It is well known that conventional sleds include sledding runners attached to sled to facilitate travel in snow or ice-covered environments. These sleds cannot be readily used, however, on high-friction terrains such as, for example, grass or concrete surfaces. Conventional sleds having both wheels and sledding members have been proposed for use on snow and land. These conventional sleds have a number of drawbacks, however, some of which are highlighted below.
These convertible sleds typically include either no steering system or, otherwise, include a rudimentary steering system that generally includes only a single pivot point for all of the steering wheels and all of the steering sledding members. Such a conventional steering system has the problem that, as the rider increases a turning angle (i.e., reduces the turning radius of the conventional sled), the conventional sled becomes more unstable due to the reduced distance of the wheel to the center line of the conventional sled. Moreover, lateral force on each of the steering wheels and steering sledding members is increased compared to having a pivot point for each set of steering wheels or each steering sledding member on a respective side of a sled. The conventional steering system also requires a bulkier frame and requires more force from a rider to steer the conventional sled.
In the conventional convertible sled, typically, only one set of steering wheels or steering sledding members is provided. Consequently, the rider can easily lose steering control when the wheels or members skid or skip. The risk of skids and skips increases, in particular, for uneven terrains such as grass and other off-road surfaces.
The conventional convertible sled generally does not include a braking system, or, otherwise, is implemented with a braking system which is difficult to control. Typically, the braking system may be a foot-applied brake having only a limited amount of braking feedback or, otherwise, may not be provided in a natural position of a hand of the rider.
Further, the conventional convertible sled does not provide for removal and replacement of the plural wheels. Therefore, the conventional convertible sled cannot be used with wheels of varying types and sizes optimized for specific terrain.
Still further, the conventional convertible sled does not include a large number of wheels (e.g., ten wheels). Nor does the conventional convertible sled have a high portion of them (e.g., four wheels) acting as steering wheels. Thus, the conventional convertible sled is not adaptable for most off-road terrains and steering control over such terrains is not adequate.
To overcome the shortcomings of conventional convertible sleds identified above, what is needed is an improved convertible sled suitable for all terrains.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds