Snowmobile ski and method

• US 7,497,447 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2006
• Issued: 03/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2004
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Engineering & Manufacturing Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Engineering & Manufacturing Incorporated
• Inventors: Musselman, Robert S
• Primary Examiner(s): Ellis; Christopher P
• Assistant Examiner(s): OLSZEWSKI, JOHN
• Application Number:
  US11/546,745
• Publication Number:
  US 20070029744A1
• Time in Patent Office: 872 Days
• Field of Search: 280/28, 280/601, 280/606, 280/608, 280/11.18, 280/28.14, 180/9
• US Class Current: 280/28
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 17/02 Runners attachable to or replacing vehicle wheels B62B19/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49622 Vehicular structural member making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49959 Nonresilient fastener
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49995 Shaping one-piece blank by removing material

Abstract

A snowmobile ski including a runner fabricated from flat metal plate stock and incorporating mounting features for securing the runner to the ski and a wear strip of a relatively harder material provided on and projecting from a lower surface of the runner body. A quick release mounting system is provided for attaching the runner to the ski, including quick installation and release wedge mounting systems. The thin runner blade and wear strip are of the same thickness and are joined by a brazed joint. The invention contemplates a method of fabricating the runner and a method of mounting the runner.

Claims

1. A snowmobile ski assembly, comprising:

a longitudinally extending ski having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least two longitudinally spaced runner openings;

a runner having a runner body extending longitudinally between opposite ends and having an upper surface and a lower surface;

at least two mounting members extending from said upper surface of said runner body and spaced longitudinally from one another a distance to enable said mounting members to be extended through said runner openings from said lower surface of said ski;

a hard wear strip projecting from said lower surface of said runner and providing an ice-engaging running surface; and

wherein said mounting members comprise flat plate portions, the assembly including a wedge connection interacting between said ski and said mounting members to urge said upper surface of said runner body tightly against said tower surface of said ski.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said mounting members are free of screw threads.

3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said wedge connection includes a mounting hole formed in each of said mounting members and a fastener with a wedging surface operative to act against said mounting hole when inserted therein.

4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein said ski includes mounting blocks formed with a gap to receive a corresponding one of said mounting members therein, said mounting blocks formed with a cross bore alignable with said mounting hole of said mounting members when said upper surface of said runner body is drawn tight against said lower surface of said ski.

5. The assembly of claim 4 wherein said fastener includes a threaded end section that is relatively smaller in diameter than said size of said mounting hole, an enlarged shank section having a diameter closely approximating the size of said mounting hole, and a frustoconical wedging portion intermediate said threaded end section and said shank section for wedging said mounting hole of said mounting members into alignment with said cross bore of said mounting blocks.

6. The assembly of claim 5 wherein said cross bore includes a threaded section engageable with said threaded section of said fastener.

7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said wedge connection comprises wedge-shaped notches formed in said mounting members and locking wedges adjacent said upper surface of said ski engagable with said notches for camming said upper surface of said runner body into tight engagement with said lower surface of said ski.

8. The assembly of claim 7 wherein said locking wedges are fixed relative to said ski.

9. The assembly of claim 8 wherein said runner body is displaceable longitudinally relative to said ski to bring said runner body into wedging engagement with said ski.

10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said runner body and said mounting members are fabricated of a single piece of flat metal plate material.

11. The assembly of claim 10 wherein said wear strip is fabricated of a carbide material.

12. The assembly of claim 11 wherein said carbide wear strip is about the same thickness as that of said metal plate material.

13. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said upper surface of said runner body is formed with at least one notch forming an open space to receive a pry tool.

14. The snowmobile ski assembly set forth in claim 1 wherein said runner body and said mounting members are concurrently stamp cut from a planar sheet of metal to provide said flat plate portions.