CA1067530A - Ice skate blade held in synthetic plastic support - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The invention provides ice skates and methods of making ice skates which have a body of a syn-thetic plastic material and a steel blade. The body includes an upper portion for attachment to the sole of a suitable boot and the blade has an upper portion en-closed in the body and a lower portion projecting from the body. The blade has a non-interfering upper surface so that on moulding the body about the upper portion of the blade, the body can shrink and move longitudinally of the blade to limit stress build-up in the body caused by shrinking. Mechanical fattening devices are used to hold the blade in the body.

Description

This invention relates to ice skates of a type which are adapted to be attached to the soles of suitable boots for use in ice hockey and similar activities.
Designers of ice skates must meet two major criteria. Firstly, the ice skate should be as light as possible so that the energy expended by a skater is kept to a minimum. This facilitates fast starts and the skater will find lighter ice skates to be less tiring to use.
Secondly, the designer must ensure that ice skates have ~ 10 sufficient strength to withstand impacts and high side ; loading caused by a skater stopping or changing direction suddenly.
Traditionally, ice skates are built so as to comprise a hardened steel blade suitably secured to a metal body or frame which includes elevated toe and heel platforms secured to the underside of a boot. In the ., .
best quality skates made today, the blades and body or frame are made of steel with the blade being secured to a tubular section of the frame by spot welding.
, 20 Several difficulties exist with skates utilizing a metal blade-supporting body or frame. First, in fabricating a metal blade-supporting body to a blade, it is conventional practice to use eight different steel components which are variously spot welded together. Not only is there a problem in insuring the integrity of such welds, but in welding the blade to the body there is the - -constant danger of weakening or reducing the temper of the hardened steel blade.

- 2 - ~
':
. . .

1067~30 A further problem with traditional designs is that it has become increasingly more difficult to obtain consistently high quality steel for use in such blade-supporting bodies. As lesser quality steel has been used, breakage and rusting of such bodies has become more frequent.
In recent years, a number of designs have been proposed which include a body of a synthetic plastic material attached during moulding to a hardened steel blade. `
~anadian Patent 585,720 illustrates such a structure.
The plastic material is moulded about a series of keying , ~ `
devices which are spaced along the length of the blade and through holes in the blade to form an integral ice skate. i~
A further example of this type of structure is shown in Russian Patent 123,068. This structure includes a blade , which is perforated by a series of holes spaced along its `' length so that the body is locked to the blade by mould-ing through these holes. Another example is to be found in ~ U.S. Patent 3,212,786.
" An ice skate having a body of synthetic :
plastic material appears initially to have many advantages.
~, The body is light and can be attached to the blade by mould-ing the body directly about a suitably shaped portion of the blade. Although the initial cost of the moulds is high, the subsequent manufacturing costs for large quanti-ties would indicate that the process would be economic.
However, there is also a major drawback in the manufacture of such an ice skate caused by the fact that suitable plastic ;' materials have much higher shrinkage rates than steel.

- 3 : .

Consequently, if the plastic is moulded about a steel blade, the plastic material becomes highly stressed as it cools be-cause it is locked to the steel blade and cannot shrink freely. These resulting high stresses in the plastic material contribute to premature failure of the ice skate and con-sequently, the combination of a body of synthetic plastic material moulded about a steel blade has not been an accept-able alternative for more conventional forms of ice skates.
A further advantage of the present invention ~-is that through the use of an extremely tough synthetic plastic material such as a polycarbonate, the blade-supporting body is not susceptible to denting, warping, chipping or rusting, all of which are common with a steel body.
The present invention has been made after many efforts to utilize a blade-supporting body of synthetic plas-tic material in a commercially feasible composite type skate.
The original efforts resulted in a composite type skate having greatly improved performance characteristics. More specifically, the skates were lighter and far more respons-ive to the skater's demands. However, as with skates made according to prior art teachings, a serious problem developed with respect to fracturing or cracking of the plastic body.
Such cracking either began immediately after manufacture or developed within a reasonably short time of use. After consid-erable experimentation, it was discovered that while com-mercially available materials, such as those of the poly-carbonate group, had more than enough inherent structural _ 4 _ ~ ~067530 :
' .
strength, the manner in which the hardened steel blade was joined to the body was critically important. In earlier designs, like those of the prior patented art, when the body is initially moulded and mechanically inter-locked with the skate blade, severe localized stresses are set up in the plastic material. It was further found that from these highly stressed areas cracks emanated which eventually caused the body to fail or sufficiently ,~
disrupted its appearance as to cause the user to lose con-fidence in its safety.
.,, , : ~
Thus, the present invention is directed to a composite skate design utilizing a blade-supporting body of synthetic plastic material joined to the skate blade in such a way as to eliminate such critical stress areas within the body therby preventing cracking or fract-uring of the body.
Hockey players who have tested skates made ., ~: , .
in accordance with the subject invention under playing conditions claim they sense more "life" or responsive-20 ness in the blades. It is assumed that this reaction may 2' be attributable to the greater flexibility of the assem-` bly as compared to its all-steel counterpart.
-, Accordingly, the invention provides ice skates and methods of making ice skates which have a body of a synthetic plastic material and a steel blade.
~;
The body includes an upper portion for attachment to the sole of a suitable boot and the blade has an upper portion enclosed in the body and a lower portion projecting from .

,:

.
. ! :

~, , . ': : ' ' ' the body. The blade has a non-interfering upper surface so that on moulding the body about the upper portion of the blade, the body can shrink and move longitudinally of the blade to limit stress build-up in the body caused by shrinking. Mechanical fastening devices are used to hold the blade in the body.
The invention will be better understood with reference to the following description and associated I -drawings, in which: ~ ~
Fig. 1 is a side view of a preferred em- -bodiment of an ice skate according to the invention; ¦
Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view on line 2-2 of Fig. l;
--~ Fig. 3 is a somewhat schematic sectional ~`; !
~ view of a mould, the view being taken on a transverse ." I:
` plane corresponding to that indicated by linè 2-2 of Fig. 1 and illustrating a preferred method of making the ice skate;
,, Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of the ice skate to an enlarged scale to illustrate the placement of a rivet;
Fig. 5 is a side view of a portion of an ice skate during manufacture according to another method , of manufacture;
Fig. 6 is a composite side view of a por-tion of an ice skate blade and illustrating three possible embodiments of blade for incorporation into a further method of manufacture;
.'~. .

, . .. ~ , :

,,~

~067530 Figs. 7 to 9 are sectional views generally on line 7-7 of Fig. 6 and illustrating the further method of manufacture incorporating the embodiments shown in Fig. 6;
Fig. 10 is a partially sectioned side view of a rear portion of an ice skate illustrating yet another embodiment of the ice skate;
Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 and illustrating still another embodiment of the ice skate;
Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a portion of another ice skate blade for use in the invention;
~- Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate more embodiments of an ice skate blade for use in the invention; and - Fig. 15 illustrates a form of ice skate .; ~
blade which is not acceptable in the present invention and is illustrated for comparison purposes.
,! Reference is made firstly to Fig. 1 which illustrates an ice skate 20 consisting of an upper body 22 of synthetic plastic material which is attached to a lower skate blade 24 by four rivets 26 as well as by a cen-tral anchor structure denoted generally by the numeral 28.
~, In this, the preferred embodiment, the anchor structure 28 consists of an opening 30 formed in the blade 24 and through which the moulded body 22 extends to lock the body to the blade 24. The purpose for this structure will be described in more detail with reference to the method of manufacture.

;
" ;
. ~ .

~67530 The body 22 includes a longitudinally ex-tending main portion 32, an upwardly extending heel support 34 and an upwardly extending front support 36. The heel support is positioned adjacent the rearward extremity of the main portion 32 and the front support includes a heavier rear upright portion 38 and a lighter front portion 40 which blends smoothly into a front extremity of the blade 24.
The portions 3~ and 40 blend into an enlarged flange 42 for use in attaching the ice skate to a suitable boot.
Similarly, the heel support 34 includes a flange 44 for a - similar purpose. Both the upright portion 38 and the heel support 34 are hollow as shown in broken outline whereas the lighter front portion 40 is solid.
The rearward extremity of the main portion 32 blends into the rear end of blade 24 without narrowing significantly to ensure that an adequate rearward-facing surface area is presented as a safety precaution against ` impact between the rear extremity of the skate and a hockey ; player.
' 20 As better seen in Fig. 2, the main portion 32 of the body 22 is designed for optimum rigidity after :! ~
assembly with the blade 24. It is evident that the cross-sectional area of the plastic body should be kept to a mini-mum for lightness while meeting a given strength requirement.
In this embodiment the cross-section is substantially sym-.;, .
metrica about a vertical plane passing through the centre -~
~, ~ of the cross-section and includes upwardly converging in-clined faces ~6, 48 which lie at about 90 degrees to one ~ -another. These faces blend at their lower extremities into ,1 30 shorter downwardly converging faces 50, 52 which also lie 1 .
' - 8 -" :

~1 at about 90 degrees to one another and which meet resp-ective side flanges 54, 56 positioned about the blade 24.
The cross-section provides advantageous strength to weight requirements after assembly using rivets 26.
Fig. 2 also illustrates a rounded upper sur-face 58 of the blade 24. The side surfaces are substantially parallel and are formed to blend continuously at their upper extremities into the straight upper surface 58. As is con-ventional in better quality skates, the lower surface 59 of the blade 24 is hollow ground.
Description of the shape of the body 22 where it receives the rivets 26 will be incorporated into the description of the method of manufacture.
Reference is now made to Fig. 3 which illus-trates a portion of a mould used in the manufacture of the ice skate shown in Fig. 1. The mould consists of respect- ' ive first and second halves 60,~62 which define recesses 64, 66 for combining to define the plastic body 22 and to receive the blade 24 prior to moulding. Blade 24 is also located by two pins 68 in mould half 60 which engage in .;
corresponding front and rear ones of the openings in the blade. Each of the pins 68 is concentric with corresponding cylindrical portions 70, 71, 72 and 74 so that after ; moulding, cross-sections such as that shown in Fig. 3 are , provided where the front and rear ones of the rivets 26 are to be placed. Although the same structure including ~ pin 68 could be used for the other rivet locations, the use ;~ of four pins in the mould will create tolerancing problems ~ to ensure that all four pins meet the openings in the hardened ..~
3 30 blade. To reduce this problem only two pins are used as i!

;`' _ 9 _ ~ . .. . ~ . `

described. The other two rivet locations will be formed using forms in the mould halves which do not include pins 68. Instead, the portions 71, 72 will bear against the blade to block the openings in the blade so that no plastic material enters these openings. As is common practice, the portions 71, 72 can be spring-loaded outwardly for better bearing pressure on the blade surfaces. This blocking action will -be discussed further with reference to Fig. 6. Recesses 76, 78 and openings 77, 79 are formed in the plastic con- ' centric with the openings in the blade for receiving the rivets as shown in Fig. 2. Also, during moulding, plastic passes through opening 30 (Fig. 1) in the blade to lock the blade in position in the body at the so-called "anchor structure". It should be noted that the ends of the opening 30 are flared or chamfered to blend the wall of the opening into the side surfaces of the blade. This blending limits stress build-up in the plastic whlch can be caused by sudden changes in cross-section.
After moulding, the body of synthetic plastic ; 20 material shrinks significantly, firstly as it changes from ' liquid to solid and then, secondly as it cools. Consequently, if stress is to be avoided, the shrinkage must take place freely along'the length of the blade. As previously described, the straight upper surface 58 of the blade 24 is rounded and this facilitates shrinkage because it has been found that if the blade is not rounded, there is a tendency for inter-ference between the plastic body and the blade. Although this does not happen in every instance, it has been found that best ' results are achieved after rounding the upper surface. It '' 30 will also be evident that the rounded surface 58 is desirable .. . ..
` -- 10 ----simply because sharp changes in cross-section are best avoided in any moulded product.
The anchor structure 28 ensures that shrink-age takes place in a controlled manner. The structure 28 is located generally centrally of the length of the skate so that the body will shrink towards the centre from both ends. As a result, the recesses 76, 78 and associated open-ings 77, 79 (Fig. 23 for receiving the rivets 26 will no longer be concentric with the corresponding openings in the blade. Eor this reason, the recesses 76, 78 and open- -~
ings 77, 79 are proportioned such that even with the mis-alignment caused by shrinkage, the rivets 26 can be engaged freely and without interference with the sides of the recesses 76, 78. The final position of the rivet may well "
be such as that shown in Fig. 4 which demonstrates the -~ position anticipated for the forward one of the rivets 26.
This concept allows the blade to be first fixed securely to the body by moulding using the anchor structure, and then the rivets to be inserted to complete the assembly without creating significant stresses in the body. The final pro-duct relies on the rivets 26 for strength and these rivets are unlikely to shake loose because the blade is an extremely good fit in the plastic and because even after free shrinkage it is located positively by the anchor structure 28. It has been found that ice skate 20 (Fig. 1) can be made to ~, have the necessary strength while achieving the advantages of lightness offered by the use of a synthetic plastic material for the body. Suitable synthetic plastic materials include the polycarbonate group. In particular one designated by General Electric as LEXAN. However, blends of polycarbonates ,, ~,.......... ,. , - . - :
. .

could also be used such as CYCOLOY (Borg-Warner) as well as any other materials such as engineered plastics provided that the necessary strength and impact resistance are achieved. Suitable conventional fillers can also be used.
After moulding and inserting the rivets, it may be necessary to dress the finished product for excess moulding material. Otherwise the ice skate is complete and ready for attachment to a suitable boot.
. ~
The amount of shrinkage movement at each rivet opening will be substantially constant for a particu- ' lar skate size and for a given plastic material. Consequently, a further improvement to the mould can be made by analysing this movement and compensating for it in the design of the mould. If complete compensation proves to be possible, ~ ~¦
the cylindrical portions 71 and 72 (Fig. 3) of the mould would then have the same diameters as the openings in the blade and the recesses 76, 78 could be just sufficiently large to receive the rivet head and end portions respectively.
As previously discussed with reference to Fig. 3, the pins 68 in the first half 60 of the mould must ~ -fit in the front and rear openings in the blade. Consequently, the tolerance between these openings must match that between the pins. In some instances it may be preferable to avoid the ':1 .: .. .
'~ need for such accurate alignment and such a method will now ~?
be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 9.
Fig. 5 illustrates an ice skate 80 having a blade 82 and a plastic body 84. The ice skate is illustrated immediately after moulding and before shrinkage has taken place. During moulding, a mould was used having two halves ` corresponding to the shape of mould half 62 shown in Fig. 3.

., .

1~67530 Consequently, the plastic body 84 defines recesses for the rivets and such a recess is indicated by numeral 86. How-ever, the method illustrated in Fig. 5 differs from that pre-viously de`scribed in that in place of using pin 68 (Fig. 3) in the mould, the openings in the blade are first blocked using a plug of soft material such as aluminum. Resulting plugs such as plug ~8 filling an opening 90 are provided in the blade so that no plastic is injected through the openings 90. Further, calculations and experience are used to determine the best position for the recess 86 so that after shrinkage takes place the opening 90 is substantially concentric with the recess 86. -After shrinkage has taken place, the plugs 88 are either drilled out or punche~d out of the blade 82 -~ so that the rivets can be engaged and the assembly completed.
/ The rivets then sit substantially concentrically in the ~ recesses 86 as opposed to the position of the rivet 26 shown in Fig. 4 and forming part of the preferred embodiment.
,, The recess 86 can then be nearer to the size of the rivet head because there is less need for clearance.
Although the Fig. 5 method has some advant-ages from the standpoint of accuracy of tolerances between openings in the blade, a further improvement can be made to ensure that the tolerances are no longer of major signifi-cance. Fig. 6 is a compound view of a blade incorporating three embodiments which will provide this further improve-ment. In place of the opening 90 (Fig. 5) which has a diameter corresponding to the outside diameter of the rivet, a larger opening 92 is used and blocked using a plug of aluminum or the like 94. Because of the size of the plug, : ~ .
~ ! 13 -'. ~

1~167530 it will be apparent that an opening for the rivet could be drilled through this plug with quite coarse tolerances once the blade has been received in the moulded body and located using an anchor structure such as structure 28 shown in Fig. 1. Similarly, the opening could have any desirable shape such as the generally rectangular opening 96 which is blocked by a corresponding plug 98.
Fig. 6 also illustrates a third possibility in that the blade could be hardened along its outer zone 100 (indicated by ghost outline) so that a softer portion of the - .
blade is available for drilling wherever the rivet is to go.
In general, Fig. 6 illustrates a blade having at least one softer area for drilling to receive rivets. If the moulding I ~
is done as described with reference to Fig. 5, then the drill l -will be placed to pass through the recess in the moulded l~
body and through the blade concentrically with this recess. 1- -However, it will be evident that it is also possible to pro-~- vide a moulded body having no recesses in which case one of the embodiments illustrated with reference to Fig. 6 would 1 -preferably be used to provide a tolerance for drilling in the exemplary manner to be described with reference to Figs. 7 to 9.
At this point, the general use bf the term l "blocking" will be discussed. In the preferred embodiment, - the openings to receive rivets 26 were blocked either by a mould pin or by a portion o~ the mould sealing off the opening by bearing against the blade. Similarly, in other embodi-ments, openings such as openings 92, 96 (Fig. 6) were blocked using plugs 94, 98. Although not all of the material of , these plugs needs to be removed to receive rivets, the term "blocking" when applied to an opening in a blade includes such embodiments. -. ' ~067530 As seen in Fig. 7, a blade 102 has been captured in a moulded body 104 and an opening in the blade is blocked by a plug 106. The moulded body is free of rivet recesses and space for a rivet (or other suitable fastener) is made by using a stepped drill 108. A jig is used to locate the skate for drilling so that the drill will pass through the plug within quite coarse tolerances. The first step is to drill through the skate as indicated in Fig. 7 resulting in an opening 110 and recess 112 as shown in Fig.
8. The skate is then turned over and the same stepped drill is entered into the opening 110 and brought down to create a recess 114 as shown in Fig. 9.
It will be evident that the methods described with reference to Figs. 5 to 9 allow for varying degrees of inaccuracy in the method of manufacture. In the case of the blade having two hardness portions, the holes could be placed anywhere in the softer portion provided that the body was first moulded without recesses to receive the rivets.
If recesses are provided in the mould, then they would be used to locate the drill for drilling through the softer part of the blade. ~owever, in all of the foregoing methods, an anchor structure such as structure 28 shown in Fig. 1 is used to first locate the blade positively with respect to the body so that the blade is properly located and there is little or no likelihood that it will subsequently become ~$ loose in the body.
~' Other methods of manufacture are also pos-sible where the accuracy of location of the blade in the body is not as important as in the preferred embodiment.
For instance, only one of the rivet openings would be `

,, ' 106~530 located by a pin in the mould and the other openings blocked either by plugs or simply by suitable parts of the mould.
Of course the recesses (such as recess 76 as seen in Fig. 4) must be sufficiently large to accommodate rivets after uncontrolled shrinkage (unless an anchor structure is used).
Similarly, all of the openings could be blocked and the shrinkage could take place at random without the control of an anchor structure.
Reference will now be made to Figs. 10 to 12 to describe further possible forms of the anchor structure ~ 28 (Fig. 1). As seen in Fig. 10, a blade 116 is set in a ,~ moulded body of synthetic plastic material 118 and held in place by rivets 120. An anchor structure 122 is provided which consists of a dove-tail recess 124 in the upper sur-face of the blade adjacent its rearward extremity and a corresponding portion of the plastic body which is moulded into this dove-tail recess.
;' The longitudinal extent of the dove-tail recess 124 can be substantial from the standpoint that 2Q shrinkage within the recess will have no effect on the stresses in the body. However, the intent of the anchor structure !, iS to provide a positive lock at a discrete portion of the blade so that there is controlled shrinkage of the body ;~ along the blade with reference to the positions of the rivets.
, Consequently, it is preferred that the longitudinal extent , of the dove-tail recess be limited so that shrinkage of the -~ -~' body will take place towards this anchor structure and be limited within the structure.
Although the skate shown in Fig. 10 shows the anchor structure 122 at the rear of the skate, it can be placed anywhere along the length of the skate.

- lb -A further embodiment of the anchor structure is shown in Fig. 11. A blade 128 is set in a moulded body 130 and an anchor structure 132 is provided. This anchor structure includes a keying projection 134 which extends upwardly from a top surface of the blade 128 and includes forward and rearward extensions which are encapsulated in the plastic body 130. Consequently, the blade 12B is trapped in the body and located longitudinally with reference -, to shrinkage of the body along the blade. In this instance, ; 10 the longitudinal extent of the keying projection 134 should ` be kept to a minimum to avoid shrinkage stresses. This is because during shrinkage, the body will tend to compress the key projection longitudinally with the result that there will be inherent stresses in the body. The longer the key-ing projection, the greater the stresses and a point could be ~; reached where these stresses are intolerably large. Here again the anchor structure is shown in an exemplary posit-ion relative to the length of the skate.
Yet another suitable anchor structure is illustrated in Fig. 12. In this embodiment, a blade 136 is provided with a transverse pin 138 which projects through the blade and is an interference fit in the blade. It will ` be evident that upon moulding the body about the blade the ;~
pin 138 is trapped in the body to therefore provide yet a further embodiment of the anchor structure originally illu-l strated by numeral 28 in Fig. 1. -;i In general, any anchor structure which re-, tains the blade in position in the plastic body at a discrete :~! location relative~to the length of the blade will be satis-factory. The zone containing this structure will have minimal ~; - 17 -;, ~067S3V

shrinkage. However, and as explained, it is essential that such a structure does not create stress difficulties and it is for this reason that the anchor structure 28 shown in Fig. 1 is to be preferred. Structure 28 is simple and effective and requires a minimum of preparation.
It will be evident from the description thus far that where an anchor structure is to be used, the rest of the body must be free to move longitudinally on the blade to avoid shrinkage stresses. Consequently, the blade must have a suitable form to permit this movement. Although the blade shown in Fig. 1 is to be preferred, there are other possibilities which may be desirable in certain circumstances.
The term "non-interfering upper surface" will be used to describe the upper surfaces of blades which are satisfactory when used with anchor structures of the types already des-cribed. Apart from the straight upper surface shown in Fig. 1, surfaces su~h as those shown in Figs. 13 and 14 are satisfactory. In Fig. 13, the upper surface includes a , , 'j long depression 140 defined by forward and rearward portions 'I 20 which extend upwardly at the extremities of the depression.
As indicated in ghost outline, the rearward upward portion (or for that matter, the forward upward portion) could be omitted. Also, an opening 142 is provided as part of an ;~ anchor structure, and if this opening causes an unacceptable l reduction in cross-sectional area of the blade, the blade i could be strengthened by an upward extension 144 above the opening 142. Because the longitudinal shrinkage about the ~-~! anchor structure is minimal, there will be no significant - stress in the body caused by the upward extension 144. Also, shrinkage of the body towards the anchor structure will not ,, :

-;

be limited by the shape of the blade. This blade therefore includes some examples of many suitable non-interfering upper surfaces.
A further suitable blade is shown in Fig. 14 which illustrates a blade having a concave upper surface 146 and an opening 148 providing part of an anchor structure as previously described.
In general, the upper surface of the blade will be non-interfering within the definition of the term used in this application if the plastic body is free to shrink longitudinally relative to the blade. Further, in embodiments where an anchor structure is used, then the upper surface of the blade will be non-interfering if por-tions of the blade other than immediately adjacent the anchor ~ structure are free to shrink longitudinally towards the ;~ anchor structure. In order to further demonstrate this con- , cept7 Fig. 15 is included to illustrate a structure which would not be acceptable. Upward projections 150 would limit longitudinal shrinkage of the body towards anchor structure 152 and therefore stresses in the body would result.
: As previously illustrated with reference to the embodiments shown in Fig. 1, the upper surface of -~ , all of the blades is preferably rounded to limit the possi-bility of interference between the body and the blade and also to limit local stress concentrations in the body.
As mentioned, it may be satisfactory to manu-facture an ice skate without controlling the direction of the shrinkage relative to the blade. In general, the absence of an anchor structure will result in unpredictable shrinkage '~ 30 movement of the body on the blade and there will be a less .~ -- 19 --.:, . . , : -: , .

positive lock between the body and the blade. However, an ice skate could be made without an anchor structure if these limitations to the quality of the finished product are acceptable.
The embodiments described with reference to Fig. 6 can provide for tolerances so coarse that although shrinkage movement can take place in either longitudinal direction, the necessary rivet holes can still be drilled.
This is the case both if the recesses for the rivets are first moulded into the body and also if the method shown in Figs. 7 to 9 is used. An ice skate having no anchor stru-cture can be made using the Fig. 6 blades and methods des-cribed with reference both to this Fig. and to Figs. 7 to 9.
Yet another method of manufacture would be to use a soft blade which is embedded in the body according to any of the foregoing methods and then to harden the bottom of the blade using a localized hardening technique such as induction hardening.
; Throughout the foregoing description, rivets have been used to attach the blade to the body. It will be appreciated that although such a fastener is preferred, any ; other suitable mechanical fastener can be used. Also, although the cross-section of the blade is shown to have parallel upright sides, the cross-section could be varied ;~ provided both that the variation did not weaken the blade significantly and provided ~hat the body would shrink freely on the blade after moulding the body. This free shrinking is possi~le only on blades having no cide depressions or .~. . ~., - , irregularities in the manner discussed with reference to the upper surface of the blade. For convenience, suitable blades will have the aforementioned non-interfering upper surface as well as non-interfering sides at least in the portion of the blade contained in the body.

` ' ' ~

Claims (24)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method of manufacturing an ice skate of the type which is to be attached to the sole of a suitable boot, the method comprising the steps:
forming an elongated steel blade having an upper portion including a non-interfering upper surface, and a lower portion including a lower ice engaging surface terminating in upwardly curved front and rear end portions;
moulding a blade-supporting body of synthetic plastic material about the upper portion while leaving the lower portion unenclosed;
allowing the moulded body to cool whereby the body may shrink longitudinally of the blade without interference with the blade; and inserting fastener means through the assembly of the body and the blade at said upper portion to mechanic-ally lock the blade and the body to one another.

2. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 1 in which the blade is further formed to have at least one part of softer material in the upper por-tion of the blade and to have a harder portion at least including the ice engaging surface, and in which the fast-ener means is inserted through said softer material.

3. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 1 in which the blade is further formed to define a plurality of transverse openings in the upper portion, the openings being spaced longitudinally along the length of the blade, and in which the method further includes the step of temporarily blocking the transverse openings in the blade prior to moulding the body so that the fast-ener means is subsequently inserted through the blade at these openings after moulding and shrinking of the body.

4. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 1 in which the blade is further formed to define a plurality of transverse openings in the upper portion, the openings being spaced longitudinally of the length of the blade, and in which the method further com-prises the step of blocking these openings by placing a softer material which can withstand moulding temperatures in the openings so that after moulding and shrinking the fastener means are inserted at these openings.

5. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 in which the blade is further formed with at least one locating opening and in which the method further includes the step of inserting a locating pin in the locating opening before moulding.

6. A method of manufacturing ice skates as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 in which the skate body is moulded to define recesses and coaxial openings in the body at the locations where the fastener means are to be engaged, the recesses being adapted to receive the heads and ends of the fastener means and the openings being adapted to receive the respective bodies of the fasteners.

7. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 and in which the blade is fur-ther formed to round the longitudinal edges of the non-interfering upper surface to blend the upper surface into the side surfaces of the blade.

8. An ice skate assembly of the type including a hardened steel blade and a blade-supporting body of syn-thetic plastic material adapted to be mounted to a skate boot, the blade including an ice-engaging lower surface and a non-interfer-ing upper surface, and defining a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes formed transversely of said blade subadjacent the upper surface of the blade, the blade-supporting body includ-ing a downwardly opening groove generally coextensive in length with the upper surface of the blade, the blade being partially disposed within the body so that the upper surface seats against the bottom of said groove, said body defining a plurality of holes formed transversely of said groove and coaxially aligned with the holes in the blade, and the assembly further including fastening means extending through the aligned body and blade holes to mechanically interlock the blade to the body.

9. An ice skate assembly of the type including a hardened steel blade and a blade-supporting body of synthetic plastic material, the assembly being adapted to be attached to a skate boot, the blade including upper and lower surfaces ex-tending throughout the length thereof, and defining a plural-ity of longitudinally spaced holes formed transversely of said blade subadjacent said upper blade surface, said lower surface providing an ice-engaging portion and terminating in upwardly inclined front and rear end portions and said upper surface being substantially straight and continuous throughout the length of the blade, the blade-supporting body defining a downwardly open groove generally coextensive in length with the blade, the blade being disposed within the body so that the upper blade surface seats against the bottom of the groove the body further defining a plurality of holes transversely of the groove and coaxially aligned with the holes in the blade, and the assembly further including fastening means extending through the aligned body and blade holes to mechanically in-terlock the blade to the body.

10. An ice skate assembly as claimed in claims 8 or 9 in which the upper surface is rounded transversely and the bottom of the groove is similarly rounded for surface-to-surface contact between the upper surface of the blade and the body.

11. An ice skate assembly as claimed in claim 9 in which the upper surface is rounded transversely and the bottom of the groove is similarly rounded for surface-to-surface contact between the upper surface of the blade and the body.

12. An ice skate assembly as claimed in claim 8 in which the body has a generally diamond shaped cross-section about an upper portion of the groove for better rigidity.

13. An ice skate assembly as claimed in claim 11 in which the body has a generally diamond shaped cross-section about an upper portion of the groove for better rigidity.

14. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 4 in which the method further includes the step of inserting a locating pin in one of the openings before blocking the other openings.

15. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 3 in which the method further includes the steps of inserting respective locating pins in at least two of the openings before blocking the remaining ones of the openings, and of removing the pins after the moulding step and before any significant body shrinkage has taken place.

16. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 15 in which said remaining ones of the openings are blocked by covering ends of these openings before moulding the body.

17. A method of manufacturing an ice skate of the type which is to be attached to the sole of a suitable boot, the method comprising the steps:
forming an elongated steel blade having an upper portion and a lower portion including a lower ice-engaging surface terminating in upwardly curved front and rear end portions, the upper portion including a non-interfering upper surface, non-interfering side surfaces, and a first portion of an anchor structure;
moulding a blade-supporting body of synthetic plastic material about the upper portion while leaving the lower portion unenclosed, said moulding forming a second portion of the anchor structure such that the first and second portions are in interlocking engagement with one another to form an anchor structure at a discrete location relative to the length of the blade;
allowing the moulded body to cool whereby the body may shrink longitudinally of the blade towards the anchor structure without interference with the blade; and inserting fastener means through the assembly of the body and the blade at said upper portion at locations spaced from the anchor structure to further mechanically lock the blade and the body to one another.

18. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 17 in which the blade is further formed to define a plurality of transverse openings in the upper portion, the openings being spaced longitudinally along the length of the blade, and in which the method further includes the step of temporarily blocking the transverse openings in the blade prior to moulding the body so that the fastener means is subsequently inserted through the blade at these openings after moulding and shrinking of the body.

19. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 17 in which the blade is formed with at least one locating opening and in which the method further includes the step of inserting a locating pin in the locating opening before moulding.

20. A method of manufacturing ice skates as claimed in claim 17 in which the skate body is moulded to define recesses and coaxial openings in the body at the locations where the fastener means are to be engaged, the recesses being adapted to receive the heads and ends of the fastener means and the openings being adapted to receive the respective bodies of the fasteners.

21. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 17 and further comprising the step of rounding the upper surface transversely of the blade to blend this surface into the adjacent side surfaces of the blade.

22. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 17 in which the first portion of the anchor structure is an opening in the blade having flared ends which blend the wall of the opening into the side surfaces of the blade and in which the second portion of the anchor structure is a portion of the moulded body which is moulded into the opening.

23. A method of manufacturing an ice skate as claimed in claim 22 and further comprising the step of rounding the upper surface transversely of the blade to blend this surface into the adjacent side surfaces of the blade.

24. A method of manufacturing an ice skate of the type which is to be attached to the sole of a suitable boot, the method comprising the steps:
making an elongated steel blade by forming a lower ice engaging surface on a lower portion of the blade, forming curved front and rear end portions at respective ends of the ice engaging surface, forming a non-interfering upper surface and non-interfering side surfaces on an upper portion of the blade and forming a first portion of an anchor structure;
moulding a blade-supporting body of synthetic plastic material about the upper portion while leaving the lower portion unenclosed, said moulding forming a second portion of the anchor structure such that the first and second portions are in interlocking engagement with one another to form an anchor structure at a discrete location relative to the length of the blade; and allowing the moulded body to cool whereby the body may shrink longitudinally of the blade towards the anchor structure without interference with the blade.