Patent Publication Number: US-4319770-A

Title: Ski pole

Description:
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 2,838, filed Jan. 11, 1979, and now abandoned. 
    
    
     CROSS REFERENCES TO PRIOR ART DISCLOSURES 
     There are no known prior patents anticipating the invention. 
     The present invention relates to a ski pole comprising a tubular stem and a bracing disc. 
     Known ski poles have their discs affixed to their stem at a certain distance from the bottom end of the latter. Thus the stem penetrates the disc. If the stem is a tube its bottom opening is plugged with an insert or a cap being the tip of the stem. Nowadays mostly tapered aluminum tubes are used for stems due to their pleasing, slender aspect. These known ski poles are expensive. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY AND FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to produce a ski pole of high quality being manufactured rationally and thus being particularly cheap. 
     According to another object of the invention there is solved the problem of an improved ski pole means by securing the bracing disc to the end of a tubular stem by means of a stud introduced into the stem, a pin penetrating the stud and expanding same by means of the tip of the ski pole. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon full consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which: 
     The FIGURE is a cross-sectional view of an axial section of a lower end portion of a ski pole according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings there is shown an assembling of the ski pole to which there is introduced the hollow stud 2 into the tubular stem 5 and then driving a pin 6 into the stud thus expanding the stud 2 and pressing it against the interior of the tubular stem in safe keeping. The stud is preferably made in one piece with the bracing disc any may have several longitudinal slots, such facilitating the expansion. This way of assembling a ski pole is very simple. Moreover the invention provides means and teaching that make it possible to use normal cylindrical tubes as tubular stems. 
     The appearance of the proposed ski pole can be greatly improved by enveloping the portion of the pin located underneath the bracing disc with a tubular sheath. This sheath may be formed in one piece with the stud and the disc and may be tapered towards its free end. It is also proposed that the pin has a head 7 with an open cavity ground therein as known from other ski pole tips, the cavity having a sharp edge or crownlike serrations. A skillfully chosen proportion of the diameters of the sheath and the stem will give the impression of a stem tapered towards the tip, while in fact it is cylindrical and ends at the level of the bracing disc. This impression is strengthened by the fact that the disc has a collar enveloping the stem. 
     Referring now to the drawing an injection-molded bracing disc 1 of synthetic plastic material is provided on one side with a hollow stud 2 and a collar 3 and on the other side with a tubular sheath 4 tapered towards its free end. The entire plastic piece of the hollow disc 1 has a continuous axial bore throughout as shown. The hollow stud 2 is introduced into a tubular stem 5 preferably made of aluminum until the collar 3 caps the end of the tubular stem. To secure the plastic piece of the disc within the tubular stem 5, a pin 6 having a small head 7 with a cavity ground therein is the end of the sheath 4. The pin 6 is long enough to pass through the whole length of the hollow stud 2. The diameters of the pin 6 and the bore of the hollow stud 2 are chosen in order to expand the latter, to press it with great force against the interior surface of the tubular stem 5 and sheath 4 thus holding it together by friction. 
     The hollow stud 2 may have longitudinally disposed slots that are used to assist securing insertion of the pin and provide friction from it being withdrawn. 
     Additional embodiments of the invention in this specification will occur to others and therefore it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only by the appended claims and not by the embodiment(s) described hereinabove. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims in determining the full scope of the invention.