Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to skates.
More specifically, the invention relates to hockey
skates.
Hockey skates, as used today, are made up of a frame
of die-stamped sheet metal components and a blade which is die-
stamped to the desired contour from one-eighth inch nickel chrome
sheet material. In making the frame, pedestals are spot-welded
to sole plates and to a blade carrying tube. The blade is spot-
welded to the tubular section of the frame and a front tang on
the blade riveted to two lugs on the front sole plate. The blade
and the tube are sweated together with the help of lead solder to
give greater holding power.
This construction suffers from several disadvantagesO
For example, the fact that the frame is made from a number of
sheet metal components makes it difficult to maintain a tolerance.
This results in a high proportion of rejects and raises the cost.
The assembly also involves heat treating the metal to give it
greater strength. Another problem is in the finishing of the sides
of the stamped blade. This is done by making a single pass
along the length of the blade with a buffing apparatus. This
also has the undesirable effect of rolling over the working edge
of the skate. It is not possible to buff the sides of the blade
in the up and down direction because of the presence of the frame.
A further disadvantage is that since the blade is permanently
fixed to the frame, if anything happens to the blade, the whole
skate must be rejected.
It is an aim of the present invention to avoid these
disadvantages and provide certain advantages as will be clear
from the following description.
This is accomplished according to the invention by
providing a skate and components thereof, as will be described.
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The skate, according to the invention, has a frame and an
attachable-detachable blade mounted on it. The frame has front
and rear sole plates, front and rear pedestals extending from
the sole plates, and a tubular section mounted on the sole plates
provided with a blade-receiving groove presenting side faces and
a base face extending therebetween. Each pedestal has a slot
extending from the groove to receive a tang from the blade. The
front sole plate is provided with spaced apart locking lugs and
registering transverse locking screw holes. A transverse lock-
ing pin hole extends transversely through the rear pedestal. Ablade is held in the groove, having an elongated body including
a margin provided with a sharpenable ice-engaging edge, side
faces abutting the side faces of the groove, and an inner face
spaced from the blade margin seating on the base face of the
receiving groove. Intermediate and rear tangs protrude from the
inner face of the blade and engage in the pedestal slots. A
front tang protrudes from the inner face of the blade and is
provided with a transverse opening receiving a front locking screw
extending through it and said locking lugs. The rear tang is pro-
vided with a transverse hole to receive the locking pin and ex-
tending through it and the rear pedestal.
Aspects of the invention are also the frame, and the
blade having novel features as evident from the foregoing des-
cription of the skate as a whole.
Another aspect of the invention is the way in which
the rear tang is locked in place. This is done by the use of
a special pin having an elongated cylindrical body which extends
; through the rear pedestal and the opening in the tang on the
blade fitting into the opening on the rear pedestal. The lock-
ing pin has an elongated cylindrical body provided at one end
with a shoulder head which seats on a spot face surrounding the
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end of the opening in the rear pedestal. At the other end the
pin has a terminal part of the same diameter as the body which is
provided spaced from the end with an annular groove which receives
a resilinet locking ring. The locking ring engages a spot face
surrounding the other end of the opening in the rear pedestal.
The resilience of the 0-ring normally retains it in position to
lock the blade to the skate and can readily be removed while the
pin slips out of the openings in the pedestal and blade so that
the blade can be detached. To facilitate removal of the O-ring
the terminal part of the locking pin is provided with a slot in
a plane parallel to the axis of the pin which intersects the
groove containing the locking ring. By pushing the flat blade
of a tool in the slot it is possible to engage the ring and
stretch it outwardly so that it can be removed from its retain-
ing groove.
In accordance with a specific embodiment of the inven-
tion, a skate comprises: a frame having front and rear sole
plates, front and rear pedestals extending~ respectlvely, from
said front and rear sole plates, and a tube-shaped section
mounted on said pedestals, said sole plates, pedestals and tube-
shaped section comprising a single, integral, die-cast unit
a blade comprising an elongated body and having front, inter-
mediate and rear tangs extending from one edge of said elongated
body, the other edge of said elongated body comprising a
sharpenable edge; said tube-shaped section being provided with a
groove for receiving said blade each pedestal having a slot
extending inwardly from said groove to receive a respective
tang of said blade, said blade being held firmly in said groove
with said intermediate tang in said slot of said front pedestal
and said rear tang in said slot of said rear pedestal, and means
for removably retaining said blade in said frame, said means for
remova~ly retaining comprising: locking pin holes extending trans-
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versely through said rear pedestal on either side of the re-
ceiving slot therein, a registering opening in the rear tang of
said blade, a locking pin extending through the locking pin holes
and the registering opening' said locking pin having a head at
one end thereof, the dimensions of said head being greater than
the cross-sectional dimensions of said locking pin holes, said
head seating on one of the outer surfaces of said rear pedestal;
said locking pin having a groove at the other end thereof for
receiving a removable, resilient locking member; said locking ~;
member, when in said groove, engaging a second outer surface of
said rear pedestal to retain the pin in position.
Having thus generally described the invention it will
be referred to in more detail by reference to the accompanying
drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments and in which:-
FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a skate according
to the invention;
FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal cross-section through the
center of the skate shown in Figure 1,
FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the frame of the
skate shown in Figures 1 and 2;
FIGURE 4 is a greatly enlarged cross-section along
the line 4-4 of Fi~ure 1,
FIGURE 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing
the O-ring being removed;
FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of another form of
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skate blade,
FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of a tool for use in
dissembling the skate.
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FIGURE 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken ~ -
along the line 8 - 8 of Figure 6,
FIGURE 9 is an enlarged cross-section, simi]ar to
Figure 7 through a modified form of skate
blade, and
FIGURE 10 is an enlarged cross-section through a skate
similar to sections of Figures 7 and 8, on
a skate with a very narrow blade.
Referring more particularly to the drawings, the pre-
ferred skate illustrated is made up of an aluminum alloy die-
cast frame ~ and a die-stamped chrome nickel sheet metal blade B.
The frame A is made up of front and rear sole plates
15 and 16 respectively for securing the skate to the sole of a
boot. These plates are provided with rivet holes 15a and 16a
respectively. From the sole plates 15 and 16 there extend tapered
pedestals 17 and 18 respectively. A tube section 19 is mounted
on the opposite ends of the pedestals 17 and 18. The front of
the sole plate lS is provided with a pair of downwardly extend-
ing blade securing lugs 20 having registering openings 21.
The tube section 19 is provided with a blade-receiving -
groo~e 22 of a width to receive the blade B in a snug fit. The
pedestals 17 and 18 are provided with slots 23 and 24 respectively
for receiving tangs from the blade B in a snug fit.
The blade B has a margin provided with a sharpenable
ice contacting edge 25. The blade B has an inner face 26 adapted
to seat firmly against the linear base of the groove 22. The
face 26 is preferably scalloped to lighten the blade. The blade
also has tangs 27 and 28 which seat snugly in the slots 23 and
24 respectively.
The am~unt of play between the thickness of the blade
and the slot in which they fit should be kept-to not more than
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about two thousandths of an inch, so that the tangs are kept
snugly in their slots. The tangs are the stabilizing influence
on the secure fitting of the blade to the frame.
The frame is provided as at 29 with chamfered corners
to provide clearance for the radius on the skate blade B.
A locking screw 32 extends through the openings 21 in
the lugs 20 and a corresponding opening in the blade B. The
rear pedestal 18 is provided with registering openings 20a and
the tang 28 with a registering opening 31 to receive a locking
pin. The intermediate tang has an opening 27a to hold the blade
while tooling.
The tang 28 is secured in the slot 24 by means of the
pin C as will be describe~. The pin C has an elongated cylin-
drical body 33 provided at one end with a shoulder head 34 which
seats on a spot face 34a surrounding the end of the opening 30
in the rear pedestal. The body 33 at the other end has a ter-
minal part of the same diameter as the body and provided, spaced
from the end, with an annular groove 35 which receives a resi-
lient 0-ring 36.
The O-ring 36 acts against a counterbored spot face
38 on the pedestal to prevent retraction of the pin C from the
openings 30 and 31. The pin C is also provided with a trans- -
versely extending slot 37.
To remove the ring 36, a flat-bladed instrument is
introduced into the slot 37 and hooked under the 0-ring as
shown in Figure 5, so that the 0-ring can be removed freeing
the pin C for retraction.
A preferred form of tool for this purpose is shown
as D. The tool D is made up of an elongated body 40 having at
one end an Allen key 41 swaged into the body 40. The other end
of the body is provided with a knurled knob 42 of larger diameter
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than the body 40. From the knob 42 there extends a flat blade
43 having on its end a hook 45. The key 41 may be used to
manipulate the screw 32. The hook 45 may be inserted into the
slot 37 to disengage the O-ring.
Figure 6 shows another form of skate blade Bl accord-
ing to the invention.
This blade is made up of a body 50 of carbon steel
and induction brazed to it a carbide strip 51. The surface 52
of the body 50 is brazed to a matched surface 53 of the strip
51 in the usual manner of induction brazing with a silver braze.
A specific carbon steel which is preferred is SAE 1045. A
specific tungsten carbide which is preferred is 78 s. Such a
blade is equal to diamond hardness. The advantage of this
construction is that the hardness of the blade enables it to
keep its edge for longer without sharpening.
The blade B2 of Figure 9 has a chrome nickel steel
alloy strip 151 wider than the body 150 of carbon steel and
wider than the normal 0.112 inches of a conventional hockey
skate. This is for use on soft ice.
In the blade B3 of Figure 10 the body 250 i5 all of
chrome nickel steel alloy and has a narrowed part 251 providing
an edge of reduced width. This is for use on very hard ice. -
The die-cast frame A is preferably made of aluminum
alloy. The frame may be die-cast in one piece from dies capable
of producing two to three frames at a time and up to one
hundred frames per hour.
The blanking-die method is used to produce the desired
shape of the blade. A shearing operation should be effected
prior to heat treating, to true up the blank edge, on the inside ~ -
contour to match the contour inside the groove of the frame.
An assembled adult hockey skate would weigh about one
pound. Shrinkage of the aluminum frame must be calculated and
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allowed for before designing the tooling or dies. An important
feature of the skate is the interchangeability of the blades in
all skates of the same size~ To this end, proper production
processes and tooling are necessary.
The locking-pin material should be of non-corrosive
steel, to prevent oxidation. For easy assembly and extraction
the pin must preferably have 0.001 clearance in the aluminum
frame and blade. Otherwise, the design of the pin is for
lightness and for easy removal.
The skate must be correctly aligned on the boot. The
design of front and rear sole plates actually makes it possible
for all skates to be either left or right. It is desirable
that there be a small raised area on the boot sole directly
under each sole plate and of the same shape as the sole plate.
Today's tubular hockey skate requires some sixty-
seven operations to manufacture. The die-cast method of the
invention requires only six operations. The rejection rate of
hockey skate components ia high because of the large number that
have to be put together and the necessity for their matching
up with other components. The die-cast skate of the invention
is made in one piece and there is no matching up of parts.
There are no sharp corners. This eliminates the necessity for
plastic protectors. The cost of manufacture is greatly reduced
because of the difference in the number of operations and the
amount of capital equipment required. The blade design offers
the advantage that blades of the same size may be fitted into
the frame and yet provide a selection of different type blades
to suit different ice conditions~ Carbide tip blades can be
attached to give greater speed on hard ice and never lose their
skating edge. A thin blade can be used for very hard ice and
to give greater speed. The wide blade can be used on the same
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frame for soft ice conditions. As the blade is flat on both
sides, it can be ground to a high surface finish at the edges.
This results in a very keen edge allowing a hockey player to
skate faster without having to wear the skate in after sharp-
ening as with the normal skate.
A hockey player may return to the bench when he has
lost his skate edge as by contact with another skate and his
damaged blade can be changed to another in less than a minute.
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