Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SKI RACK
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This application pertains to a ski rack for
lockably supporting skis and ski poles.
BACK&ROU~D OF THE I~VENTION
~reas proximate ski slopes abound with facili-
ties such as restaurants, lounges, hotels, restrooms,
speciality sllops, etc.; many of which are established to
attract the business of skiers before, during or after
their use of the ski slopes. Frequently for example
such establishments are located very close to the ski
lift facilities which transport skiers to the upper
reaches of the ski slopes. Skiers are thus enticed to
patroni~e such establishments while they are skiing.
Because such establishments usually do not permit skiers
to carry their skis or ski poles with them into the
establishments, the skiers must leave their skis and ski
poles somewhere while visiting the establishments. Un-
fortunately, theft of expensive, unattended skis and ski
poles is an increasing~y common problem.
Most ski facilities provide racks against
which skiers may stack their skis and ski poles while
they patronize establishments of the sort mentioned
above. However, these racks often provide no means for
locking the skis to safeguard them against theft. Some
skiers adopt the practice of leaving one ski and ski
pole at a first rack and the other ski and ski pole at a
secon~ remote rack; the rationale being that a thief
would be unlikely to steal one ski or ski pole ~nless he
~ 35 could also steal the mating ski or ski pole. This how-
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ever is a cumbersome practice subject to obvious short-
comings.
The prior art has evolved a number of locking
devices specially aaapted to secure skis and ski poles
against theft. Most of these incorporate a mechanism
which may be lockably attached to the skis and poles and
a cooperating cable or chain which may in turn be lock-
ably attached to an immovable support structure such as
the aforementioned ski racks. Such devices work toler-
ably well, but have their own shortcomings. For exam-
ple, to be of use they must be carried on the skier's
person at all times. Unfortunately, such devices are
typically rather bulky and thus cannot conveniently be
carried on the person at all times. Frequently, skiers
must park their vehicles at relatively great distances
from the ski lift and other facilities likely to be of
interest to them. Even if an individual possesses a
device of the sort just mentioned he might very well not
be inclined to return to his vehicle to retrieve the
device in order to secure his skis while he visits, per-
haps for only a short time, a particular establishment
which may have attracted his interest. Thus, the skier
might decide to take a chance in leaving his skis and
ski poles unattended and unsecured against theft for a
reIatively brief time, only to find that they have been
stolen while unattended.
The operators of some establishments located
at or near ski slopes have endeavoured to provide racks
equipped with coin-operated locks so that their patrons
may secure their skis and ski poles against theft while
leisurely patronizing such establishments. Of course,
one must have the correct change to make use of such de-
vices. Since skiers typica]ly make several stops during
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the course of a day's skiing they may find themselveswithout sufficient change to use such devices. A fur-
ther drawback of coin-operated locks is that the locking
mechanisms are subject to freezing. Therefore, racks
equipped with coin-operated locks are usually sheltered
from the elements, which implies increased costs, space
restrictions, and further inconvenience to the skier.
It is typically also cumbersome to use such prior art
racks - the lower portions of the skis must usually
first be fitted into a bracket, after which the upper
portions of the skis are locked to the rack; the bracket
being provided to resist attempts to slidably advance
the skis upwardly or downwardly and thus free them from
the locked rack. For the foregoing reasons many skiers
avoid racks of this type altogether or else use them
only with their own cable locks, thereby exposing them-
selves to the shortcomings outlined above.
The difficulty, therefore, has been to provide
a locking ski rack which will retain skis and ski poles
against theft in a manner which affords optimal conven-
ience to the skier.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention there is pro-
vided a ski rack comprising a generally longitudinal
member having a plurality of cutouts along at least one
edge of the member. Each of the cutouts comprises a
rectangular area for receiving a pair of skis with t~eir
bottom surfaces generally parallel to the airection of
longitudinal extent of the longitudinal member, and a
pair of slots extending from the inner edge of the rec-
tangular area into the rectangular member; each of the
slots for receiving a ski pole. The ski rack further
comprises a plurality of lockable closure members for
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lockably closing each of the cutouts to prevent removal
of skis or ski poles therefrom.
Advantageously, the closure members may each
comprise a bar pivotally secured to one siae of the
outer edge of the cutout to swing across and close that
outer edge, a first aperture in the opposite side of t'ne
outer edge of the cutout, and a second aperture in the
end of the bar; whereby the apertures are alignable for
passage of a lock therethrough when the bar is pivoted
to close the cutout. Cutouts may b~ provided along only
one or, if desired, along both edges of the longitudinal
member. If cutouts are provided along only one e~ge of
the longitudinal member then the opposite edge of the
longitudinal member may be provided with means for
securing the longitudinal member to a surface such as
the wall of a building.
If cutouts are provided along both edges of
the longitudinal member then cutouts provided along one
of such edges are preferably offset with respect to
cutouts provided along the opposite edge to minimize
interference of skis positioned along one edge of the
rack with skis positioned along the opposite edge.
The longitudinal member may be curvilinear,
and in particular may be ~ade circular so that the ski
rack can take the form of a free standing carousel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a pictorial illustration of a
prior art ski rack.
Figure 2 is a pictorial illustration of a ski
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rack according to one preferred embodiment of the
invention.
Figure 3 is an end view of the ski rack of
Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a partially fragmented bottom view
of the ski rack of Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a pictorial illustration of a ski
rack according to an alternative embodiment of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Figure 1 illustrates a prior art ski rack con-
ceived and reduced to practice by the inventor of the
present invention. As may be seen, the prior art ski
rack of Figure 1 comprises a channel shaped member 10
having opposed upper and lower surfaces 12, 14 joined
together by surface 16, which may be provided with means
(not shown) for affixing the ski racX to a surface such
as the wall of a building. Pairs of vertically aligned
cutouts 18, 20 are provided at spaced intervals along
member 10 for receiving pairs of skis 100 as shown in
Figure 1. A closure member comprising a bar 22 is
pivotally secured to one side of each such cutout so
that bar 22 may swing across the cutout opening to close
the cutout. First and second apertures 24, 26 are pro-
vided in bar 22 and upper member 12 respectively. Aper-
tures 24 and 26 may be vertically aligned by pivoting
bar 22 so t~at first aperture 24 is positioned imme-
diately beneath second aperture 26, thereby facilitating
passage of a lock through the aligned apertures in the
manner of lock 104 illustrated in Figure 1. (Only one
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such lock is shown to avoid obscuring details of the
prior art.)
Bar 22 is provided with a pair of cutouts 28
for receiving the shafts of a pair of ski poles 102 as
may be seen in Figure 1. It will thus be understood
that a skier may position his skis with their bottom
faces aaainst one another (i.e. with the tips of the
skis facing in opposite directions), pivot bar 22 to
open a selected one of cutouts 18, and then position the
skis within cutouts 18 and 20 as shown in Figure 1. The
skier then places his ski pole shafts within cutouts 28
and then pivots bar 22 to align first and second aper-
tures 24, 26 for passage of a lock therethrough, thereby
securely locking the skis and ski poles into the rack.
~ very serious shortcoming of the prior art
sXi rack hereinbefore described is that the skis must be
positioned in the rack such that the bindings of adja-
cent pairs of skis are vertically staggered. Note, forexample, that the toe pieces of the bindings of the two
outer pairs of skis lOOA and lOOC shown in Figure 1 are
positioned above upper member 12, whereas the toe pieces
of the central pair of skis lOOB are positioned between
members 12 and 14. This is to prevent the bindings and
t-ips of adjacent pairs of skis from interfering with
each other during insertion and removal from the rack.
Unfortunately, it would be a practical impossibility to
ensure such staggering of adjacent pairs of skis in a
commercial environment in which the rack were left in
the open for all skiers to use at will. For example one
skier might lock his skis and poles into the rack with
the binding toe pieces above upper member 12 and another
sXier might select the same vertical position for place-
ment of his skis two cutouts removed from the cutout
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selected by the first skier. This would effectively
preclude other skiers from placing their skis in the
- intervening two cutouts since their skis would interfere
with each other. This could in turn result in aamage to
the skis as skiers attempted to forceably insert or re-
move their s~is from the rack.
One solution to the problem might be to extend
the rack of Figure 1 to provide greater spacings be~ween
adjacent pairs of cutouts 18, 20. ~owever, the inventor
has found that this would likely require at least one
foot between each pair of vertically aligned cutouts 18,
20; thus wasting valuable space and material and ren-
dering the ski rack of Figure 1 unsuitable for commer-
cial purposes.
In an effort to overcome the serious disadvan-
tages of the prior art ski rack of Figure 1, the inven-
tor has conceived and reduced to practice the preferred
ski rack shown in Figures 2 through 5 which will now be
aescribed. The first embodiment of the preferre~ ski
rack to be described is that indicated by the reference
number 30 in Figures 2 through 4.
Ski racX 30 comprises a generally planar,
longitudinal member 32 having a plurality of cutouts 34
along opposed edges 36, 38 of member 32. As may be
seen, cutouts 34 located along edge 36 are offset with
respect to cutouts 34 located along edge 38, thereby
minimizing interference of skis positioned in cutouts on
opposed sides of rack 30.
Each of cutouts 34 comprises a rectangular
area 34' (the inner and outer bounds of one such area
being denoted by dotted lines on the cutout depicted in
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the upper right corner of the ski rack portion shown in
Figure 4). Rectangular area 34' is Eor receiving a pair
of skis with the ski botto~ surfaces generally parallel
to the direction of longitudinal extent of me~ber 32, as
illustrated by the cross-sectioned portions of skis 100
depicted in Figure 4. Eac~ of cutouts 34 also comprises
a pair of slots 40 (best seen in Figure 4) which extend
from the inner edge of rectangular area 34' into longi-
tudinal member 32. Each of slots 40 is for receiving a
ski pole 102 in the manner of the cross-sectioned ski
poles 102 which may also be seen in Figure 4.
Ski rack 30 further comprises a plurality of
lockable closure members; namely, bars 42 each of which
is pivotally secured to one side of the outer edge of
cutouts 34 to swing across and close the cutout gap.
Cutouts 34 are each provided with a first aperture 4~
located in the outer edge of cutout 34 opposite the side
of cutout 34 to which bar 42 is pivotally secured. A
second aperture 46 is provided in the end of each of
bars 46 opposite the end of the bar which is pivotally
secured to ~ember 32. Apertures 44 and 46 may be
vertically aligned, one above the other, by pivoting bar
42 relative to number 32. Once the apertures have been
aligned a lock may be passed the~ethrough in the manner
of lock 104 shown in Figure 2, thus closing cutout 3~.
Lock loa is depicted to one side of the apparatus de-
picted in Figure 2 to avoid obscuring details of the in-
vention. In normal use a plurality of locks 104 would
be placed through the aligned apertures of each of the
cutouts in which the depicted skis and ski poles are
located.
~n operation, the skier pivots one of bars 42
to open a selected one of cutouts 34. Ski poles 102 are
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then located in slots 40 with their grips above the up-
per surface of member 32, as may be seen in Figures 2
and 4. The bottom surfaces of the skis are then placecl
together and the skis themselves placed in rectangular
area 34' of the selected cutout 34 so that the bottom
surfaces of the sXis are generally parallel to the
direction of longitudinal extent of member 32. Bar 42
is then pivoted to close cutout 34 and align apertures
44 and 46 for passage of a lock therethrough to securely
locX skis 100 and ski poles 102 to rack 30.
It will be noted that the preferred ski racX
is a far simpler construction than the prior art ski
rack depicted in Figure 1. For example, longitudinal
member 32 comprises a single sheet of material from
which cutouts 34 can easily be punched. By contrast,
prior art ski rack of Figure 1 requires an additional
forming step in which upper and lower surfaces 12 and 14
are bent, relative to surface 14, to give the Figure 1
ski rack its cross-sectional channel shape. Moreover,
adjacent cutouts 34 of ski rack 30 may be positioned
much closer together than adjacent pairs of aligned
apertures 18, 20 of the Figure 1 ski rack, thus facili-
tating more compact storage of a larger number of skis
and ski poles. Furthermore, despite its simplicity,
relative to the prior art ski rack of Figure 1, ski rack
30 sacrifices nothing in the way of security.
An examination of Figures 2 through 4 will
reveal that skis 100 cannot be removed from rack 30 by
sliding the skis upward relative to rack 30, since the
ski bindings are restrained by bar 42 and by the tongue-
like protrusion between apertures 40. Skis 100 also
cannot be removed from rack 30 by positioning skis 100
at an angle and then attempting to slide them downward
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relative to rack 30. This is because the upwardly pro-
truding grips of ski poles 102 prevent skis 100 from
lying at an angle sufficiently close to the upper sur-
face of member 32 to enable such sliding removal of skis
100 from rack 30. Moreover, each rectangular area 34'
of cutouts 34 is preferably made 3 inches wide (measured
- in the direc~ion of longitudinal extent of member 32).
The "waist" region of a modern ski is typically 3 inches
or less in width. However, modern skis widen to about 3
1/4 inches or greater in their "shovel" regions. Ac-
cordingly, it woula not be possible to slide the skis
downwaraly to free them of racX 30 if cutouts 34 are 3
inches wide, because the shovel regions of the skis
could not pass through such a comparatively narrow re-
striction.
. Of course, member 32 would be mounted on somesuitable support structure, such as that ~enerally il-
lustrated by.reference numeral 106 in Figure 2, which
should be positionea at a convenient height to support
skis and ski poles in rack 30, while affording easy ac-
- cess to closure bars 42. Even if cutouts 34 did not
have the pre~erred 3 inch width, one could still prevent
removal of the skis from rack 30 by ensuring that
support structure.106 is not so high that skis 100 could
be slidably removed from rack 30 by angling the skis and
sliding them downward relative to rack 30.
A further subtle, yet important advantage of
the invention is that ski poles 102 are stored inside
the skis, whereas the prior art rack of Figure 1 stores
the ski poles outside the skis. Storage of the ski
poles outside the skis exposes the ski poles to vandal-
ism by individuals who bend the ski pole shafts away
from the rack. The invention offers a significant mea-
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sure of protection agains~ such vandalism by shieldingthe ski poles behind the skis.
Figure 5 illustrates an alternate embodiment
of the invention comprising a ski rack 60 having a gen-
erally longitudinal member 62 with a plurality of cut-
outs 64 along only one edge of member 62. Cutouts 64
are identical to cutouts 34 and are provided with pivot-
al bars 66 and vertically alignable apertures for re-
ceiving locks identical to t~e corresponding componentsdescribed above with reference to the first embodiment
of Figures 2 through 4. Ski rack 60 is provided with a
rear flange 68 which constitutes a means for securing
ski rack 60 to a surface such as the wall of a
building-
As will be apparent to those skilled in theart in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many al-
terations and modifications are possible in the practice
of this invention without departing from the spirit or
scope thereof. ~or example, either of members 32 or 62
may be curvilinear. More particularly, members 32 or 62
may be circular so that ski racks 30 or 60 may take the
form of a free standing carousel. If member 32 were
made circular then it would probably not be expedient to
include cutouts 34 along the inner edge of member 32
since it would be difficult for skiers to gain access to
such apertures. However, other forms that would afford
access to cutouts located along the inner edge of member
32 suggest themselves, such as a "U" shaped configura-
tion of member 32. Accordingly, the scope of the inven-
tion is to be construed in accordance with the substance
defined by the following claims.
