US286792A

US286792A - Signments

Info

Publication number: US286792A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 1900-10-16

Description

(No Model.)

J. A DODGE.

SKATE.

N0. 286,792. Patented Oct. 16. 1883.

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IL PETERS. Phala-Lilhngr aplur. wa-hinglw. 11C.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. DODGE, OF SOMERVILLE, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO THE DODGE SKATE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASS.

SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forniing part of Letters Patent No. 286,792, dated October 16, 1883.

\ Application filed -May 2, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. DODGE, of Somerville, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Skates, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawin gs,is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts. i

This invention relating to skates is embodied in a skate provided with independent clamping mechanism for engaging the heel and the sole of a boot or shoe. The usual blade or runner of the skate is provided with three uprights, one at the rear or heel end of the runner, an intermediate one beneath the ball portion of the foot of the wearer, and the third at the extreme forward end. A heel-plate is pivoted upon the said rearmost upright, it having two fixed clamp projections to engage the rear portion of the boot-heel, and a sliding clamp to engage the breast of the heel. The sliding clamp is operated by a clamp-actuating bar engaging a stud or projection on the runner between the heel-plate and its pivot in such a manner, that as the said plate is rocked on its pivot from an inclined position to one substantially parallel with the runner the said sliding clamp is forcibly drawn toward the fixed projections, thus firmly gripping the heel. The intermediate upright has rigidly fixed thereon a guide-piece for the-soleclamps, working in the guides transversely to the sole and operated by a cam-plate pivoted above the upright, the said plate being actuated by a lever detachably held upon the same pivot and adapted to be engaged by the upright at the forward end of the runner. The sole-clamps are connected with the cam-plate in such a manner as to bind or wedge between the cam-surfaces and the guides of the said clamps, so that the clamps will not yield or spring back after being pressed against the sides of the sole.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a skate embodying this invention, the heel-plate and its clamp being shown in' dotted lines in position to receive the heel of the boot or shoe. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the said skate. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the forward or sole-receiving portion of the skate, the clamp-operating lever being detached; Fig. 4, a transverse section on line 00 at", Fig. 3 Fig. 5, a plan view of the sole-receiving portion of the skate, the clamp-operating lever being in position to be detached; Fig. 6, a sectional detail of the soleclamp operating cam-plate, its actuating-lever, and their common pivot; Fig. 7, a longitudinal section of the heel-clamping mechanism; and Fig. 8, a detail showing the arrangement of the sole clamping jaw and its actuating 6o cam-plate, upon which the present invention is intended as an improvement. I The runner A, of suitable or usual shape and material,has three uprights or standardsnamely, a heel-upright, 0, near the rear or heel end of the runner, an intermediate upright, c, at the solesupporting part of the runner, and a toe-upright, m at the forward end of the runner. The heel-plate B,having clamp-- ing projections or ears D fixed thereon to en- 0 gage the rear portion of the boot or shoe heel, is provided with lugs cl, which embrace the upright 0 of the runner, and are pivoted thereto by the pin f, located some distance below the heel-plate, so that the latter, with its ears D, has a forward movement relative to the runner A when turned from the dotted to the full line position, Fig. 1. The heel-plate B has at its forward end a guide, Z, for the movable clamp 'projection or jaw 0, having a spur, r, to enter the breast or front face of theboot or shoeheel. The said jaw C is connected with a clampactuating bar, 9, shown as threaded at k, and passing through a tubular portion, 0", of the said clamp, it being provided with an adj usting-nut, on, bearing against the said clamp, and having a groove, n, engaging apin, 0, connected with the said clamp, so that by rotating the said nut m upon the bar 9 the jaw O is moved backward or forward in-its guide Z to adjust o its position relative to the ears D, so as to enable boot or shoe heels of different size to be received between the said jaw and ears. The clamp-actuating bar 9 is connected with the runner A, it having, as herein shown, a notch, 5 h, which receives a spur, a, thus operating as a pivot for the bar 9 and connected clamp-jaw Q in their movement from the full to the dotted line position, Fig. 1;'and it will be seen that,owing to the difference in position of the centers of movement or pivotal points a f of the said clamp-jaw C and the heel-plate and connected ears -D, the said j aw will approach the said ears in the movement from the dotted to the full line position, Fig. 1, and a heel which enters easily between the said jaw and ears when in the dotted-line position will be tightly clamped between them when brought to the full-line position, or into substantial parallelism with the runner-the normal p osition when the skate is in use. The clamp G will be adjusted by the nut m, so as to just touch a heel placed between it and the ears I),when inclined to the runner, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, and then, by rocking the foot down toward the runner, the said heel and skate will be tightly fastened together.

It will then be necessary to retain the heelplate and bootor shoe with its heel clamped thereto in the position parallel with the runner, which is accomplished by the soleclamping mechanism, which iswholly independent of the said heel-clamping mechanism in its operation, and is connected with the interme diate and forward uprights, c m, of the runner A. The said intermediate upright has rigidly connected therewith a guide-piece, E, having transverse guide-channels a, to receive the shank portion t of the sole-clamping jaws F G, the said shank portions 25 being provided with pins or studs 9 entering eccentric camslots w x in the cam-plate H, shown as a circular disk centrally pivoted upon the screw 12 at the middle of the guide-piece E.

Owing to the eccentricity of the canrslots w w, the rotation of the plate H in the direction of the arrow 2, Fig. 3, will separate the jaws F G, and rotation in the opposite direction will draw them together, and it will be seen that when they are in contact with the edges of the sole only a small amount of rotation is necessary to press them against the sole with sufficient force to give the requisite holding-power. The cam-slots are made very long, however, to accommodate soles of different width, different portions of the said slots being employed for difierent soles. The plate is rotated to operate the clamps by the actuating-lever K, also pivoted on the screw 12, and provided with a handle, L, having a portion, f bent to engage the upright m at the toe end of the runner. The lever has its pivot-socket properly shaped to be engaged by the under side of the head of the screw 7), and portions of the sides of the said screw-head are cut away, so as not to bear upon the lever said screw and readily removed from the skate.

This affords an opportunity for rotating the cam-plate H so as to bring the proper portion of the cam-slots to act on the pins y, to

place the clamping-j aws at the proper distance to receive between them the sole to which the skate is to be fastened.

The lever K is provided with a series of e11- gaging recesses or holes, g", and after the camplate H has been turned to the proper position the said lever will again be mounted on the pivot v, and will receive in one of the holes g a projection, h", upon the cam-plate, thus connecting the said lever and cam plate, so

, that by turning the lever on its pivot the sole clamps will be operated. Turning the said lever in the direction of the arrow 3, Fig. 5, separates or opens'the clamps F G, and the cam-plate will be so set, when the lever is connected therewith, as just described, that when the lever is turned beyond the runner A in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 5, the jaws will be opened just enough'to receive the sole loosely between them; and when the said lever is turned back again the jaws will be tight ened upon the said sole and the portion f of the lever engaged with the upright m as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A cam-plate and levrr has been heretofore employed to operate the sole-clamps of askate; but the clamping mechanism heretofore employed is open to the objection that the reaction or pressure of the sole upon the clamps, tending to separate them, will cause the camplate and clamping-lever to turn back in the direction to release the said clamps, so that it the lever at any time becomes disengaged the skate will immediately become loosened, and perhaps cause a serious accident to the wearer. This objection is wholly obviated by a novel arrangement of the cam-plate, clamping-jaws, and cam-engaging studs, and guides of the said jaws. Fig. 8 represents the usual arrangement, in which the cam-studs are in a line parallel with the j awguides and passing through the center of rotation of the cam-plate. By this arrangement an outward force, acting on the clamp-jaw in the direction of the arrow 4, tends to move it freely in its guides, and, owing to the inclination of the cam-surface to the path of.movement of its stud, easily rotates the cam-plate in the direction of the arrow 5 and permits the clamp to be loosened. The reaction from the cam -surface on the stud tends to throw it and the clamp away from the side 8 of the clampguide, and the movement of the cam-plate will immediately relieve any pressure of the clamp on the opposite side of the guide, so that by this arrangement the cam-plate will revolve and loosen the clamps, except when positively held.

In the present invention the studs y are placed at one side of the line parallel with their guides and passing through the center of rotation, they being on the same side of the said center as the center of the 'co-operating eccentric camgroove. In order to bring the said studs as far as possible from the said central line parallel with the guides, the said studs are placed near the edge of the clampshanks, and the said clamps themselves and their guides are carried toward one side of the said central line, as best shown in Fig. 3.

By this arrangement, when the clamps are forced outward in the direction of the arrow 4, it will be seen that the studs instead of reacting from the cam-surfaces and tending to move in the opposite direction to that in which the cam-plate tends to rotate to relieve the clamps,

tend to move with the said cam-plate, or to come into the line between the point of application of the force and the center of the plate, so that the clamp-shanks are forced against the sides 8 of their guides with such friction as to wholly prevent any farther movement. '.I.his'pressure and friction between the clamp shanks and their guides is due to the placing of the studs, as shown, so that their line of action passes by the side of, instead of through the center of rotati on of, the cam-plate, and the said friction, in addition to that between the studs and cam-surfaces, is sufficient to lock the said parts against any movement under an out ward strain upon the clamps, and isthe essence of this part of the invention. There will consequently be no strain on the actuating-lever K tending to disengage its locking portion f from the upright m and in case the lever should become thus disengaged the skate will not become loosened.

By having the clamp actuating lever extended forward, as shown, it serves as a soleplate to support the forward part of the foot of the wearer. v

I do not claim anything shown or des :ribed in English Patent No. 3,459 of 1875.

I claim- 1. In combination with a skate-runnerhaving a heel-plate, B,l 1eel-cla1np (l, and ascrewthreaded bar, 9, the .screw-nutm, connected to said heel-clamp, for operation substantially as described.

2. In combination with a skate runner, side clamping-jaws, F and G, arranged, one in advance of the other, to slide across the skaterunner, and each provided with a pin, g to 4. In combination with a skate-runner, side clamping-jaws, F and G, arranged one in advance of the other, and to slide across the skate-runner, and each provided with a pin,

3/, to engage circular cam-slots w 00 of arotat ing disk, H, which pins are also placed one in advance of the other, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combinatiomwith askate-runner provided with side clamping-jaws, F and G, ar ranged to slide across the skate-runner, and operated upon by camslots in a rotating disk, of a removable lever, is, arranged to be con nected with and to operate said rotating disk,

substantially as described.

6. Thecombinat-ion, with a skate-runner, of the detachable lever k, square-headed and angularly-arranged center pin 11, rotating disk H, and side clamping-jaws, F G, said lever being provided with holes in the arc of a circle, and the disk H being provided with a pin, 71!, to engage with one of the holes 9* of said lever, and having circular camslots w a:

for engaging with pins 7 of said jaws, substan- 8o tially as and for the purpose specified.

7. The combination of the skate-runner, guide-piece fixed thereon, and clamping-jaws 'in guides thereof with the cam-plate pivoted upon the said runner and guide-piece, and its actuating-lever mounted upon the pivot of the can1-plate, and adapted to be disengaged by and detached from the said pivot when in a certain position, and means to connect the said cam-plate and lever when in various different relative positions, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a skate-runner, of

the detachable lever 7c, having anotehed pivotsocket, its pivot 1 having portions of its head.

removed, rotating cam'plate H, and side clamping-jaws, F G, said lever being provided with holes in the arc of a circle, and the plate H being provided with a pin, 7f, to engage with one of the holes of said lever, and having circular cam-slots w r for engaging with pins y of said jaws, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN A. DODGF.

Vitn esses:

EDWIN W. BROWN, Vin. S. BnLLows.