This invention relates to a Snow Rider that makes use of two pairs of parallel-oriented articulated skis that are interconnected by a two respective platforms on which the rider's bindings are attached. The front and back platforms are interconnected by an articulating element (spar) and also connected to respective front and rear ones of the two pairs of skis via trucks that translate leaning by the rider into a redirection of the Snow Rider and by simultaneously operable ski riser mechanisms that get the skis up on edge and in contact with the snow as the skis are turned.
There are several types of sporting equipment that enable a user to glide over snow, make turns, and control their speed. The primary products in this category are skis and snowboards, both of which are equipped with bindings that receive and secure boots that are worn by the user.
Skis orient the user to face in the direction of travel, with one foot on each ski, so the skis are oriented in a substantially parallel relationship when the user is in motion. A ski is typically a narrow strip of wood, plastic, metal, or a combination thereof, worn underfoot to enable the wearer to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, the skis are attached to boots with bindings, either with a free, lockable, or permanently secured heel. Examining the ski from front to back along the direction of travel, the front of the ski (typically pointed or rounded) is the “tip,” the middle is the “waist,” and the rear (typically flat) is the “tail.” All skis have four basic measures that define their basic performance: length, width, side-cut, and camber. Skis also differ in more minor ways to address certain niche roles. For instance, mogul skis are much softer to absorb shocks, and powder skis are much wider to provide more float.
In contrast, snowboards are a single board that is usually as wide as the length of the wearer's foot. Snowboards are further differentiated from skis by the stance of the user. In skiing, the user stands with feet in-line with the direction of travel (parallel to long axis of board), whereas in snowboarding, users stand with their feet transverse to the length dimension of the snowboard. Snowboards generally require bindings and special boots that help secure both feet of a snowboarder, who uenerally rides in an upright position. The bindings are separate components from the snowboard deck and are very important parts of the total snowboard interface. The bindings' main function is to hold the rider's boot in place tightly to transfer their energy to the board. Most bindings are attached to the board with three or four screws that are placed in the center of the binding. There are two types of stance-direction used by snowboarders. A “regular” stance places the rider's left foot at the front of the snowboard, while the opposite stance direction places the rider's right foot at the front, as in skateboarding. Regular is the most common stance used by riders.
Neither snowboards nor skis turn much by having the rider simply lean. To initiate a turn on either of these products, the rider must push the back ends of the ski or snowboard around. With a snowboard, the learning process generally takes multiple outings involving significant collisions with the ground before the rider can take on even modest green slopes. Skiers generally rely on the snowplow position where the skis are pointed in a “V” shape in front of the skier to slow their forward motion and to initiate turns early on. Again, days are required before even modest hills can be conquered by a novice skier and, after years, only the best riders can truly ski the moguls. Most simply scrape off the top of the moguls as they slide sideways in an attempt to remain in control of their motion. Thus, neither of these technologies is user friendly and both require a significant investment in time and professionally administered lessons for the user to develop a modest level of competence.
In an analogous field, water skis enable a rider who is towed by a boat to execute turns as they travel over the surface of the water. While the tow rope limits the range of motion of the rider, the basic nature of the water skis is similar to those used in snow skiing.
The Snow Rider provides a rider with an apparatus that is stable, simple to use, and provides a significant amount of control for the rider. Two separate platforms, each equipped with a pair of truck mounted skis, are interconnected via a centerline articulated spar. Each platform undergoes an angle change before articulating with the trucks. This angle change is referred to herein as the truck angle, which determines the degree to which the skis turn relative to the long axis of the Snow Rider for a given amount of rotation of the platform about the centerline. The trucks translate leaning by the rider into a redirection of the skis, which through the use of ski riser mechanisms between the platforms and skis, are simultaneously rotated about their long axis to get the skis up on edge and in contact with the snow. The rider can either face the direction of motion as with skis or face perpendicular to the direction of motion as with a snowboard. A seat could also replace the bindings, thereby allowing the rider to sit instead of standing.
It is important to note that if you just put skis on trucks, when you lean, the skis turn; however, they will remain flat on the snow. The result is that the rider slides sideways down the hill but does not “carve” a turn. The Snow Rider mechanism uses ski riser mechanisms to get the skis up on edge as they are turned so the skis gain traction from the snow to execute the turn in a smooth and controlled manner. The simultaneous turning of the skis and getting them up on edge are initiated and controlled by the amount the rider leans to either side. In one implementation, the trucks are mounted in opposite directions on each end of the platform on which the rider is standing. Thus, when the rider leans to the right, the front skis turn to point to the right, while the back skis turn to point to the left. With this symmetry, the rider can go either forward or backward with the same control, much the same way they can go forward or backward on a skateboard. This sort of symmetry allows for doing 180-degree turns with a high degree of control.
In addition, the platforms that support the rider's boots may be rotated relative to one another. This relative motion includes rotation about the long axis of the Snow Rider centerline spar to allow the rider to vary the relative degree to which the front and back pairs of skis are turned and rotated, providing a simplified method of producing a sideways slide.
The following description of a preferred embodiment of the Snow Rider illustrates the functional elements that are used to implement the Snow Rider, which enables a rider to travel down an inclined slope, such as over snow on a ski slope, propelled by gravity, or over a substantially flat surface, such as over water, towed by a boat. The details disclosed herein are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims, but simply to provide a teaching of the functional elements to one of ordinary skill in the art. In order to accomplish this goal, the following description is directed to a Snow Rider, which is used to enable the rider to travel down an inclined snow covered slope, with the disclosed apparatus being bi-directional in nature, akin to a snowboard, so any designation of “front” or “back” is arbitrary in nature, as is the location and direction of the bindings shown. The rider can be positioned in a number of places and orientations, and the specifics of such are left up to the preferences of the rider.
Two pairs of parallel-oriented articulated skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B provide a sliding surface between the Snow Rider 1 and the snow. The parallel-oriented pairs of skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B are attached to trucks 109, 110, which, in turn support an interconnected one of the platforms 102, 103 on which the rider's bindings 107, 108, respectively, are attached.
The main spars (
The center spar 114 is a cylindrical tube that is centered inside the proximal sections of the two main spars 100, 101. Its outside diameter is generally just enough smaller than the inside diameter of at least one of the proximal main spar sections that support the spar platforms 102, 103, to allow the proximal sections of the main spars to rotate independently about the axis A-A.
Together, the two platforms 102, 103 support the weight of the rider. Each platform 102, 103 is rigidly attached to its respective proximal section of the main spar 100, 101 which is rigidly connected to its respective distal section of the main spar, which is rotatable in each of the respective trucks 109, 110.
The mechanisms for getting the skis on edge as a result of rotating either of the main spar platforms with respect to the main axis A-A of the Snow Rider 1 include main spar risers 104, 105, ski risers 115A, 115B and 116A, 116B, and main-spar-riser-to-ski-riser connectors 117A, 117B and 118A, 118B as described herein and as shown in detail in
The main-spar-riser-to-ski-riser connectors 117A, 117B and 118A, 118B transfer force from the main spar risers 104, 105 to their respective ski risers 115A, 115B and 116A, 116B. Each of the main-spar-riser-to-ski-riser connectors 117A, 117B and 118A, 118B utilizes joints at each end to allow for the relative twisting between the two respective ski risers 115A, 115B and 116A, 116B, while maintaining essentially the same distance between the connection points of the associated main spar risers 104, 105 and ski risers 115A, 115B and 116A, 116B. Because the main spar risers 104, 105 are located away from the center of rotation of their supporting main spars 100, 101 and the ski risers 115A, 115B, 116A, 116B are located away from the center of rotation of the truck to ski bearings 111A, 111B and 112A, 112B, maintaining the same distance between the main spar risers 104, 105 and their respective ski risers 115A, 115B and 116A, 116B, produces a torsion force on the skis about the associated truck to ski bearings. In
The ski risers 115A, 115B and 116A, 116B provide an offset to the skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B and are connected to the main spar-risers 104, 105 by the main-spar-riser-to-ski-riser connectors 117A, 117B, and 118A, 118B. Varying the length of the ski risers 115A, 115B, and 116A, 116B, in particular their perpendicular distance from their associated truck to ski bearings varies the magnitude of the rotation of the skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B relative to the rotation of the platforms 102, 103.
There are multiple instances in which the rider will want to have one foot attached to the Snow Rider 1 by the boot binding 108 while the other foot remains detached from the Snow Rider 1. One such instance is when the rider is boarding a chair lift. In this case, having a free foot allows the rider to propel the Snow Rider 1. This will generally result in the rider having one foot detached from the Snow Rider 1 when disembarking from the chair lift. The non-bound boot support 106 provides a platform for the foot that is not attached to a Snow Rider 1 by the boot binding 107. The foot that is supported by the non-bound boot support 106 can still apply torsion to the main spar 100 by shifting weight toward the toe or heel, depending on the desired direction of the torsion. This allows the rider to maintain the control that comes from varying the relative rotations of the two platforms 102, 103, when only one foot is bound to the Snow Rider 1. In addition, the non-bound boot support 106 can be constructed in such a way that it can also produce an efficient method for scraping snow from the bottom of a boot.
The boot bindings 107, 108 attach the boots of the rider to each of the two platforms 102, 103.
The trucks 109, 110 articulate with the distal sections of the main spars 100, 101 thereby connecting the main spars with the skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B. Because of the angle between the proximal and distal sections of the main spars 100, 101, and the rigid attachment of the proximal section of the main spars to their associated platforms 102, 103, rotation of the platforms 102, 103 causes their associated trucks 109, 110 to rotate about an axis that is generally perpendicular to the snow. This in turn causes the associated skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B to rotate around an axis that is uenerally perpendicular to the snow. The amount of rotation is directly proportional to the angle between the proximal and distal sections of the main spars 100, 101.
The truck to ski bearings 111A, 111B, 112A, 112B, as shown in
The ski-to-ski connectors 113A, 113B each consist of two cylinders connected by a flexible material or joint. The flexible material or joint allows the angle between the two cylinders to change, while maintaining essentially the same distance between the associated ends of the cylinders. Each cylinder then slides inside corresponding cylindrical openings in the proximal portions of the corresponding skis. The result forces the two skis that are in contact with the connector to essentially point toward one another, while allowing the distance between them to vary. The ski-to-ski connectors provide multiple benefits including:
The main-spar-to-main-spar elastic connector 119 is a flexible cylindrical structure that connects the proximal ends of the proximal sections of the two main spars 100, 101 in such a way that they can rotate relative to each other about axis A-A, while being constrained to not translate relative to each other along axis A-A. This is accomplished by squeezing each end of the of the main-spar-to-spar elastic connector 119 against the two proximal ends of the main spars 100, 101, using clamps or similar devices 129, 130 (
The-truck-to-main-spar-elastic connectors 120, 121 connect the truck 109, 110 to the distal sections of the main spars 100, 101 in such a way that they can rotate relative to each other along the long axis of the distal section of the main spar 100, 101, while being constrained to not translate relative to each other along that same axis. The truck-to-main-spar elastic connectors 120, 121 work in a manner similar to the main-spar-to-main-spar connector 119, the main difference being that the clamps 125, 126 and 127, 128 (
Snow Rider 1 consists of two pairs of skis, each of which consist of a parallel-oriented pair of skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B that are attached to trucks 109, 110, which are in turn interconnected by respective platforms 102, 103 on which the rider's bindings 107, 108, respectively, are attached. Since the location and type of bindings can vary widely, a simple illustration of bindings is included to simply show their presence and typical location. Each truck 109, 110 articulates with two skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B, respectively, and the articulation is such that the skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B can rotate about axis A-A, while remaining essentially parallel to each other. Structures, referred to as main-spar-riser-to-ski-riser connectors, articulate with both the main spar risers, which are rigidly connected to their associated platform segments 102, 103, and the ski-risers 104, 105, which are rigidly connected to their associated skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B. This is done in such a way that rotating the platform segments 102, 103 about axis A-A. causes the associated skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B, respectively to rotate about their articulation with the truck to ski bearings 111A, 111B, and 112A, 112B, which are rigidly attached to their associated truck 109, 110.
Where the ends of each pair of skis 123A, 123B, and 124A, 124B, respectively are juxtaposed to each other, the proximal ends of the skis, the skis are rounded in such a way that they run smoothly over the snow, whether going forward or backward. The rounding appears similar to the front of a mono-hull boat, minimizing the carving of the ski when traveling in what is referred to as the reverse direction for that ski. In addition, where the ends of the skis are juxtaposed to each other, ski-to-ski connectors 113A, 113B articulate between the two skis. The structures keep the skis relatively in line, while allowing them to rotate independently about their long axis and vary their distance.
The Snow Rider 1 provides a rider with a platform that is stable, simple to use, and provides a significant amount of control for the rider. The Snow Rider 1 makes use of two pairs of parallel-oriented articulated skis that are interconnected by platforms on which the rider's bindings are attached. The platforms are connected to a pair of articulated skis via trucks that translate leaning by the rider into a redirection of the Snow Rider 1 by getting the skis up on edge and in contact with the snow as they are turned.
This application is a continuation-in-part of the application titled “Snow Rider” filed on Mar. 15, 2013 as U.S. patent application Ser. No 13/843,534.
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170087439 A1 | Mar 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13843534 | Mar 2013 | US |
Child | 14865053 | US |