Prior Art Snow skies may be divided into two main categories, i. e. cross-country skies and downhill skies. Of these two types of skies especially the downhill skies require several working operations when they shall be put in condition for skiing, es- pecially skiing in a competition. Thus it is, in a first step, necessary, after fastening of the ski in a suitabie holding device, to scrape and wash the ski and grind the lower surface of each edge fitting. To this end the ski must be kept fixed while the lower side is facing upwards. In two subsequent steps the side surfaces of the edge fittings are ground. To this end the ski is to be kept fixed in a position edgeways, i. e. one time with the left edge facing upwards and the other time with the right edge facing upwards. In the next step the ski is again mounted with its lower side facing upwards in order to enable, on one hand, cleaning of this side from grindings and, on the other hand, waxing of one or sev- eral layers. The wax is applied in heated condition and con- sequently the ski must be removed from the holding device in order to be allowed to cool during a certain time. When the wax has been cooled the ski is once again mounted in the de- vice for scraping and brushing in a final treating step.

Since the individual skier often must treat several pairs of skies (10-20 pairs of skies is not unusual for a person re- sponsible for the material within a group) it is realised that mounting and dismounting respectively of the individual ski should be carried out in a quick and simple manner.

Common for previously known ski holding devices (see e. g. SE8300890-4, NO 144 283, NO 148 211 and US 4 919 406) is that the individual ski is fixed by some type of mechanical clamping or locking mechanism that requires manual manipula-

tion. This means in practice that the work to mount and dis- mount respectively the ski in connection with each treatment step becomes complicated and time-consuming. A further disad- vantage of certain of the previously known ski holding devices is that they only fit to a given type of ski, e. g. either a cross country ski or a downhill ski. In addition to this, the previously known devices are void of means to allow, in a sim- ple way, arbitrary mounting of a ski either in a horizontal position, where the ski is upside down or in a position edge- ways.

Objects and Features of the Invention The present invention aims at setting aside the short- comings mentioned above of the previously known holding de- vices for ski treatment and to provide an improved device for this purpose. Thus, a primary object of the invention is to provide a holding device that does not require manual manipu- lation of mechanical clamping or locking mechanisms in order to properly fix the ski and that allows mounting of the ski not only in a horizontal position, in which the ski is upside down, but also in a position edgeways. A further object is to provide a holding device that may be used for treatment of cross country skies of different models as regards length, width and design as well as downhill skies of different mod- els. A further object is to provide a holding device that is compact so as to call for a minimum space during storage and transportation. Further the device should be-simple to use and cheap to manufacture.

According to the invention at least the primary object is attained by means of the features as defined in the charac- terizing portion of claim 1. Furthermore, preferred embodi- ments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view that shows the holding device according to the invention adjusted for treatment of a horizontal ski that is turned upside down;

Figure 2 is a similar perspective view that shows the device adjusted for treatment of a ski in a position edge- ways; Figure 3 is an enlarged, perspective view in detail of a sup- port included in the device; and Figure 4 is a perspective view that shows the device fixed to a base in the shape of a table.

Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment of the Inven- tion The device shown in the drawings comprises an elongated frame 1 and two separated supports 2 for the purpose of sup- porting and holding opposite ends of a ski 3 that is indicated by dashed lines. In the shown, preferred embodiment the frame 1 is composed of two square tubes 4,5 of which tube 4 has a smaller dimension than tube 5, said tube 4 being inserted into said tube 5. Thus, tube 4 may be displaced telescopically relative to tube 5. By giving tube 5 a length that is only slightly larger than the length of tube 4 the frame may in a telescopically compressed state have a length that is only slightly larger than 50% of the maximum length of the struc- ture in its expanded state. The telescopic tubes 4,5 are fixable in desired positions relative each other by means of a locking screw 6.

The individual support 2 comprises a post 7 that is ro- tatably connected with the frame, said post 7 having an upper transverse member 8 that extends perpendicularly relative to the post. In practice both the post 7 and the transverse mem- ber 8 may be constituted by a cylindrical tube or a rod. A sidewards projecting and upwardly open yoke 9 is also con- nected with the post 7. In the example this yoke consists of a rod element or tube element bent essentially to L-shape, said element comprising, on one hand, a lower horizontal shank 10 that is connected with the post 7 at a point located at a considerable distance from the transverse member 8 and, on the other hand, a vertical shank 11 having a free upper end 12 lo- cated below the level of the upper side of the transverse mem- ber. The lower shank 10 projects perpendicularly from a ver-

tical plane being common for the post 7 and the transverse member 8.

In accordance with a characteristic feature of the in- vention the transverse member 8 has an upwardly directed sur- face coating 13 of a soft material having the ability of ad- hering or sticking to the ski when said ski is placed on the transverse members in the way that is shown in figure 1, i. e. the upper side. of the ski is facing downwards. Practical ex- periments have shown that a latex rubber having the trade name UNIMERE (article No. Latex 615) has a very good adhering abil- ity. The material may be in the shape of a hose-shaped cover- ing that completely surrounds the cylindrical transverse mem- ber, although it is per se feasible to cover only the upper portion of the transverse member with the material.

As shown in the drawings also the vertical shank 11 of the yoke 9 and the portion of the post 7 that extends between the horizontal shank 10 and the transverse member 8, are cov- ered with a soft, suitably hose-shaped material that is adapted to contact the upper and lower side respectively of a ski. In the shown example also the horizontal shank 10 is covered with a soft material. Like the soft material 13 of the transverse member 8 also the material in the coverings of the shanks 10,. 11 and the upper portion of the post 7 may con- sist of a latex rubber of the type mentioned above, although also other soft materials are feasible.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the individual post 7 may be raised and lowered relative to the frame 1 in order to enable adjustment of the transverse member to different levels relative to the frame. Thereby a downhill ski may be adjusted in such a way that the ski-boot attach- ment, that faces downwards, may be brought into contact with and rest against the upper side of the frame. In such a way, especially a long ski may be supported of three different points. In the shown example the mobility of the post in the vertical direction is realised by providing the lower portion of the post with an external thread 14 that cooperates with an internal thread in a sleeve 15 that is attached to the frame and opens upwards. A locking nut, e. g. a wing nut 16, is ap- plied-co the external thread and by means of this wing nut 16

the post may be fixed in a desired position relative to the sleeve as regards the angle of rotation. By means of the wing nut 16 the post may therefore be fixed either in a position where the transverse member 8 extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal extension of the elongated frame (see figure 1), or in a position where the transverse member extends parallel to the frame at the same as the L-shaped yoke 9 extends trans- verse to the longitudinal extension of the frame (see figure 2).

The Function and Advantages of the Invention In figure 1 is illustrated how a ski 3 may rest on the transverse members 8 of the supports 2 in a horizontal or ly- ing condition in which the underside of the ski is facing up- wards. Since the length of the frame is adjustable the dis- tance between the two supports may, in an easy way, be adapted to the length of the ski. If the ski is a downhill ski that in a conventional way has a ski-boot attachment of a consider- able height, the transverse members of the supports may also be adjusted in the vertical direction in such a way that the ski-boot attachment will rest on the frame at a third point approximately midway between the supports. In this condition the ski may be subjected to different treatment steps, like cleaning, waxing, scraping, etc.

If the ski is a downhill ski that requires grinding of the outer sides of the two longitudinal edge fittings, the de- vice may be rearranged to the condition shown-in figure 2.

More precisely, the two posts 7 of the supports are loosened and turned 90° in comparison to the position according to fig- ure 1, said posts 7 being fixed in their position by means of the wing nuts 16. In this condition the two L-shaped yokes 9 project sidewards from the posts and the ski 3 may be applied in the yokes in a position edgeways. In this position one of the two edge fittings of the ski is easily accessible for grinding by means of a file. The ski may then be rigidly fixed thanks to the fact that the thickness of the ski is nor- mally reduced towards the ends of the ski. This means that the forward and rear end portions of the ski may be wedged be- tween the posts 7 of the supports and the vertical yoke shanks

11 by having the telescopic tube 4 inserted into the tube 5, this effecting a shortening of the frame until the ski nips in the gaps between the pairs of posts 7 and shanks 11.

An essential advantage of the invention is that the ski, in the horizontal position, adheres to the soft rubber mate- rial. This means that there is no need for the operator to manipulate mechanical clamping mechanisms in order to fix the ski in a desired position. Besides, downhill skies may easily be placed in a position edgeways where the edge fittings may be ground in a convenient way. Thanks to the fact that the frame is made of two thin, telescopically displaceable profile tubes, the device may be brought along during the most differ- ent conditions and mounted on all sorts of bases, e. g. a ta- bletop (e. g. by means of a simple clamp) as is shown in figure 3. By having the two square tubes telescopically displaceable the length of the frame may also be reduced to a minimum.

Since the two supports also are detachable from the frame, the device is in its entirety extremely compact when stored and transported.

It is feasible to supply the described device together with two separate legs which, if needed, may be connected to the opposite ends of the frame in order to support the same at a suitable level.

Feasible Modifications of the Invention The invention is not only restricted to the embodiment described and shown in the drawings. It is thus feasible to connect the two supports with the frame in a different way than by means of a sleeve and a thread coupling. The support may for instance be pivotally connected to the frame and col- lapsible between active and inactive positions. It is further feasible to use other adhesive or sticking materials than la- tex rubber of the type UNIMERE. It is also possible to design the yoke at the side of the post in a different way than in the shape of a rod bent to L-shape. Thus, the yoke may also be manufactured from a bent metal sheet having a certain longitu- dinal extension parallel to the transverse member of the sup- port. Furthermore, the transverse member may be detachably connected to the post, e. g. by having an externally threaded

upper portion of the post screwed into a downwardly opening, threaded hole in the transverse member. In connection with such a design it is possible to rigidly connect the post with the frame by having the transverse member rotated 90° between a transverse position according to figure 1 and a position par- allel to the frame according to figure 2, said yoke of the support permanently projecting sidewards relative to the frame.