Dynamic damping and stiffening system for sliding boards

Abstract

A stiffening or damping apparatus for sliding boards or skis, comprising a force transmission blade ( 20 ) attached to the sliding board ( 10 ) for transmitting vibrational, twisting or bending energy and a clutch element for engaging the force transmission blade. The clutch element ( 26 ) can be constructed to engage in both directions of ski bend over only a portion of total possible movement, or to frictionally engage ( 44 ) in only one direction of ski bending. These clutch devices allows the ski to be damped or stiffened only for small ranges of vibrational movement or to be inhibited in a single direction of bend or torsion.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for dampening or stiffening a sliding board comprising: 
 a) a sliding board,    b) a force transmission element attached to said sliding board for transmitting energy from the bend or twist in sliding board,    c) a clutching means for selectively engaging and disengaging force transmission element to the sliding board in both directions of movement over a limited range.    
     
     
         2 . The clutching means of  claim 1  wherein the clutching means is constructed with a rolling, bending or deforming member that can apply variable pinching force to said force transmission element.  
     
     
         3 . The clutching means of  claim 1  wherein the clutching means is constructed with a rolling member, and the range of engagement of said rolling member can be varied by lengthening or contracting the engaged range of movement over of which said rolling member moves.  
     
     
         4 . The clutching means of  claim 1  wherein the clutching means is constructed of a hydraulic cylinder, piston and valves, where one or more valves operates only over a limited range of motion, in order to constrain the motion of said piston in said cylinder only over a portion of the total movement of said piston in said cylinder.  
     
     
         5 . The force transmission element of  claim 1  constructed with a degree of flexibility or energy loss when flexed so as to apply an innate biasing or damping characteristic to said sliding board.  
     
     
         6 . The force transmission element of  claim 1  further including a dampening device for absorbing vibration energy of said sliding board.  
     
     
         7 . The force transmission element of  claim 1  further including a stiffening device for increasing stiffening bias of said sliding board.  
     
     
         8 . The force transmission element of  claim 1  wherein the force transmission member is integrated with the binding mounts, binding platform, binding mechanism or ski boot and binding combination of said sliding board.  
     
     
         9 . The clutching means of  claim 1  wherein the clutching means is attached directly to a dampening or stiffening member.  
     
     
         10 . An apparatus for dampening or stiffening a sliding board comprising: 
 a) a sliding board,    b) a force transmission element attached to said sliding board for transmitting energy from the bend or twist in sliding board,    c) a clutching means for frictionally engaging the force transmission element to the sliding board in a single direction of bend.    
     
     
         11 . The clutching means of  claim 10  wherein the clutching means is constructed with a rolling, bending or deforming member that can apply variable pinching force to said force transmission element.  
     
     
         12 . The force transmission element of  claim 10  constructed with a degree of flexibility or energy loss when flexed so as to apply an innate biasing or damping characteristic to said sliding board.  
     
     
         13 . The force transmission element of  claim 10  further including a dampening device for absorbing vibration energy of said sliding board.  
     
     
         14 . The force transmission element of  claim 10  further including a stiffening device for increasing stiffening bias of said sliding board.  
     
     
         15 . The force transmission element of  claim 10  wherein the force transmission member is integrated with the binding mounts, binding platform, binding mechanism or ski boot and binding combination of said sliding board.  
     
     
         16 . The clutching means of  claim 10  wherein the clutching means is attached directly to a dampening or stiffening member.  
     
     
         17 . One or more instances of the apparatus of  claim 1  or  10  applied to a sliding board wherein the instances are applied to multiple locations or sections of said sliding board, so as to act upon each section of said sliding board.  
     
     
         18 . One or more instances of the apparatus of  claim 1  or  10  applied to a sliding board wherein the instances are applied in a transverse or diagonal manner with respect to length of said sliding board, in order to change the torsional bending or vibration characteristics of said sliding board.  
     
     
         19 . One or more instances of the apparatus of  claim 1  or  10  applied to a sliding board wherein the instances are constructed with damping or stiffening means having different characteristics so as to asymmetrically affect the stiffness of the sliding board longitudinally or torsionally.