1 2350336 SNOW SLIDING VEHICLES This invention relates to snow-sliding
vehicles Skiing or snowboarding on snow covered surfaces had long been a leisure activity of great popularity and is carried out by means of elongated strips of strong material strapped one to the feet of the skier or rider. Each strip has a ground or snow engaging surface to support and enable sliding progress to be made.
2 According to the present inventors A snow-sliding vehicle comprises a two-wheeled vehicle for supporting a rider and means attached to the vehicle having a board with a ground contracting surface to enable the vehicle to slide. The two-wheeled vehicle may be a bicycle.
The ground contacting surface may be in the form of a single board, a pair or more boards each with a bracket or brackets or supports for connection with the two-wheeled vehicle. The bracket or brackets may incorporate a shock absorber or shock absorbers.
The ground contacting surface may be formed on the surface of a conveyor so that as the conveyor rotates, the ground-contacting surface changes; tread or other gripping means may be formed on or on part of the said surface.
The two-wheeled vehicle may be a bicycle having wheels which rest upon the board with the ground-contracting surface and the board attached to the framework by means of a bracket carried on the wheel spindle or spindles. Additional supports may be provided for connection to the two- wheeled vehicle.
In order to allow the vehicle, when in the form of a bicycle easily to be used independently of the boards provided, the board or boards may be carried on the wheel spindle or spindles in a manner which enables the board or boards to be turned from a ground-contacting position to a disengaged position, means also may be provided for securing the board or boards to the bicycle framework on the disengaged position.
The leading and/or the trailing ends of the board or boards may be curved so that they are enabled to ride over ground e.g. bumpy snow. Additionally the board or boards in plan-view may be wasted e.g. in the manner of a foot print and have a rounded nose and tail. The surface of the board or boards may be grooved, recessed, punctured or holed for gripping or steering purposes.
The board or boards and/or the bracket or brackets may be made from plastics, fibre glass, lanfinated wooden strips, carbon fibre, titanium, aluminium. or other metal alloys.
3 The invention will now be described in configuration with the following drawings in which:- Figure 1 Shows a bicycle equipped with snowboards one for each wheel.
Figure 2 Shows a bicycle equipped with a single snowboard.
Figure 3 Shows a bicycle equipped with a conveyor means.
Figure 4 Shows part of the bicycle conveyor means of Figure 3 in plan elevation.
With reference to Figure 1 a bicycle 1, has saddle 2, handlebars 3, frame 4, peddles 5 and chain 5a and front and rear wheels 6 and 7 respectively.
Snowboards 8 and 9 are attached one to each wheel spindle 6a and 7a by means of brackets 10 and 11 rigidly connected to the boards. Each Snow board has an additional strut 12,13.
On operation a rider seated on the saddle 2, or standing on the pedals, can slide down a snow-covered slope on the boards 8 and 9 and can steer and control the direction of the bicycle by means of the handlebars 3, and the rider can incline the bicycle this way and that in the normal manner during steering.
Figure 2 shows a bicycle with a single board spanning both wheels with the single board 14 attached to wheel spindles 15 and 16 by means of brackets 17 and 18. The board 14 slides on a snow-covered surface and the bicycle is steered by the handle bars and by sympathetic inclination of the rider.
Figure 3 illustrates a land/snow-conveyor 19 and can be used in conjunction with the board arrangements of either figure 1 or 2. The land/snow-conveyor is located adjacent to the driven rear wheel 20. When the boards are in use for sn(ywboarding activity the land/snow conveyor 19 is swung clear of the ground by rotation of the sub-frame 21 around the wheel spindle 22 and secured in position. The conveyor may also be lowered and raised through a pierced section of the board or boards.
The sub-frame 21 is made from two shaped members 23 one on each side of the wheel 20. Shafts 24 and 25 are provided one at each end of the shaped member leg 26. Pairs of toothed wheels 27, 28 freely rotating mounted on shafts 24,25 are engaged by an internally-toothed conveyor 29. Ground gripping lugs 30 are formed on the outer periphery of belt 29. Drive is supplied by tyre 30A of wheel 20 by means of mechanism 31 shown in figure 4. A pair of toothed wheels 32,33 driveably engaging the pair of toothed wheels 28 are rigidly mounted on a common spindle 34. On the intermediate ends of this spindle is a rigidly formed and profiled pulley 35 shaed to suit the profiles of tyre 30A.
4 It will be seen that rotation of the tyre 30A of the drive wheel 20 will cause rotation of the profiled pulley 35 and the toothed wheels 32 and 33. These in turn drive the toothed wheels 28 and thus the conveyor belt 29, the lugs 30, enabling good traction to be achieved.