Patent Application
20060082083
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a snowboard, and more specifically, to a snowboard that is configured to increase downhill speed and stability by decreasing the bottom surface area of the snowboard that is in contact with the surface of the snow and that has increased longitudinal and lateral stiffness.
2. Description of the Art
A typical snowboard is comprised of an elongate, flat board with the forward and rear ends upwardly curved. In most boards, the bottom surface is flat so as to provide maximum contact between the board and the snow surface. Most snowboards are comprised of a layered, laminated structure that is designed to provide rigidity with limited flexibility depending upon the use of the snowboard, whether designed primarily for speed or maneuverability.
A typical snowboard is comprised of a gliding surface having a sole for gliding bordered by metal edges. A lower reinforcing layer, either fibrous or metallic, overlays the sole to which a core is attached. An upper reinforcing layer, either fibrous or metallic, is laminated to the core and covered by a protecting and decoration-supporting foil, made either in the form of a shell and therefore constituting the top and sides of the board, or existing solely on the upper face of the board.
Wood core “cap” construction, a technique which wraps a wooden core in fiberglass and covers the top and sides with a one-piece cap for snappy response, is widespread in the snowboard industry. Certain other designs (e.g., Morrow's 3D Revert freestyle snowboard) have rods which impart progressive flexibility and strength to the snowboard, while others (e.g., Killer Loop's freestyle Trick snowboards) use a modified “fiber tube” cap construction to provide for lighter weight and increased control. Traditionally, however, a laminated wood core construction with no cap has been used.
A core made of wood is relatively heavy, slightly vibrating, and of relatively low cost price. It improves the mechanical characteristics of stiffness, of resistance to deformation and of resistance to tear of the screws maintaining the bindings, as well as the characteristics of adhesion in bonding between the various layers of the snowboard. Compared to a core made of wood, a core made of synthetic foam can be lighter and more dampened, but more expensive. Such synthetic foams include fiber-reinforced polyurethane foam, polyurethane foam and acrylic foam.
It is known to wrap fiberglass (a fiber reinforced composite), around the core to provide a strong and lightweight torsion box construction for a snowboard. A sheet of woven glass (reinforcement) fiber is wetted with a binder resin and wrapped around the base core with a slight overlap, the base core being made of a lightweight wood or a synthetic foam such as polyurethane. The wetted reinforcement fiber sheet is then cured about the base core within a press, wherein heat may be applied for accelerating the curing process. During curing, the press molds the wetted fibers and base core with a desired profile while squeezing out excess resin so that the resulting cured composite is adhered to the base core without air pockets.
A variety of materials such as wood, metal and foam have been used in conjunction with fiberglass in an attempt to achieve a snowboard that is stiffer underfoot and more flexible in the tip and tail to aid in the absorption of bumps and other terrain irregularities. In many snowboards, a layer of plastic, such as P-Tex, is first molded into an appropriate shape for a snowboard. After the layer of plastic has cured, reverse graphics are printed on the plastic layer. Each longitudinal edge of the snowboard is provided with a metal edge that extends the length of the board. The metal edges are adhered to the layer of plastic. The metal edges are typically sharpened to an abrupt 90 degree angle to cut into the snow when turning and thus provide turning ability to the board.
A layer of fiberglass is applied over the surface of the plastic layer. A veneer inset is positioned within the layer of fiberglass. A stiff material such as wood, metal or foam is encapsulated with a fiberglass layer to form a core. Metal plates or inserts are inserted into the core so that bindings may be ultimately fastened to the snowboard. The snowboard is completed by applying a final resin or laminate layer that is applied over the surface of the fiberglass layer and over the edges of the fiberglass layer.
A snowboarder desires various degrees of longitudinal and torsional rigidity depending upon the snowboarding conditions and style. Longitudinal rigidity characterizes the board's ability to bend along its length. Torsional rigidity describes the ability of the board to flex and twist about its longitudinal axis. For downhill speed, a stiff snowboard is generally preferred wherein the longitudinal and torsional flexibilities are limited.
Another snowboard parameter is edging strength, which determines the ability of the board to cut and hold an edge against a slope under forces of a turn or stop. Edging strength is primarily related to the strength of the vertical composite side walls of the torsion box construction formed around the base core. In addition, while carving such a turn or stop, it is common to encounter an object with the edge of the snowboard, which object imparts a localized force to the vertical composite side wall of the torsion box core proximate the point of impact. If great enough, the localized force, which is not uniformly distributed across the snowboard, can cause a fracture in the vertical composite side wall or cause a portion of the board to break away proximate the localized force. Therefore, a strong composite is desired for providing the torsion box core with strong vertical composite side walls. However, in a conventional snowboard, the snowboard's edging strength and rigidity are both related to the strength of the composite of the torsion box core such that increasing the strength of the composite of the torsion box core for improving the board's edging strength in turn decreases the board's flexibility.
Another concern is a strength/weight compromise. In a typical snowboard having a uniform cross-section, increasing board thickness to increased board stiffness proximate the mid-section relative the nose and tail sections will also significantly increase the weight of the snowboard.
One of the problems associated with the metal edges of a snowboard is that a snowboarder can easily and unwillingly perform a maneuver commonly referred to as “catching an edge” in which upon transitioning the board from one edge to the other, the metal edge will quickly engage the snow thus sending the snowboarder to the ground. Especially for beginners, many of their injuries are a result of the board catching an edge and the snowboarder being essentially whipped to the ground. The impact of such whipping often results in broken wrists and other arm injuries.
One snowboard known in the art and referred to as the “tunnelboard” is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,085 to Cruz. The tunnelboard is provided with a profile that defines a longitudinally extending channel along the bottom surface of the snowboard. The cross-sectional thickness of the board, however, is generally uniform in order to maintain the flexibility of the snowboard. The tunnelboard also includes internal edges along the channel to grip the snow. The combination of the flexible board and internal edges results in a snowboard that is unstable at higher speeds and will result in more frequent edge catching as there is significantly more edging of the snowboard due to the internal edges.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a snowboard that is generally more torsionally and longitudinally rigid than a conventional snowboard without significant addition of weight to the snowboard. It would be a further advantage to provide a snowboard that is significantly faster than a conventional snowboard of similar size. It would also be an advantage to provide a snowboard that is generally more stable when riding and is less susceptible to edge catching than snowboards known in the art.
These and other advantages will become apparent from a reading of the following summary of the invention and description of the illustrated embodiments in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
Accordingly, a snowboard is comprised of an elongate board having a top surface, a bottom surface, a tip portion, a tail portion, a mid portion and first and second longitudinal edges. The top surface of the board being is relatively flat between the portion and the tail portion in order to support a pair of bindings for holding a pair of snowboard boots thereto. The snowboard also includes a pair of elongate runner surfaces that are integrally formed with the bottom surface of the board and that extend along a substantial length of the snowboard between the tip portion and the tail portion. Adjacent to the runner surfaces are a pair of edges that are coupled to the bottom surface of the board along the outside edge of each runner surface. The edges provide turning ability to the snowboard.
In one embodiment, the runner surfaces have a substantially consistent width substantially along their entire length. In another embodiment, the runner surfaces define an inner surface that is substantially linear, while the outside edge is curved to match the contour of the outside edge of the board.
In yet another embodiment, the snowboard according to the present invention is wider at the tip and tail portions than at a midpoint of the snowboard.
In another embodiment, a snowboard in accordance with the principles of the present invention includes first and second runner surfaces that are approximately between 0.5 inches and 2.0 inches wide.
In still another embodiment according to the present invention, the bottom surface of the snowboard defines a longitudinally extending channel that has a depth that is approximately between 0.2 inches and 1.0 inches relative to the runner surfaces.
The bottom surface of the snowboard defines a substantially smooth contour between the outer longitudinal edges of the snowboard. Thus, there is no internal edges that would otherwise make it more difficult to transition from one outside edge of the snowboard to the other.
In yet another embodiment of the snowboard of the present invention, the snowboard has a non-uniform cross-sectional thickness between the two outer edges of the snowboard. This variation in cross-sectional thickness of the snowboard significantly improves the stiffness of the snowboard and dramatically improves downhill speed performance characteristics.
A snowboard according to the present invention may be formed by providing an elongate core covered by a top layer defining a top surface, a bottom layer defining a bottom surface. A pair of longitudinal metal edges may be provided along each bottom edge of the snowboard to aid in turning of the board. A pair of elongate strips are formed to the bottom surface adjacent the outer longitudinal edges of the core. These strips define longitudinally extending runner surfaces with the strips forming a longitudinally extending channel along the bottom of the snowboard.
In one embodiment, the longitudinally extending strips are integrally formed with the core. In another embodiment, the longitudinally extending strips are attached to the bottom of the core as by laminating to form the runner surfaces.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings embodiments that illustrate what is currently considered to be the best mode for carrying out the invention, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific methods and instruments disclosed.
Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout, there is shown in
As further illustrated in
As shown in
Thus, as shown in
A metal edge 48 is provided around the perimeter of the snowboard 10 along its lower edge 50. The metal edge 48 prevents the snowboard's lower edge 50 from becoming damaged due to impact with hard objects, such as rocks, and also to aid in turning of the snowboard 10. The metal edge 48 thus extends along an outside edge of each runner surface 14 and 16 and defines an abrupt angle to cut into the snow when performing a turning maneuver. Thus, there are no other edging surfaces needed for turning the snowboard of the present invention and the smooth contour of the bottom surface 12 aids in smooth transitioning from one runner surface 14 to the other.
Referring now to
The runner surfaces 14 and 16 in combination with the channel 22 provide significantly improved performance characteristics to the snowboard 10. First, for downhill speed competitions, the snowboard performs significantly better than conventional snowboards because the stiffness of the board is increased without significantly increasing the weight of the snowboard 10. With a conventional snowboard where the cross-sectional thickness is substantially uniform across its width, the snowboard must either be made heavier in order to increase its stiffness or employ the use of significantly more expensive materials to increase the stiffness. Second, the use of raised surfaces 14 and 16 which form runner surfaces significantly decreases the drag of the snowboard 10 when the board is moving in a downhill direction. Thus, the snowboard performs more like a downhill skill in that the surface area of the bottom surface 22 that is bearing the load of the snowboard is significantly reduced and is placed primarily on the runner surfaces 14 and 16. Third, the use of the raised runner surfaces 14 and 16 in combination with the smooth contour of the bottom surface significantly improves the ease of transition between the left runner surface 14 to the right runner surface 16. More particularly, as the snowboard 10 is transitioned between the left edge 72 and the right edge 70, the weight of the snowboarder is easily transferred between the two and thus substantially reduces the chance of the snowboarder “catching an edge” thus significantly improving enjoyment of the sport and reducing possible injuries to snowboarders.
The runners 104 and 106, being raised above the bottom surface 108 of the core define a longitudinally extending channel 121 along the bottom 123 of the snowboard. As such, the snowboard 100 is configured with an overall non-uniform cross-section that is thicker at the runners 104 and 106 and more narrow at the channel 121. This variation in cross-sectional thickness significantly increases the stiffness characteristics of the snowboard to prevent, for example, “chatter” when snowboarding at high speeds without a significant increase in the weight of the snowboard 100. Also, as previously discussed, the runner surfaces 125 and 127 defined by the bottom layer 129, carry the principle load of the snowboarder and thus decrease the surface area of the snowboard that is in weight bearing contact with the snow to decrease drag and increase downhill speed characteristics of the snowboard.
As with the embodiment illustrated in
Referring now to
In
Of course, the exemplary embodiments of a snowboard illustrated herein are not limited to the specific designs shown in the drawings, and other designs obvious to persons skilled in the art may be used according to this invention. Thus, while the apparatus of the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it is contemplated that upon review of the present invention, those of skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and combinations may be made to the present embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as recited in the claims. The claims provided herein are intended to cover such modifications and combinations and all equivalents thereof. Reference herein to specific details of the illustrated embodiments is by way of example and not by way of limitation.
