Resilient Anchoring Base for Ski Delineator Poles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current slalom gates for ski racing require extensive time and labor to set up and take down, often necessitating specialized tools and causing physical exertion due to the need for substantial torque in hard, dense snow conditions, and they lack secure anchoring in icy environments.
Innovation Solution
An anchoring base with resilient mechanical members, such as bristles or flexible discs, that reconfigure upon insertion to facilitate easy placement and resist extraction, combined with a spring cartridge featuring interlocking rings for torque transmission during extraction, allowing for reduced effort in both installation and removal without specialized tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional anchoring bases with coarse threads are used to secure slalom poles in hard, dense snow, then secure anchoring is achieved, but extensive time and labor are required for installation and removal
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring base employs resilient mechanical members that dynamically change their configuration based on applied forces. During insertion, the members are compressed into a compact state allowing easy entry into the snow. Once inserted, they resiliently expand to engage with the snow structure, providing secure anchoring. For removal, the members are compressed again to disengage, enabling quick extraction without specialized tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient mechanical members change their physical state between compressed and expanded configurations. This parameter change allows the anchoring base to transition between insertion mode (compressed, low resistance), anchoring mode (expanded, high engagement), and removal mode (compressed, low engagement), resolving the contradiction between secure anchoring and quick deployment.
2Reliability
If traditional anchoring bases require rotation and specialized wrenches for extraction, then secure anchoring is maintained, but physical exertion and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient mechanical members are designed to automatically engage with the snow structure upon insertion without requiring rotation or specialized tools. The members self-adjust to the snow density and provide anchoring through their resilient expansion, eliminating the need for manual rotation operations and specialized extraction tools.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring rotation to tighten and extract the anchoring base (traditional approach), the invention inverts the mechanism: the anchoring base is inserted directly in a compressed state and automatically anchors through resilient expansion. Removal is achieved by compressing the members again, reversing the traditional rotation-based extraction process.
3Reliability
If resilient mechanical members are designed to resist extraction forces, then secure anchoring in ice is achieved, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient mechanical members are designed as flexible elements that can bend and deform elastically. These flexible members provide the necessary resilience to engage with icy snow structures while maintaining a relatively simple overall anchoring base structure. The flexibility allows the members to adapt to varying snow densities without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms.
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
The solution significantly reduces the time and effort required for setting up and taking down slalom gates, providing secure anchoring in dense snow and ice without the need for specialized tools, enhancing operational efficiency and user safety.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of resilient mechanical members extending outwards relative to the insertion rod longitudinal axis, the plurality of resilient mechanical members bending or configuring upon insertion of the anchoring base
Implementation Method 2
Springs 24 provide the restoring force to return or self-align the gate in the vertical position
Implementation Method 3
a spring cartridge featuring interlocking rings for torque transmission during extraction
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5A~5C
AI summary
An anchoring base for a delineating pole using the reconfiguration of protruding resilient mechanical members to facilitate insertion and resist the subsequent extraction force on the pole. The mechanical members extend outwards relative to the insertion rod longitudinal axis, and bend or configure upon insertion of the anchoring base, into a first position that facilitates insertion while impeding and resisting axial extraction forces, and upon subsequent rotation of the anchoring base, the mechanical members bend or reconfigure into a second position such that the extraction resistance force is significantly reduced. The anchoring base design may be used in conjunction with a spring cartridge having a plurality of interlocking members forming a rigid mechanical structure during rotation.