Patent Publication Number: US-5292146-A

Title: Reinforced spatula for skis

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a ski and more particularly to an improvement to the front end of the ski. 
     2. Description of Background and Relevant Information 
     A ski is composed of three portions: a central portion, rear portion which is called a heel, and a front portion called a spatula. This spatula serves to allow the skier to pass over irregularities of the terrain such as snow drifts and to move such that the ski does not penetrate into the snow during skiing. For this purpose, the spatula is presented in the shape of a more or less rounded and raised point with respect to the snow. On the other hand, so as to simplify the manufacture of skis, it is known to manufacture them without a spatula, and to apply a supplemental element to them, called a &#34;tip&#34;, at the end of manufacturing by gluing or ratcheting. 
     By virtue of its position, the spatula is the portion which is most exposed to shocks, in particular, during competition racing. In effect, during a slalom and especially for the special slalom, the skier seeks to pass as close as possible to the gates defining the path of the course, which leads the spatulas to hit often, and hard, against the gates. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a reinforcement for the spatula of a ski, which may or may not include a separate tip, and to prevent its consequential degradation due to shocks. For this purpose, the lateral sides of the spatulas are rimmed with a reinforcement, thus forming a type of front shock absorber of the ski. 
     To fully play the role of shock absorber, the reinforcement of the spatula must have a configuration such that its capacity of shock absorption is optimal. For this, the manufacturer would be able in particular to vary the different dimensions of this reinforcement, such as thickness, height, cross-section. The end of the spatula has a tendency to have a thickness which is thinner and thinner, in a direction toward the spatula front end. The reinforcement thus projects, by a constant amount or by a variable amount, with respect to the lower surface or upper surface of the ski, as will be described below with reference to the annexed drawings. 
     There exist, furthermore, skis whose front ends are provided with applied tips which are of a dissymmetrical shape. Such tips are dissymetrical in the sense that the forwardmost point is offset from the from a longitudinal median plane of the ski in a direction toward the interior, i.e., toward the other ski of a pair of skis. An advantage of such a construction is that, particularly during the special slalom, a skier can more easily avoid having a ski pass on the wrong side of a gate. 
     In this case, the invention is likewise applicable but only the exterior side of the tip (left side for the left ski, right side for the right ski) will be protected by a reinforcement, as has previously been described. 
     This invention is applicable to all types of skis, to those adapted for example for alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, mountaineering skiing, ski jumping, monoski, without this list being in any way limiting. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clear from the description which follows with reference to the annexed drawings which are given by way of non-limiting example only, in which: 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of a ski; 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a side view taken in the direction of arrow A or FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom view of a ski according to the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-section, taken in the direction of the arrows at line IV--IV of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-section of a tip taken in the direction of the arrows at line V--V of FIG. 3; 
     FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate in cross-section, taken in the direction of the arrows at line IV--IV of FIG. 3 other configurations of the invention illustrated in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention as seen from the bottom; 
     FIG. 10 is a view taken in the direction of arrow F of FIG. 9; and 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-section of the tip taken in the direction of the arrows at line XI--XI of FIG. 9. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the front end of ski 1 provided with a tip 2 applied to the ski by any means such as gluing or ratcheting. In this case, the tip comprises a side or rear end 10 for introduction onto the ski, two lateral sides in the form of a curve defining the general contour of a sort of conical point in the form of a curvilinear triangle, an upper surface 12 corresponding to the top of the ski and a lower surface 8 corresponding to the sole of the ski 1. This tip 2 is progressively raised towards the front with respect to plane P passing through the lower surface 3 of the ski. On the other hand, the more that tip 2 is raised, the more the thickness E of this tip is reduced. 
     According to the invention shown in FIGS. 3-5, the tip 2 is rimmed on each of its sides by a reinforcement 4. These reinforcements 4 are joined at the front end of the tip 2 at a point 5 positioned on the longitudinal axis of symmetry X X&#39; of the ski 1. 
     Each reinforcement 4 has a thickness L and a height H which is substantially constant. By virtue of the fact that the central portion of the tip 2 comprises a thickness E which thins toward the front as shown in FIG. 4, and that each of reinforcements 4 projects with respect to the lower surface 8 of the central portion of tip 2, the this projection 6 projects from the lower surface of the ski with an increasing magnitude all in the direction toward the front of the ski. One does not go beyond the scope of the invention if each of the reinforcements projects with respect to the upper surface 12 of the ski. 
     FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate three other configurations of reinforcement 4 according to the invention. 
     In FIG. 6, the projection 6 comprises a thickness which is variable when one approaches the front of the ski. While in FIG. 4, the thickness of reinforcement 4 at the level of the introduction base 10 of the tip 2 is approximately equal to the thickness E of the central portion of tip. FIG. 6 illustrates a projection 6 having at the level of introduction base 10 a thickness greater than that of the central portion of the tip 2, the thickness of the projection 6 subsequently varying as one approaches the front end. 
     In FIG. 7, projection 6 decreases in thickness as when one approaches the front of the ski. 
     In FIG. 8, projection 6 has a constant thickness when one approaches the front of the ski. 
     In another embodiment, shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the invention is applied to a tip which is dissymmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of symmetry X--X&#39; of the ski 1. 
     In this case, the reinforcement 4 extends on the lateral side of the spatula corresponding to the exterior of the ski until a point 13 which is offset from the longitudinal axis of symmetry X--X&#39; of ski 1. 
     FIG. 9 illustrates a left ski seen from the bottom. But the construction is the same for a single lateral side of the tip provided with a single reinforcement as that previously described for tips having two reinforcement sides and one can in this case find the different variations shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates that the reinforcement 4 and the central portion of tip 2 are constituted by a single piece, preferably made of injected plastic material. On the other hand, FIG. 11 shows a reinforcement 4 constituted by a material which is different from that constituting the central portion of tip 2 or of the spatula if this is of a single piece with the ski. In this case, the linkage between the reinforcement 4 and the central portion of the tip 2 is made by any assembly means such as over molding, gluing or ratcheting. The invention described above is likewise applicable to a ski whose front end does not comprise a tip which has been added on. In this case, the tip and the one or more reinforcements are integrated directly into the structure of ski 1. 
     This application claims priority of French Application 90 02376 filed Feb. 21, 1990, the disclosure of which is hereby entirely incorporated by reference thereto. 
     Finally, although the invention has been described with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particulars disclosed and extends to all equivalents within the scope of the claims including combinations of the various embodiments.