US3512796A - Roller skiis - Google Patents

Description

15.1. MANGUS May 19, 1970 ROLLER sxns Filed my 27. 1968 FIG...1.

IN VENTOR.

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ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,512,796 ROLLER SKIIS Donald J. Mangus, 514 Vicente, San Francisco, Calif. 94116 Filed May 27, 1968, Ser. No. 732,209 Int. Cl. A63c 17/06 US. Cl. 28011.22 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Skiing apparatus for simulated snow skiing in the absence of snow comprising removable roller frames for attachment to conventional snow skiis where the attachment carries double cone rollers which aid side slipping of the ski.

Many attempts have been made to provide skiing equipment with which skiers can simulate skiing in the off seasons in the absence of snow. The equipment thus produced has involved the mounting of rollers on skiis so that the skiis can move over dry ground as easily as they move over snow. All of these devices have, however, produced a mode of operation so unlike snow skiing that none of the devices has achieved any measurable amount of commercial success.

I have now discovered that the conventional roller skiis have been unsatisfactory because the rollers on the skiis facilitate forward movement of the ski but so completely prevent side movement of the ski that the roller skiis cannot be used in a manner simulating skiing on snow. In accordance with this invention, I have provided a roller ski in which the rollers are specially shaped to facilitate side slipping of the ski particularly rearwardly of the ski boot so that the roller skiis may be used in a manner very closely approximating the use of skiis on snow.

Additionally, the rollers for roller skiis are mounted in accordance with this invention in special frame units which may be detachably clamped to conventional snow skiis so that a skier who already has an investment in skiis, ski boots, and ski bindings can use his existing equipment for both snow skiing and roller skiing.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of two illustrative embodiments of the invention, it being understood that the particular structures shown are only two of the ways in which the invention defined by the appended claims can be constructed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a roller ski constructed in accordance with this invention;

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

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative form of ski constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 through 3, a conventional snow ski provided with a forward shovel tip 12 carries a set of toe and heel bindings 14 and 16, respectively, for releasably clamping a ski boot 18 to the central boot support area of the ski. As is well-known in the art, the ski bindings 14 and 16 are mounted generally centrally of the ski depending upon the particular ski binding manufacturer with the bindings usually mounted to support the toe of the ski boot 18 at the center of weight of the ski. A snow ski has a conventional top surface 20 on which the ski bindings are mounted, a bottom surface 22 containing an anti-friction coating, and side steel edges 24.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, the roller ski attachments include five separate frame members 26, 28,

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30, 32 and 34 removably attached to the ski as explained hereinafter and distributed along the length of the ski both forward and rearward of the ski boot support area. The roller assemblies 32 and 34 forward of the ski boot may have conventional cylindrical rollers while the roller assemblies 26 and 28 rearwardly from the ski boot have specially shaped rollers as explained below, but preferably all of the roller assemblies 26-34 are identical and constructed substantially as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the most rearward roller assembly 26 is illustrated in greater detail and includes a central body portion 36 which embraces the bottom surface 22 of the ski with a pair of ribs 38 integrally formed along opposite edges of the body 36 by folding the body 36 upwardly along the side edges of the ski and then back upon itself as indicated at 40 with the reverse bend 40 of the frame projecting substantially beyond the body portion 36 to define a pair of flanges 42 parallel to the edges 24 of the ski and located at opposite sides of the ski. A plurality of rollers 44 containing axles 46 are rotatably mounted on each of the roller frames by securing the axles 46 to the flanges 42 by means of snap rings 48 on the axle 46 on opposite sides of openings in the flange 42 through which the axles 46 extend. The rollers 44- have the general shape of a double cone with small diameters at the outer ends 50 of the roller and a large diameter at the center 52 of the roller so that the roller provides a sloping surface sloping toward the side of the ski. The cone angle of the double cones of the roller is preferably within the range of about 10 to 30, and the minimum diameter of the rollers at the ends 50 is preferably sufficiently large that the snap rings 48 lie within the projected conical surface of the rollers and do not engage the surface on which the rollers roll when the ski is in use.

Each of the roller assemblies 26-34 is attached to the ski by a pair of straps 54 extending through apertures in the flanges 42 with their ends attached together by a conventional snap action buckle 56 on top of the ski. One or more removable shims 58 are preferably provided between the sides of the ski and the ribs 38 to permit adjustment of the roller frames within limits to accommodate each of the roller assemblies to skiis of different widths. When the roller assembly is used on narrower skiis, additional shims 58 may be added and the inner pair of snap rings 48 between the rollers 44 and flanges 42 may be removed and reinserted on the axles 46 outside the flanges 42, and similar removal of shims 58 and rearrangement of the outer snap rings 48 may be made when the roller assemblies are attached to Wider skiis.

With reference to FIG. 4, the principles of this invention may also be employed in simulated skiing apparatus designed solely for roller skiing where large rollers 60 formed with a double coned shape in accordance with this invention are mounted in slots '62 in a slotted ski body 64 in a manner somewhat similar to the special ski construction shown in Thompson Patent No. 2,403,885.

It will be appreciated that the double coned rollers employed in the roller skiis of this invention facilitates side slipping of the portion of the ski rearward from the ski boot by reason of the double cone shape of the rollers since the surfaces of the rollers are smooth and slanted toward the side of the ski and since the eifective surface of the rollers is reduced to one-half when the ski is tilted to the side with only one of the two cone segments of the roller contacting the ground.

While certain specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, it is obvious that many modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for simulated skiing comprising:

(A) an elongated body portion having a length at least ten times its width with said body portion having top and bottom surfaces and side edges extending generally parallel to its length;

(B) ski boot support means on said top surface of said body generally midway of the length thereof; and

(C) a plurality of frames detachably mounted on said body portion along the length thereof with frames both forward and rearward of said support means and supporting a plurality of rollers having rolling surfaces facing downwardly from said bottom surface of said body portion and freely rotatable about axes which extend transverse to the length of said body portion and with the rollers which are rearward of said support means having generally conical surfaces with a small diameter adjacent to at least one of said side edges and a substantially larger diameter midway between said side edges.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized further by the inclusion of a plurality of frame members distributed along the length of said body portion with each of said frame members having support surfaces engaging the bottom and side surfaces of said body portion and rotatably supporting some of said rollers, and removable connecting means removably attaching said frame members to said body portion.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 characterized further in that said rollers rearward of said support portion have the shape of two frustoms of cones joined with the larger cone diameters at the center of the roller and with cone angles within the range of to 30.

4. In apparatus for skiing on snow comprising a elongated body having top and bottom surfaces with a forward end shovel, a pair of metal edges attached to said body at the sides of said bottom surface and a ski boot binding attached to said top surface for clamping a ski boot to said body, the improvement for permitting said apparatus to be used for simulated skiing in the absence of snow which comprises: a plurality of frame members distributed along the length of said body and having support portions engaging the bottom of said body and extending upwardly along the side surfaces of said body and then downwardly to projecting flanges below the bottom of the ski, a plurality of rollers mounted on each of said frame members with said rollers having axles mounted in said flanges for free rotation about axes which extend transverse to the length of said body, and releasable attaching means for attaching said frame rnembers to said body for simulated skiing while permitting said frame members to be removed for snow skiing.

5. An attachment for snow skiis comprising:

(A) central planar body means adapted to engage the bottom surface of a ski;

(B) integral ribs on said central body means extending to one side of said central body means for engaging the side surfaces of a ski with'said ribs folded back upon themselves and extending across the plane of said body means to define a pair of parallel projecting flanges on the opposite sides of said body means;

(C) a plurality of rollers between said projecting flanges with said rollers having axles extending between and rotatably connected to said flanges; and

(D) clamping means attached to said body means for attaching said body means to a ski with said body means and ribs in engagement with the bottom and side surfaces, respectively, of a ski.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,412,413 4/1922 Meyer 2808 2,027,620 1/1936 Schaad 2808 XR 2,055,757 9/1936 Tolman 2801l.l3 2,253,012 8/1941 Benner et al.

2,485,756 10/1949 Meehan 280-7.l3 3,282,598 11/1966 Goodwin 28011.22 XR LEO FRIAGLIA, Primary Examiner MILTON L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner

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