle portion of the boot can be inclined to either side of a vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the boot.

Other and further objects will be apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front view of a person wearing ski boots and illustrating an exaggerated case of the effects of bowleggedness;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a ski boot having an ankle adjustment made according to the present invention thereon;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as on line 3—3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the boot of FIG. 2 showing the ankle portion and its adjustment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the boot having an ankle adjustment made according to a second form of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing the ankle portion of the boot of FIG. 5 from the front; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing one of the support members for the ankle portion shown in FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawings and the numerals of reference thereon, and in particular FIG. 1, it will be seen that a skier 10 who has bowed legs as shown at 11, and is wearing rigid boots 12, which will be more fully explained, will find that the sole 13 of the boot will be inclined so that the inner edge portions 14 of the boot sole 13 will be canted upwardly when the legs 11 are placed in their normal position. The rigid boot prevents the compensation which usually takes place at the foot and heel joints for bowlegged people. This will cause, when the boots are fas3,803,584 tened to skis, an edging tendency at the outside of the skis. In order to execute a turn properly, the inside edge of at least one ski must be edged. In order to do this when the legs are bowed as shown in 11 and rigid boots 12 are on the feet, it becomes extremely difficult because the knees can be tight together, and the boot soles, and consequently the skis, will still remain flat on the surface of the snow. It can also be seen that with the outside edges of the skis edging at all times when the legs are held normally, there is a chance that these edges will catch and cause a very serious fall to the skier.

The boots 12, as shown, are of a structure which has a rigid outer shell, and the foot is held in place with suitable padding. Boots of this type are shown in the patent application of Frank D. Werner and Marvin A. Luger, Serial No. 318,370, filed October 23, 1963, for Ski Boot and Conformable Pad for Same, and is also further shown in our copending application Serial No. 362,723, filed April 27, 1964, for Ski Boot.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, and the form of the ski boot shown therein, it can be seen that a boot 20 has a sole 21. The boot 20 is divided into a lower portion 22 and an ankle cuff member 23. The ankle member 23 is comprised as an encircling anklet or cuff which will fit around the leg of the wearer of the boot above the ankle joint and has two part cylindrical sections 24 and 25. The sections can be held together with a suitable encircling strap 26, for example. The lower portion of the boot has a flap member 27 which is hinged with a suitable hinge 28 to the sole 21 of the boot and can be flipped out of the way to allow a foot to be inserted into the boot and then closed again and held with suitable clamps 29. Section 25 of the ankle cuff 23 moves with the boot flap and section 24 is mounted on the main portion of the boot. Padding is placed within the boot to hold the foot firmly in place with the flap closed. The padding is omitted from the boot described for the sake of clarity. The padding can be similar to that shown in the aforementioned copending applications of the same inventors, Serial No. 318,370 and Serial No. 362,723. Also rubber foam padding can be used if desired. The ankle cuff members can also be covered with suitable material to keep out snow, etc. and enhance the foot appearance.

The ankle member 23 is pivotally mounted to the base member 22 about a pivotal axis 33 which substantially aligns with the pivotal axis of the ankle bone of the foot in the boot. The lower portion 22 of the boot has a pair of strap members 34 and 35 pivotally mounted thereto about axis 33 with suitable rivets. The strap members 34 and 35 extend upward from the lower portion of the boot and are made of a bendable and deformable material such as a light metal for example, steel. As shown, each of the strap members 34 and 35 has a longitudinally extending slot 36 defined therethrough. The ankle sections 24 and 25 of the ankle member 23 are mounted to the strap members 34 and 35, respectively, by passing a suitable lock bolt 37 through each of the slots 36 and fastening the bolts to their respective ankle portion. The lock bolts 37 can either be threadably mounted in the ankle portions or can pass all the way through provided openings in the ankle portions and nuts and lock washers used to fasten the bolts tightly. The bolts 37, 37 and the ankle portion assembly are free to slide along the slots 36, when the bolts have been loosened.

As shown in FIG. 4, by loosening the bolts 37 so that they can be slid along their respective slots 36 in the strap members 34 and 35 and by sliding the ankle section 24 downward and moving the other ankle section 25 upward slightly, ankle portion assembly 23 can be canted from its normal position. This is shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4. The straps 34 and 35 are bent to the desired angle and the bolts 37 are again re-tightened. The ankle portion 23 can be moved to any desired angle in order to accommodate variations in the legs of the wearers, such as bowed legs.

In fact, only one side needs to be adjusted to change the angle a slight amount.

Thus it can be seen that the plane 41 in which the axis of the ankle portion moves can be inclined by an angle indicated at 42 (FIG. 4) from a vertical plane 43 lying along the longitudinal axis of the boot and perpendicular to the sole 21 of the boot. In the normal foot configuration the plane 41 will lie substantially along plane 43 and the ankle portion will pivot about its axis 33. However, as shown, when the ankle portion 23 pivots about axis 33 with the ankle portion canted as shown in FIG. 4, the ankle portion will move along the plane 41.

Thus the plane of movement of the ankle portion 23 can be made to go to any angle to suit the particular leg bone configuration of the wearer within reasonable range. It should be noted that the adjustment can be made even where there are boots that have leather uppers forming the ankle cuff with metal ankle hinges. There are presently boots on the market using a pin type angle hinge with a leather ankle cuff and a conventional tongue and lace closure. The amount of adjustment shown in FIG. 4 is exaggerated for purposes of illustration. In most, cases it takes very little adjustment to correct the condition and therefore the leather uppers would stretch on one side of the ankle and compress on the other side a sufficient amount to permit this adjustment. If desired the mating surfaces of the straps and the cuff portions can be knurled or serrated to insure that they won’t slip during use.

A second form of the ankle adjustment according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. In this form of the invention a boot 50 which is constructed substantially similar to the boot in the first form of the invention includes a sole member 51. The boot 50 can be constructed with a flap member 52, which is hinged to the sole member 51 and will open to permit the foot axis to the interior of the boot. Suitable over center clamps can be used to hold the flap closed, and the boot can be lined with padding that will hold the foot snuggly when the flap is closed and clamped. An ankle or cuff member 53 is mounted above a lower member 54 of the boot. The ankle member 53 comprises an ankle encircling cuff or band having a first section 55 and a second section 56. The ankle cuff can be held closed with a strap having a buckle or clamp for a fastener.

In this form of the invention suitable brackets .57 are attached to opposite sides of the boot (one to the flap and one to the main portion of the boot). In turn, upright straps 58 and 59, respectively, are pivotally mounted to the brackets 57 with suitable rivets or other members. The ankle portion 53 pivots about an axis 60 which substantially coincides with the pivotal axis of the ankle bone. The straps 58 and 59 in turn are slidably mounted within offset brackets 61 and 62, respectively, which are attached to the inner surfaces of the ankle sections 55 and 56. The straps will slide along the ankle section. Each of the straps 58 and 59 is provided with a plurality of sets of holes 63, as shown. The lower end portions 64 and 65 of the brackets 61 and 62, respectively, have holes which will align with the holes 63 in the brackets. Suitable bolts or cap screws 66 can be inserted through the holes to hold the brackets stationary with respect to the straps. If cap screws are used the straps 58 and 59 can be tapped and the cap screws threaded into the straps. If bolts are used suitable round or smooth headed bolts would be attached through the aligning holes of the straps and ankle sections and fastened.

By removing the cap screws or bolts 66 and sliding the straps in their brackets (shorten the effective length of one and lengthen the other) arid bending the straps to the position shown in dotted 1/nes in FIG. 6, the upright axis of the ankle portion 53 can be inclined. In this form of the invention the screws or bolts will hold the ankle portion fixed in several definite positions and can be inclined in either direction from the vertical. It should be noted that the ankle piece will remain at the angle at which it is placed. Straps 58 and 59 are sufficiently

3,303,584 strong to carry the necessary load. The straps will be bent slightly just above the attaching brackets 57 to accommodate this angular change. The open area between the cuff portion and the lower part of the boot can be covered with suitable material to keep the snow out of the 5 boot. The material is not shown for convenience of illustration.

Both forms of the invention can be easily adjusted to accommodate variations in the leg of the wearer as far as the axis of the leg above the ankle bone in relation to the bottom of the foot is concerned. By suitably adjusting the ankle portion of the sole of the boot can be made to rest flat on the surface of the snow, and consequently, the bottom of the skis can be made to rest flat on the surface of the snow when the legs are in normal position. This 15 will give a full range of control for the boot wearer even if the legs are deformed or different from normal.

It should be noted that the angle of the upright axis of the cuff can also be adjusted by changing the angle of the pivotal axis of the cuff with respect to the sole. For ex- 20 ample, one of the brackets 57 in FIG. 5 could be adjusted upwardly or downwardly and this would change the angle of the upright axis of the cuff without sliding it on the straps 58 or 59. The same effect is achieved in this manner. The angle of the plane of movement of the cuff is 25 changed with respect to the boot sole.