EP0026179B1

EP0026179B1 - Roller ski for training for long distance skiing

Info

Publication number: EP0026179B1
Application number: EP80900505A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Arne Eriksson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1979-03-08
Filing date: 1980-09-24
Publication date: 1983-05-18
Also published as: DE3063240D1; NO147134B; SE7902070L; NO803277L; FI800712A; EP0026179A1; FI65373B; SE429007B; ATE3369T1; NO147134C; FI65373C; WO1980001880A1; SU1034598A3

Abstract

A roller ski comprising a foot plate (6) supported by a forward and a rear pneumatic rubber wheel (7, 8) and provided with rigid supporting members (9) arranged to support the user's leg laterally at a level between the foot and the knee and at the same time to allow the leg to move freely in the longitudinal direction of the roller ski.

Description

Background of the invention

The present Invention refers to a roller ski for training for long distance skiing and of the type comprising a foot plate with binding means adapted to retain the user's ski shoe in such a manner that the heel portion is freely pivotable about the firmly fixed toe portion and in which the foot plate is carried by a front and a rear wheel, on which plate supporting members are arranged to extend upwards from the foot plate so as to form side supports for the lower extent of the user's legs.
Roller skis of the type mentioned hereabove are well known aids for making training adapted to long distance skiing possible also when snow is missing.
These older roller skis are designed in such a manner that they can only be used on very smooth and even surfaces, preferably asphalted roads. It is of course less convenient that ski training and exercising must take place in close vicinity to road traffic, and furthermore often at dusk or even in darkness, which means great risks for traffic accidents and furthermore a not very healthy environment for the roller skier, who will have to inhale exhaust-mingled air.
One of the reasons that the use of the conventional roller skis is limited to asphalted roads and the like is that in order that they may exhibit a sufficient side-stability they are equipped with small, broad wheels, which is necessary in order not to expose the skier's ankles to very large lateral bending stresses. This design means that the roller ski will behave essentially as an ordinary ski which has rather small tendencies to wobble laterally.
In order to imitate down-hill skiing there have also been produced special roller skis having larger wheels, but these roller skis have been provided with binding means which have kept the ski boot in a fixed position as a result of which it has also been necessary to use stiff down-hill race boots to obtain a sufficient stability in order to have strength enough to balance the tendencies of side tilting. It has indeed been possible to use this type of roller ski in the terrain due to its large wheels, but due to the firm holding of the ski boot its use has been limited to slope running or for long distance skiing with use only of the sticks and without use of the legs.
Swedish patent specification SE-B-378 180 presents a roller ski for training purposes which comprises a foot plate with binding means for holding the toe portion of the skier's shoe fixed while leaving its heel portion free to pivot about said toe portion. The plate is carried by a front and a rear wheel and it is equipped with supporting members extending upwards from the foot plate and forming supports for the tower extent of the user's leg in the lateral direction. The supporting members according to this publication consist of telescopic struts, each one of which at one end is pivotably attached to the ski and at its opposite end is attached to a cuff or sleeve intended to be fastened or strapped around the lower part of the skier's leg.
The telescopic struts will probably give the skier's leg a certain lateral stability, but the stability is hardly sufficient to make it possible to use this older roller ski on rough ground. The telescopic design is also considered to involve a risk in that the leg is canted so much that injuries can occur. As the strut is firmly attached to the user's leg via the cuff it is inevitable that the user's leg will be held and at least partly hampered by the cuff and the attached strut. It is furthermore believed that the cuff will have a tendency to slide along the user's lower leg, and such a sliding, even of rather short magnitude, may give rise to skin abrasions and even sores on the user's leg. The telescopic strut finally comprises a plurality of cooperating members which involves a risk of malfunction.

The purpose and main features of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a roller ski for cross-country-skiing-like training or exercising, the use of which is not limited to even and smooth surfaces and this is obtained in that the roller ski according to the invention is provided with supporting members which are formed by rigid side members which extend on each side of the foot plate in arch-form upwards from the foot plate and extend from its front to its rear portion for providing, during the pivoting of the heel portion about the binding means, lateral supports along the entire motion path of the lower leg extent.
By means of this design with support for the ankles, which increases the user's possibility to compensate the tendencies of canting of the roller ski, it is possible, according to another feature of the invention, to provide the roller ski according to the invention with pneumatic rubber wheels, which can be used e.g. on forest paths, on prepared illuminated snow-free tracks etc.

Description of the drawings

The invention will hereinafter be further described with reference to an embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 shows in a schematic side view a roller skier with roller skis according to the invention,
Figure 2 is a side view in larger scale of a roller ski according to the invention, and
Figure 3 shows in a view from above the roller ski according to figure 2.

Description of the embodiments
In figure 1 is shown a side view of a roller skier 1, with roller skis 2 in accordance with the present invention. As can be seen from the position of the rearmost foot of the skier it is only the toe portion 3 of the ski shoe, which is held by the binding means-which are intimated at 4-whereas the heel portion 5 is pivotable about the firmly held toe portion. The binding means 4 are preferably yoke bindings but cable bindings can also be used.
In figure 2 a roller ski 2 according to the invention is shown to a larger scale and in a side view, and as can be seen here the roller ski comprises a foot plate 6, which is equipped with said binding means 4, and which is carried by a front and a rear wheel 7, 8 which wheels are preferably pneumatic rubber wheels used in conventional designs of roller skis for cross-country skiing. A side supporting member 9, as can also be seen in figure 3, extends from the foot plate 6 upwards at each side of the foot plate and these supporting members are preferably firm side members bent in arch-form, and each one is extending from the front to the rear portion of the foot plate and they are preferably designed with ends which together with the end portions of the foot plate 6 form means in which the hubs of the wheels 7, 8 are supported.
The supporting members 9 form such a high arch that their upper parts independent of the position of the foot will always be situated above the ski shoe which is held by the binding 4 and on each side of the user's lower leg, whereby they give a safe lateral support for the leg. As the supporting members 9 run at essentially the same mutual distance between the front and the rear wheel hubs, the natural movement of the leg when the foot pivots about the toe binding will not be hampered or obstructed. The user of the roller ski according to the invention will thereby make the same movement pattern as in real skiing. As the legs will all the time be laterally supported by the side members 9 the use is not limited to plane surfaces and the use of wheels which have very little tendency to tip over, but it is instead possible to manage to counteract and fend off side canting of the roller skis. It is hereby possible to use pneumatic wheels 7, 8 which in turn means that it is possible to run on the roller ski according to the invention also in terrain, on comparatively soft ground etc, which means that the roller skier will have a freedom of choosing the site for his practising track and is spared from running on asphalted roads and the like.
As can be seen from figure 2 the roller ski according to the invention can preferably be provided with mud guards 10 over the wheels.

Claims

1. Roller ski for training for long distance skiing and of the type comprising a foot plate (6) with binding means (4) adapted to retain the user's ski shoe in such a manner that the heel portion (5) is freely pivotable about the firmly fixed toe portion (3), and in which the foot plate (6) is carried by a front and a rear wheel (7 and 8 resp.), on which plate supporting members (9) are arranged to extend upwards from the foot plate (6) so as to form side supports for the lower extent of the user's legs, characterized in that the supporting members are rigid side members (9) which extend on each side of the foot plate (6) in arch-form upwards from the foot plate and extend from its front to its rear portion for providing, during the pivoting of the heel portion (5) about the binding means (4) lateral supports along the entire motion path of the lower leg extent.

2. Roller ski according to claim 1, characterized in that the supporting members (9) are designed to extend between the hubs of the front and rear wheels (7, 8) at each side of the foot plate.

3. Roller ski according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with pneumatic rubber wheels.