Sliding device for sliding on snow

Abstract

Sliding device (1) for sliding on snow, whereby the sliding device (1) includes at least two skis (2) that extend in a longitudinal direction (L), whereby the at least two skis (2) are mounted next to one another and parallel to one another, whereby the at least two skis (2) are tiltable around separate horizontal axes of rotation (H) that are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the skis (2), whereby the sliding device (1) includes at least one support (7) that is rotatable around a vertical shaft (9), whereby the sliding device (1) is provided with a transmission (10, 11, 12) to convert a rotation movement of the support (7) around the vertical shaft (9) into a tilting movement of the skis (2) around their respective axes of rotation (H).

Claims

1. Sliding device for sliding on snow, whereby the sliding device (1) comprises at least two skis (2) that extend in a longitudinal direction (L), whereby the at least two skis (2) are mounted next to one another and parallel to one another, whereby the at least two skis (2) are tiltable around separate horizontal axes of rotation (H) that are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the skis (2), whereby the sliding device (1) comprises at least one support (7) that is rotatable around a vertical shaft (9), whereby the sliding device (1) is provided with a transmission (10, 11, 12) to convert a rotation movement of the support (7) around the vertical shaft (9) into a tilting movement of the skis (2) around their respective axes of rotation (H), wherein the at least two skis (2) are connected by at least one bridge (5) on which the at least two skis (2) are tiltably mounted, wherein the at least two skis (2) are connected by at least two said bridges (5), whereby the at least one support (7) is mounted on a said bridge (5), comprising two of the supports (7), whereby the supports (7), viewed in the longitudinal direction (L) of the skis (2), are mounted behind one another, whereby the supports (7) are each rotatable around a separate vertical shaft (9).

2. Sliding device according to claim 1, wherein each support (7) is mounted on a said bridge (5).

3. Sliding device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission (10, 11, 12) is such that a rotation of both supports (7) independently of one another is possible.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention a few preferred embodiments of a sliding device according to the invention are described hereinafter by way of an example, without any limiting nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of the sliding device according to the invention in a first usage position;

(3) FIG. 2 schematically shows a perspective view of the sliding device of FIG. 1 in a different usage position;

(4) FIG. 3 shows the part indicated by F3 in FIG. 1 on a larger scale;

(5) FIG. 4 shows the part indicated by F4 in FIG. 1 on a larger scale;

(6) FIG. 5 schematically shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a sliding device according to the invention;

(7) FIG. 6 shows the part indicated by F6 in FIG. 5 on a larger scale;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a cross-section according to VII-VII of a part of the sliding device of FIGS. 5 and 6; and

(9) FIG. 8 shows a component of the alternative embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(10) The sliding device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 comprises three parallel skis of equal length. The skis have a front 3 and a back 4. The skis extend in a longitudinal direction L from the back 4 to the front 3.

(11) In FIGS. 1 and 3, the sliding device is in the neutral position, as it would be on a flat surface, and in FIGS. 2 and 4 in a non-neutral position such as occurs during the use of the sliding device 1.

(12) The skis 2 are mounted next to one another in parallel by means of two bridges 5. In this example the bridges 5 are made of aluminium.

(13) Triangular supports 6 are mounted on the skis in front of and behind the bridges 5. At a point near the skis 2 these supports 6 are rotatably mounted on the bridges 5, so that the skis 2 are tiltable with respect to the bridges 5, each around a separate axis of rotation H.

(14) A foot support 7 is also affixed on each bridge 5. The foot support 7 is intended for the feet of the user to be placed thereon. To this end the foot support 7 can be provided with bindings to ensure a good connection with the feet of the user. However, such bindings are not shown in the drawings.

(15) Each foot support 7 is constructed as a horizontal plate that, by means of a vertical shaft 9 affixed in the bridge 5 concerned, is rotatable around this vertical shaft 9 with respect to the bridge 5 concerned.

(16) Each foot support 7 is coupled to the skis 2 by means of a transmission. This transmission essentially consists of a catch 10 on the underside of the plate 8 close to the edge, a control rod 11 and four synchronisation rods 12.

(17) The control rod 11 is rotatably mounted on the catch 10 and is also rotatably mounted on the top of a support 6, in FIGS. 3 and 4, which show the front bridge 5 on the far left ski 2.

(18) As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the rear bridge 5 the control rod 11 of the transmission is mounted on the far right ski 2.

(19) The synchronisation rods 12 are rotatably coupled to the tops of the supports 6, thus at a greater distance from the skis 2 than the axes of rotation H, and connect the supports together, whereby two synchronisation rods 12 are placed in front of the bridge 5 concerned and two synchronisation rods 12 behind the bridge 5 concerned.

(20) In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4 the catch 10 of the front foot support 7 is at the back of the foot support 7 and the catch 10 of the back foot support 7 is at the front of the foot support 7.

(21) The use of the sliding device 1 is simple and as follows.

(22) The user places the sliding device 1 in a neutral position, as shown in FIG. 1, on a snow-covered slope and connects his feet to the said foot supports 7, whereby the user adopts an essentially sideways position.

(23) When the user now slides down the slope on the sliding device 1, he can control his sliding device by making the foot supports rotate 7.

(24) In this embodiment the user has to turn his feet in a mutually opposite direction. This is illustrated in FIG. 2. Hereby the front foot support is turned anticlockwise 7, according to arrow P, and the back foot support 7 clockwise, according to arrow Q.

(25) This turning of the foot supports 7 imposes a sideways movement on the control rods 11, which due to the fact that they are mounted on the top of the supports 6, thus above the axes of rotation H of the skis 2, causes a tilting movement of the skis 2.

(26) Thanks to the synchronisation rods 12 a similar tilting movement is also imposed on the skis 2 that are not directly connected to the control rod 11 concerned.

(27) In the example of FIG. 3 a tilting of the skis to the right, thus a deviation of the movement of the sliding device 1 to the right, is obtained.

(28) The components 10, 11, 12 of the transmission are hereby such that a rotation movement of the foot supports 7 over a certain number of degrees causes the skis 2 to tilt over twice that number of degrees.

(29) The alternative embodiment of FIGS. 5 to 8 differs from the above embodiment in the following aspects: The transmission is constructed differently, as will be explained below; The bridges 5 are made of plastic; The supports 6 that are mounted in front of and behind the bridges on the skis are mutually different: the supports 6A behind the bridges 5 do not have a transmission function but only for the tiltable suspension of the skis 2 and hence are made smaller. The two transmissions are identical so that the same turning movement of both feet of the user ensures a tilting of the skis 2.

(30) The control rods 11 in the transmissions of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 to 8 are directly connected to the tops of the supports 6 that are in front of the bridges 5, such that separate synchronisation rods 12 can be omitted. This means that the control rods 11 in the second embodiment also fulfil the function of synchronisation rods 12.

(31) The control rods 11 are self-driven because the catch 10 of the foot supports 7 is slidably affixed in a slot 13 running in the longitudinal direction of the skis. As a result, upon a turning movement of a foot support, which also constitutes a forward and backward movement of the catch 10 with respect to the bridge 5, this catch 10 will slide in this slot 13, and simultaneously give a sideways movement to the control rod 11.

(32) The use of this alternative embodiment is similar to the embodiment described above, with the difference that the user must turn both feet in the same direction to obtain a tilting movement of the skis. This is illustrated with arrow R in FIG. 5, which shows a rotation of the foot supports, whereby this rotation causes a tilting of the skis in the direction of arrow S.

(33) For the rest, the first embodiment can easily be converted into an embodiment in which both feet have to be turned in the same direction, simply by turning one of the bridges with the accompanying support and transmission components 180. As a result, a similar functionality to the embodiment of FIGS. 5 to 8 is obtained, but with a different construction of the transmission of a rotation force from the foot supports to the skis.

(34) The components 10, 11 of the transmission are hereby such that a rotation movement of the foot supports 7 over a certain number of degrees causes the skis 2 to tilt over approximately half that number of degrees.

(35) The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiments described as an example and shown in the drawings, but a sliding device according to the invention can be realised in all kinds of forms and dimensions without departing from the scope of the invention.