Wheeled Snowmobile Ski Attachment for Dry Surface Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Snowmobile skis with carbide runners are inefficient and prone to wear when moving over dry surfaces, as they tend to slide or skid, affecting steering and durability.
Innovation Solution
A wheeled device is designed to attach to snowmobile skis, featuring legs with ski-engaging portions, wheels, a cross bar, and a lever arm with a handle and retaining member, allowing the skis to be elevated and wheels to engage the ground, preventing contact with dry surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If snowmobile skis with carbide runners are used to move over dry surfaces, then the skis can grip snow and ice effectively, but the skis will slide or skid on dry surfaces and wear excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The wheeled device acts as an intermediary between the snowmobile ski and the dry ground surface. The device includes a frame with wheels that contact the ground, while the ski remains elevated and does not contact the ground. This intermediary wheeled device allows the snowmobile to be moved over dry surfaces without the ski runners experiencing sliding, skidding, or excessive wear.
2Ease of operation
If snowmobile skis with carbide runners are used to move over dry surfaces, then the skis can steer the vehicle, but the skis will slide or skid adversely affecting steering
Solution Approach 1:
The wheeled device serves as a mediator that eliminates the harmful skidding action. The wheels provide controlled movement over dry surfaces, preventing the ski runners from sliding or skidding. This maintains steering control and ease of operation without generating the harmful skidding effect that would otherwise occur.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If a wheeled device is attached to elevate the ski, then the wheels engage the ground to prevent ski contact, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wheeled device is segmented into distinct functional components: a frame structure, wheels for ground contact, and a ski engagement mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while making the overall device more manageable and less complex than a monolithic design would be.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates angularly positionable lever arms that can be adjusted to different angles. This dynamic adjustability allows the device to adapt to different ski configurations and ground conditions, providing flexibility that reduces the need for multiple specialized components and thereby managing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for attaching to a ski of a snowmobile includes first and second spaced apart legs. Each leg has a ski engaging portion proximate a second end that is configured to engage a bottom surface of the ski proximate outer edges thereof. The device includes at least one wheel attached to the first and second legs between the first end and the second end and a cross bar that attaches the first and second legs proximate first ends thereof. The device includes a lever arm extending from the cross bar between the first and second legs wherein the lever arm is configured to be angularly positionable relative to the first and second spaced apart legs. A handle is attached to a distal end of the lever arm and has a surface configured to engage a tip end or a ski handle of the ski. The device includes a retaining member attached to the handle that is configured to engage the ski handle, wherein when the ski engaging portions engage a bottom surface of the ski and the retaining member engages the ski handle, the ski is elevated and the at least one wheel engages the ground surface such that the skis do not contact the ground surface as the snowmobile is moved.