Abstract:
A ski grinding device and method comprising a holder having an adjustably sizable frame and a plurality of biasing legs disposed to engage the ski and maintain it in a flattened position. By holding the ski flat, the running surface can be ground more controllably and precisely.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This application pertains to the art of ski grinding, and more particularly to a holding device for a snow ski for improved ski grinding. The invention is particularly applicable to be used with an automatic ski grinding machine and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it will be appreciated that the invention has broader applications and could be used with a hand grinding device or advantageously employed in other environments and applications. 
     After a ski has been in use for a certain amount of time the bottom runner and the edges of the ski acquire gouges, scrapes, and nicks which damage the integrity of the ski. Such gouges, scrapes and nicks on the bottom runner of the ski destroy the smoothness of the bottom. The bottom should be smooth to allow for a more frictional-less contact between the snow and the runner thereby allowing greater speed and more responsive control. Additionally, damage to the edges of the ski diminishes the responsiveness of the ski when a skier attempts to make turns and stops. 
     In order to regain the integrity of the ski by recreating a smooth bottom surface and removing the nicks and scrapes from the edges of the ski, skiers will typically have these sections of the ski ground and sharpened to acquire the desired smoothness on the bottom of the ski and the sharpness on the edges. 
     A typical present method for grinding of skis employs a stone grinder with a foot pedal and a drive wheel so that the weighted drive wheel drags the ski across the stone. An alternative method for sharpening is simply having a grinding stone and a person who is grinding to hold the ski in his or her hands and by eyesight re-sharpen the ski&#39;s edges. 
     When using a stone grinder with a drive wheel to drag the ski across the stone, the drive wheel must make contact with the ski. Direct contact to the top of the ski is not desirable due to the damage the drive wheel would cause to the bindings which are located on the top portion of the ski. Therefore, some sort of holding device must be employed to allow the drive wheel to move the ski without directly touching the ski. 
     Heretofore various methods have been implemented in an attempt to allow the drive wheel to move the ski absent directly contacting the ski. One method includes putting a ramp-type frame on top of the ski so that the area underneath the ramp includes the ski bindings. This allows the drive wheel to move the ski and at the same time avoid damaging the bindings. 
     A major drawback to this type of method is that the cross-feed of the ski is not constant. The cross-feed is the rate at which the ski is pulled from its front portion or tip through the grinding machine until it reaches its end portion or tail. Excessive grinding occurs when the drive wheel is moving up and down the ramp, as it takes more time to cover the horizontal area beneath the ramp than the horizontal areas not beneath the ramp because the drive wheel simple has to go farther while going up and down the ramp than the grinding wheel has to go across the opposed flat ski surface. This excessive grinding creates scallops in these areas, thereby destroying the complete smoothness of the ski. 
     The problem with a non-constant cross-feed has been addressed by another method. This method includes using a straight edge in a parallel feed system. The operator of the grinder simply lays a straight edge on a ski and holds the ski and straight edge together when feeding the ski into the machine. Such a method eliminates scallops caused by inconsistent cross-feeds. While cross-feed is controlled by the rate that the feeder wheel pulls the ski through the grinder, in-feed of a ski is controlled by weighing the drive wheel onto the ski. In-feed is the amount of material that is removed by bringing the wheel to the ski or ski to the wheel and is usually controlled by weight and not by a specific amount. In other words, by applying a selected weight to the wheel, the resulting pressure will cause some amount of the ski surface to be removed. Since the straight edge is in no way hooked or fastened to the ski and the ski itself is not straightened out, problems with in feed control will persist. 
     Specifically, since weight controls the in-feed to the grinding wheel and the width of the ski changes from tip to tail, the amount of in-feed will vary with the width of the ski, thus varying in-feed. By not being positively attached to the ski, the straight edge or ramp mechanism will have a tendency to chatter and slide thereby causing non-uniformed pressure from the drive wheel to be transferred down to the ski. 
     Additionally, each ski contains an inherent camber to its form and such camber is destroyed or altered when either of the above-mentioned holding methods are used since neither of the methods completely flatten or decamber the ski to be ground. The present methods are simply concerned with making the ski flat from edge to edge. No consideration is given to making the ski smooth from edge tip to edge tail. 
     Consequently, a need exists for improvements in the holding of a ski to be reground which will result in greater reliability in control of cross-feed, in-feed, and decambering of a ski&#39;s normal structure thereby allowing a ski to be refinished with the ski bottom being smooth edge to edge and tip to tail and for accurate sharpening of ski&#39;s edges, while at the same time maintaining the original camber of the ski. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a ski holding apparatus and method designed to satisfy the aforementioned needs. Holding of the ski is carried out by a fixture device which fixes a flattened ski in order for the ski to be ground in a grinding machine. The ski consists of a front section designated a tip section, a rear section designated a tail section, and a bottom surface known as a running surface. The ski is straightened and a registered surface created by putting the ski on a true straight edge and clamping it to that straight edge. Thereafter, an adjustable frame which is selectively sizeable is mounted onto the ski. The frame is mounted by attaching a flexible material from the frame to the tip section and then attaching the tail section of the ski to the frame by positioning the frame by the tail and selectively altering the size of the frame member to create a compression on the ski. When the appropriate size of adjustable frame has been chosen, the frame itself is locked through a frame locking means. 
     After the frame has been attached biasing legs extending from the frame apply pressure to the top of the ski. Each of the legs may be individually adjusted to increase or decrease the pressure being placed on the ski top. After such adjustments have been made the front section legs are locked through the use of a locking lever. An additional individual leg located in the back section of the fixture is individually locked. 
     After the necessary attachments and adjustments have been made the ski is released from the true straight edge and is appropriately held for grinding. 
     A first advantage of the present invention is a consistent control of the in-feed and cross-feed of the ski from edge to edge and tip to tail of the ski all along its running surface thereby allowing a level refinishing of the entire bottom of the ski. 
     Another advantage of the present invention is that by maintaining the ski rigidly in place accurate bevelling of the ski sides may be accomplished. 
     Yet another advantage of the present invention is that by decambering the ski before grinding, the natural camber of the ski may be maintained thereby avoiding alterations in the flex pattern of the ski. 
     Still yet another advantage of the present invention is to allow the operator of the grinding machine to automatically feed in the ski without the necessity of the operator maintaining the frame manually in connection with the ski. 
     Still further advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the preferred and alternative embodiments. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention may take form in various parts and arrangements of parts or in various steps and arrangements of steps. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. 
     FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical illustration of the fixture device attached to a ski; 
     FIG. 2 is a cut-away drawing and elevated view of the biasing legs; 
     FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 2 of the adjustable frame member showing the biasing legs locks; 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of the tail end of the frame member with the biasing leg impinging upon the ski; 
     FIG. 5 is a top view of the frame member; 
     FIG. 6 is a view of the locking means for the selectively sizeable frame member; 
     FIG. 7 is a generalized diagrammatical view of a grinder machine; 
     FIG. 8 is a view of the edging means contained within the overall grinder machine of FIG. 7; and, 
     FIG. 9 is a simplified view of the present invention attached to the ski wherein the ski is further attached and clamped to a true straight edge. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The drawings are for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention only, and not for the purposes of limiting same. 
     With reference to FIG. 1, a ski holding device 1 is shown attached to a straightened ski 2. The ski is straightened by pressing it against a true edge (FIG. 9). The front portion or tip of the ski 2 is attached to the ski holding device 1 by a flexible strap 10 found at the front of the ski holding device 1 and looped around the tip of the ski. The end or tail of the ski is held in place by a rigid holding section 12 of the ski holding device 1. The rigid holding section 12 is placed behind the tail of ski and the selectively adjustable frame 14 is lengthened or shortened by sliding the inner section 16 of the frame either in or out of the outer section 18 of the frame. The frame member 14 is preferably prefabricated lightweight metallic material. After the frame has been adjusted to apply compression to the ski by tightly holding the ski to the frame, frame lock 20 is locked to maintain the frame in the selected position as will be further discussed below. 
     At the front portion of the ski holding device 1 located directly behind the flexible strapping 10 is a non-adjustable support 22 used to support the curvature found at the transition area between the flat surface of the ski and the curved tip. The non-adjustable support 22 extends across the width of the ski. It may be made of a light plastic material with an anti-skid type bottom and a hollow interior. 
     Extending from the underside of the frame outer portion 18 and engaging the top of the ski are several biasing legs 30a, 30b, and 30c disposed at intervals to bias the ski in a flattened position. It is to be appreciated that the biasing legs 30a-30c are spring loaded, and though not shown in FIG. 1, a biasing leg could engage the ski on top of part or all of the bindings 32. 
     After the biasing legs 30a-30c have been positioned and adjusted, a biasing leg locking lever 34 is actuated to thereby fix the position of legs 30a-30c. 
     Located on the inner-section 16 of the selectably sizable adjustable frame member 14 is an independent biasing leg 38 which extends from the underside of the frame member 16 and engages the top of the ski in order to bias the ski in a flattened position. The individual biasing leg 38 is thereafter locked into position. 
     The biasing legs 30a-30c, 38 are spring loaded to allow an up/down adjustment relative to the ski. 
     With particular reference to FIG. 2, a cut-away of one of the biasing legs. The biasing legs 30a-30c, 38 include head 40 which impinges upon the ski 2. The head comprises a frusto-conical body portion 41 and an anti-skid pad 42 to maintain a desired position on the ski. The head 40 is connected to the post portion 46 of the leg through the use of a conventional fastener device 44. 
     The post 46 of the leg is encircled by a biasing spring 48 which applies a downward force to the head 40 for biasing the head against the ski to assist in holding the ski. It should be noted that the downward pressure caused by the spring may be altered by the choice of spring. The spring is maintained on the post 46 by two retainer rings 50a and 50b. 
     After the biasing legs 30a-30c, 38 have been positioned onto the ski 2, adjustment of the amount of pressure applied to the top of the ski may be made by turning the adjustment nut 52 up or down the adjustment stud 54. Wherein the adjustment stud 54 and the adjustment nut 52 which is threadedly received in the post 46 are simply a nut and bolt configuration. 
     The means for locking the front outer portion biasing legs 30a-30c is an eccentric twist grip 56. The three forward biasing legs 30a-30c are commonly connected through an actuator bar 58 for simultaneous locking. Upon actuation of the biasing legs lock lever 34 the three eccentric twist grips 56 are activated thereby causing simultaneous locking of all three biasing leg means 30a-30c. A fine adjustment to the eccentric twist grip lock 56 is provided by screw 62, thereby allowing an operator to adjust for any inequalities in the locking strength among the three legs. A spring 64 creates a degree of tension in the axial movement of the actuator bar 58. 
     Post 46 is telescopically received in a sleeve 47 which is fixed to the frame member 14 at junction 66 through some sort of conventional attaching means, possibly spot-welding. The stroke of the post 46 in the sleeve 47 is defined by a spacing 51. 
     Turning now to FIG. 3 which shows a bottom plan view of the above discussed biasing legs, one may see that further locking is provided to the eccentric twist grip 56 of FIG. 2 through a latch 70. The latch 70 includes a torsion spring allowing the latch to slide along the outer circumference of an actuator plate 72 until reaching a notch whereby it adds an additional locking feature to the biasing legs lock 34. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 show the individual biasing leg 38 disposed at the tail of the flattened ski 2 wherein the tail of the ski closely abuts the rigid frame member 12 for secure retention therein. The above discussion concerning the biasing legs 30a-30c is generally applicable to the leg 38. A difference between the legs is that leg 38 has an individual eccentric twist grip lock typically actuated by a knurl type locking collar 74 for individually locking the leg 38. It is not actuated by the lever 34 and bar 58. 
     As indicated above, the ski holding device 1 is sized for the ski 2 by telescoping the adjustable frame member 14. Specifically, after the tip of the ski has been engaged with the flexible strapping means 10, the inner portion of the frame 16 is slid into the mating outer portion 18 until the rigid member 12 engages the tail of the ski. Thereafter, the frame is locked into the set position. With reference to FIG. 6, this lock is be shown. After the desired length of the frame has been chosen, the frame is locked by throwing the frame lock lever 20. Upon movement of the lever 20, pins 76a and 76b received in lever arcuate slots 78a, 78b are urged either towards or away from each other due to the varying radius of the slots relative the point 81 of frame outer portion locking slot 82. Such movement in one direction forces the pins closer together thereby squeezing slot 82 closed and causing the inner wall of portion 18 to impinge upon the outer wall of portion 16 thereby locking the two telescoping pieces into position. 
     Turning now to FIG. 7, presented is a typical grinding machine which may make use of the present invention. A ski as shown in FIG. 1 may enter the machine through an opening 84. A feeder belt drive motor 86 causes drive wheels 88a through 88d to rotate, moving a drive belt 90. The frame of the ski holding device is engaged at the top by the drive belt thereby moving the ski through the grinding device. The bottom of the ski is ground by a grinding wheel 92. The grinding wheel is prepared by a wheel dresser 94, which is subsequently moved out of the ski&#39;s path. A coolant system 96 is provided for maintaining proper operating temperatures. 
     FIG. 8 shows a ski 2, held by the present invention, going through the machine of FIG. 7. This FIGURE illustrates the method by which the machine resharpens the edges of the ski. The cup sanders 97 are positioned at a predetermined angular degree relative to the ski edge to allow the proper sharpness of the skis to be obtained. Proper placement of the ski to allow accurate re-edging is obtained through the use of the present invention by maintaining the ski in the predesired location without any substantial variation. 
     FIG. 9 shows a ski assembly in accordance with the present invention on a true straight edge 96 and clamped with clamps 98 thereto. Upon attachment of the frame to the ski feeler gauges may be used to test the straightness of the ski. If the ski as attached is not of the desired straightness adjustments may be made to the appropriate biasing leg to either increase or decrease the downward pressure being applied to the biasing leg. This increase or decrease in pressure is accomplished by movement of adjustment nut 52 as shown in FIG. 2. Upon a finding that the ski is of the desired straightness, the clamps are removed and the ski is ready to be ground. 
     A ski held in a fixture device of the present invention allows for improved and more accurate grinding of the ski running surface by maintaining the ski in a truly flattened state during grinding. The holder 1 will keep the ski camber from varying in-feed grinding while the essentially parallel frame portions 16, 18 to the ski running surface preclude scalloping that occurred where the grinding machine drive wheel had to travel over a ramp covering the bindings. 
     The ski held in the fixture device in the present invention allows the ski to be drawn over a flat bed or roller system and thereby insuring precise control of infeed by raising the grinding wheel or stone a predetermined height above the bed. 
     The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the preceding specification. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such alterations and modifications in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalent thereof.