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Universal wheel unit for mounting one or more wheels on the ski of a snowmobile. The wheel unit is a separate assembly that is detachably mountable on the ski or is an integral component of the ski. When retrofitting skis, the wheel unit is mountable on the kingping, on the side wall, or on the sadd

Universal wheel unit for mounting one or more wheels on the ski of a snowmobile. The wheel unit is a separate assembly that is detachably mountable on the ski or is an integral component of the ski. When retrofitting skis, the wheel unit is mountable on the kingping, on the side wall, or on the saddle. Wheels are readily deployable or retractable as ground surface conditions require, and allow the snowmobile to be driven over gravel, dirt, and hardtop surfaces, while maintaining steerability with the handlebars.

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1. A wheel unit mounting an a ski of a ski-mounting vehicle, said ski having a gliding surface for traveling over a ground surface and two side walls, a first side wall and a second side wall, that extend upward from said gliding surface and lengthwise along at least a portion of said ski, said whee

1. A wheel unit mounting an a ski of a ski-mounting vehicle, said ski having a gliding surface for traveling over a ground surface and two side walls, a first side wall and a second side wall, that extend upward from said gliding surface and lengthwise along at least a portion of said ski, said wheel unit comprising:wherein saida wheel assembly that includes a wheel rotatably mounted by means of a wheel spindle to a wheel-mounting bracket that provides eccentric rotation of said wheel assembly;a side-wall mounting means for mounting said wheel assembly on one of said two side walls;a wheel-deployment mechanism that links said wheel assembly with said side-wall mounting means; anda wheel-deployment actuating mechanism that forces said wheel assembly to eccentrically shift about said wheel-deployment mechanism, shifting said wheel between a deployed-wheel position and a retracted-wheel position. 2. The wheel unit of claim 1, wherein said side-wall mounting means including a side-wallo mounting bar and said wheel-deployment mechanism includes a latching mechanism comprising a rail with a groove and a locking pin, said groove having a first latching position and a second latching position;wherein said locking pin is fixedly attached at a first end to said side-wall mounting means and is slidably captured at a second end in said groove, and wherein said locking pin and said rail cooperate so as to shift said wheel-assembly between said deployed-wheel position and said retracted-wheel position. 3. The wheel unit according to claim 1, wherein said rail has an actuating end and said wheel-deployment actuating mechanism is a handle that is mounted at said actuating end of said rail and is grippable. 4. The wheel unit according to claim 2 further comprising two side-wall mounting bars, wherein said wheel deployment mechanism includes two rails and a crossbar, wherein said side-wall mounting bars are mounted to each one of said side walls and a respective one of said two rails is mounted on each of said side-wall mounting bars such that said two rails are parallel and an imaginary line drawn between said first end of each of said two rails extends perpendicular to said side walls, and wherein said handle is a crossbar that has two ends, each end of which is mounted at said actuating end of a respective one of said two rails. 5. The wheel unit of claim 1, wherein said wheel-deployment actuating mechanism includes a drive means that is mounted on said side-wall mounting means and an operative end that is linked to said actuating end of said rail so as to shift said wheel-deployment mechanism between said deployed-wheel position and said retracted-wheel position. 6. The wheel unit according to claim 5, wherein said drive means is a biasing spring that is fixedly attached to said side-rail mounting means at one end and to said actuating end of said rail at another end. 7. The wheel unit according to claim 6, wherein said drive means is an electrically actuated drive means. 8. The wheel unit according to claim 7, wherein said drive means is a pressurized-fluid system having a cylinder fixedly attached to said side-wall mounting means and a retractable piston at said operative end that is attached to said actuating end of said rail. 9. The wheel unit according to claim 8, wherein said pressurized-fluid system is a hydraulic system. 10. The wheel unit according to claim 8, wherein said pressurized-fluid system is a pneumatic system. 11. The wheel unit according to claim 1, said ski further comprising a carbide-fastening assembly and a carbide fastener, wherein said side-wall mounting means includes a mounting end adapted to seat over said carbide fastening assembly and a through-bore for receiving said carbide fastener. 12. The wheel unit according to claim 11, wherein said carbide fastening assembly includes a first fastening post and a second fastening post, and wherein said mounting end of said side-wall mounting bar includes a first mounti ng end adapted for seating over said first fastening post and a second mounting end adapted for seated over said second mounting post. 13. A ski-and-wheel unit comprising:a ski having a gliding surface for traveling over a ground surface and two side walls, a first side wall and a second side wall, that extend upward from said gliding surface and lengthwise along at least a portion of said ski; anda wheel unit according to claim 1;wherein one said wheel unit is mounted on a first side wall. 14. The ski-and-wheel unit of claim 13, wherein one said wheel unit is mounted on said first side wall and one said wheel unit is mounted on said second side wall. 15. The wheel unit of claim 2, wherein said ski is a conventional double-scag type ski and that also has a carbide-fastener post with a bore hole for receiving a threaded fastener on said first side wall;wherein said side-wall mounting bar has a bracket end for receiving said carbide-fastener post, said bracket end having a first through-hole, wherein said side-wall mounting bar is mountable on said first side wall such that said bracket end seats over said carbide-fastener post and said first through-hole is located above said bore-hole on said carbide-fastener post. 16. The wheel unit of claim 15, wherein said ski includes two carbide fastener posts and said side-wall mounting bar has two bracket ends, each of which seats over a respective one of said carbide fastener posts, and wherein said side-wall mounting bar is fastenable to said ski by means of a fastener inserted into said first through-hole on said bracket end and into said bore hole on said ski. 17. The wheel unit of claim 15, wherein said mounting bracket has a second through-hole oriented normal to said ski for receiving a fastener to fasten said side-wall mounting bar directly to said first side wall. 18. A combination ski-and-wheel unit comprising:a ski with a mounting block integrated into a construction of said ski; andsaid wheel unit of claim 1, wherein said side-wall mounting means is integral with said mounting block and a wheel-mounting bracket is mounted on said mounting block. 19. The combination ski-and-wheel unit of claim 18, wherein said mounting block includes a cam spindle mounting bore for receiving said cam spindle of said wheel-mounting bracket. 20. The combination ski-and-wheel unit of claim 19, wherein said locking pin extends from said mounting block. 21. The combination ski-and-wheel unit of claim 18, wherein said drive means for said actuation means is mounted on said mounting block and said operative end is attached to said actuating end of said side-rail. 22. The wheel unit of claim 1, wherein said side-wall mounting means is a universal railand said wheel-deployment mechanism includes a capture means in said universal rail and a link that couples said wheel assembly to said universal rail;wherein said universal rail further includes a first bore hole for receiving a snowmobile kingpin and a second bore hole for receiving a mounting fastener for mounting said universal rail to said sidewall;wherein said link has a first end and a second end, and wherein said first end is rotatably mounted on cam and said second end is captured in said capture means. 23. The universal wheel unit of claim 22, wherein said capture means includes a first capture bore, a second capture bore, and a groove that extends between said first capture bore and said second capture bore, wherein said wheel-deployment mechanism further includes a spring-biased device attached to said second end of said link, said spring-biased device having a movable portion with a first dimension and an immovable portion with a second dimension, said first dimension being capturable in said capture means and being greater than said second dimension, and wherein said spring-biased device is releasable from a latching position in which said movable portion is captured in said first capture bore so that said link holds said wheel assembly in said deployed-wheel position, to an intermediate position in which said movable portion is pulled from said first capture bore, leaving said immovable portion slidably movable along said groove between said first capture bore and said second capture bore. 24. The universal wheel unit of claim 22, wherein said second bore hole includes a series of bore holes for mounting said universal rail on portion of said ski that is substantially vertical and perpendicular to a gliding surface of said ski. 25. The universal wheel unit of claim 22, wherein said universal rail has a first rail surface for mounting said universal rail on a portion of said ski that extends substantially vertical and orthogonal to a running surface of said ski, and a second rail surface that extends away from and orthogonal to said first rail surface for mounting said universal rail over fastener posts provided on a double-scag type ski, wherein said first bore and said second bore are provided in said first rail surface, and a third bore for receiving a carbide fastener is provided in said second rail surface.