Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CARRIER FOR SKIS AND SKI POLES
This is a carrier for skis and ski poles making
it possible to hold same in spaced relationship to
facilitate their being carried by the side of a person in a
manner much as that person carries a brief case and/or
their being mounted as a unit (carrier complete with skis
and ski poles) on an appropriate mounting atop a vehicle.
The carrier is especially unique for the reason
that it is adapted for the carriage of either the cross
country type of ski or the downhill (Alpine) type of ski,
the latter being wider than the former, as known.
The carrier firmly grips the skis and poles,
each ~t the balance thèreof, in a side-by-side relationship
as to e~ch other.
Skis and poles, if merely bundled and carried over
the shoulder, make an unwieldly dangerous load, difficult
to~balance. Skis flung over the shoulder are inclined to
swing ofering a potential source of injury to other
skiers and passersby. Such a system is particularly troublesome
for children.
Some prior art carriers make use of heavy frames
involving intricate locking mechanisms for discouraging theft
and further involving bulky structures for gripping the skis
on opposite sides o~ the bindings to the end that the load
is well balanced~
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The known prior art does not teach a satisfactory
lightweight device for securing the skier's equipment so
that it may be easily transported by hand and may be
conveniently secured when mounted atop a vehicle and may be
easily stored when not in use. More specifically, no carrier
is known to exist wherein a carrying handle is pivotally
arranged so as to allow,the swinging of the handle into an
out-of-the-way position when the carrier is to be loaded
upon a vehicle top rack. The common compact car racks
normally accommodate four sets of skis and poles and the
novel arrangement hereof allows four carriers each
complete with its set of skis and poles to be
transported on a compact car ski rack.
Ski carrying devices of the known prior art h~ve
consistently incorporated a bottom-to-bottom sandwiching
technique in the case of the skis. This allows the abutment
of the two flat surfaces of the skis when carried, but it
dictates that they be separated and repositioned when placed
on the majority of the presently available car-top racks.
As far as we are aware, the prior art has not shown
ski poles disposed in the same plane as the skis in a compact
carrier so ~s to allow easy storage on the most popular typeQ
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of car top racks, except in the case of the1patents to
Selnes #3,262,619 of July 26, 1966
Woolworth 3,370,766 of February 27, 1968
Elliott-Smith 3,504,405 of April 7, 1970
Warner 3,892,343 of July 1, 1975
and Westerholm 4,002,277 of January 11~ 1977,
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from each of which we distinguish in significant ways as to
compactness and ease of manipulation, not to mention the
feature of the swingable handle and the feature of a
novel locking mechanism whereby the need for side
cores at the molding site or for drilling are avoided
The carrier allows a disposition of the skis and
poles in a side-by-side relationship with all components
disposed in a single plane offering the obvious advantage
that the skis and poles can be taken from their storage
location directly onto most car racks and then removed
therefrom and carried to the ski slope as a unit without
any removal or repositioning of the components. No cited
reference teaches the use of a pivotal handle designed to
allow full utilization of the ski rack space, that is
penmitting the swinging of the handle upwardly to an
out-of-the-way position so as to provide more space
for other skis and poles atop a vehicle.
In this invention, an inexpensive carrier is
taught which is effective in obviating the above referred
to difficulties. It teaches similar elongated clamping
members, interconnected by a hinge at their lower ends to
bring them into and out of confronting relation with each
other. Each clamping member has a serie~ of spaced,
inwardly-opening recesses which coact with the complemental
recesses of the other clamping member to define openings
through the opposite end walls of the carrier when the
clamping members assume their confronting relationship.
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.
In use, a carrier latch mechanism is first released
and the clamping members may then be pivoted about a hinge to
assume the opened position. Skis and poles may then be disposed
in the recesses of one of the clamping members with the
longitudinal axes of the skis and poles extending perpendicular
to the longitudinal axis of the said one clamping member.
The other clamping member may then be pivoted about the
hinge to assume the closed position wherein the confronting
inner surfaces of the clamping members abut.
The latch mechanism may then be reengaged to hold
the clamped members in their locked-together position,
with the skis and poles being securely clamped therebetween.
To carry skis and pole~ more easily, it is
desirable to clamp them at or near the central portion
thereof so as to balance the load and to hold same against
shifting as the skier walks ther~with or as the equipment
is transported atop a vehicle or stored when not in use.
Thus we provide a carrier having opposed clamping members
for securely engaging the skis and ski poles so that
they may be easily tran~ported.
The invention comprehends a hand-held carr-er for
supporting either skis or poles or bo~h and having opposed
clamping members with separate, cushioned openings for
separately receiving the skis and poles, the carrier being
configured for use with different sets of skis having different
dimensions.
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Twin, elongated clamping members are interconnected
by a hinge and, when brought together, define spaced ski-
receiving openings and pole-receiving openings such that,
when the skis and the poles are extended through the openings,
the clamping members may be fastened together to rigidly
secure the skis and poles relative to the carrier.
In the drawing:
The Figure is an exploded isometric view of
the carrier of the invention shown in opened
position with a pair of narrow cross country skis
and a pair of poles being shown fragmentarily and
in phantom.
In the Figure, we show the carrier with a pair of
narrow, cross country skis 10, 10 and a pair of poles 12, 12,
shown fragmentarily and in phantom, in position in the appro-
priate respective recesses of one of the clamping members.
The carrier consists of a pair of identical elongated
cl~mping members 20, 30 which may be constru~ted of an
appropriate material such as plastic.
The clamping members are interconnected at the
lower ends thereof by a hinge pin 40, as will be referred
to subsequently.
The upper end of clamping member 30 mounts a handle
50 pivotally engaged therein, which handle may be swung be~ween
a vertically-disposed carrying position upwardly of the
clamping members when same are in closed position and a
horizontally-disposed non-carrying position (as shown) extending
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outwardly of clamping member 30 in a plane normal to the plane
of the longitudinal axis of the clamping member, the
latter position serving use in a car rack where the use of
reduced space is so all essential.
Each clamping member 20, 30 embodies a longitudinally-
extending web 60 and oppositely-disposed inner and outer
end walls 62, 64 respectively. That is, at each end of
web 60, a pair of spaced longitudinally-extending end walls
are provided, which end walls extend inwardly (in a
confronting relationship when the clRmping members are
assembled), and which end walls ext nd throughout the full
lengths of the clamping members.
The innermost edges of inner and outer end walls 62
and 64 are provided with recesses, namely a pair of side-by-
side ski recesses 72, 72 and a pair of side-by-side pole
recesses 74, 74.
Each ski recess 72 is provided with a double cavity
configuration identified by a first pair of oppo~ed side
walls 75, 75 spaced a certain distance apart for accommodating
in the defined rectangular in cross section configuration
the narrower and thicker type of cross country ski and
further identified by a second pair of opposed side walls
76, 76 spaced a distance apart greater than the said
certain distance for accommodating in the defined rectangular
in cross section configuration the wider and thinner type of
Alpine ski.
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Stated in another way, each ski receiving rècess
can be considered to comprise, in actuality, two
recesses - one for the more narrow type of ski in one plane
and one for a more wide type of ski in another plane
inboard of the said one plane.
Ski recesses 72 are each of generally rectangular
cross-sectional configuration and pole recesses 74 are
each of semi-circular cross-sectional configuration.
Hinge pin 40 is extendable through suitable openings
in pairs of inwardly-facing interdigitated bosses 80 and
is frictionally held relative thereto so that the clamping
members may be swung between opened and closed positions.
Between the ski recesses and pole recesses, pairs
of interdigitated loops 90 extend in~ardly from the back of
each clamping member and define, when the clamping members are
swung into the closed position, a through opening through
which a securing cable lOO may be passed for purposes of
interlocking the clamping members to each other, there being
a locking member such as a lock (not shown) ~or securing the
opposite free ends of the cable to each other.
Each clamping member additionally will be provided with
a key slot llO extended through the back thereof. When the
clamping members are brought into closed position as to each
other, the key slots are so aligned that a key 120 may be
extended therethrough so as to aid in holding the clamped
members in latched relationship. The key is held captive
relative to one clamping member and is provided with an
enlarged knob on the visible side thereof. Once extended
through the slot of the opposed clamping member, the key is
rotated 90 to obtain the latching ef~ect.
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When the carrier is in an opened position, wherein
the clamping members are pivoted outwardly about hinge
pin 40, skis 10, 10 may be inserted into the ski recesses
72, 72 of one of the clamping members. In order to balance
the load, it is preferred to retain the central portion
of the skis as close to the recesses as possible.
- Poles 12, 12 are also retained in recesses 74, 74
at or near the central portion thereof. These recesses
are mutually spaced snd disposed, on the clamping members.
The recesses are so disposed that when the skis and poles
are placed in the recesses the longitudinal axes
of the skis and poles will be disposed in a parallel
relationship to each other, and in a perpendicular relationship
relative to the longitudinal axis of the clamping member.
The inner surfaces of the recesses may be lined with
a resilient material such ~s sponge rubber or the space between
each pair of end walls may be so lined. The lining will
serve to accommodate and grip the skis and poles, regardless
of dimensions when in a closed position. In this way,
the carrier may be used with a wide variety of skis and poles,
without regard to the pole diameters or the ski widths or
thicknesses.
A lightweight portable carrier for skis and poles has
thus been described. The carrier comprises twin elongated
clamping members interconnected at their lower ends by a
hinge pin and at their upper opposite ends by a releasable
latching means. The clamping members define six mNtually
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spaced recesses. The first and second and third and fourth
recesses, adjacent the hinge pin, are rectangular and adapted
to receive the skis disposed in side-by-side relationship.
The upper two recesses are adap~ed to receive each of the
two-poles in a side-by-side relationship coplanar with the
skis.
When the carrier is in a closed position wherein
the inner surfaces of the clamping members abut, a pair of
skis and a pair of ski poles may be secured in the openings
for transportation, and a handle is provided therefor,
adjacent the locking member.
Outwardly projecting flanges 130 extend longitudinally
along each side of each clamping member and serve to provide
an attaching means for the attachment of the protective ski or
binding covers.
The protection which is sought for this invention is
covered by the language of the above specification and the
spirit represented thereby. It should be apprec~ated that
its utility and application may extend beyond the particular
type of carrier illustrated and its broad scope and concept
comprehend the useful and novel features set forth
when combined with other equipment in other ways.
The claims are desired to include within the scope
thereof all of said suitable variations, modifications and
equivalents by which substantially the results of the invention
may be obtained through the use of substantially the same or
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equivalent devices or means. Accordingly, limitation
hereof should only be made as determined by a proper
interpretation of the prior art and the scope of the
subjoined claims, in which it is our intention to claim
all novelty inherent herein as broadly as possible.
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