Patent Application
20180200607
The presently disclosed technology generally relates to the field of snow skiing, and more particular embodiments relate to an apparatus which may be used to form an evacuation sled or cargo carrier by combining a pair of skis.
Snow skiing (hereinafter “skiing”) is a popular recreational activity boasting millions of participants each year. There are different types of skiing to suit a variety of tastes and interests. Regardless of the type of skiing involved, skiing generally requires a pair of skis, ski bindings, and ski boots. Ski bindings are devices that are affixed to the skis by engaging rigid formations on the exterior of the ski boot at the toe and heel. Ski bindings may be a single piece, or may have a separate toe and heel piece, depending on the application. While the purpose of the bindings is to secure the boot to the ski, bindings are also designed to release the boot when certain forces are applied, such as when a skier falls, thereby prevent injury. The amount of lateral force needed to release a ski boot from the binding can be controlled by adjusting a binding's release setting, commonly called a DIN setting in alpine bindings.
In addition to accommodating different DIN settings, ski bindings themselves are specialized depending on the type of skiing at issue. Alpine skiing, also called downhill skiing, involves an often fast-paced descent down a ski run and usually takes place in a ski resort. An alpine ski binding is typically designed to retain the ski boot at both the toe and heel with minimal movement once engaged. This allows a user to efficiently “steer” while descending by shifting the user's weight. Cross-country skiing, or Nordic skiing, involves a slower traverse over rolling or flat land through the backcountry, often away from ski resorts or other facilities. Because cross-country skiing requires a participant to have greater movement in their heel as they glide across the land, cross-country bindings affix the toe of a ski boot to the ski, but allow the boot's heel to be lifted from the ski. Still another type of binding known as alpine-touring, or AT binding, allows the heel of the boot to be lifted while traversing snow covered ground, and then locked into place for a downhill descent. Some of these AT bindings have a separate toe and heel piece. Like other bindings, AT bindings generally employ a clamping mechanism to hold the toe and heel of the boot, including the use of pins to lock into recesses located on the toe and heel of a specialized AT boot.
Regardless of the type of skiing enjoyed and the safety measures used, there remains an inherent risk that a skier may become injured (ex: broken leg, etc.), potentially leaving him/her with limited mobility until he/she can receive medical treatment. If an accident occurs at a ski resort, the resort typically uses snowmobiles or other emergency response resources to assist the skier off of the mountain as quickly and efficiently as possible. While getting off of the snow and into a medical facility in these situations is inherently challenging, doing so is particularly difficult for backcountry skiers as they are often off-trail, far from traditional ski facilities and away from the relatively easy reach of snowmobiles, etc. Fellow skiers may be faced with the difficult task of trying to transport an immobile skier through the snow to medical help a significant distance away. As time is of the essence in an emergency setting, having a quick egress is essential for survival not only from the injury itself, but from exposure to the elements. Thus, a need exists to ease the transport of an injured or otherwise immobile skier or for a skier to evacuate his or her self. At the same time, skiers, especially backcountry skiers, need to travel light and carry only the essential gear. The present device addresses this problem by using a lightweight, strong apparatus to combine a pair of skis to form an evacuation sled capable of being pulled and/or steered by another person or machine or by one's self. Further, this device may be used to create a sled from skis which may carry additional gear or cargo into and out of the backcountry.
The purpose of the summary is to enable the public, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The summary is neither intended to define the inventive concept(s) of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the inventive concept(s) in any way.
The disclosed device has a pair of elongated members with attached mounts designed to engage the mechanisms at the toe and heel of bindings on a pair of skis or to hold the skiis together without engaging the mechanism, typically belonging to the injured skier who is unable to use his/her skis due to injury. When each member is rigidly connected at either end to the corresponding ski binding, the toe and heel member connect the skis to form a sled-like apparatus capable of supporting an injured skier and his/her gear to allow fellow skiers to more easily transport the injured skier to the nearest medical assistance. In addition, the sled-like feature allows backcountry skiers to bring in other gear or items as they enter or exit the backcountry.
The device includes a toe member with attached toe mounts, used to engage the toe clamp of the bindings, and a heel member used to attach to the heel end of the bindings. The toe member and heel member are preferentially constructed of a lightweight, strong material, such as aluminum, titanium, or high-strength plastic, though other suitable materials will be known to those skilled in the art. While the toe member and heel member can be either a fixed length or an adjustable length so as to be a sufficient length to span across a pair of skis when the skis are laid side by side in their usual orientation. These lengths can be separated such that the device is composed of two more units, as illustrated in the drawings, or the device can be unitary or connectable to form a single device in alternate embodiments. In an embodiment in which the toe member and heel member are extendable, the toe member and heel member include a locking mechanism to allow a user to lock the expandable members at a particular length.
As mentioned, the toe member and heel member use toe mounts and heel mounts, respectively, to attach to the corresponding toe and heel portions of the bindings. In a preferred embodiment, the toe member includes a toe mount on either end of the member. The mounts may be designed to be attachable to, and removable from, the toe member. Alternatively, the toe mounts may be integrated into the toe member such that the toe member with toe mounts is a single piece.
Similarly, the device includes heel mounts capable of being attached to, or mounted on or integrated with, as in the case of a mechanism that simulates the attachment of a ski boot to the binding, the heel member. The heel mounts will typically be located at opposing ends of the heel member and be configured to engage or integrate into the heel mechanism of the ski binding.
Whether integrated with, or removable from, their respective members, the toe mounts and heel mounts in a preferred embodiment are designed to generally simulate the shape of the toe and heel, respectively, of a ski boot compatible with the ski bindings. Thus, in a ski binding, such as an alpine binding, designed to clamp the toe of a ski boot containing a rigid flange of a particular width and thickness, the toe mount would incorporate a flange of similar dimensions. If a pin-tech style AT binding is being used, the toe clamp of which is designed to engage recesses on either side of a compatible pin-tech AT ski boot, the toe mount would incorporate toe mount recesses in the same location so as to allow the pin-tech toe clamp to securely retain the toe mount. While it is within the scope of the invention that a particular toe mount or heel mount may be configured to work with a particular binding type or brand, it is also within the scope of this disclosure that a universal toe mount or heel mount could be designed. A telemark boot design, an alternative alpine touring binding design, cross country binding design a typical downhill ski binding design, or any other type of ski binding design are also included in the spirit of the invention disclosed herein. For example, a universal toe mount may incorporate both the rigid flange and the toe mount recesses compatible with pin-tech bindings.
In addition to configuring the toe and heel mounts as described, additional measures may be taken to ensure that the toe and/or heel members are secured to the bindings during use. For example, while the toe clamp of a pin-tech binding typically engages and squeezes the recesses of the boot toe from opposing sides, in a pin-tech heel binding, the pins may extend from the body of the heel binding in a direction roughly parallel to the skis. This design effectively secures an AT boot that is simultaneously locked into the toe binding, thereby providing the force required to remain engaged with the heel pins during normal use. This may not be as effective, however, at retaining the disclosed heel member which, unlike the boot, is not engaged with the toe end of the binding. To address this problem, a preferred embodiment of the heel member includes one or more openings for attaching restraining straps or ropes or cords to secure itself to the body of the heel portion of the binding. A restraining strap, or rope or cord is utilized to wrap around the body of the heel portion of the binding, or around heel portions of both bindings, to secure the mechanism to the skis. While one or more straps are used as a lightweight method of securing the heel portion, having a heel portion that does not require straps is within the scope of this invention.
For example, in an embodiment compatible with a pin tech binding, the heel mounts are integrated into the heel member and include recesses capable of accommodating the pins extending from the heel portion of the binding. In a preferred embodiment the device is designed to support the use of straps to further affix the heel portion of the device to the binding. Similarly embodiments can include a strap to further affix the toe portion of the device to the binding. This can be done with one or more straps. In a further embodiment, no straps will be needed to secure the device. The straps are long enough to wrap around the body of the heel portion of the binding and connect on the side opposite the pins, thereby restraining the heel member against the heel pins and securing it to the heel portion of the bindings. In an alternative embodiment, a single restraining strap is affixed to one end of the heel member and is capable of wrapping around the bodies of the heel portion of the bindings as described and attaching to the other end of the heel member.
Depending on the type of bindings or other equipment used, additional manipulation of the bindings may be needed to secure the toe member or heel member. For example, skis typically include a brake, which is a U-shaped device whose base is integrated into the heel portion of the ski binding and spans the width of a ski. The legs of the brake extend from either side of a ski and point in either an upward, or disengaged, position, or in a downward, or engaged, position. The purpose of the brake is to slow or stop a “runaway” ski that has escaped the control of its owner. Thus, when a ski is in use and a ski boot is locked into the heel portion of a binding, the brake is disengaged and is in an upright position, preventing it from interacting with the snow and slowing the skier. When a ski boot is not attached to the ski binding, such as might happen immediately after a fall, the brake is engaged and is pointed downward where it interacts with the snow such that it arrests a “runaway” ski.
It may be desirable that the brake be in a disengaged position when the disclosed device is being used to transport someone across the snow. Depending on the type of binding used, however, it may be necessary to manipulate the binding such that the heel member may be affixed to the binding with the brake in a disengaged state. For example, when securing the heel member to the heel portion of pin-tech bindings, it may be necessary to rotate the body of the heel portion such that the pins face toward the tail of the ski. Pin-tech bindings are designed to have a disengaged brake in this position, which is used when in touring mode. In a preferred embodiment, the heel member may be attached to pin-tech bindings by rotating the heel portion of the bindings as described, wrapping the straps around the heel portion of the bindings, and securely connecting the straps to each other as disclosed. On other bindings, the brake can be locked in the raised ski position. In this case, the heel portion of the binding may not need to be rotated.
In addition the restraining straps, the toe member and heel member may also contain methods of attaching gear, such as ski poles, rope, or packs, for ease of transport. These other attachment methods may be additional holes, slots for putting straps or ropes through, straps, loops, or other securing material made of nylon or some resilient material, collapsible netting, or some other method. This securing material may be attachable to and removable from the toe member and heel member as needed.
Further disclosed is a method of attaching the ski binding rescue device to a pair of skis having ski bindings mounted on the skis. The method includes the step of providing a binding toe connector having a first toe clamp connection member and a second toe clamp connection member. The first binding clamp connection member and said second binding clamp connection member are separated by a first rigid length.
The method includes the step of providing a binding heel connector having a first heel clamp connection member and a second heel clamp connection member. The first binding heel connector member and said second binding clamp connection member are separated by a second rigid length generally equivalent to said first rigid length.
The method includes the step of attaching said binding toe connector to said pair of skis, wherein said step comprises connecting said first toe clamp connection member to said first ski at said ski binding toe clamp and attaching said second toe clamp connection member to said second ski at said ski binding toe clamp.
The method includes the step of attaching said binding heel connector to said pair of skis, wherein said step comprises connecting said first heel clamp connection member to said first ski at said ski binding heel clamp and attaching said second heel clamp connection member to said second ski at said ski binding heel clamp such that said first ski and said second ski are in a generally parallel orientation and maintained in said orientation by said binding toe connector and said binding heel connector. The method then involves the step of attaching a cargo, such as an injured human, to the now formed sled.
It is further noted that while the device is often called a “ski binding rescue device” herein, this term is not limiting as to the use of the device. The device can be used in a plethora of ways such as for a sled for carrying gear or other materials.
While the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the inventive concept(s) to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the inventive concept(s) as defined in the claims.
While in the depicted embodiment the device is depicted as integrating with pin-tech AT style bindings, the inventive concepts disclosed herein is not limited to pin-tech AT style bindings. The inventive concepts can be utilized with traditional alpine bindings or any other style binding, including telemark or frame style bindings. The inventive concepts disclosed herein are not limited to AT style bindings, as clip-in bindings, such as those used for cross country skiing, and NNN bindings, requiring only a toe piece, may be utilized as may future binding devices.
Optionally the ski binding rescue device depicting the toe member 12 and heel member 20 can include an attached securing material, for example, in the form of loops affixed to the ends of the toe member 12 and heel member 20. The securing material can be used to attach additional gear for ease of transport, or assist in securing the injured person to the ski binding rescue device through the use of additional straps or other devices.
While certain exemplary embodiments are shown in the Figures and described in this disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied to practice within the scope of this disclosure. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/447,765 filed Jan. 18, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62447765 | Jan 2017 | US |
