Fastening device for a shoe to a pedal, shoe and pedal provided with this device

Claim 2

Device for fastening a shoe to a pedal (1) of a bicycle or of a similar appliance, comprising: - a plate (30) fixed to the sole of the shoe and having forward front-stop means (B) and a rearward wedge (32), - retention means (R) mounted on the pedal and comprising front-stop means (Q) matching those of the plate, in order to retain the latter in the forward and upward directions, - and a holding member (M) mounted movably on the pedal and designed to be urged by elastic restoring means (E) against the rear of the wedge (32) of the plate, in order to prevent a rearward movement of the said plate, when the force exerted rearwards on the shoe remains below a predetermined threshold, and allow this movement when this threshold is reached or exceeded, characterized in that the front-stop means (B) and the wedge (32) of the plate extend transversely under the sole of the shoe at the rear of the part of greater width of the sole, whilst the front-stop means (Q) matching those of the plate and mounted on the pedal extend transversely over most of the width of the pedal and are fastened to the pedal (1) at the rear of the geometrical axis of rotation (A) of the latter.

Claim 3

Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the holding member (24) extends transversely over most of the width of the rear of the pedal and is mounted movably so as to be capable of moving backwards and/or assuming an oblique position, especially as a result of rearward and/or transverse pivoting, on one side or the other.

Claim 4

Device according to either one of the preceding claims characterized in that the longitudinal distance (H) between the front-stop means (Q) of the pedal and the holding member (H) is less than the longitudinal dimension (H) of the pedal.

Claim 5

Device for fastening a shoe to a pedal (1) of a bicycle or of a similar appliance, comprising: - a plate (30) fixed to the sole of the shoe and having forward front-stop means (B) and a rearward wedge (32), - retention means (R) mounted on the pedal and comprising front-stop means (Q) matching those of the plate, in order to retain the latter in the forward and upward directions, - and a holding member (M) mounted movably on the pedal and designed to be urged by elastic restoring means (E) against the rear of the wedge (32) of the plate, in order to prevent a rearward movement of the said plate, when the force exerted rearwards on the shoe remains below a predetermined threshold, and allow this movement when this threshold is reached or exceeded, particularly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the elastic restoring means comprise two elastic members (26, 28), each of which stresses one of the lateral ends of the holding member (M), so that, during a transverse pivoting of the shoe (8) in relation to the pedal (1), the wedge (32) bearing against the matching front-stop means (Q) pivots transversely, thereby pushing the holding member (24) essentielly counter to only one elastic member, whereas, during a rearward pull of the shoe, the holding member (24) is moved counter to both elastic members (26, 28).

Claim 6

Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the arrangement of the retention means (R) for retaining the plate (30) in the upward direction comprises a hook (19) extending transversely and combined with a nose (33) or the like provided on the plate (30).

Claim 7

Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transverse bearing face turned towards the rear of the plate has, in its upper part adjacent to the shoe, a surface (36) lying in a substantially vertical plane, when the shoe is fastened to the horizontal pedal, the holding member (M, 24) bearing against this surface (36) to ensure the interaction of the hook (19) and nose (33), whilst the said transverse bearing face has, in its lower part, a cam surface (37) inclined forwards and downwards.

Claim 8

Fastening device according to claims 2 and 4 taken as a whole, characterized in that the holding member is a transverse bar (24) which is parallel to the pivot axis (5) of the pedal and the two lateral ends of which are bent (25) towards the rear lower part of the pedal (1) and are each coupled to one of the elastic members, each comprising a restoring spring (26, 28) mounted on a support (23) fixed to the rear lower part of the pedal (1).

Claim 9

Fastening device according to claim 7, characterized in that the restoring springs are two helical torsion springs (26, 28) mounted side by side about one and the same transverse axle (23) parallel to the pivot axis (5) of the pedal.

Claim 10

Fastening device according to claim 8, characterized in that the two helical springs (26, 28) are formed by oppositely directed windings of the extensions of the bent lateral ends (25) of the transverse bar (24) which is made of metal wire.

Claim 11

Fastening device according to claim 9, characterized in that the inner ends (27, 29) of the two springs (26, 28) are retained under the rear lower part of the pedal (1).

Claim 12

Fastening device according to claim 5 or according to claim 5 and any one of claims 6 to 10 taken as a whole, characterized in that the lower face of the nose (33) is inclined rearwards and downwards and forms a cam surface (35) guiding the movement of the wedge (32) rearwards and downwards as a result of sliding on the rear upper part of the hook (19), under the effect of a force directed substantially from the top downwards.

Claim 13

Fastening device according to claim 5, characterized in that the upper face of the nose (33) is substantially plane and perpendicular to the bottom of the slot (34).

Claim 14

Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, when the shoe occupies its mean angular position, the front-stop means (B) of the plate (30) and the matching stop means (Q) of the pedal (1) are urged against one another over a contact zone (C) of a width (1) less than that (L) of the front-stop means (B) of the plate, and the abovementioned stop means (B, Q) of the plate and of the pedal have parts (103, 104; 105, 106) which diverge longitudinally from one another in the transverse direction going away from the contact zone (C), at least on one side.

Claim 15

Device according to claim 13, characterized in that the abovementioned stop means (B, Q) of the plate and of the pedal diverge longitudinally from one another in the transverse direction going away from the contact zone (C) on one side or the other, when the shoe is in its mean angular position.

Claim 16

Device according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the contact zone (C) between the stop means (B) of the plate and those (Q) of the pedal is substantially at a point, when the shoe is in the mean position.

Claim 17

Device according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the contact zone (C) of the stop means (B, Q) is located substantially in the middle of the width of the plate (30), when the shoe occupies its mean angular position.

Claim 18

Device according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that, when the shoe is in the mean position, the contact zone (C) is offset inwards or outwards relative to the middle of the width of the plate (30), in order to make it more difficult for the shoe to be removed in a particular twisting direction.

Claim 19

Device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that the abovementioned stop means (B, Q) as a whole are formed by means of an assembly comprising a transverse plane surface (107) provided on one of the two components formed by the pedal (1) and the plate (30) and a transverse cam surface (108) having a projection (109) and at least one slope (103, 104) extending set back laterally relative to the projection, this cam surface being provided on the other component.

Claim 20

Device according to claim 18, characterized in that the cam surface (108) has two slopes (103, 104) extending on each side and set back relative to the projection (109).

Claim 21

Device according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that the transverse plane surface (107) is provided on the pedal (1), whilst the cam surface (108) is provided on the plate (30), the projection (109) being directed forwards, and the slopes (103, 104) extending laterally rearwards relative to the projection.

Claim 22

Device according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that the cam surface (108) has the form of an open V.

Claim 23

Device according to any one of claims 13 to 21, characterized in that the wedge (32) has a rear surface (136), the cross-section of which has the form of a V, the tip of which is pointed rearwards.

Claim 24

Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it possesses a foot-wedging strap or the like (15, 114) retained on the pedal at the rear of the pivot axle (5) of the latter and arranged substantially in line with the front-stop means (Q) of the pedal.

Claim 25

Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it possesses a foot-wedging means (11,111) fastened to the front of the pedal (1).

Claim 26

Device according to claim 23, characterized in that the front end of the foot-wedging means (11) has the form of a rounded shell which does not impede the transverse pivoting of the shoe (5) relative to the pedal (1).

Claim 27

Device according to claim 24, characterized in that the foot-wedging means consists of a fence (111) forming an angle of approximately 60° with the mid-plane of the pedal, this fence being intended to serve as a wedge in the forward direction of the shoe.

Claim 28

Device according to claim 26, characterized in that the pedal (1) is balanced in such a way that, in the free state, when its axis (5) is horizontal, it assumes a mean position, in which the abovementioned fence (111) is substantially horizontal and in a high position.

Claim 29

Device according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that the pedal (1) is equipped, at the rear, with a semi-rigid strap (114) which is simply held, relative to the pedal, on its two lower lateral edges.

Claim 30

Shoe, characterized in that the sole is fixed to a plate (30) of a fastening device according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

Claim 31

Pedal of a bicycle or of a similar appliance, characterized in that it possesses retention means (R) equipped with matching front-stop means (Q), with a holding member (M) and with elastic restoring means (E) of a fastening device according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

Claim 32

Pedal of a bicycle or of a similar appliance, for a fastening device according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that it possesses a hub (202) having an upper surface formed by a pad (51) intended to serve as a rest for a region (50) of the shoe, the rear edge of this pad (51) forming a hook (219) and the front-stop means (Q) of the pedal, and a transverse slot (254) in the plate (230) provided on the shoe being limited downwards by a nose (233) and upwards by the inner surface of the sole of the shoe.