Method of Constructing a Member Suitable for Traversing Snow

Abstract

Though the sport of snowboarding is not new, it has taken many years to understand the specific characteristics which are required for making snowboards. There is better understanding of the dynamic bending properties needed for current riders, especially for the competition driven rider whose demands are ever changing, driving research and development to new levels on a daily basis. The early designs of snowboards were based on principals learned from the ski industry. Early snowboard designers did not understand or anticipate the use of snowboards as articles for gliding down a snow covered slope making long curving turns and at the same time, the boards to be jumped into the air, launching from half pipes edges and sliding down steel rails. Some of the differences from skis to snowboards can be seen in the prior art for skis. Skis are made for quick turns with a desire to stay firmly attached to the snow surface, where snowboards are made for long carving turns and jumping. Skis are stiff members with a resistance to bending moments and elongation, where these properties are desirable for snowboards. Snowboards are soft and flexible for slow speeds and ski are stiff for high speeds.

1 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow comprising the steps of;
 Shaping a core, a tail and a tip to corresponding radii;   Creating holes for inserts and inserting said inserts into core for binding mountings;   Contouring plateaus in said core in vertical plane to desired thickness;   Making dovetail joint on mating surfaces;   Conforming perimeter edge material to outside edges of core;   Feathering perimeter edge material on core to intersection of core radius and nose radius along core radius;   Feathering perimeter edge material on core to intersection of core radius and tail radius along core radius;   Inlaying channels onto exterior surfaces of core, tip and tail;   Assembling tip and tail onto core and perimeter edge creating core assembly;   Placing stiffening members into channels and bonding said members to said channel;   Shaping a bottom layer to match shape of said core assembly;   Conforming metal carving extension rail to entire perimeter of said bottom layer;   Conforming a top layer to match shape of said core assembly;   Creating holes in said top layer matching said inserts in said core;   Bonding said bottom layer and said top layer to said core assembly using glass omni-directional glass fiber mesh material to stabilize bonding material and bonding pieces;   Placing assembled device into shaping press;   Supplying heat and pressure to press;   Holding pressure and heat for period of time;   Releasing shaped assembled device from press;   Preparing said top layer for surface enhancements; and   Preparing said bottom layer for accepting waxing materials.   
   
   
       2 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  where the bonding material used is epoxy. 
   
   
       3 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  number of channels are the same on each exterior surface of core, tip and tail. 
   
   
       4 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  number of channels are not the same on each exterior surface of core, tip and tail. 
   
   
       5 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  thickness of the stiffening members are the same on each exterior surface of core, tip and tail. 
   
   
       6 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  thickness of the stiffening members are not the same on each exterior surface of core, tip and tail. 
   
   
       7 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  where the material used on the perimeter edge, tip and tail is an isotropic material with of density of between 0.35 and 1 g/cm 3 , preferably 0.55 to 0.75 g/cm 3 . 
   
   
       8 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  where said front stiffening member and said rear stiffening member are constructed of polymer based material that contains a unbiased carbon based rigidity enhancements, wherein said unbiased carbon based rigidity enhancements is a material selected from the group consisting of uni-directional, bi-directional and omni-directional fibers. 
   
   
       9 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  where said bottom layer is constructed of a polymer such as ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. 
   
   
       10 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  where said top layer is constructed of a colored UV-stabilized polymer selected from the group consisting of polybutylene terephthalate, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers, and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. 
   
   
       11 . A Method of constructing a sliding device for traversing snow as in  claim 1  where said core is made of a wood.