EP1452210B1 - Pair of skis for practising gliding, especially an alpine ski - Google Patents

Abstract

The ski has subsets of upper and lower reinforcements surrounding centers. A slender structure has a median portion (16) located towards longitudinal direction and lateral portions (14-15) located on either side of the median portion, on a part of portions juxtaposed. The lateral and median portions are asymmetrical in relation to a plane perpendicular to a running surface of skiing and passing through the direction. An independent claim is also included for a sky pair with two skis for practice of skiing.

Description

The invention relates to a pair of skis provided for the practice of alpine skiing.

In known manner an alpine ski is a composite structure which is formed from a core and various reinforcing layers above and below the core.

In recent years the internal structure of the ski or its external shape of the ski has evolved. Structural elements such as tubes or rods that modify the transverse homogeneity of the structure of the ski have been included in the core, or the outer shape of the ski has been modified especially on the top so as to reveal a relief. . Thus we modify the inertia of the ski, and / or influences its behavior in flexion and torsion. Patent applications EP 81 834 , FR 2,664,172 , EP 580 522 and EP 692,283 describe in particular such a heterogeneous structure or such relief shapes that are scalable along the longitudinal direction of the ski.

The ski technique has also evolved recently with the so-called "carving" technique. The ski sidecut was emphasized, the length of the skis was decreased. In turns, instead of putting his weight mainly on a ski, the skier keeps his support on the two skis he keeps apart.

One purpose that the invention proposes to achieve is to adapt the skis structure mentioned above to this new ski technique so as to improve the behavior of the ski on the snow.

Thus the ski according to the invention comprises an elongate structure extending in a longitudinal direction and comprising a core, upper and lower reinforcement subassemblies surrounding the core, a gliding sole bordered by two lateral edges through which the ski takes support on its sliding surface, the structure of the ski comprising three juxtaposed portions, a medial portion located towards the longitudinal direction of the ski and two side portions located on either side of the middle portion, the lateral portions being both more rigid in flexion and / or torsion that the medial portion, and the lateral portions are asymmetrical with respect to a plane perpendicular to the glide base and passing through the longitudinal direction of the ski, and / or that the medial portion is asymmetrical with respect to said plane .

The ski is characterized as set forth in claim 1.

The invention also relates to a pair of skis in which each ski has a symmetrical construction of the other.

In this way the supports of the shoe towards each of the edges can be managed differently. Indeed, the median zone forms a kind of hinge between the two lateral zones which are more rigid and which reside on the lateral edges. By giving each of the lateral zones different bending and / or torsion properties, it is possible to manage in a different way the ski supports on the snow on the inner edge and on the outer edge.

The invention will be better understood by referring to the description below and attached drawings attached thereto.

The figure 1 is a side view of a ski according to a non-limiting mode of implementation of the invention.

The figure 2 represents the ski of the figure 1 in top view.

The figure 3 is a sectional view of the ski Figures 1 and 2 in the central area.

The Figures 4 to 10 represent the ski in cross section by sectional planes IV-IV to XX, respectively.

The Figures 11 to 14 are sectional views of a ski that illustrate different construction variants.

The figure 15 represents a top view of a ski according to another embodiment of the invention.

The figure 16 is a sectional view of the ski from the figure 11 according to the XVI-XVI section plan.

The Figures 17 and 18 relate to other variants of implementation of the invention.

The ski 1 represented in Figures 1 and 2 has the shape of an elongate beam in a longitudinal direction whose trace in the plane of the figure 2 is shown schematically by the mixed line 2. At rest, the ski is arched and it rests on the ground by two support zones that are commonly called the front and rear contact lines. These lines are marked 6a, 6b in the figure 1 .

In known manner, the ski 1 has a central zone 3 also called the skate, and front and rear zones 4 and 5 which end respectively forward and back of the contact lines by the spatula and the heel.

The internal structure of the ski Figures 1 and 2 is illustrated in figure 3 which is a sectional view of the ski in the central zone 3. This structure is of a traditional type. The ski comprises a central core 7 which is of any suitable type, for example it is wood, or foam including polyurethane. In the case of a foam core, the core can be shaped before it is placed in the mold or injected in situ.

According to the illustrated embodiment, the core is covered on the top of an upper reinforcement subassembly 8, comprising for example one or more layers of glass fibers, carbon, aramid fibers or other impregnated with resin, then a decorative layer 9. The reinforcement subassembly may also comprise a metal reinforcing layer. It can also have a variable nature on the length of the ski.

On the underside, the core rests on a sub-assembly of lower reinforcement 10 which is for example of the same nature as the sub-assembly 8, and a gliding sole 11. The sole is laterally bordered by two metal edges 12 and 13.

In a known manner, the edges are curved along the length of the ski along curves that define the ski's dimension lines. Also known these curves can be symmetrical or asymmetrical with respect to a plane perpendicular to the gliding surface and passing through the longitudinal direction 2. This plane will be called in the following the median longitudinal plane of the ski.

According to the illustrated embodiment, the front and rear areas 4 and 5 of the ski comprise three portions arranged transversely side by side. These portions extend over the greatest length of the front and rear zones, that is to say at least up to the front and rear contact lines 6a, 6b.

Thus the front area 4 is formed of three portions, two side portions 14 and 15 which extend along the lateral edges of the ski and a middle portion 16 which is located between the two side portions. Similarly, the rear zone 5 comprises two lateral portions 17 and 18 and a middle portion 19.

The Figures 4 to 10 show different consecutive sections of the ski along its front zone 4, its central zone 3 and its rear zone 5. For reasons of simplicity, these figures do not show the internal structure of the ski. For this internal structure, refer to what has been described above in relation to the figure 3 .

As can be seen in the figures, the upper and lower reinforcement sub-assemblies 8 and 10 are further apart from each other in the lateral portions 14, 15 and 17, 18 than in the portions. 16 and 19. More precisely the maximum spacing of the lower and upper reinforcement subassemblies is greater in the portion 14 than in the portion 15. As a result, locally, the ski is more rigid in torsion and / or in flexion in these lateral portions than in these median portions. It is in fact the reinforcement subassemblies by their nature and their spacing which mainly determine the bending and / or torsion properties.

Thus, the medial portions form a kind of hinge along the length of the front and rear zones, and the flexural and / or torsional rigidity is mainly concentrated towards the lateral edges of the ski.

In known manner, the spacing variation of the reinforcing subassemblies is obtained by a variation in thickness of the core 7, or by machining or when it is injected into the mold because of the shape of the mold.

Other means could be adopted to have different stiffness in the side portions and the middle portions. Some will be described later as an alternative.

According to the invention, the lateral portions are asymmetrical with respect to the median plane of the ski. Asymmetry concerns the structure and / or the external shape of the lateral portions. It can also relate to the medial portions. Thus one can manage in a different way the bending and / or the twist of the right and left side portions of the ski.

According to the embodiment illustrated in the figures, it can be seen that in the lateral portions 14 and 17 the distance between the reinforcement subassemblies varies over a greater amplitude, and extends over a greater width than the portions 15 and 18.

As a result, the ski is more rigid in flexion and / or torsion along the edge 12 than the other edge.

In addition we can see that the median portions 16 and 19 are offset to the edge 13 where the stiffness is lower. This is due in part to the asymmetry of the lateral portions which refer to the median portion.

Naturally for one pair of skis, the other ski of the pair would be symmetrically constructed with symmetry of mirror so that overall we find the same rigidity on the outside of the skis on the one hand and on the inside of the other go. It is believed that a ski needs to be less rigid on the inner edge than on the outer edge, but this is not limiting.

The figure 11 illustrates a variant embodiment where the middle portion 23 of the ski is symmetrical with respect to the median plane schematized at 24, and where the lateral portions 25 and 26 are asymmetrical with respect to this same plane.

The figure 12 shows another variant. According to the embodiment illustrated in this figure, the middle portion 27 is itself asymmetrical. About this figure we realize that the notion of central portion and middle portion is relatively vague. In fact the medial portion may be defined as forming a kind of hinge between the two side portions which border and which have a higher rigidity.

In the figure 12 , the lateral portions which are on each side of the central portion are also asymmetrical.

The construction illustrated in the figure 13 shows two tubes 30 and 31 embedded in the core 32. These tubes form a mechanical unit for reinforcing the core. Thus in the transverse direction of the ski, there are two side portions 34 and 35, those containing the tubes, which have a rigidity greater than the medial portion 36 located towards the median plane of the ski. According to the invention these tubes 30 and 31 have a rigidity because of their diameter or because of their section as represented by the figure 14 with tubes 38 and 39.

The ski represented in these Figures 13 and 14 has an external shape symmetrical with respect to the median plane, but of course its external shape could be asymmetrical, that is to say that one could combine this variant of construction with the other modes of construction which are described here. Also instead of a tube, the reinforcement units could include several tubes located side by side.

The figure 15 illustrates that the lateral portions 42, 43 and median 44 may extend over the entire length of the ski. In the case of this figure, the lateral portions 42 and 43 are asymmetrical in the front and rear areas 46, 48 of the ski, and they are symmetrical in the central zone 47. For this type of construction can be provided an interface wedge in the middle zone 47 to allow mounting of the retaining elements.

Conversely, figure 17 shows a ski with lateral portions 50 and 52 symmetrical towards the front and rear ends of the ski, and asymmetrical towards the central zone.

One could similarly have an asymmetry along the entire length of the ski, or only in a front or rear area.

The figure 18 illustrates that the asymmetry of the lateral portions 60 and 62 can be performed in correlation with the asymmetry of the edge line of the edges 63 and 64.

In the case of figure 18 as is known, the edges have different radii, and the narrowest point of the middle zone of the ski is offset longitudinally. These points are schematized in 65 and 66 in the figure 18 .

The asymmetry of the lateral portions is achieved according to the asymmetry of the dimension lines.

For example, as shown in the figure, the middle portion 61 is made in geometry homothety with the dimension lines, that is to say with narrow points offset.

In the same way one could have a relationship of homothety between the stiffness in bending and / or torsion of the lateral portions with the geometry of the dimension lines.

Thus the ski that has just been described has a weight and decreased inertia due to the middle portion which has a weakened structure. The presence of this median zone makes it possible to decouple between them the two lateral portions in their bending or torsion behavior.

By relying on this decoupling, the asymmetry makes it possible to have lateral portions with different properties of flexion and / or torsion, and thus to manage in a different way the support of the ski on each of its edges.

Naturally the present description is given only as an indication, and one could adopt other implementations of the invention without departing from the scope thereof.

In particular it is obvious that one could combine them different embodiments and variants that have been described or suggested. Also the invention could find an application in other disciplines of skiing where the skier is led to take turns that simultaneously solicit the inner edge of a ski and the outer edge of the other, including telemark skis and short skis.

Also the invention could apply to short skis and those provided for the practice of telemark.

Claims (11)

1. Ski for gliding having a lengthy structure extending along a longitudinal direction (2), and including a core (7, 32), upper and lower reinforcing subassemblies (8, 10) surrounding the core, a gliding sole (11) edged with two lateral running edges (12, 13) through which the ski takes support on its gliding surface, at least the front and rear zones having over their length three juxtaposed portions (14-15-16, 17-18-19, 24-25-26, 27-29-30, 34-35-36,42-43-44, 50-51-52, 60-61-62), a median portion (16, 19, 23, 37, 36, 44, 51, 61) located toward the longitudinal direction of the ski and two lateral portions (14-15, 17-18, 25-26, 29-30, 34-35, 42-43, 50-52, 60-62) located on both sides of the median portion, the lateral portions both being more rigid in flexion and/or in torsion than the median portion forming a hinge between the two lateral portions, where the lateral portions (14-15, 17-18, 25-26, 29-30, 34-35, 42-43, 50-52, 60-62) are asymmetrical with respect to a plane perpendicular to the gliding sole and passing by the longitudinal direction of the ski, characterized in that the ski structure includes a central zone (3) and front and rear zones (4, 5) which are ended by the shovel and the tail, respectively.
2. Ski according to claim 1, characterized in that the maximum spacing apart of the upper and lower reinforcing subassemblies (8, 10) is at least locally greater in one (14, 25) than in the other (15, 26) of the lateral portions.
3. Ski according to claim 1, characterized in that the width of one (14) of the lateral portions is greater than the width of the other (15).
4. Ski according to claim 1, characterized in that the median portion (16) is offset toward one (13) of the ski running edges.
5. Ski according to claim 1, characterized in that the median portion (27) is asymmetrical with respect to the plane perpendicular to the gliding sole and passing by the longitudinal direction of the ski.
6. Ski according to claim 5, where reinforcing units formed by tubes (30, 31, 38, 39) are embedded in the core, characterized in that the tubes (30, 31, 38, 39) are asymmetrical with respect to the plane perpendicular to the gliding sole and passing by the longitudinal direction of the ski.
7. Ski according to claim 6, characterized in that the tubes (30, 31) have a different diameter.
8. Ski according to claim 6, characterized in that the tubes (38, 39) have a differently shaped cross-section.
9. Ski according to claim 1, where the lateral and median portions extends over the entire length of the ski, characterized in that the lateral portions (42, 43, 50, 52) are asymmetrical in at least one of the front, rear or central zones (46, 47, 48, 53, 54, 55).
10. Ski according to claim 1, where the dimension lines of the running edges (63, 64) are asymmetrical, characterized in that the lateral portions (60, 62) are asymmetrical in a homothetic relation to the asymmetry of the dimension lines.
11. Pair of skis for gliding including two skis, characterized in that the two skis are in accordance with any of the previous claims 1 to 10, with a mirror symmetry with respect to one another.

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