US3921341A

US3921341A - Ice skate honing tool

Info

Publication number: US3921341A
Application number: US502508A
Authority: US
Inventors: Arnold M Thompson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-09-07
Filing date: 1974-09-03
Publication date: 1975-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-25

Abstract

A pocket-size tool adapted for use in honing ice skate blades and embodying a cylindrical abrasive honing stone and a holder therefor. The radius of the honing stone is slightly less than the radius of the hollow ground curvature of the skate blade to be honed and a guide slot in the holder facilitates application of the blade to the stone so that by a sliding movement of the blade along the stone, coupled with a rocking motion, the entire hollow ground concavity may be honed. Releasable clamping means enables the honing stone to be rotated in the holder for presentation of fresh abrasive surfaces to the blade.

Description

United States Patent [191 Thompson 1 Nov. 25, 1975 1 1 [CE SKATE HONING TOOL [22] Filed: Sept. 3, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 502,508

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 286,932, Sept. 7, 1972,

4/1953 Baron 5l/205 WG 11/1964 Chattillion 51/205 WG X Primary Examiner-Donald G. Kelly Attorney, Agent, or FirmNorman H. Gerlach [57] ABSTRACT A pocket-size tool adapted for use in honing ice skate blades and embodying a cylindrical abrasive honing stone and a holder therefor. The radius of the honing stone is slightly less than the radius of the hollow ground curvature of the skate blade to be honed and a guide slot in the holder facilitates application of the blade to the stone so that by a sliding movement of the blade along the stone, coupled with a rocking motion, the entire hollow ground concavity may be honed. Releasable clamping means enables the honing stone to be rotated in the holder for presentation of fresh abrasive surfaces to the blade.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US Patent Nov. 25, 1975 ICE SKATE HONING TOOL This patent application is a continuation of my original US. patent application Ser. No. 286,932, filed on Sept. 7, 1972, now abandoned, and entitled ICE SKATE HONING TOOL.

The improved honing tool comprising the present invention is designed for use primarily in connection with the honing or finishing of ice skate blades having hollow ground skating edges. More particularly, the present honing tool is intended for use in the fine surfacing of skate blades which previously have been coarse ground, or for touching up skate blades which have been used to such a degree that a major sharpening operation is not required. The invention is, however, not limited to fine abrasive finishing operations and, if desired, by the simple expedient of substituting a coarse abrasive honing element, major skate-sharpening operations of a limited nature may be carried out.

There currently is on the market a pocket-size honing tool which is of the same general type as that of the present invention and in which an elongated rod-like abrasive honing stone is encompassed in a tubular casing which is provided with a longitudinal slot in the wall thereof so that when an ice skate blade is drawn or pulled longitudinally along the slot, or the slot is worked longitudinally along the blade, the blade edge rides squarely against the stone so that the entire surface of the concavity is acted upon during each honing stroke of the tool or of the blade. This is because the radius of the honing stone is precisely equal to the radius of the concavity of the hollow ground skate blade. In certain such tools, the width of the slot is substantially equal to the thickest skate blade which is expected to be encountered, i.e., a hockey skate blade, so that when a thinner blade is operated on, actual dulling of the skating edge takes place since no means is provided for maintaining the plane of the blade in a diametric relation relative to the honing stone at all times. Furthermore, the honing stone is permanently clamped in the tubular holder so that only a limited circumferential area of the stone is available for honing and when such area becomes clogged, the tool as a whole must be discarded. In another tool of this general type, the tubular holder for the cylindrical honing stone is made in two semi-cylindrical half-sections which are springbiased toward each other and hinged together along a longitudinal line. By manually spreading the two sections apart a slight distance, a blade-receiving slot is formed, the skate blade being inserted into such slot and the sections released so that the sides of the slot close by spring pressure against the sides of the blades. This releases the honing stone which then assumes a loose floating condition within the casing. The blade is then drawn longitudinally through the slot and, to do this, it is necessary to overcome the spring-induced friction which is exerted by the sides of the slot. The parallel, or nearly parallel, sides of the slot are intended to maintain the plane of the skate blade in a diametric relation with respect to the honing stone but since such sides are not fixed, any lateral force which may inadvertently be applied to the skate blade tending to tilt the same results in the same phenomenon set forth above in connection with a permanently clamped honing stone, namely, that one of the skating edges or corners is presented directly to the honing stone and is thus dulled instead of sharpened.

The present invention is designed to overcome the abovenoted limitations that are attendant upon the construction and use of present-day ice skate sharpening or honing devices and toward this end, the invention contemplates the provision of a relatively simple and inexpensive ice skate honing tool of the concentric hone and holder type as outlined above and wherein the holder is in the form of a single one-piece rigid cylindrical tube which is split lengthwise to establish a skate blade-receiving slot. Disposed within and projecting through the holder is a solid cylindrical rod-like honing stone having a radius which is appreciably less than that of the concavity involved in the hollow ground skate blade undergoing honing, the honing stone being releasably clamped by means of a set screw against the inside edges of the slot so as to block or close the slot and establish an abrasive bottomed channel along which the skate blade is adapted to be slid. The radius of the honing tool or rod is less than the hollow ground concavity of the skate blade as previously set forth and the width of the slot is wider than that of the blade so that each time the blade is drawn along the slot or channel, the tangential relationship which exists between the concavity and the honing tool or rod causes only a limited longitudinal stripe-like area of the hollow ground concavity to be holed. Thus, by rocking the skate blade laterally in one direction or the other, ultimately after repeated passes of the tool along the blade, the entire concavity of the hollow ground blade will be brought to a mirror-like honed condition. I he width of the slot is such that at no time is it possible to cause the skating edges of the blade to seat squarely on the honing rod and the net result is that these edges may be brought to razor-like sharpness while any transverse striations which may exist within the concavity as the result of a prior abrasive sharpening operation by a rotary abrasive wheel are eradicated.

Still further, according to the present invention, after a given area of the honing tool or rod has become worn or has otherwise lost itsusefulness, it is merely necessary to loosen the set screw in order to release the rod from its clamped condition against the side edges of the slot and then rotate the same in order to prevent a fresh honing surface for skate blade honing purposes, after which the clamping screw may be again tightened.

The provision of an ice skate honing tool such as has briefly been set forth above constitutes the principal object of the present invention.

The provision of such a tool which is extremely simple in its construction, consisting as it does of but three component parts, namely, a split tubular holder, a cylindrical honing stone or rod, and a machined set screw, and which may, therefore, be manufactured at a low cost; one which is small and compact and, therefore, is readily portable in the pocket of a skater; one which is rugged and durable and, therefore, will withstand rough usage; one which requires no particular degree of skill for its proper operation; and one which otherwise is well adapted to perform the services required of it, are further desirable features which have been borne in mind in the production and development of the present invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this time set forth, will become readily apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood from a consideration of the following detailed description.

The invention consists in the several novel features which are hereinafter set forth and are more particularly defined by the claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the accompanying single sheet of drawings forming a part of this specification, one illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown.

In these drawings: I

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ice skate honing tool embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on the vertical plane indicated by the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the manner in which the honing stone or rod may be released for readjustment purposes; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged dimensionally exaggerated schematic view, illustrating certain phenomena which are involved in connection with the operation of the tool.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, an ice skate honing tool constructed according to the present invention is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral l and is comprised of three component parts, namely, a rod-like honing stone 12, a surrounding holder 14 for the stone, and a clamping screw 16 by means of which the honing stone may be fixedly clamped within the holder in an operative honing position.

The honing stone 12 is of solid cylindrical construction and is comprised of a commercially available, relatively fine, abrasive material such, for example, as carborundum or the like.

The radius of the honing stone 12 is slightly less than the radius of the concavity of a hollow ground ice skate which is to be honed, such lesser dimension serving a purpose that will be made clear subsequently when the operation of the honing tool is set forth.

The holder 14 may be formed of any suitable material, preferably stainless steel, and it is in the form of a cylindrical tube, the wall of which is formed with a longitudinally extending slot 18 which defines a pair of opposed, spaced apart, planar, parallel, skate blade-confining faces or shoulders 20. The circumferential distance between the shoulders 20 is slightly in excess of the thickness of the thickest skate blade which is to be honed and the planes of these two shoulders are equally spaced on opposite sides of a median vertical diametric plane of the cylindrical honing stone 12. As best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the height or depth of the slot 18 is appreciably greater than the width of the slot and this is for the specific reason which is pointed out in detail hereafter. The internal diameter of the holder 14 is slightly greater than the external diameter of the abrasive stone 12 and its longitudinal extent is less than that of the rod as clearly shown in FIG. 1 so that, when the rod is projected through the holder, the opposite end regions of the former overhang the annular end faces of the latter.

Diametrically disposed from the slot 18 is a tapped hole 22 which receives the threaded shank portion 24 of the clamping screw 16, the latter projecting completely through the wall of the holder 14 and serving fixedly to clamp the honing stone 12 within the holder so that it bears against the inside edges of the slot 20 and closes the slot and thereby establishes an abrasive bottomed channel as shown in FIG. 1, the channel having planar parallel sides and a convex channel bottom.

4 A knurled head 26 is provided on the clamping screw 16 in order to facilitate manipulation of the latter.

In the operation of the herein described ice skate honing tool 10, after the tool has been assembled as previously described so as to establish the abrasive bottomed channel which is defined by the shoulders 20 of the slot 18 and the limited area of the periphery of the honing stone 12 which is exposed through the slot, skate honing operations are conducted by causing the skate blade to slide with respect to the holder 14 and the stone 12 longitudinally through the slot 18. This may be readily accomplished by holding the skate blade stationary and sliding the tool along the blade in the usual manner of manipulating skate-sharpening devices of a similar nature.

As schematically illustrated in FIG. 4, since the radius of the honing stone 12 is less than that of the hollow ground concavity of a skate blade such as the blade B, only a limited area or stripe which extends longitudinally along the concavity will be honed during any given pass of the tool along the blade. However, by rocking the skate blade angularly from side to side as illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 4, and making repeated passes of the tool along the blade, the entire area of the concavity may be progressively honed.

The dotted line positions of the skate blade B in FIG. 4 represent the two extreme angularly inclined positions within the slot 18 of which the blade is capable of assuming. It is to be particularly noted from an inspection of FIG. 2 that because of the relatively great depth of the slot 18, as compared to its width which is relatively small, in neither of these two angularly inclined positions does the extreme outer comer edge of the blade bear against the periphery of the stone 12 at an angle which is not acceptable for proper skate-sharpening purposes. Stated otherwise, at no time does either side face of the skate blade extend in a diametric plane of the stone 12 and there is never any relationship between the skate blade concavity and the periphery of the hone stone 12 other than a tangential relationship.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, only insofar as the invention is particularly pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

I claim:

1. A honing tool adapted abrasively to hone the concavity in the hollow ground skating edge of an ice skate blade of predetermined thickness, said honing tool comprising an elongated cylindrical rod-like honing stone, an elongated tubular holder having said stone extending longitudinally therethrough and having an internal cylindrical wall surface the diameter of which is appreciably greater than that of the stone, said holder being provided therein with a longitudinally extending, full length slot of a width slightly greater than that of the skate blade which is to honed, said slot being designed for longitudinal sliding reception of the skate blade, said slot presenting a pair of planar, opposed, parallel side faces which are equally spaced from a medial diametric plane of the cylindrical honing stone, the depth of said slot being appreciably greater than the width of the slot, the longitudinal extent of said honing stone being appreciably greater than that of the holder and the former projecting completely through the latter so that its opposite end regions overhang the end faces of the holder, and releasable clamping means bearing against the outer cylindrical side of said cylindrical honing stone, and serving to force the latter against the inner edges of said slot, thereby closing the slot and establishing an abrasive bottomed, blade-receiving channel having its side surfaces defined by the opposed side faces of the slot and a convex bottom defined by the intervening portion of the periphery of the honing stone, the radius of curvature of said honing stone being less than that of the concavity of the hollow ground skating edge of the blade, and the dimensional relationship between the width and depth of said channel and the thickness of the skate blade being such that limited side-to-side rocking movement of the blade in the channel during skate sharpening operations is permitted to occur while at the same time the intervening portion of the honing stone is, in all skate sharpening positions, positively confined to abrasive contact with the hollow ground skating edge variously in the medial positions of the latter without possible contact of said intervening portion of the stone with the adjacent side corners or edges of the skate blade.

2. A honing tool as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the holder is provided with a tapped hole at a region which is diametrically disposed from the slot and is substantially midway between the ends of the holder, and the releasable clamping means is in the form of a screw which is threadedly received in the tapped hole and projects diametrically into the interior of the holder.

Claims

1. A honing tool adapted abrasively to hone the concavity in the hollow ground skating edge of an ice skate blade of predetermined thickness, said honing tool comprising an elongated cylindrical rod-like honing stone, an elongated tubular holder having said stone extending longitudinally therethrough and having an internal cylindrical wall surface the diameter of which is appreciably greater than that of the stone, said holder being provided therein with a longitudinally extending, full length slot of a width slightly greater than that of the skate blade which is to honed, said slot being designed for longitudinal sliding reception of the skate blade, said slot presenting a pair of planar, opposed, parallel side faces which are equally spaced from a medial diametric plane of the cylindrical honing stone, the depth of said slot being appreciably greater than the width of the slot, the longitudinal extent of said honing stone being appreciably greater than that of the holder and the former projecting completely through the latter so that its opposite end regions overhang the end faces of the holder, and releasable clamping means bearing against the outer cylindrical side of said cylindrical honing stone, and serving to force the latter against the inner edges of said slot, thereby closing the slot and establishing an abrasive bottomed, blade-receiving channel having its side surfaces defined by the opposed side faces of the slot and a convex bottom defined by the intervening portion of the periphery of the honing stone, the radius of curvature of said honing stone being less than that of the concavity of the hollow ground skating edge of the blade, and the dimensional relationship between the width and depth of said channel and the thickness of the skate blade being such that limited sidE-to-side rocking movement of the blade in the channel during skate sharpening operations is permitted to occur while at the same time the invervening portion of the honing stone is, in all skate sharpening positions, positively confined to abrasive contact with the hollow ground skating edge variously in the medial positions of the latter without possible contact of said intervening portion of the stone with the adjacent side corners or edges of the skate blade.