Abstract:
Apparatus for holding a ski in a stable horizontal position during ski base preparation and maintenance, which apparatus also employs means permitting the ski to be placed in an edge-up orientation and held there in a stable manner for ski edge maintenance procedures. A three-point arrangement includes two ski end supports and an intermediate device which secures the ski to a work station while retracting and holding the ski brake. The apparatus is portable and adaptable for use with all skis having a ski brake.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to an apparatus for holding a ski or the like in such manner as to facilitate waxing and maintenance operations thereon.  
           [0002]    The prior art has provided various forms of devices for holding skis on or above a stationary support such as a workbench to allow for preparation of the ski base and edges. One such ski holding device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,887 to Weissenbom et al issued Sep. 29, 1992.  
           [0003]    Skis have become increasingly popular in recent years and require frequent maintenance to ensure optimal performance and prolonged useful life. Maintenance procedures include cleaning, repair and waxing of the ski base materials as well as maintenance of the ski edges to remove roughness and the like. These procedures must be repeated throughout the life of the ski and hence it is desirable to provide apparatus for securing the ski in positions such that maintenance work can readily be accomplished, with, at the same time, a minimum amount of time and effort being required to mount and dismount the ski to and from the ski holder.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for holding skis and the like at a work station during repair and maintenance operations.  
           [0005]    A further object is to provide apparatus for holding a ski in a stable horizontal “base-up” position during ski base preparation and maintenance, which apparatus also employs means permitting the ski to be placed in horizontal “edge-up” orientation and held there in a stable manner for ski edge maintenance procedures.  
           [0006]    A further object is to provide apparatus of the nature noted above which incorporates means by which to retract the ski brake so that said ski brake does not interfere with ski base and edge preparation and maintenance procedures.  
           [0007]    It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved three-point ski-holding arrangement where two end supports provide substantial support of the ski for ski base and edge preparation and wherein an intermediate tensioning device retracts the ski brake and firmly holds the ski to said end supports under tension with the ski either base-up and parallel, or on its side with the ski base perpendicular to the top surface of a work station.  
           [0008]    It is a further general object to provide apparatus for use in ski maintenance and repair procedures which is adaptable for use with a wide variety of skis with bindings.  
           [0009]    Accordingly, the invention in one embodiment provides a portable support for use in spaced relation with a similar support as a ski support for maintenance operations at a work station, each said support being adapted to support one of the opposing end portions of the ski. Each portable support typically comprises a base section adapted to be fixed to a work station in a generally upright position and a ski support head mounted to said base section allowing placement of the ski in a desired position to facilitate maintenance procedures.  
           [0010]    The ski support head typically has a resilient surface thereon to frictionally engage the ski when resting thereon in a generally horizontal ski base maintenance position or, alternatively, the ski edge maintenance position.  
           [0011]    A typical embodiment of the invention provides a tensioning device comprising a clamp associated with a length of rope or accessory cord and a cleat and which tensioning device is adapted to be attached to the work station intermediate a pair of said supports to provide means by which to engage and retract the ski brake and thereby hold the ski against said supports during ski base and edge maintenance.  
           [0012]    Further features of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description of preferred embodiments which follows hereinafter, reference being had to the appended drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF VIEWS OF DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a spaced pair of ski supports for supporting opposing end potions of the ski and a tensioning device intermediate thereof, all of the above being shown as clamped to a table or work station and illustrating a ski with binding shown in a raised position above the apparatus;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a further perspective view showing the ski positioned on the two supports with the tensioning device employed to facilitate ski base preparation/maintenance;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a further perspective view of the tensioning device assembly showing the C-clamp, accessory cord and cleat components thereof;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a further perspective view of the ski in a horizontal position with the accessory cord relaxed and looped around the ski brake portion of the ski binding;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a further perspective view of the ski in a horizontal position with the accessory cord looped around the ski brake and held taunt thereby retracting said ski brake to facilitate ski base preparation;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is an elevation view, partly in section, of the ski positioned horizontally for base preparation with the accessory cord looped around both ski brake arms thereby retracting the ski brake;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is an elevation view, partly in section, of the ski positioned horizontally on the ski support to facilitate ski base preparation;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is a further perspective view showing the two ski supports and tensioning device clamped to a work station with the ski having been moved into an “edge-up” position and held by the tensioning device against the supports for ski edge maintenance;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 9 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 except that the ski is positioned “edge-up”;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 10 is a view similar to that of FIG. 5 except that the ski is positioned “edge-up” to facilitate ski edge preparation;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 11 is a view similar to that of FIG. 6 except that the ski is positioned “edge-up” to facilitate ski edge preparation and the accessory cord is looped around only the top ski brake arm thereby retracting the ski brake; and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 12 is a view similar to that of FIG. 7 except that the ski is positioned vertically to facilitate ski edge preparation. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]    Referring to FIGS.  1 - 12 , which illustrate an embodiment of the invention there is shown a pair of portable supports  10  for use in spaced relation with one another as a ski support for maintenance operations being carried out at a work station. Each of these supports is adapted to support one of the opposing end portions of the ski  12 .  
         [0026]    Essentially, each support comprises a base section  14  adapted to be fixed to the work station in a generally upright position. A ski support head  16  is mounted to the base section  14  to facilitate ski base maintenance (as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and  7 ). It will also be seen that the ski support heads  16  each further include a side holder  18  thereon for holding the ski in a generally “edge-up” orientation for ski edge maintenance (as seen in FIGS. 8 and 12). By virtue of this mounted support head  16  and side holder  18  arrangement, the supports  10  facilitate both ski base maintenance and ski edge maintenance operations. Further details of the holder configuration and construction will be described hereinafter.  
         [0027]    As clearly seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the supports  10  are mounted to the work station by means of C-clamps  20 . The base sections  14  of the holders are provided with convenient apertures  22  extending above and parallel to the base bottoms thereby to receive the upper legs of the C-clamps  20  to permit convenient clamping to the work station.  
         [0028]    Reference will now be had to FIGS. 7 and 12 which show the supports in detail. Each support  10  is preferably made from a sturdy moulded plastics material preferably reinforced with glass fibers to provide the necessary strength and rigidity. The base section  14  is preferably moulded as two halves being held together by threaded fasteners  40 . These two halves of the base section, when assembled together, also interlock with and securely fix the support head  16  to the base section  14 .  
         [0029]    The upper half of the base section  14  includes a spaced apart generally parallel pair of wide but relatively thin flanges  42 . The previously mentioned support head includes a head portion  44 , to the central portion of which is affixed a support tongue  46 . This support tongue  46  is generally rectangular in shape and sized so as to fit between the two flanges  42  noted above so that tongue  46  is sandwiched between flanges  42 . The flanges  42  and support tongue  46  have an aperture  48  that allows a threaded fastener to pass through the support tongue  46  and flanges  42  thereby providing means to secure support head  16  firmly to base section  14  and preventing any unwanted movement between base section  14  and support head  16 .  
         [0030]    The head portion  44  of the support head  16  is provided with a resilient rubber pad  56  that wraps around one side of the flanges  42  of the base section to prevent damage to the ski  12  upper surface during use and also provide for good frictional engagement therewith. The support head  16  is also provided with reinforcing flanges disposed in flanking relation to the support tongue  46  to provide the desired rigidity.  
         [0031]    With reference to FIGS. 7 and 12 for example, the side holder  18  is an integral part of the support tongue  46  portion of support head  16  and is moulded as a one-piece formation providing a recess  58  for holding a ski in the “edge-up” position. As illustrated in FIG. 12 the side holder  18  allows the ski to be positioned in a generally edge-up orientation in recess  58  between rubber pad  56  and the inside walls of the holder  18 .  
         [0032]    Reference will now be had to FIG. 3 which shows the tensioning device  60  and all related components thereof. Essentially, said tensioning device  60  comprises a length of nylon accessory cord  62  fed through an aperture  64  towards the distal end of the upper leg of the C-clamp  20 , with said nylon accessory cord being fed through a V-cleat  66  mounted vertically on one side of the C-clamp  20  by means of threaded fasteners  70 . The accessory cord  62  is knotted at both ends to prevent detachment from C-clamp  20 . A plastic co-extrusion  72  is snap-fit onto the underside of the upper leg of the C-clamp  20  to prevent damage to the work station surface during use and also provide for good frictional engagement therewith.  
         [0033]    With reference to FIG. 1 the tensioning device  60  is fastened to the work bench intermediate the ski supports  10  and directly under the ski brake  30 . With the apparatus fastened to the workbench the tensioning device  60  can be used to hold the ski firmly in one of two positions to be described hereinafter.  
         [0034]    As best seen in FIGS.  4 - 7 , holding the ski firmly for ski base preparation and maintenance is best accomplished by looping the accessory cord  62  through both arms  30   a  and  30   b  of the ski brake  30  portion of the ski binding  31  and pulling said accessory cord  62  down to fully retract the ski brake, then biasing accessory cord  62  while held taunt into cleat teeth  66   a , so that cleat  66  firmly grips and secures accessory cord  62  thereby holding the ski firmly to the ski supports  10  in a generally horizontal position under tension with the ski brake  30  retracted. As illustrated in FIG. 6, viewed in elevation with the ski secured horizontally in the apparatus, the accessory cord  62  has a configuration resembling the letter ‘M’.  
         [0035]    As best seen in FIGS.  9 - 12 , holding the ski firmly for ski edge preparation and maintenance is best accomplished by looping the accessory cord  62  around the ski  12  and uppermost arm  30   a  of the ski brake  30  and pulling said accessory cord  62  down to fully retract the ski brake, then biasing accessory cord  62  while held taunt into cleat teeth  66   a , so cleat  66  firmly grips and secures accessory cord  62  thereby rotating the ski somewhat counter-clockwise about its longitudinal axis and holding the ski against the upper vertical portion of the support head rubber pad  56  and the bottom inside wall of the side holder  18  (as illustrated by the two arrows in FIG. 12) thus holding the ski firmly in a generally edge-up position under tension with the ski brake  30  retracted. As illustrated in FIG. 11, viewed in elevation with the ski secured edge-up in the apparatus, the accessory cord  62  has a configuration resembling the letter ‘C’.  
         [0036]    Reference may also be had to FIGS. 2 and 8 which clearly illustrate the tensioning device holding the ski against the ski supports  10  as described above in a generally horizontal position to facilitate ski base preparation and in a generally edge-up position to facilitate ski side edge preparation, respectively.  
         [0037]    The various ways in which the apparatus described above may be utilized will be readily apparent from the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in this particular art will appreciate that the apparatus described above permits ski repair and maintenance work to be readily accomplished with, at the same time, a minimum of time and effort being required to mount and dismount the ski to and from the ski holder.  
         [0038]    A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described by way of example. Those skilled in the art will realize that various modifications and changes may be made while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention. Hence the invention is not to be limited to the embodiment as described but, rather, the invention encompasses the full range of equivalencies as defined by the appended claims.