US3212787A

US3212787A - Snow ski for making fast turns

Info

Publication number: US3212787A
Application number: US254088A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leland R Werntz
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1963-01-28
Filing date: 1963-01-28
Publication date: 1965-10-19
Anticipated expiration: 1982-10-19

Description

Oct. 19, 1965 1.. R. WERNTZ SNOW SKI FOR MAKING FAST TURNS Filed Jan. 28, 1963 LEAAND R WEENTZ INVENTOR. fimwfijww ATTORNEY A United States Patent 3, 12,787 SNOW SKI FOR MAKING FAST TURNS Leland R. Werntz, 421A S. Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, Calif. Filed .Ian. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 254,088 Claims. (Ci. 286-1113) This invention relates to an improved type of snow ski, designed to allow for increased maneuverability over the snow, as compared with prior conventional skis.

In making a run with conventional skis, a skier is definitely limited in his freedom of maneuverability by virtue of the difiiculty necessarily encountered in attempting to make a turn with such skis. Since the skis inherently tend to form and travel along straight tracks in the snow, a substantial amount of effort is required to remove the skis from these tracks for travel in a changed direction. Often, this entails actually jumping out of the initial tracks, with the aid of ski poles, or forcing a change in direction by some other turning technique, but in any case it must require the expenditure of a very substantial effort, with precision in turning being difiicult to accomplish, and with the frequency of turns being limited even to the most expert skier. Needless to say, any novice must spend many hours in learning to turn.

A major object of the present invention is to provide a new type of ski which can be turned much more readily than conventional skis, without the necessity for jumping or otherwise exerting excessive effort, and in a very simple manner which is so easy to learn as to eliminate much of the training period heretofore required for learning to ski. As will appear, the turning technique which may be used with this new type of ski is so easily attained and effortless that it completely eliminates the necessity for the usual ski poles. With my new type of ski, a person may maneuver in any desired complicated pattern while travelling down a slope, and with such freedom that ski poles actually become a hindrance rather than a help.

To attain the discussed result, I utilize a ski having a rear portion which acts as the main tracking portion while travelling straight, but which is adapted to be very easily raised upwardly just far enough to break the tracking effect, and enable the ski to turn to any desired new direction. Such slight elevation of the rear tracking portion of the ski is made possible by forming the undersurface of the ski to advance gradually upwardly from a point near the toe of the users shoe, so that there is provided at that point or location a fulcruming area about which the ski may be rocked forwardly by shifting the weight of the skier in a forward direction. When the ski is rocked forwardly in this manner, the primary engagement of the ski with the snow is at the fulcrum location, so that the portions of the ski behind and in front of that area do not prevent the discussed pivotal direction changing movement of the ski as a whole. After the new changed direction has been attained, the user shifts his weight rearwardly, to bring the main tracking portion of the ski downwardly into proper engagement with the snow to form a track and thereby maintain a straight line course until the next successive turn is desired. For assuring an effective tracking action, the rear portion of the ski has edges formed along its opposite sides and defining essentially sharp blades acting to bite into the snow surface and prevent lateral sliding when the skier is travelling down a slope at an angle, or under other similar conditions which might induce lateral sliding.

The above and other features and objects of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed 3,212,787 Patented Oct. 19, 1965 description of the typical embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a preferred form of ski embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the FIG. 1 ski;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the ski;

FIG. 4 is a side view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the ski as it appears when rocked slightly forwardly during turning of the ski on a snow surface;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged transverse section taken on line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing a variational type of side blade element;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary side view taken on line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the frictional resistance to turning which is encountered in using conventional skis; and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, but representing diagrammatically the reduced amount of friction which is encountered in turning with a ski constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 through 5, I have illustrated at 11 an elongated snow ski which is adapted to move along the upper surface of a body of snow represented at 11. To facilitate description of the ski, the snow in FIG. 1 is typically illustrated as presenting a horizontal upper surface. To the upper side of the ski body, there is mounted a structure 12 for detachably securing a ski shoe 13 to the ski. Structure 12 may be of any conventional type, typically including a tread or pad 14 on which the shoe rests, a rear retaining assembly 15 adapted to grip and hold the heel portion of the shoe, and a front clamping assembly 16 for engaging and holding the toe portion of the shoe. Shoe retaining structure 12 may be located near, but preferably slightly back of, the center of the ski, longitudinally.

To now describe the unique configuration of the snow engaging undersurface 17 of the ski, this undersurface has a rear portion 18 which, in the FIG. 1 position of the ski, lies in a horizontal plane from the rear end 19 of the ski to a location 20 near the point at which toe 19' of shoe 13 is retained. As seen in FIG. 5, the only interruption of the precisely planar and horizontal configuration of the rear portion 18 of undersurface 17 occurs at the location of a center tracking groove 21, which is located midway between and extends in the same direction as opposite side surface 22 of the ski body. Groove 21 may be relatively shallow, and have the essentially V- shaped but somewhat rounded cross section illustrated in FIG. 5.

On opposite sides of groove 21, as seen in FIG. 5, the horizontal planar undersurface 18 extends laterally to the locations of a pair of side tracking blades 23, which may be embedded within and tightly bonded to the material forming the ski body 10, with blades 23 having undersurfaces 24 forming horizontal planar lateral continuations of undersurface 18 of the main ski body 10. Blades 23 may be formed of a suitable metal, such as a high quality knife steel, capable of forming sharp longitudinal right angle guiding edges at 25 lying in the plane of

undersurfaces

18 and 24. Extending upwardly from edges 25, blades 23 have outer vertical faces in alignment with, and forming continuations or portions of, the parallel vertical side surfaces 22 of the ski body. The ski body itself may be formed of a suitable sufliciently strong material, such as glass fiber reinforced polyester resin, typically having a finish coat of epoxy resin, with the resin itself serving to tightly adhere to and hold in position blade elements 23.

As stated previously, the discussed horizontal rear portion 18 of undersurface 17 continues forwardly to location 20, which is near, and preferably is slightly forwardly of (say one to three inches in front of) the toe portion 19' of shoe 13. At location 20, undersurface 17 commences to advance gradually upwardly, as the undersurface advances forwardly. This upwardly inclined forward portion 26 of undersurface 17 lies in an upwardly inclined plane 27, disposed at an angle a with respect to the horizontal plane of rear surface 18. Angle a may typically be between about 2 and 6, preferably about 4. Forwardly of undersurface 26, the ski is turned upwardly to a slightly greater angle at 28, to form the short planar undersurface 29, and is then turned further upwardly at 30 to form a short planar tip end undersurface 31.

As seen best in FIG. 3, groove 21 continues forwardly beyond the location 20 through at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of horizontal undersurface 26, and typically to the point designated 32 in FIG. 3. Also, the two blade elements 23 at opposite sides of the main ski body may continue forwardly beyond location 20, and also desirably beyond the front end 32 of groove 21, preferably to location 33 in FIG. 3, which is approximately at the point 28 at which the increased angularity shovel end of the ski body commences. The forward portions of blade elements 23 are inclined upwardly at the location 20, to follow the upward angularity of undersurface 26 of the ski body, so that, between locations and 28, the blade edges lie in the same plane as undersurface 26, and define the opposite side extremities of that plane, in correspondence with the FIG. 5 showing of the rear portion of the ski. With regard to width, the ski may flare to a slightly increased width as it advances forwardly from location 20 toward point 28, this flaring being apparent from a careful review of FIGS. 2 and 3.

The rear portion of the ski body, rearwardly of location 20, is stiffer than the portion of the ski forwardly of location 20. For this purpose, the ski may be somewhat thicker rearwardly of location 20, with the thickness typi cally being slightly reduced rearwardly of a point 34 (FIG. 1), beyond which the upper surface of the ski body may be inclined slightly downwardly at 35. Forwardly from location 34 to a point 36, the upper surface of the ski may have a horizontal portion 37, with the upper surface then being inclined slightly upwardly at 38, and then being further inclined upwardly at 39 and 40 parallel to

surfaces

29 and 31 respectively. Thus, as seen clearly in FIG. 1, the vertical thickness of the ski progressively decreases'as it advances forwardly from location 20 toward the tip end of the ski. The thickness of this forward portion of the ski is desirably thin enough to give that portion some flexibility in use, while the rear portion back of location 20 is sufficiently thick to render it substantially completely rigid, and incapable of fiexure under any nor-; mal conditions of use.

In using a pair of skis of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, a skier normally stands in a position such that his weight holds the rear planar undersurface 18, between

locations

19 and 20, in the FIG. 1 position of continuous engagement with the upper surface 11 of the snow. Thus, this rear portion glides along the snow, and of course sinks downwardly into the snow a slight distance whose depth is determined by the condition of the snow surface. With the rear portion of the ski thus embedded slightly within the snow, opposite side edges 25 of the ski act to form straight tracks in the snow, and bite into the surface in a manner positively preventing lateral shifting movement of the ski from its assumed straight line course. This tracking effect is assured by the rigidity and length of the rear portion of the ski, and the fact that the ski projects a very substantial distance x rearwardly of the shoe, preferably a distance at least as great as, and for best results considerably greater than, the length of the shoe itself.

When the skier desires to turn, he shifts his weight forwardly a short distance, to an extent sufficient to cause the entire ski body 10 to rock forwardly about pivot location 28, as a fulcrum. More particularly, FIG. 4 illustrates the position to which the ski may be rocked forwardly about point 20, so that the undersurface of the ski is moved out of contact with the snow both forwardly and rearwardly of point 20. Thus, the only area which contacts the snow with any substantial force is the fulcrum area 20, and it is therefore relatively easy for the skier to turn the skis to any desired new directional orientation about pivot area 20. When the skis are properly aligned with the desired new course of travel, the skier shifts his weight rearwardly to again bring the rear portion of the ski downwardly into engagement with the snow, to the FIG. 1 tracking condition, in which the rear portion of the ski maintains a continuous straight line course until the user again purposely rocks forwardly to turn the ski to still another direction. Further, it is noted that this entire turning procedure has been effected without any necessity whatever for the usual lateral jumping motion, and with-- out the necessity for any ski poles to assist in turning. It has also been found that, even if the snow is deep enough or soft enough that a part or all of the ski rearwardly or forwardly of location 20 remains in some contact with the snow when the ski is rocked forwardly to the FIG. 4 turning position, the ski can still be turned Very easily as a result of the minimization of tracking effect attained when the ski is in the FIG. 4 position.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate diagrammatically the reduction in turning friction which is attained by the skis of the present invention. FIG. 8 shows a conventional ski, which upon turning has a high friction area 41 extending the entire length of the ski, and whose friction is high enough to prevent lateral shifting movement in turning of the ski without a very decided jumping action. In the FIG. 9 representation, illustrating the greatly reduced friction area 42 associated with my novel type of ski, it will be apparent that the frictional resistance which is concentrated primarily at the pivot location 20 is small enough to avoid the turning restriction of FIG. 8, and therefore enable the previously discussed easy turning of the ski, when the ski is in the forwardly rocked FIG. 4 position.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a ski 10a which may be considered as identical with that of FIGS. 1 through 5 except that the two side blades 23a extend vertically at the opposite sides of the ski body, rather than horizontally at its under side. Blades 23a lie in two parallel vertical planes, and may advance slightly upwardly beyond location 20 as do blades 23 of the first form of the invention. Blades 23a are retained against the opposite side surfaces 22a of ski body 10a by screws 43 which extend through vertical slots 44 in blades 23a, and are threadedly connected into the ski body. The blades are so adjusted as to have their right angle sharp edges 25a disposed in the plane of undersurface 17a of the ski, and are then secured in that adjusted position by tightening of the screws. This arrangement enables the blades to be shifted downwardly after they have become dull from use, and then be sharpened to present a new pair of sharp right angle blade edges at 25a. In correspondence with the showing of FIGS. 2 and 3, the substantially vertical planes of the two blades 23a may flare slightly apart as they advance forwardly of pivot location 20, and as the blade edges and undersurface of the ski body incline gradually upwardly.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A snow ski comprising an elongated unitary ski body adapted to have a shoe attached to the upper side thereof in a predetermined position, said body having a rear portion with tan undersurface which is adapted to engage and extend essentially horizontally along a horizontal snow surface forwardly to a location near the toe of said shoe and projects rearwardly beyond said shoe a distance greater than the length of the shoe, said rear portion having at opposite sides of and substantially as low as said undersurface two essentially sharp edges acting as blades extending longitudinally of the ski body at positions to bite into the snow and form a track therein preventing lateral movement 'of the ski body, said body having a forward portion which in use is connected in essentially fixed position relative to said rear portion with an undersurface of said forward portion meeting said rear portion undersurface and advancing gradually upwardly as it advances forwardly from said location near the toe of the shoe to form at said location a pivot area about which the ski body may rock forwardly to elevate said edges of said rear portion relative to the snow and thereby permit lateral movement of the edges and turning of the skis.

2. A snow ski comprising an elongated unitary ski body adapted to have a shoe attached to the upper side thereof in a predetermined position, said body having a rear portion with a planar undersurface which is adapted to engage and extend essentially horizontally along a horizontal snow surface forwardly to a location near the toe of said shoe, said rear portion having at opposite sides of and in substantially the same plane as said undersurface two essentially sharp edges acting as blades extending longitudinally of the ski body at positions to bite into the snow and form a track therein preventing lateral movement of the ski body, said body having a forward portion which in use is connected in essentially fixed position relative to said rear portion with an undersurface of said forward portion meeting said rear portion undersurface and advancing gradually upwardly as it advances forward from said location near the toe of the shoe to form at said location a pivot area about which the ski body may rock forwardly to elevate said edges of said rear portion relative to the snow and thereby permit lateral movement of the edges and turning of the skis.

3. A snow ski comprising an elongated unitary ski body adapted to have a shoe attached to the upper side thereof in a predetermined position, said body having a rear portion with an undersurface which is adapted to engage and extend essentially horizontally along a horizontal snow surface forwardly to a location near the toe of said shoe and projects re arwardly beyond said shoe a distance greater than the length of the shoe, said rear portion having two metal edge parts forming at opposite sides of and substantially as low as said undersurface two essentially sharp edges acting as blades extending longitudinally of the ski body at positions to bite into the snow and form a track therein preventing lateral movement of the ski body, said body having a forward portion which in use is connected in essentially fixed position relative to said rear portion with an undersurface of said forward portion meeting said rear portion undersurface and advancing gradually upwardly as it advances forwardly from said location near the toe of the shoe to form at said location a pivot area about which the ski body may rock forwardly to elevate said edges of said rear portion relative to the snow and thereby permit lateral movement of the edges and turning of the skis.

4. A snow ski comprising an elongated unitary ski body adapted to have a shoe attached to the upper side thereof in a predetermined position, said body having a rear portion with an undersurface which is adapted to engage and extend essentially horizontally along a horizontal snow surface forwardly to a location near the toe of said shoe, said rear portion having a tracking groove formed in and extending longitudinally along said undersurface, said rear portion having at opposite sides of and substantially as low as said undersurface two essentially sharp edges acting as blades extending longitudinally of the ski body at positions to bite into the snow and form a track therein preventing lateral movement of the ski body, said body having a forward portion which in use is connected in essentially fixed position relative to said rear portion with an undersurface of said forward portion meeting said rear portion undersurface and advancing gradually upwardly as it advances forwardly from said location near the toe of the shoe to form at said location a pivot area about which the ski body may rock forwardly to elevate said edges of said rear portion relative to the snow and thereby permit lateral movement of the edges and turning of the skis.

5. A snow ski comprising an elongated unitary ski body adapted to have a shoe attached to the upper side thereof in a predetermined position, said body having a rear portion with an undersurface which is adapted to engage and extend essentially horizontally along a horizontal snow surf-ace forwardly to a location near the toe of said shoe, said rear portion having two edge parts forming at opposite sides of and in substantially the same plane as said undersurface two essentially sharp edges acting as blades extending longitudinally of the ski body at positions to bite into the snow and form a track therein preventing lateral movement of the ski body, said body including means attaching said edge parts to the rest of said body for adjusting movement, said body having a forward portion which in use is connected in essentially fixed position relative to said rear portion with an undersurface of said forward portion meeting said rear portion undersurface and advancing gradually upwardly as it advances forwardly from said location near the toe of the shoe to form at said location a pivot area about which the ski body may rock forwardly to elevate said edges of said rear portion relative to the snow and thereby permit lateral movement of the edges and turning of the skis.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,723,693 8/29 Froholm 28011.13 2,055,757 9/36 Tolman 28011.13 2,920,897 1/60 Jensen 280-11.12

FOREIGN PATENTS 264,894 9/13 Germany. 285,338 6/15 Germany. 82,921 2/21 Austria. 373,494 3/07 France. 924,836 3/47 France. 572,337 3/59 Canada.

A. HARRY LEVY, Primary Examiner.

Claims

2. A SNOW SKI COMPRISING AN ELONGATED UNITARY SKI BODY ADAPTED TO HAVE A SHOE ATTACHED TO THE UPPER SIDE THEREOF IN A PREDETERMINED POSITION, SAID BODY HAVING A REAR PORTION WITH A PLANAR UNDERSURFACE WHICH IS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AND EXTEND ESSENTIALLY HORIZONTALLY ALONG A HORIZONTAL SNOW SURFACE FORWARDLY TO A LOCATION NEAR THE TOE OF SAID SHOE, SAID REAR PORTION HAVING AT OPPOSITE SIDE OF AND IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME PLANE AS SAID UNDERSURFACE TWO ESSENTAILLY SHARP EDGE ACTING AS BLDES EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE SKI BODY AT POSITIONS TO BILE INTO THE SNOW AND FORM A TRACK THEREIN PREVENING LATERAL MOVEMENT OF THE SKI BODY, SAID BODY HAVING A FORWARD PORTION WHICH IN USE IN CONNECTED IN ESSENTIALLY FIXED POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID REAR PORTION WITH AN UNDERSURFACE OF SAID FORWARD PORTION MEETING SAID REAR PORTION UNDERSURFACE AND ADVANCING GRADUALLY UPWARDLY AS IT ADVANCES FORWARD FROM SAID LOCATION NEAR TO TOE OF THE SHOE TO FORM AT SAID LOCATION A PIVOT AREA ABOUT WHICH THE SKI BODY MAY ROCK FORWARDLY TO ELEVATE SAID EDGES OF SAID REAR PORTION RELATIVE TO THE SNOW AND THEREBY PERMIT LATERAL MOVEMENT OF THE EDGE AND TURNING OF THE SKIS.