Steerable toboggan
OwnerBruce Cameron Smithinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A steerable toboggan for sledding on snow is disclosed which includes a support having a bottom gliding surface which slides directly on the snow, and a pair of runner arms carrying guide ribs which extend forwardly beyond the gliding surface. Each of the guide ribs includes a curved portion which is vertically movable relative to the other between a raised position, with the curved portion raised above the snow, and a lowered position where the curved portion of the guide rib is brought against the snow. The toboggan is steered by selectively lowering the curved portion of one of the guide ribs onto the snow as the toboggan moves. The bulk of the user's weight is supported by the underlying snow, enabling the support to be formed from thinner less expensive materials, without requiring complex manufacturing processes.
Claims20
A steerable toboggan comprising,
- a rear portion having a planar snow engaging bottom gliding surface extending substantially across the entire width of the rear portion,
- the rear portion merging forwardly into two mirror image side-by-side forwardly tapering runner arm members having bottom surfaces which curve upwardly from the gliding surface towards a respective front end tip,
- the bottom surface of each runner arm member having a continuous guide rib therealong at a lowermost point along the length of each runner arm member,
- each said guide rib including a forward curved portion curving upwardly and inwardly towards the opposing one of the runner arm members as the guide rib extends towards the respective end tip,
- the runner arm members being vertically movable relative to the rear portion and to each other to steer the toboggan by selectively moving at least part of the forward curved portions of the guide ribs against the snow.
A steerable sledding apparatus for sledding on snow comprising,
- seating means for supporting a user's buttocks thereon, the seating means having a generally flat bottom gliding surface for slidably engaging and transmitting said user's weight to said snow,
- a leading surface curving forwardly and upwardly from the seating means to assist in guiding the gliding surface on top of the snow,
- first and second spaced guide rib means for adjusting directional movement of the apparatus, each of first and second guide rib means extending forwardly and beyond the seating means and having a forward curved portion which curves away from the gliding surface upwardly and in an inward direction towards the opposing one of the first and second guide rib means,
- the forward curved portion of each of the first and second guide rib means being vertically movable relative to the other of the guide rib means between a raised position wherein said forward portion is spaced substantially above the snow and a lowered position wherein the forward curved portion is brought into engagement with the snow.
A steerable apparatus for sledding on snow comprising,
- spaced apart first and second guide rib means for adjusting directional movement of the apparatus, each of the first and second guide rib means having a forward portion and a rearward portion,
- support means for supporting a user thereon, the support means located between the rearward portions of said first and second guide rib means and including a generally flat snow engaging bottom gliding surface to transmit load forces to said snow between said first and second guide rib means, the support means having a front end and a rear end,
- snow deflecting lead surface means curving upwardly away from the front end to assist in directing said gliding surface on top of said snow,
- the rearward portion of each of said guide rib means projecting downwardly past said gliding surface a distance selected so as not to substantially interfere with the sliding of said gliding surface on said snow,
- the forward portion of each of said first and second guide rib means extending forwardly beyond the front end, and including a forward curved portion curving away from the gliding surface upwardly and in an inward direction towards the other one of said guide rib means, the forward curved portion of each of the first and second guide rib means being resiliently movable relative to the other from an unbiased raised position substantially spaced above said snow, to a biased lowered position wherein the forward curved portion is moved into engagement with said snow.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.