U.S. patent application number 10/547832 was filed with the patent office on 2006-07-06 for sliding board, particularly a ski.
Invention is credited to Manfred Baumgartner, Alois Himmetsberger, Gernot Jahnel, Hubert Wurthner.
Application Number | 20060145454 10/547832 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32932004 |
Filed Date | 2006-07-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060145454 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Baumgartner; Manfred ; et
al. |
July 6, 2006 |
Sliding board, particularly a ski
Abstract
The invention relates to a sliding board, particularly a ski,
and a manufacturing method, comprising a sliding surface (4), an
upper shell (2), a core (3), optionally steel edges (10), an upper
web (12) and a lower web (11), and comprising at least one
interface element (10), which is joined by means of anchoring
elements (7) to the sliding board body and which is provided for
mounting at least one binding element on the top surface of the
sliding board. The anchoring elements (7) are hook-like elements,
which are placed inside openings (5) in the upper shell (2) and,
optionally, in additional sliding board parts extending above the
core (3), which engage under the upper shell (2) and the optional
additional sliding board parts, and which are secured in the
sliding board by foam material that is introduced during the
production of the sliding board.
Inventors: |
Baumgartner; Manfred;
(Lichtenworth, AT) ; Himmetsberger; Alois;
(Vienna, AT) ; Jahnel; Gernot; (Katzelsdorf,
AT) ; Wurthner; Hubert; (Hainburg, AT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OSTROLENK FABER GERB & SOFFEN
1180 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK
NY
100368403
US
|
Family ID: |
32932004 |
Appl. No.: |
10/547832 |
Filed: |
February 20, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
February 20, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP04/01655 |
371 Date: |
August 30, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
280/607 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63C 9/003 20130101;
A63C 5/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
280/607 |
International
Class: |
A63C 5/00 20060101
A63C005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 7, 2003 |
AT |
A 352/2003 |
Claims
1-7. (canceled)
8. A sliding board comprising a running surface, an upper shell,
and a core therebetween; and at least one interface element,
connected to the sliding board by anchoring elements, for arranging
at least one binding element on the upper side of the sliding
board, wherein the anchoring elements are L-shaped parts which are
connected to the interface element and are disposed in
keyhole-shaped openings in the upper shell and have free portions
which engage under the upper shell and are secured in the sliding
board by cured foamed material which fills the openings.
9. The sliding board as claimed in claim 8, wherein said sliding
board further comprises additional components disposed between said
upper shell and said core and said free portions of said anchoring
elements further engage with said additional components.
10. The sliding board as claimed in claim 8, wherein the anchoring
elements are inserted in tight engagement in said holes.
11. The sliding board as claimed in claim 10, wherein the foamed
material secures the anchoring elements against loosening from said
tight engagement.
12. The sliding board as claimed in claim 9, wherein the openings
in the upper shell and in the additional sliding board components
have a first hole part of larger diameter and a second hole part of
smaller diameter, and the anchoring elements have a foot part and a
neck part, the neck parts being adapted to engage tightly in the
smaller hole parts and the foot parts all being oriented in the
same direction relative to the corresponding neck parts.
13. The sliding board as claimed in claim 8, wherein the openings
in the upper shell have a first hole part of larger diameter and a
second hole part of smaller diameter, and the anchoring elements
have a foot part and a neck part, the neck parts being adapted to
engage tightly in the smaller hole parts and the foot parts all
being oriented in the same direction relative to the corresponding
neck parts.
14. The sliding board as claimed in claim 8, wherein the foamed
material fills at least one opening in an additional sliding board
component which is arranged below the sliding board components
provided with the holes.
15. The sliding board as claimed in claim 14, wherein the opening
is provided at least in the upper web.
16. A method of manufacturing a sliding board comprising a running
surface, an upper shell, and a core therebetween, and at least one
interface element having hook-like anchoring elements, for
arranging at least one binding element on the upper side of the
sliding board, comprising the steps of: inserting said hook-like
anchoring elements into openings in the upper shell, engaging said
anchoring elements under the upper shell, and securing said
anchoring elements in the sliding board by introducing foam
material into said openings and curing said foam material.
17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the foam material is
introduced into said openings while pressing said sliding board in
a mold.
18. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said sliding board
has additional components below the upper shell and above the core,
and further comprising the step of engaging said hook-like
anchoring elements with said additional components.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is a 35 U.S.C. .sctn.371 national
phase conversion of PCT/EP2004/001655 filed Feb. 20, 2004, which
claims priority of Austrian application no. A 352/2003 filed Mar.
7, 2003, which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates to a sliding board, in particular a
ski, with a running surface, an upper shell, and a core, optionally
with steel edges, an upper web and a lower web, and with at least
one interface element, connected to the sliding board body by means
of anchoring elements, for arranging at least one binding element
on the upper side of the sliding board.
[0004] The invention also realates to a method for the production
of a sliding board, in particular a ski, with a running surface, a
core, an upper shell, and at least one interface element,
optionally with steel edges, an upper web and a lower web, which
are built up in layers and interconnected in a mold under pressure
and heat.
[0005] 2. Related Art
[0006] A sliding board with a profiled rail system, consisting of
at least one rail extending in the longitudinal direction of the
sliding board, the rail being connected to the sliding board body
by a dowel connection or anchoring via at least one formed-on dowel
or dowel portion, is known from EP-A-1 161 972. The fastening of
the profiled rails is effected on the finished sliding board and
consequently merely replaces the otherwise usual screw fastenings.
In order to provide a sliding board with a premounted profiled rail
system, it is therefore necessary to carry out fastening and
mounting operations on the finished sliding board.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The invention provides a sliding board which does not have
this disadvantage.
[0008] According to aspects of the product and method inventions,
hook-like anchoring elements which are inserted into openings in
the upper shell and optionally in additional sliding board
components extending above the core, engage under the upper shell
and the optional additional sliding board components, and are
secured in the sliding board by foamed material introduced during
sliding board manufacture.
[0009] The interface element, which constitutes the connection for
the binding parts to be arranged on the sliding board, is therefore
integrated during manufacture of the sliding board, so that the
usual fastening operations, such as screwing-on, may be dispensed
with. The manufacture of such a sliding board is very simple,
economical and reliable and the procedure for arranging
bindings--ski bindings, ski binding parts or snowboard bindings--is
rationalized considerably.
[0010] The handling of the sliding board during manufacture, after
assembly but before being presed together, is further simplified by
virtue of the fact that the anchoring elements are inserted so as
to make a positive connection.
[0011] According to another feature of the invention, the foamed
material secures the anchoring elements against loosening from the
positive connection. Only a small amount of foamed material
therefore needs to be introduced. The foamed material is preferably
introduced in the course of the operation in which the sliding
board is pressed in the mold, so that the manufacture of the
sliding board may be carried out in an efficient way.
[0012] According to another aspect of the invention, the holes in
the upper shell and in the optional additional sliding board
components may comprise a first hole part of larger diameter and a
second hole part of smaller diameter, and the anchoring elements
may have a foot part and a neck part, the neck parts being adapted
to fit tightly into the smaller hole parts and the foot parts all
being oriented in the same direction. A positive fit of the
anchoring elements is thus ensured in a constructionally simple and
advantageous way, as the anchoring elements merely have to be
inserted into the larger hole parts and then displaced into the
smaller hole parts. These features facilitate positioning and
holding of the anchoring elements during the construction of the
sliding board before it undergoes the molding and pressing
operation.
[0013] The foamed material preferably fills at least one opening in
an additional sliding board component which is arranged below the
sliding board components provided with the holes. By virtue of
this, the anchoring elements are to a great extent embedded in the
foamed material and a durable connection of the anchoring elements
to the sliding board body is ensured. In a preferred embodiment of
the invention, this opening is provided at least in the upper web
of the sliding board.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] Further features, advantages and details of the invention
are now described in greater detail with reference to the drawings,
which represent an illustrative embodiment and in which:
[0015] FIG. 1 shows a top view of the upper shell of a ski made
according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 shows a side view of an interface element on the
ski;
[0017] FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal section through the ski, taken
along line III-III in FIG. 4; and
[0018] FIG. 4 shows a cross section through the ski taken along
line IV-IV in FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0019] The ski 1 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has an upper shell 2, a
core 3, a running surface 4, steel edges 10 and a lower web 11
extending between these. An upper web 12 is located between the
upper shell 2 and the core 3. The upper shell 2 forms the top
surface and the longitudinal sides of the ski 1. In the embodiment
illustrated, the core 3 is a flexible core, which can be made of
wood, of plastic, of light metal or the like. Composite
constructions, honeycomb structures, other open structures, and
structures with chambers are also possible. The core 3 can also be
a laminated core constructed with a number of prepreg layers.
[0020] In particular, the core is enclosed by a prepreg layer 14.
The prepreg layer 14 contains fabric or scrim made of fibers, for
example made of glass or aramid, embedded in a plastic material,
for example epoxy resin or phenolic resin. The enclosed core 3
forms what is known as the torsion box of the ski 1.
[0021] Further, the ski 1 may comprise additional layers and
intermediate layers (not illustrated) made of various materials,
for example rubber or metal. All the parts of the ski 1 may be
prefabricated and premolded parts.
[0022] To arrange a ski binding part or a ski binding on the upper
side of the ski 1, two guide elements 6 profiled in a rail-like
configuration are provided in the embodiment shown. The pair of
guide elements 6 extends symmetrically in relation to the
longitudinal axis of the ski 1 and is connected to the latter in
the following way. As FIGS. 2 and 3 show, a number of anchoring
elements 7 are provided on the underside of each guide element 6,
which elements are L-shaped or hook-shaped and may have a neck part
7a, which extends perpendicularly to the ski upper side and may be
cylindrically shaped, and a foot part 7b attached to the neck part
and extending in particular horizontally, the foot parts 7b of the
anchoring elements 7 of a guide element 6 preferably pointing in
the same direction.
[0023] The rail-like guide elements 6, which are steel or plastic
profiles for example, are provided with profiled parts 6a, which
are attached laterally, in each case pointing toward the ski edges
so as to allow a base-plate or other binding part to be pushed on.
Other designs for the guide elements are of course also
possible.
[0024] Inserting holes 5 are provided in the upper shell 2 of the
ski 1 for inserting the anchoring elements 7. Each hole 5 has a
hole part 5a with a larger diameter and a hole part 5b with a
smaller diameter, which give the holes 5a keyhole shape when seen
in top view. A large-area opening 12a enclosing the holes 5, which
is rectangular for example when seen in top view, is provided in
the upper web 12. FIG. 1 shows the outer contour of this opening
12a in broken lines. It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the height
(dimension a) of the foot parts 7b of the anchoring elements 7
corresponds to the thickness of the upper web 12 and the vertical
dimension b of the neck parts 7a corresponds to the thickness of
the upper shell 2. The diameter of the neck parts 7a of the
anchoring elements 7 is adapted to the diameter of the hole parts
5b of smaller diameter. It should be mentioned at this point that
additional layers can be introduced into the ski construction at
least locally in the region of the upper web 12 and the upper shell
2, in order to adapt this region of the ski to the anchoring
elements 7.
[0025] To anchor the anchoring elements 7 in the ski 1 constructed
in layers but not as yet pressed, the guide elements 6 are inserted
through the holes 5 in the upper shell 2. By displacing the guide
elements 6 in the direction of the hole parts 5b of smaller
diameter, the neck parts 7a enter into engagement with these hole
parts 5b. By virtue of this, a positive fit of the neck parts 7a in
the hole parts 5b of smaller diameter is produced. The free spaces
created behind the anchoring elements 7 in the holes 5 in the
region of the hole parts 5a with the larger diameter and the free
space formed by the opening 12a are filled with foamed material.
The foamed material 9 can be introduced via supply ducts (not
shown) provided by the ski construction. The foamed material
filling operation preferably takes place after the unfinished ski
has been introduced into the mold, before or during the pressing
operation. FIGS. 3 and 4 show the regions filled with foam 9. FIG.
4 also shows that the guide elements 6 are made in such a way that,
resting on the upper shell 2, they cover the holes 5
completely.
[0026] Instead of the rail-like guide elements 6 illustrated,
one-piece profiled rail elements, base-plates for any positioning
and fixing devices for ski binding parts or the like, or other
plates, can also be provided with the anchoring elements 7 made
according to the invention, and may be anchored according to the
invention.
[0027] The invention has been described with reference to a ski.
The invention can of course also find application in other sliding
boards, for example snowboards.
[0028] Although the present invention has been described in
relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations
and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those
skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention is not limited
by the specific disclosure herein.
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