WO1992007636A1

WO1992007636A1 - Ski transporting means

Info

Publication number: WO1992007636A1
Application number: PCT/FI1991/000325
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mauri Airila
Original assignee: Mauri Airila
Priority date: 1990-10-31
Filing date: 1991-10-29
Publication date: 1992-05-14
Also published as: FI905376A0; AU8735691A; FI905376A; FI86149C; FI86149B

Abstract

The invention concerns a transport means for facilitating the transporting of skis. The transport means consists of a body (1) with H section configuration, the ski accommodation spaces being defined between the legs (2, 3, 4, 5) of the section, on different sides of the transversal web part (6) of the section.

Description

SKI TRANSPORTING MEANS.

The present invention concerns a transport means, as specified in the preamble to Claim 1, for facilitating the transport of all types of skis, such as downhill racing skis, cross-country skis or jumping skis, for instance.

Transporting of skis by car is nowadays done in the boot of a passenger car, in ski racks on the roof, in ski bags made of fabric, or in a transport box mounted on the roof. The least recommendable alterna¬ tive among those enumerated is separate ski racks on the car roof because the skis become soiled with dirt and salt rising from the road. It is also a fact that waxes which may already have been applied on the skis cannot tolerate the impurities rising from the road surface.

However, all the other ski-transporting meth¬ ods of prior art also present certain drawbacks. The parts outside the ski soles, the ski sticks or other close-by objects tend to scratch the soles when skis are being transported sole against sole. The ski soles rub against each other during transport, whereby trans¬ versal scratches are inflicted on their sliding sur- faces. Moreover, wax coatings with which the skis have been provided in advance are easily damaged in trans¬ port. It is also a fact that thicker pastes in particu¬ lar, but other ski waxes as well, will soil down the ski bags, and other transport means of prior art as well, to nearly unusable condition.

Various kinds of ski transporting cases are also known in the art, such being disclosed, for in¬ stance, in the references: DE 1 914 810, DE 2 419 547, and EP 413 243, but which are complicated, expensive and comparatively heavy.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the drawbacks mentioned in the foregoing. In particu- lar, the object of the invention is to provide a novel ski transporting means with which one avoids damage to the skis, and to the waxes applied on them, in various transporting and storing situations. Regarding the features which are characterist¬ ic of the invention, reference is made to the claims section.

The transport means of the invention consists of an elongated body comprising spaces in which the skis can be placed in protected position. As taught by the invention, the transport means consists of a body having H cross section, the spaces for skis being de¬ fined between the legs of the section, on both sides of the section's transversal web part. The transport means furthermore comprises a securing means for securing the skis substantially immovably between said legs and against the web part, with the ski soles facing each other.

It is thus understood that the four legs of the section and the transversal web part connecting them form two channel-like spaces opening on opposite sides of the web part and having substantially rect¬ angular cross section, in which the skis of one pair of skis can be accommodated in protected position, on opposite sides of the transversal web part and with the soles of the skis facing each other.

The letter H-shaped section body is advantage¬ ously a body of which the legs are equal in length and parallel, and perpendicular against the web part lying between them. It is however equally conceivable that the legs are, two and two, somewhat obliquely position¬ ed relative to each other, whereby the groove-resem¬ bling receptacle formed by such a pair of legs together with the transversal web part will be slightly tapering in the direction towards its open side.

The body according to the invention is advan¬ tageously made of extruded plastic or, for instance, of light metal, such as aluminium, but the manufacturing materials to be used for the body according to the invention are in no way confined to those just mention¬ ed: numerous other materials can be contemplated. Advantageously, on the surfaces of the body's transversal web part, either extending from end to end of the body or at least at those points where the ski soles are in contact with the web part, is provided a suitable protective coating. This protective coating may consist of a fixed, and structural, part of the H section, or it may be any kind of adhesive sheet or a separate body affixed in another way to the web part, its material and/or surface configuration being select¬ ed so that when the sole of the ski comes to lie thereagainst it will not damage the waxes on the sole of the ski nor will it become adherent to such waxes. Thus, with the aid of said protective coating, the sole of the ski will remain in perfect condition throughout the transport. A securing member on the transport means is used to lock, enclose or tie the skis to be immovable between the legs of the section. One may use, for such securing member, belts which are wrapped around the section, one or several belts, which may be elastic, distensible or inelastic. These belts may be furnished with adhesive fastening or with suitable buckles. Any other kinds of buckles and bolts known in themselves in the art may equally be used, by which the ends of the H section's legs are connected. If the length of the H section used for trans¬ port means is somewhat less than that of the skis, it is also possible for securing members to use suitable connectors by which the skis are clamped or bound to¬ gether in the area outside the ends of the section. It is also conceivable that the securing members are con¬ stituted by a resilient construction of the section's legs. The legs may in that case be provided with suit- able knobs or pins, or they may be positioned slightly at an angle to each other, in which case the skis are inserted between the legs by forcing the legs apart or by pressing the ski in between the legs, which are thereby forced apart.

The H section of the transport means of the invention may equally be formed of two T sections of substantially identical shape and which can be united to make up an H section. It is also possible to provide between the T sections a spacer of appropriate width, suitable selection of this width allowing the width of the entire section to be chosen so that it conforms to the ski that shall be accommodated. In this case the T sections may have identical cross section. The elongated transport means of the invention is advantageously composed of one, integral, piece and there may be such pieces in different lengths to fit the particular application. However, it is equally pos¬ sible to use, in the invention, shorter section lengths from which the transport means proper is assembled by joining after each other the required number of section lengths, with the aid of suitable members.

It is also possible that the transport means of the invention comprises racks, or other suitable fixing areas, for the ski sticks where the sticks can be firmly fixed for the duration of transport.

The advantage afforded by the invention over the state of art is that with the aid of this transport means the skis can be transported and moved with ease, as well as stored even in cramped space, protecting the waxed surfaces during the time,

.In the following, the invention is described in detail with the aid of the attached drawing, wherein Fig. 1 presents a transport means according to the invention.

Fig. 2 presents the cross section of the transport means of Fig. 1, along the line II-II, Fig. 3 presents the cross section configuration of an¬ other transport means according to the invention, and Fig. 4 presents the cross section configuration of a third transport means according to the invention. A transport means according to the invention, depicted in Fig. 1, comprises an elongated body 1 with H cross section configuration, a straight and rigid body. The body consists of four mutually parallel legs 2, 3, 4 and 5, with a transversal web part 6, perpen- dicular against them, lying between them and connecting them with each other. Hereby there is defined, between the transversal web part 6 and the legs 2 and 3, and likewise between the transversal web part 6 and the legs 4 and 5, a channel having rectangular cross sec- tion and extending over the whole length of the body. On both ends of both channels has been provid¬ ed a suitable protective coating material 7. Further¬ more, at the centre of the body 1 three elongated holes 15 are provided, the centremost hole being located in the leg 3 and the holes on either side, in the leg 5. In the case here depicted, in one of the holes in leg 5 is fixed, as shown in Fig. 2, a belt 9 of which the other end serves as securing member 8 and which carries on its other end an adhesive coating 9 serving to secure the belt.

The transport means of Figs 1 and 2 is used as follows. The skis which are meant to be transported are placed in the body 1, in the channels defined by the web part 6 together with the legs 2-5, as shown in Fig. 2, the soles of the skis against the web part and on opposite sides of the web part, so that the skis touch the body at the locations of the protective coatings 7 only. The belt 9 is thereafter wrapped around the body 1 and secured with the adhesive coating 10 to itself so that the skis are immovably held between the legs. It is thereafter easy to move and transport the skis while they are protected between the legs from external bumps as well as from dirt. Owing to the bounce of the skis 16 (arrow 17) it is fully feasible to press the skis against the web part 6 with appropriate force so that they will be held firmly in place. The belt 9 may also be made of elastic material so that it is drawn tight, and distended, to wrap around the skis with appropriate tension.

Fig. 3 is a sectioned view of another embodi¬ ment of the invention, in which the H section is made up of two parts 13 which can be joined together with the aid of a connecting member 19 and counter-member 20, provided on them.

In the embodiment of Fig. 4 the components 13 have identical cross section, and they are joined by a spacer 14, which determines the width of the transport means; it is therefore possible, by using spacers of different widths, to make up one single kind of compo¬ nents 13 into transport means for skis with different widths. It should be noted that in Figs 3 and 4 the connecting members 19 and counter-members 20 have mere¬ ly been presented by way of example, and schematically, and that their function, design and external appearance may even greatly differ from what has been presented. In the foregoing the invention has been de- scribed by way of example with the aid of the attached drawing, while different embodiments of the invention are feasible within the scope of the inventive idea delimited by the claims.

Claims

1. A transport means for facilitating the transporting of skis, consisting of an elongated body (1) with accommodation spaces in which the skis can be placed in protected position, characterized in that the transport means consists of a body (1) with H section configuration, the ski spaces being defined between the legs (2,3,4,5) of the section, on different sides of the transversal web part (6) of the section, and that the transport means comprises a securing member (8) for securing the skis substantially immovably between the legs (2,3,4,5) and against the web part (6).

2. Transport means according to claim 1, characterized in that the surfaces of the transversal web part (6) which come against the soles of the skis include a protective coating to prevent damage to the waxes and surfaces of the ski during transport.

3. Transport means according to claim 1, characterized in that the fixing means (8) consists of a belt (9) to be wrapped around the body (1) , with locking member (10).

4. Transport means according to claim 3, characterized in that the locking member (10) consists of am adhesive band or a buckle on the belt (9).

5. Transport means according to claim 1, characterized in that the securing member (8) consists of notches/eminences provided on the legs (2,3,4,5) and/or of the elasticity of the legs.

6. Transport means according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the body (1) is com¬ posed of two parts (13) which are placed against each other, and possibly of a spacer (14) by means of which the width of the body can be adjusted to fit the skis which are to be used.