Ski Lower Flange Bracketing for Grip and Force Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current skis face challenges in effectively transmitting force and achieving better grip during edging, particularly due to variations in snow texture and increasing customer demands for dynamic performance and visual appeal.
Innovation Solution
A ski design featuring a broader, flat lower flange that extends between the ski core and coating, providing a bracketing effect, which enhances force transmission and grip by overlapping the side walls and steel edges, and can be manufactured from single or multiple parts using flexible materials with integrated flexing lines and adhesive bonding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the lower flange is made broader than the distance between steel edges, then force transmission and grip during edging is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The lower flange extends beyond the steel edges in the transverse direction, utilizing the dimensional space available to create a broader base that improves force transmission and grip without adding vertical complexity to the ski structure
Solution Approach 2:
The lower flange is designed as a separate component that can be manufactured and assembled independently, allowing for optimized geometry that improves performance while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through modular construction
2Reliability
If the lower flange is made broader to extend beyond steel edges, then grip during edging is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The lower flange is designed with varying breadth along its length, being broader than the steel edge distance only in specific regions where grip is needed, while maintaining standard dimensions in other areas to reduce overall manufacturing precision requirements
Data Source
AI summary
A ski, wherein the ski includes: a ski core; a ski coating which forms an underside of the ski; a lower flange which is arranged between the ski core and the ski coating; steel edges; and side walls; wherein the lower flange includes at least a front region and/or a rear region which is broader, in a direction transverse to a longitudinal axis of the ski, than a distance between the steel edges in the direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ski in the region.