EP0428690B1 - Device for treating the running surfaces of skis - Google Patents

Abstract

The device claimed is designed to treat the running surfaces of skis. It has a housing (1), which the skier enters with his or her skis on, with a device for cleaning, drying, applying wax and warming. Support members are provided to support the skis (22) during this treatment of the running surfaces, as well as a drive device which produces a relative motion between the ski running surfaces and the treatment device. The support members comprise several freely rotating rollers (12) disposed parallel to each other. Their spindles (11) are held on one side in a substantially horizontal guideway (9) and linked to chain-like transport members (8). The treatment device, or rather the frame (13) which holds the device, is also linked to the chain-like transport members (8). Rollers (12) are disposed both in front of and behind the treatment device in its frame (13), and the transport members (8) displace the rollers (12) and the treatment device along the guideway (9). The horizontal guideway (9) for the freely rotating rollers (12), which act as support members, is approximately twice as long as the length of the longest skis (22) to be treated.

Description

The invention relates to a device for treating the running surface of skis with the features according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

Devices of this type are known. Such a device has a housing which can be entered by skiers with strapped skis and in which an upper working opening is formed; in which both skis have space next to each other. Supporting members protrude into the opening from both sides of the housing in the form of swivel plates arranged at long intervals, on which the skis are each supported. In the housing itself, a work slide is guided in a longitudinally movable manner and is driven by a motor and has the treatment devices for the running surfaces. When passing the sled, the support members are pivoted out of the sled run and swing back into their support position after the sled has passed. The skier maintains his position relative to the device during the entire treatment process (DE-OS 32 27 922, US Pat. No. 4,457,255). The carriage contains a container divided into several compartments. In the compartments, rollers rotatably mounted about transverse axes, for example a cleaning roller immersed in a liquid bath, and a wax applicator roller immersed in a wax supply, both of which can be heated. The carriage contains the further tread treatment devices, such as heating device, blower, polishing roller, drying device, scraping device, possibly edge grinding device, etc. This construction is extremely complex. The large number of swivel plates must not only be swiveled, but also additionally raised and lowered, which requires a large number of joints, which makes the construction complex and expensive and moreover prone to failure, but it must be borne in mind that such Devices are usually outdoors, although they are operated under covers.

Application devices of this type are also provided in such devices for waxing skis, in which the container for the wax storage and the application roller immersed in it are mounted in a housing in a stationary manner with respect to the housing and the skier with his skis is pulled or guided over this application device by means of transport rollers becomes. In these previously known devices, the wax is brought to the underside of the ski by rotating the roller and applied there by means of an application roller immersed in a wax bath. As practice shows, this form of application is not without problems, since the wax thickness is often very different and even the application is partially suspended.

Also to be mentioned are devices for waxing skis in which there is a stationary wax container in a housing, in which a rotatably mounted application roller projects. Backing rollers are provided on both sides of this stationary container for the liquid wax, the axes of which are also mounted in a stationary manner with respect to the housing, but which are driven as transport rollers. The skier who enters the rotating transport rollers with the strapped skis is pushed over the applicator roller. Compared to the known construction mentioned at the outset, this type of device for waxing skis is structurally much simpler in design, but experience has shown that the wax application is unsatisfactory in these previously known devices.

DE-OS 3249 449 also discloses a walk-in ski waxing device which has an elongated, box-shaped housing with a cover plate which has two guide tracks for the skis. Fixed brushes are rotatably mounted in the housing. Furthermore, a sliding device for the skis is provided with a conveyor belt which is endlessly rotating around two deflection rollers in a vertical plane and to which a support arm is fastened. This is through that revolving conveyor belt can be moved in a longitudinal slot provided between the guideways and carries a driver which lies against the rear of the ski and then pushes the skis together with the skier over the guideways. The wax application device is arranged in a fixed manner in the housing mentioned. The guideways for the skis are defined by side panels. This device is not practical, for several reasons: The skier who enters the sideways-limited guideways with the strapped-on skis is pushed by a driver that engages the ends of the skis. Since the conveyor belt or the conveyor chain that moves this driver must necessarily have a constant rotational speed, this rotational speed can only be very low, since the driver must accelerate the skier stepping onto the guideways to the rotational speed of the conveyor. In addition, the thrust affects the end of the ski, so extremely eccentric in relation to the skier's center of gravity. The skis are pushed away from the skier's feet, so to speak, and this because of the evenly rotating driver also jerkily. As a rule, this will necessarily result in falls, especially for inexperienced skiers. Since experience has shown that a pushed skier makes transverse movements with the skis, i.e. moves the skis about their longitudinal axis and this, of course, also while driving over the wax application device, the wax or lubricant is forcibly applied unevenly to the outsole of the skis. All of these considerations and facts also apply to the device according to DE-OS 3237 753. The ski waxing device shown and described here differs from the first discussed only in slight details.

CH-PS 570 182 also shows and describes a detail of a ski waxing device. In a box-like housing, a plurality of driven rollers arranged parallel to one another are mounted in pairs, which apart from a pair of rollers are stationary in this housing are. One pair of rollers is supported in the vertical direction by springs. The skier pushed over the ski waxing device by the rotating rollers pushes this pair of rollers downwards while overcoming the force of the springs mentioned, which triggers a switching process by means of which wax is sprayed via nozzles directed upwards against the underside of the ski.

Furthermore, the ski waxing device is to be named according to US Pat. No. 2,537,511. Here, two conveyor belts are stored in an elongated housing, which, in relation to their direction of conveyance, lie one behind the other. Between these two conveyor belts, a wax applicator that is stationary within the housing is accommodated.

Further ski waxing devices with fixed ski waxing devices, by means of which the skiers with strapped skis are moved using different means of transport, are also shown and described in the following publications: DE-B 1578 879; CH-A 670 770 and DE-U-8101 204.

Finally, the platform known from DE-U-8816 113 for a valley-side towing or ski lift station is to be mentioned, which is provided with a surface that can be walked on with skis. A ski waxing device is to be created on this platform provided here in the area of a ski lift. Over a length of 1.5 to 2.5 m, this covering or platform has two parallel channels, the widths of which correspond at least to that of a ski and on the bottom of which are arranged upward-directed nozzles through which liquid wax is sprayed. Fixed brushes and hot air nozzles are arranged in front of the channels with these nozzles, which are used to clean and dry the ski. Driven rollers are provided between the nozzles arranged in the grooves, on which the skis are placed and through which the skis are transported. In a special training it is provided that the covering or the platform is part of a perforated conveyor belt. The nozzles are below this conveyor belt intended for spraying the liquid wax. This conveyor belt should also be heatable. Apart from the fact that it is questionable how the ski standing on the conveyor belt is to be sprayed with liquid wax from nozzles underneath, it is also not clear why this conveyor belt or the platform for the ski application should be heated, except that it is achieved that the snow falling on the platform or on the conveyor belts is melted. The protection of this device is served by a canopy mentioned here or the cover with a rollable film. This device is not expedient, since by spraying on liquid wax no adequate, qualitatively perfect wax coating can be applied, especially not if support rollers are provided between these spray nozzles that drive the ski, apart from the fact that these drive rollers or their bearings are probably all too soon will be stuck from the sprayed wax.

All of these ski wax application devices discussed have in common that the skier is moved with the strapped-on skis in relation to a fixed wax application device, be it by a driver attacking the end of the ski, be it by rotating conveyor rollers or conveyor belts. The disadvantages shown in connection with the device discussed above are common to these known devices: the towed or pushed skier moves to keep the balance, forcibly the skis about their longitudinal axis, as a result of which the wax is applied unevenly to the outsole of the ski. Apart from this, the movement imposed on the skier by the means of transport causes the skier to fall too easily, especially if it is inexperienced and inexperienced skiers and if the pushing force which causes the movement acts extremely eccentrically with respect to the skier's center of gravity, i.e. directly on the skis self.

The invention, based on this, is based on this prior art aims to improve the application device, whereby the skis can be supported in a simple manner during the treatment, without thereby affecting the treatment, in particular the application of wax, which, according to the proposal according to the invention, is achieved by means of those measures which are the content and subject of the characterizing part of patent claim 1.

The present invention shows a new way that eliminates these disadvantages of the known devices. It is based on the consideration that the skier stands still during the wax application, that is to say that no conveying or pushing forces should act on him, which would make him fall too easily, and that it is precisely because of this "static behavior" that the skier's skis stand or lie still, so that the wax application device now leading along the ski finds clearly defined conditions for the exercise of its intended function, so that the wax can be applied evenly over the entire length and width of the ski. With regard to these aspects, the present invention is based on the same considerations as the ski wax application device according to DE-PS 3227 922.

The drawing illustrates an embodiment of the invention. 1 shows a schematic longitudinal section through the device and FIG. 2 shows a cross section — section line II-II in FIG. 1 — on a larger scale than in FIG. 1; 3 shows the frame with the treatment devices on an enlarged scale compared to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 shows the heatable plate in an oblique plan view; Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the heatable plate and Fig. 6 shows a longitudinal section through this.

In an elongated, narrow housing 1 open at the top, drive wheels 4 and deflection wheels 5, 6 and 7 are provided in pairs in the area of the narrow end faces 2 and 3, via which endless transport elements 8, here in the form of chains, are guided. These wheels 4, 5, 6 and 7 have horizontal Axes and the endless transport elements 8 provided in pairs lie in vertical planes (FIG. 2). Guides 9, in which support rollers 10 run, which are arranged at the ends on the axes 11 of freely rotatable rollers 12 extend along the upper longitudinal sides of the housing 1. Such rollers 12 are provided in large numbers and at a distance from one another and are connected to one another by the endless transport elements 8. Also fixed to these two transport elements 8 and guided on the rails 9 is a frame frame 13, in which the devices provided for the treatment of the skiing surfaces or soles are accommodated, for example a cleaning brush 14, a polishing brush 15, a hot air blower 16, a cold air blower 17, a heatable wax container 18 with a wax application device 19 and stripper 20. The endless transport element 8, which is designed here as a chain, is, as can be seen in FIG. 1, only equipped with rollers 12 over part of its length, with reference to the treatment device or the frame 13 are arranged both in front of and behind these rollers 12.

Above the rollers 12 (see FIG. 2), specifically in the central region, tension abutments 21 are arranged, the side edges 23 of which interact with the skis 22 are chamfered downwards in a wedge shape. These oblique side edges 23 converge downwards. With regard to the housing 1, these clamping abutments 21 are arranged in a stationary manner and interact with clamping jaws 24, which can be actuated pneumatically, for example. The housing 1 is approximately twice as long as the greatest length of the largest ski to be treated.

Instead of chains, which are used as transport elements 8, steel cables or straps can also be used. Instead of endless transport elements 8 (see FIG. 1), it is also possible to use transport elements 8 which are finally formed, with the narrow end faces of the housing then 1 no idler wheels but take-up rollers are provided.

The device described above is installed outdoors, but preferably covered with a roof, and is equipped with a drive and control device, which is not shown here. A motor is provided for driving the drive wheels 4, which is expediently in operative connection with a coin operated machine. In the initial and rest position, the frame 13 is at the left end of the housing 1 (Fig. 1), so that the upper opening of the housing 1 is covered and spanned by rollers 12 over its entire length. The skier, coming from the right in FIG. 1, enters these rollers and is then guided into the central region of the device by optical and / or mechanical instruction aids (FIG. 1). By inserting a coin, he now puts the device into operation, whereby the frame frame 13, which is initially on the left (FIG. 1), is pulled to the right via the endless transport element 8, the rollers 12 supported and guided on the edge passing below and carrying the ski , the ski sole being processed and waxed simultaneously via the treatment devices located in the frame 13. During operation of the device, the skis are held in place by the device shown in FIG. 2. A clamping abutment 21 is provided in the central region of the rollers 12, the side edges 23 of which are beveled in a wedge shape, these side edges converging downward. From the outside, preferably pneumatically operated, clamping jaws 24 act and press the skis 22 carried by the rollers 12 against the side edges 23, the bevel of which ensures the correct positioning of the skis. If the frame 13 has been run over the entire length of the skis and is now in its right (FIG. 1) end position within the housing 1, it then returns to its original position as soon as the skier has left the device, since the transport element 8 despite its endless design, only executes a reciprocating movement here. The The device could also be designed so that the endless transport element 8 only moves in one direction. However, this would presuppose that the housing 1 is made higher, so that there is sufficient space below for the frame 13 at the respective return. Instead of an endless transport element 8, a transport element with ends can also be provided, in which case winding rollers would then have to be arranged on the two narrow end faces 2 and 3 of the housing.

The device is equipped with a program control, which ensures that after switching on the drive motor for the drive wheel 4, the individual actuating devices run in the correct chronological order as soon as the skis are tightened and the drive motor has started to operate.

From the above description and also from FIG. 2 it can be seen that the freely rotatable rollers 12 serving as support members are formed in one piece over the width of the housing 1. In principle, it is of course possible to subdivide these rollers over the axis length, so to speak, so that the support member is made over the width B of the housing 1 and a large number of individual rollers. However, this would increase the effort as expected.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the guides 9 are designed as U-shaped rails which are open at the top. In order to prevent or at least make it difficult for foreign bodies and foreign materials to enter these guide rails 9, the upper edges of the housing are drawn over these guide rails, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In addition, it would also be possible to use laterally open C-shaped guide rails instead of upwardly open U-rails.

Was explained above that the clamping abutment 21 is arranged in a stationary manner and the outer clamping jaws 24 are movably mounted are, it is within the scope of the invention to kinematically reverse this arrangement, that is, to provide the movable jaws inside and the fixed abutments outside. Instead of pneumatic actuation of these movable clamping jaws, other actuating devices (spindle drive; hydraulic drive; lever linkage) can also be provided.

FIG. 3 shows the frame 13 on an enlarged scale compared to FIG. 1. The container 18 is divided here by a partition 25 into two chambers 26 and 27, both chambers are heated. Each of these chambers is assigned a pump 28 and 29, from which pipe or hose lines 30, 31 lead to a heated metal plate 19, which has flat trough-like depressions 33, 34 on its top, into which the hoses or pipes mentioned come from below flow out. In relation to the relative direction of movement between the ski and the plate 19, these trough-like depressions 33 and 34 lie in the front section of the heated plate 19. By means of springs 32, during operation, this heated plate 19 lies against the outsole of the ski 22 to be treated. In the bottom of the trough-like depressions 33 and 34 there are a large number of nozzle bores, which are represented by dots in FIG. 4 and through which the hot, low-viscosity wax is sprayed onto the ski sole. The pumps 28 and 29 are designed as submersible pumps and are in the liquid wax mass.

An expedient embodiment of the heated plate 19 is shown in FIG. 5 in plan view and in FIG. 6 in longitudinal section. The plate 19 has two groups A and B of nozzle-like wax outlet openings 35 which, as seen in the direction of movement of the plate 19, lie one behind the other. The axes of these wax outlet openings 35 are somewhat inclined (FIG. 6) and form an acute angle with the relative direction of movement of the ski. Each of the two groups A and B is connected to a pipe 30 or 31, via which the liquid wax from the chambers 26 and 27 to these wax outlet openings is directed. At the two end sections of the plate 19, transverse strips 36 and 37 are arranged on its upper side, between which the two groups A and B of the nozzle-like wax outlet openings 35 mentioned lie. These cross bars are made of a low-friction material and serve as a support for skis. The upper edge of these cross bars 36 and 37 are slightly above the top of the plate 19. The lateral boundary surface 38 of the one cross bar 37 is advantageously slightly beveled, which forms a wedge space with the ski surface over it, which favors the wax application. 6, which represents a longitudinal section through the heatable plate 19, the heating element 39 is also indicated.

The further units provided here within the frame, such as cleaning brush 14, polishing brush 15, hot air blower 16, cold air blower 17 and wiper 20, essentially correspond to those structural parts as are also known in other wax application devices.

If the system is put into operation by a skier in the manner described above, he can choose between two types of wax at the push of a button, depending on the snow and / or weather conditions. The desired wax is sprayed under high pressure by means of the pump via the nozzles mentioned and is evenly distributed over the outsole, the heated plate 19 performing a type of ironing function in which it distributes the sprayed wax with its hot surface evenly on the outsole and in this "ironed". The containers for the wax can be designed to be exchangeable so that the wax can be changed quickly. A container is expediently arranged below the strippers 20, which holds the excess, stripped wax. Such a container is indicated in the present drawing. Legend for the reference numbers 1 casing 21 Tensioning bearings 2nd Face 22 ski 3rd Face 23 Side edge 4th drive wheel 24th Jaws 5 Deflection wheel 25th Partition 6 Deflection wheel 26 chamber 7 Deflection wheel 27 chamber 8th Transport element 28 pump 9 Guide rail 29 pump 10th Support roller 30th Pipeline 11 axis 31 Pipeline 12th roller 32 feather 13 Frame 33 deepening 14 Cleaning brush 34 deepening 15 Polishing brush 35 Wax outlet 16 Hot air gun 17th Cold air blower 36 Cross bar 18th Wax container 37 Cross bar 19th Wax applicator 38 Lateral boundary surface 20th Wipers 39 Heating element

Claims (16)

1. A device for treating the running surface of skis, having a housing (1) which the skier can step onto with his or her skis on, with at least one treatment device for cleaning, drying, applying wax and warming the running surface, and with support devices which support the skis during the treatment of the running surface, the support devices being formed by several rotatable rollers arranged parallel to one another, and a drive device being provided in order to produce a relative movement between the running surfaces of the skis in the longitudinal direction and the treatment device, characterised in that the treatment device comprises at least one heatable container for supplying wax, and a heated plate (19) which can be placed against the running sole of the ski (22) is provided in order to apply wax, at least one wax outlet being arranged on the upper side of this plate (19) and being connected to the container (18) for the supply of wax via a pipe or tube line (31, 32) [sic] and a pump (29, 28), and rollers are arranged as support devices both in front of and behind the treatment device.
2. A device according to Claim 1, characterised in that the wax outlet is formed as a flat recess (33, 34) in the plate (19), this recess (33, 34) extending over the width of a ski.
3. A device according to Claim 1, characterised in that a plurality of nozzle-type wax outlets (35) is provided in the upper side of the plate (19).
4. A device according to Claim 1, characterised in that at least two recesses (33, 34) or at least two groups of nozzle-type wax outlets (35) are provided in the plate (19), and the recesses or the wax outlets lie one behind the other in the direction of the relative movement between the ski and the treatment device, and the heatable container (18) for the supply of wax comprises at least two separate chambers (26, 27), and a tube or pipe line (30, 31) - each having a pump (28, 29) - leads out of each chamber to the plate (19), each of the recesses (33, 34) or each group of wax outlets (35) being associated with one of the tube or pipe lines (30, 31).
5. A device according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the plate (19) rests against the ski sole under the action of the force of a spring (32).
6. A device according to Claim 2, characterised in that a plurality of spray nozzles is arranged in the base of the recess (33, 34) forming the wax outlet, these spray nozzles being connected to the tube or pipe line (30, 31).
7. A device according to either of Claims 1 or 4, characterised in that the pumps (28, 29) are formed as submergible pumps and are located in the liquid wax substance.
8. A device according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the recesses (33, 34) or the wax outlets (35) of the plate (19) are located in the front region of the plate (19) in the direction of the relative movement between the ski and the treatment device.
9. A device according to any one of Claims 1, 3 to 5, characterised in that transverse strips (36, 37) made of a low-friction material are provided on the surface of the plate (19) in the front and/or rear region thereof, the surfaces of these transverse strips (36, 37) lying slightly above the surface of the plate (19).
10. A device according to Claim 9, characterised in that the transverse strip (37), which is at the front when seen in the direction of movement between the ski and the treatment device, comprises an obliquely inclined limiting surface (38) on the side facing the wax outlets (35) or the recesses (33, 34).
11. A device according to Claim 1, characterised in that the rollers (12) are mounted so as to be freely rotatable and their axes of rotation (11) are held at the ends in a substantially horizontal guide (9) and are connected to cable-type, belt-type or chain-type transport elements (8), and the treatment device or the frame (13) carrying the latter is likewise connected to the cable-type, belt-type or chain-type transport elements (8), and the rollers (12) and the treatment device or the frame (13) carrying the latter are displaceable along the guide (9) by the transport elements (8).
12. A device according to Claim 11, characterised in that the transport elements (8) are continuous and are arranged adjacent to one another in pairs and these transport elements (8), which rotate in vertical planes, are guided over driving and deflecting wheels (4, 5, 6, 7).
13. A device according to Claim 11 or 12, characterised in that the transport elements (8) are only connected to freely rotatable rollers (12) over part of their length and the transport elements (8) perform a backward and forward movement during operation.
14. A device according to Claim 11, characterised in that the horizontal guide (9) for the freely rotatable rollers (12), which serve as support members, is approximately twice as long as the length of the longest skis (22) to be treated.
15. A device according to Claim 11, characterised in that the ends of the axes of rotation (11) of the freely rotatable rollers (12) carrying support rollers (10), which are received by the horizontal guide (9).
16. A device according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 and 11 to 15, characterised in that clamping abutments (21) are provided above the freely rotatable rollers (12) in the longitudinal central region thereof for securing the skis during the treatment of the running surfaces, these clamping abutments (21) having contact surfaces (23) for the skis, which contact surfaces (23) are bevelled in a wedge-shaped manner, and cooperating with clamping jaws (24) which are stationary relative to the housing (1) and which are preferably actuable pneumatically.

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