Skiing Equipment

The present invention relates to skiing equipment of the type specified in the preamble of the first claim.

In particular, the equipment is usable for covering distances on terrains and particularly on surfaces covered with snow. For example, the equipment that is the subject of the present patent can be used for skiing, such as ski mountaineering. As is known, a ski is a long, flat tool worn on the feet to assist in sliding on snow. Skis are mainly made of a sandwich of layers, which include, starting from the one distal to the contact surface, an upper layer usually made of plastic, a torsion layer in titanal or another similar material, a core mostly made of wood, a rubber pad, and a polymeric base. This sandwich is laterally enclosed by two side rails, called flanks, and by steel edges in contact with the ground. Furthermore, since sliding on snow is facilitated by the formation of a thin film of water, wax, i.e., a layer of wax or another material used to raise the freezing point of water under the ski, is often applied to the ski base.

It is therefore clear that skis are excellent for tackling downhill slopes but are difficult to use for uphill routes.

For this reason, ascending slopes is performed by covering the base with sealskins, which ensure greater grip for the ski, allowing forward movement and grip during climbing.

Current sealskins are synthetic and have a first adhesive face capable of removably adhering to the ski base (the part in use in contact with the snow) and a second face covered with oriented textile fibers designed to interact with the snow cover in such a way as to enable forward movement without sliding backward.

The described prior art has several significant drawbacks.

In particular, sealskins are prone to easy deterioration and require frequent maintenance.

Another drawback lies in the fact that skis with sealskins are difficult and extremely demanding to use, requiring considerable physical effort. They can therefore be used predominantly by expert and particularly trained users.

A further important drawback is that sealskins are difficult to apply to the ski. It should be noted that to solve these drawbacks, some solutions have been identified that provide for the adoption of tracks to be applied to the ski. In particular, WO2022262994A1, DE202012101242, and US20220203210 describe the adoption of two lateral tracks for each ski; U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,560A and WO2020216220 teach the making of a ski whose rear part differs from normal skis due to the introduction of a track.

However, these solutions have little use due to the high cost and being difficult to implement on a known ski. Indeed, these solutions require significant structural modifications to the ski and/or complex assembly and disassembly operations. Furthermore, the solutions of U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,560A and WO2020216220 significantly degrade the performance of the ski, particularly during its normal use, for example, downhill.

Another non-negligible drawback is the difficulty in controlling and operating the movement motors of the tracks.

A further drawback of these solutions is their complex construction and high cost. Another drawback is represented by the considerable weight of the tracks, which must be stored in the backpack when skiing downhill.

In this context, the technical task underlying the present invention is to design skiing equipment capable of substantially overcoming at least part of the mentioned drawbacks.

Within this technical task, an important object of the invention is to obtain skiing equipment that allows easy handling both during the ascent phase and the descent phase.

Another object of the invention is to make skiing equipment that can be easily implemented even on a known ski and is easy to use.

A further important object of the invention is to make a skiing equipment with increased construction simplicity and reduced cost.

The technical task and the specified objects are achieved by a skiing equipment as claimed in the attached claim.

Preferred technical solutions are highlighted in the dependent claims.

In the present document, measurements, values, shapes, and geometric references (such as perpendicularity and parallelism), when associated with words like “approximately” or similar terms such as “substantially” or “essentially”, are to be understood as allowing for measurement errors or inaccuracies due to production and/or manufacturing errors and, above all, to allow for a slight deviation from the value, measure, shape, or geometric reference with which it is associated.

For example, such terms, when associated with a value, preferably indicate a deviation not exceeding 10% of the value itself.

Additionally, terms like “first”, “second”, “upper”, “lower”, “primary”, and “secondary”, unless otherwise specified, do not necessarily identify an order, a priority of relation, or relative position but may simply be used to distinguish different components more clearly one from the other.

Unless otherwise specified, as evident from the following discussions, terms such as “treatment”, “computing”, “determination”, “computation”, or similar refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or similar electronic computation device that manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physical quantities, such as electronic magnitudes of records of a computing system and/or memories, into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within computer systems, records, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices.

Unless otherwise indicated, the measurements and data reported in this text are to be considered as performed in International Standard Atmosphere ICAO (ISO 2533:1975).

With reference to the Figures, the skiing equipment according to the invention is globally denoted by the number.

It is configured to be used for covering distances on terrains and, in particular, on surfaces covered with snow, both uphill and downhill. For example, equipmentcan be used for skiing, such as ski mountaineering.

Equipmentdefines an “in-use” condition when worn by the user and in contact with the ground.

Skiing equipmentcomprises at least one skidefining a longitudinal directionand two ends, in particular, a front endand a rear end. Preferably, it comprises two skis.

The longitudinal directionis preferably barycentric to ski.

Skican also define a development surface, suitably barycentric to ski, on which longitudinal directionlies.

The front endand rear endare defined according to the advancement direction of skiing equipment, specifically of skiin use.

Skican be substantially straight. It thus defines a straight longitudinal directionand a flat development surface.

Alternatively, it may have curved ends pointing upwards (i.e., opposite to the ground when equipmentis in use), with either endoror both endsandhaving the same or different curvature. In this case, directionmay define a straight central portion and curved portions at endsand/or; consequently, the development surface has a flat central part and curved end parts.

In use, the longitudinal directionand, therefore, the contact surface may be parallel to the ground, at least at the central portion.

The cross-section of skican be any. For example, it may be constant and preferably have tapered endsand, or it may be sidecut, meaning parabolic in shape, narrower in the center and wider near the endsand, suitably tapered. The structure of skican be sandwiched. In particular, skicomprises an upper layerand a lower layer, which are mutually coupled to define the structure of ski. More specifically, it comprises one or more intermediate layersinterposed between the upper layerand the lower layer.

The lower layeris configured to be positioned in use adjacent to the ground. It may define the ski base.

These layers can be made of one or more materials chosen from polymeric, resin, metallic (for example, titanium), composite (for example, carbon fiber), or wood. Skimay comprise at least one edgeextending along at least part and, in detail, along the entire length of the ski in the longitudinal direction

Suitably, it extends at least along the central part of ski.

The edgemay define a lateral edge of at least the lower layerand, in some cases, of skiin use, facing and, in detail, in contact with the ground.

Preferably, skicomprises two edges, each located at a lateral edge of at least the lower layer.

In any case, advantageously, skicomprises at least one groove. The groovepreferably passes through both the upper layerand the lower layer. Therefore, the groovecreates a through-hole, defining a seat.

Furthermore, grooveis preferably positioned between endsand.

Thus, the grooveis delimited by at least two transverse edgesand two lateral edges

The edges,may be straight, so that groovehas a rectangular or quadrangular shape; alternatively, the edges,may have different shapes. In general, the transverse edgespreferably extend transversely to the longitudinal direction. Consequently, the lateral edgesextend parallel to the longitudinal direction

Advantageously, each lateral edgeincludes a first insert. These inserts preferably have a structural function, thereby preventing bending/deformation of skiat the groove.

The first insertextends parallel to the longitudinal direction. Thus, the first insertconsists of a material more rigid than the rest of the lateral edge. In this regard, for example, the first insertmay comprise or be made of metal material.

In general, the first insertis a beam-like element capable of withstanding, above all, but not exclusively, bending stresses applied laterally to the groove. The first insertcan extend along part of or even the entire ski. Suitably, it extends for a first section downstream and for a second section upstream of the groove along axis. These sections are less than 30%, in detail less than 10%, and more specifically less than 5% of the length of ski.

Alternatively, more suitably, the first insertmay be confined exclusively within lateral edge, meaning in the portion immediately adjacent to groove. The first insertmay be inserted between the layers forming the sandwich structure of ski, or the first insertmay be embedded within the structure of ski, for example, when the latter is made of resin inside preformed molds.

Additionally, skimay further comprise at least a second insert.

The second insertis preferably made of polymeric material.

Furthermore, the second insertextends parallel to the longitudinal direction. Even more specifically, the second insertextends parallel to said direction and is superimposed on the first insert, so that the second insertprotrudes from the upper layertransversely, for example, normally to the upper layer. Additionally, skimay advantageously comprise two grooves.