Asymmetric Ski Edge Trajectory via Local Stiffness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ski designs fail to maintain the left and right ski edges equidistant during turns while ensuring symmetric visual appearance and balanced stiffness, leading to potential sideslip and control issues.
Innovation Solution
The ski features a core with a bottom and top bearing layer, where the central portion is deflected away from the ground, and the ski edges have different active lengths due to strategically placed weak areas and supplemental layers, allowing for asymmetric bending and torsion rigidity without altering the ski's symmetric silhouette.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If asymmetric bearing layers are used to create different bending and torsion rigidity on left and right sides, then asymmetric trajectory characteristics are achieved, but the visual appearance of the ski becomes asymmetric
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by placing asymmetric supplemental bearing layers only in specific regions (front and rear portions) of the ski, while maintaining symmetric visual appearance. The supplemental layers are positioned to affect bending and torsion characteristics locally without creating visible asymmetry in the overall ski structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent deliberately introduces asymmetry through supplemental bearing layers with different configurations on left and right sides of the ski. This asymmetric structure creates different active lengths and stiffness characteristics, enabling the ski to produce asymmetric trajectories while maintaining symmetric external appearance.
2Reliability
If the inclination of the strip in the central portion of the ski is increased to create asymmetric trajectory, then the radius of trajectory differs, but the thickness of the core is essentially increased and the overall thickness of the ski is increased
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing core thickness throughout, the patent uses supplemental bearing layers applied locally to specific regions. This achieves the desired asymmetric stiffness and trajectory control without substantially increasing the overall thickness of the ski.
3Reliability
If the inclination of the strip is increased to achieve asymmetric trajectory, then bending and torsion deformations are asymmetric, but the front and rear portions of the ski must be rotated relatively to the central portion, causing tendency of turning and running out from straightforward direction
Solution Approach 1:
The supplemental bearing layers are positioned in front and rear portions of the ski to create localized asymmetric stiffness. This allows controlled asymmetric trajectory during turns while maintaining stability and ease of straightforward running, avoiding excessive rotation of front and rear portions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design ensures that the left and right ski edges maintain approximately equidistant trajectories during turns, enhancing control and stability by adjusting the radius of curvature based on the position and angle of inflection points, while maintaining a visually symmetric appearance.
Implementation Method 1
a ski (1), which is relatively elastic and deformable in bending-torsion
Implementation Method 2
asymmetric bending and torsion rigidity
Data Source
Figure 1~4
Figure 5~14
Figure 15~20
AI summary
In order to assure smooth and essentially equidistant running of correspondingly loaded pair of skis over each disposable ground (P) when turning left or right in the area of each left or right ski edges (15', 15") without any sideslip in the area of at least one of the ski edges (15', 15"), the ski according to the invention is bent in the area of its tip (101) on its front portion (100) at a pre-determined angle (f) around its longitudinal axis (L0) and deflected apart from the ground (P) by radius (R) along the line (L3), which extends inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis (L0) in the rear portion (300), central portion (200) and the front portion (100) with exception of said tip (101) throughout the front inflection point (Ti l) of the left ski edge (16") and throughout the front inflection point (T12) of the right ski edge (15"), so that despite to practically symmetric appearance of the circumference of such ski, when observed in top view, the distance between the front inflection point (Tl 1) and the rear inflection point (T21) on the left ski edge (15') and the distance between the front inflection point (T12) and the rear inflection point (T22) on the right ski edge (15") essentially differ from each other, by which also both active lengths of said ski edges (15', 15") differ from each other.