GB2025775A

GB2025775A - Ice Skate Blades

Info

Publication number: GB2025775A
Application number: GB7920330A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Tuuk Sports Ltd
Current assignee: Tuuk Sports Ltd
Priority date: 1978-07-21
Filing date: 1979-06-12
Publication date: 1980-01-30
Also published as: DE2929550C2; JPS5516700A; CA1113129A; JPS5728592B2; DE2929550A1; GB2025775B; SE7906170L

Abstract

A blade for an ice skate comprises a main elongate portion 10 with an ice-engaging edge and an upper edge opposite the ice-engaging edge. An inclined lug 13 is secured to one end of the upper edge to project upwardly and longitudinally. Fixing means 19 are arranged at the other end of the blade for cooperating with securing means on a superstructure. The invention also includes an ice skate comprising such a blade and a superstructure adapted to engage the blade. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Ice Skate Manufacture This invention relates to the manufacture of ice skates and blades therefor.

While the main example illustrated and described below shows a skate having a blade of the type designed for figure skating, i.e. with a serrated front surface for biting into the ice, the invention is also applicable to skates having blades without this feature, i.e. blades for hockey skates.

The present invention is concerned with an improved method of manufacturing skate blades as well as with an improved blade and an improved skate in which such blade is mounted in a superstructure, preferably of molded plastic material. Throughout this specification the term "skate" is used to refer to this combination of blade and superstructure. The boot portion, to which the superstructure is in turn secured, is considered as a separate item and, for purposes of this specification, is not part of the "skate". The present invention is not concerned with the boot portion which is assumed to be conventional; accordingly such boot portion has not been shown in the specific examples illustrated in the drawings.

It is known to form a skate superstructure of molded plastic material and to provide such superstructure with a groove for receiving the upper edge of a blade, the blade being fixed in this groove by means of bolts that extend up into the superstructure where they are engaged and tightened by respective nuts. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. patent No.

4,074,909 issued February 21, 1978.

In one aspect, the present invention is directed towards a blade for a skate, comprising a main elongated portion having an ice-engaging edge and an upper edge opposite the ice-engaging edge, and an inclined lug secured to one end of the upper edge to project upwardly and longitudinally and fixing means at the other end of the blade for cooperating with securing means on a superstructure.

The invention also consists of an ice skate comprising such a blade and a superstructure defining a downwardly facing groove firmly engaging the upper edge of the blade, characterised in that said superstructure has a slot in a first end for receiving the lug at the first end of the blade upon entry of the blade when inserted into the groove upwardly and in a first longitudinal direction, said slot including a surface engaging the lug to prevent downward withdrawal of the blade from the groove while permitting such withdrawal in the longitudinal direction reverse from said first direction, and releasable securing means for securing the fixing means at the other end of the blade to the other end of the superstructure to retain the blade in the groove.

Preferably the releasable securing means is accessible from a location on the exterior of an end surface of the superstructure so as to be accessible at all times, i.e. without regard to whether or not a boot is mounted on the toe and heel support posts of the superstructure.

In another aspect the invention is concerned with a method of manufacturing blades for use in skates of the type described. Each blade will have a main portion of uniform depth, i.e. its upper and lower edges will be curvilinearly parallel to each other. In the case of a figure skate it will also have an enlarged head portion containing a serrated surface. The method consists of cutting a series of the main blade portions from contiguous areas of steel stock by means of cuts each of which simultaneously forms an upper edge of one main portion and a lower edge of the next. When making figure skates the head portions are cut alternately from portions of the stock extending beyond opposite ends of the main portions.

Subsequently a lug can be fixed to one end of the upper edge of such a blade and either a bolt or a lug for receiving a bolt fixed to the other end, thus producing a blade suitable for assembly with a superstructure in the manner already described.

The accompanying drawings illustrate by way of example certain preferred embodiments of the invention. In these drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation view of a sheet of steel showing how blades can be cut therefrom; Figure 2 is an elevation view of such a blade at a later stage in its manufacture; Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a section taken on a central longitudinal plane through a superstructure; Figure 5 is a similar section showing a blade secured in such superstructure to form a skate; Figure 6 is an elevation view of the skate of Figure 5; Figure 7 is a fragmentary view of an alternative front end of a blade; Figure 8 is a fragmentary view of an alternative rear end of a blade; Figure 9 is a section on 9-9 in Figure 6; and Figure 10 is a modified version of Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows a sheet 9 of hardened steel of a type suitable for the manufacture of skate blades.

The pattern shown on this sheet 9 represents a series of blades 1 0 disposed alternately in opposite orientations so that the slightly curved upper edge of the main portion 11 of the iowermost blade 10 is contiguous with the similarly curved lower edge of the main portion 11 of the blade 10 next above the lowermost one, and so on. This arrangement is made possible by the fact that each main portion 11 has a uniform depth D throughout its length. In other words, the upper and lower edges of each main portion are curvilinearly parallel to each other. In the manufacture of these blades, the steel sheet 9 is stamped out or otherwise cut by a conventional machine for this purpose, along the lines shown in Figure 1.During this process, not only are the main portions 11 of the respective blades separated from each other along their common juncture lines, but also the serrated head portions 12 of each blade are cut from the steel stock.

This method of cutting out a series of alternately oriented blades from a single sheet is especially economical, since the volume of wasted steel is very low, being confined to the areas around the head portions 12. Since the conventional way of cutting blades out of stock is to do so with all the blades oriented in the same sense, the economy obtained by the present "alternate" method is especially notable in the case of figure skate blades, because the enlarged head portions of this type of blade normally give rise to a need for the main portions of the blades to be spaced apart a significant distance from each other.This spacing is not only wasteful of steel but necessitates two cuts where, in the present method, one suffices, since a single cut simultaneously defines the upper edge of the lowermost blade and the lower edge of the next blade above, at least as far as the main portions of the blades are concerned. The present method is thus economical in the number of cuts needed, as well as in the amount of steel consumed.

Reduction in the number of cuts per blade causes a corresponding reduction in the linear cut length per blade, which in turn reduces the tonnage of the press needed.

Figures 2 and 3 show a blade 10 that has been cut from the sheet 9 in this way and has subsequently had lugs 13 and 14 secured to its respective ends in a suitable manner, such as by welding. The choice of the-specific shapes of these lugs is determined by the complementary slots 1 5 and 1 6 formed in the underside of the molded plastic superstructure 1 7 (Figures 4 to 6), in which slots the lugs 13 and 14 snuggly engage when the blade is inserted into a groove 1 7d that extends along the underside of the superstructure 17.

The lug 14 is formed with a keyhole shaped slot 1 8 into which the head of a bolt 1 9 can be slipped from the side. The blade 10 is inserted into the superstructure 1 7 by movement in an upward and forward longitudinal direction, i.e. to the right in Figure 5, so that the lug 13 slides into tight engagement with the slot 1 5 while the lug 14 enters the slot 1 6 and the bolt 19 passes through a hole 20 to be secured by a nut 21 located in a cavity 22 formed in the end surface of the superstructure 1 7. The direction to the right has been termed the "forward" longitudinal direction because it is the direction of insertion of the blade.It is actually towards the rear of the skate in the embodiment illustrated, although this is not an essential feature of the invention. The forward or inserting direction of the blade could also be made the forward direction of the skate by reversing the lugs 13 and 14 relative to head portion 12.

The blade is now locked in place by the bolt and nut combination at one end; at the other end it is held by the surface 1 3a of the lug 13 which engages the slot surface 1 spa and hence prevents withdrawal of the blade from the groove 1 7d except with movement in the "reverse" longitudinal direction, i.e. to the left in Figure 5.

Replacement of a worn blade can thus be very readily achieved merely by removal of the nut 21.

Note that this nut is accessible from the exterior of the end wall of the skate without the need first to remove a boot that will likely have been permanently or semi-permanently secured to the rims 1 7a provided for this purpose at the tops of hollow toe and heel support posts 1 7b and 1 7c of the superstructure. More details of the shapes of such posts and rims are given in the prior patent referred to above. See also Figure 9. Replacement of a worn bolt 1 9 is also faciliated by the nonpermanent nature of the engagement between the bolt 19 and the lug 14. Also, different figure skating blades are often needed to meet various ice conditions, and the requirements of competition necessitate different blade styles.

Such changes are facilitated.

Figure 7 shows an alternative shape of lug 1 3b which functions in basically the same manner as the lug 13, and Figure 8 shows an alternative construction for the rear of the skate, the lug 14 being dispensed with and a bolt 1 9a being fixed (e.g. welded) directly to the blade 10.

It will be apparent that many alternatives will be possible for the connections between blade and superstructure especially at the rear of the skate. For example, instead of being mounted on the blade, an inclined bolt could extend inwardly from the exterior to engage a threaded portion of a lug fixed to the blade. In this case no nut would be needed, the bolt head appearing in the cavity 22. Essentially what is required is that one end of the skate be fitted with some form of releasable securing means.This securing means can be said to be composed of some fixture on the blade (lug and bolt; bolt; or just screw-threaded cavity) that cooperates with a complementary form of retaining device in the superstructure, e.g. a nut, bolt or the like, plus the necessary surfaces, such as the hole 20 and the bottom surface of the cavity 22, against which the nut or bolt head bears to hold the parts firmly together.

Specifically, this combination which forms the securing means must hold the blade against downward movement out of the groove as well as against movement in the "reverse" longitudinal direction, i.e. the direction opposite to the "forward" or insertion direction.

At the front of the skate the lug 13 or 1 3b could be replaced by a hook-shaped lug. It should also be mentioned that it is not essential to the present invention (although preferred) that the lug 13, 1 3b or equivalent and the bolt 19, 1 9a or equivalent project in the same longitudinal direction. The lug i 3 etc. must project in a selected longitudinal direction which becomes the so-called insertion or forward direction, so that such lug can only be withdrawn and the blade disengaged from the superstructure with movement in the reverse longitudinal direction.

Provided the bolt 1 9 etc. and its associated parts, e.g. the lug 14, prevent such reverse movement, the releasable securing means will have served its purpose, without the bolt necessarily projecting up from the blade at the same inclination as the lug 13. For example, the lug 13 might extend to the left in Figure 2 with the bolt 1 9 still extending to the right, or both parts could extend towards the centre of the skate. In this latter case, access to the nut or other external fixing device of the releasable securing means could be from a surface of one of the toe and heel support posts that faces the central "cut-out" portion of the superstructure between such posts.

It wouid then still be accessible when the rims 1 7a were secured to a boot.

Figure 10 shows how hockey blades 1 Oa can be cut in nested fashion from sheet 9a, analogously to the method of Figure 1. It is clear that essentially the same economy of steel is achieved, although it is no longer necessary to alternate the blades, since their two ends can be maintained curvilinearly parallel. The economy flows from the ability to nest the blades closely against each other, which in turn results from the smoothly and similarly curved upper and lower blade edges and the absence of any projections from these edges. As before, a single cut simultaneously defines the upper edge of one blade and the lower edge of the next.

After having been cut out from the sheet 9a in this manner each blade 1 Oa will have secured to it the necessary means for mounting the blade in a superstructure, e.g. either lugs 13 and 14 or one of the other variations mentioned above, or fixing devices as shown in the prior patent referred to above.

Figures 4 to 6 show additional cavities 23 and 24 in the underside of the superstructure 1 7, which are not occupied by the blade, as well as cavities 25 in the outer surface of the superstructure. The purpose of these cavities is to maintain the maximum thickness of the material of the superstructure at no more than a preferred value, e.g. 3 mm., which avoids forming weak spots, especially when the plastic material chosen for the superstructure is a poly-carbonate. Note also from Figure 9 that the bridging portion 26 enhances the durability of the construction.

Claims

1. A blade for a skate, comprising a main elongated portion having an ice-engaging edge and an upper edge opposite the ice-engaging edge, an inclined lug secured to one end of the upper edge to project upwardly and longitudinally and fixing means at the other end of the blade for co-operating with securing means on a superstructure.

2. A blade according to claim 1, wherein said fixing means at the other end of the blade comprises a further lug secured to the upper edge of the blade to project upwardly therefrom, said further lug having a keyhole slot for receiving a head of a bolt to extend upwardly and longitudinally.

3. A blade according to claim 1, wherein said fixing means at the other end of the blade comprises a threaded bolt secured to the upper edge of the blade to project upwardly and longitudinally.

4. An ice skate comprising a blade according to claim 1, 2 or 3, and a superstructure defining a downwardly facing groove firmly engaging the upper edge of the blade, said superstructure having a slot in a first end for receiving the lug at the first end of the blade upon entry of the blade when inserted into the groove upwardly and in a first longitudinal direction, said slot including a surface engaging the lug to prevent downward withdrawal of the blade from the groove while permitting such withdrawal in the longitudinal direction reverse from said first direction, and releasable securing means for securing the fixing means at the other end of the blade to the other end of the superstructure to retain the blade in the groove.

5. An ice skate according to claim 4, wherein said first longitudinal direction extends from said first end towards said other end.

6. An ice skate according to claim 4 or 5, wherein said releasable securing means is accessible from a location on the exterior of said other end of the superstructure not occluded by a boot mounted on said superstructure.

7. An ice skate according to claim 4, 5 or 6, wherein said releasable securing means comprises a nut engaging a threaded portion of said fixing means.

8. An ice skate according to claim 7, wherein said nut is located in a cavity in an outer face of an end wall of the superstructure.

9. An ice skate according to claim 8, wherein said superstructure includes hollow toe and heel support posts extending upwardly from the blade and terminating in rims for securing to a boot, and wherein said end wall is an outer wall of one of said posts.

10. An ice skate according to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein said fixing means is a bolt permanently secured to the upper edge of the blade.

1 An ice skate according to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein said fixing means is a bolt removably secured to the blade by engagement of an enlarged head of the bolt in a keyhole slot formed in a lug secured to the upper edge of the blade.

12. A method of manufacturing blades for skates, each blade having at least a main portion of substantially uniform depth throughout its length, comprising cutting a series of said blades from contiguous areas of steel stock by means of cuts each of which simultaneously forms an upper edge of a main portion of one blade and a lower edge of the main portion of the next blade.

1 3. A method according to claim 12, comprising cutting an enlarged head portion for each blade alternately from portions of the stock extending beyond opposite ends of the main portions.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein each head portion includes a serrated surface for use in a figure skate.

1 5. A method according to claim 12 or 13 comprising the subsequent steps of fixing to one end of the upper edge of each blade an inclined lug projecting upwardly and longitudinally towards the other end of the blade, and fixing to the other end of the upper edge of each blade a further lug projecting upwardly therefrom, said further lug having a keyhole slot for receiving a head of a bolt to extend upwardly and longitudinally away from said one end of the blade.

1 6. A method according to claim 12 or 13, comprising the subsequent steps of fixing to one end of the upper edge of each blade an inclined lug projecting upwardly and longitudinally towards the other end of the blade, and fixing to the other end of the upper edge of each blade a threaded bolt projecting upwardly and away from said one end of the blade.

1 7. A blade for a skate substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 8. A skate substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 9. A method of manufacturing blades for skates substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

20. Skate blades when manufactured by the method of any one of claims 12 to 16 or 19.