Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The present invention relates to a device ~or clamping
a skate blade unit to the sole oP a skating boot, the said
skate blade unit consisting essentially oP a blade, ~ixed
longitudinally to an elonga~e blade carrier having at least
two supports the Free ends o~ which arle Eormed as shaped
blades intended to be secured respectively to a sole por~ion
and to a heel portion oE a skating boot, The ~ade carrier
may be oF metal, in which case the blade can be..secured to
it by means oF welding Qr other metal ~ixing technique~ or
else, more usually, it may be made Prom a suitable plastics
material, in which case the ~ade is partially embedded into
the carrier by means oP known plastics moulding techniquesO
In order to be able to manuPacture skates ~hich give
satisfactory per~ormance it is necessary ~or the attachment
o~ the blade of the above mentioned blade carrier to the re
spective sole or heel portions o$ the skating boot to be 50
made as to be able to withstand entirely, ~or an indePinite
period, the considerable and unpredictable stresseg genera=
ted on the attachment during skating,
In known constructions this attachmenthas previously
been made by means o~ riveting with a number o~ boits or ri
vets which are ~irst inserted through corresponding holes
made respectively in the sole and heel portions of the boot
and in the plates o~ the blade carrier.
. Rivetted attachments o~ this type, apart from requiring
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special -tools and skilled opera-tors, also involve a series
of rather time consuming operations to be performed to join
the boot and skate blade unit. Special tools and skilled personnel
are also required to separate the skate blade unit from the
boot in the event of replacement of the blade unit or the boot
itself being necessary.
In addition to these disadvantages, the known rivetted
attachment does not allow any possibility of adjustmenk o~ the
orientation of the skate blade in relation to the boot by the
user, this being something which is useful for adapting the skate
in the best way possible to the anatomical characteristics of the
user and the type of ska~ing exercises to be undertaken.
The technical problem which this invention seeks to
solve is therefore that of providing a device for clamping a blade
unit to a boot, having structural and functional characteristics
such as will o~ercome the prior art disadvantages reerred to
ahove.
This technical problem is solved, according to the
present invention, by apparatus for securing a skate blade unit
to a skate boot, the skate blade unit including a blade fixed
longitudinally to an elongated blade carrier ha~ing at least two
supports thereon, the free end of one support being formed as a
shaped plate adapted to be secured to the sole portion of the
boot and the free end o~ the other support being formed as a
shaped plate adapted to be secured to the heel portion of the
boot, the apparatus comprising: first and second metal plates
adapted to fit with:in the boot in overlying relation to the sole
portion and the heel portion respectively; and elongated screw
means for clamping the ~etal plates, the sole and heel portions
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and the shaped plates toge-ther, with elastic deformation of
the metal plates.
According to an embodiment of this invention the
elongated screw means are scr~s or threaded bolts engaged
throught openings provided in the me~al plates and in the sole
and heel portions, and screwed in the blade carrier of the skate
blade unit.
According to a further embodiment of this invention,
the openings in the plates and in the sole and heel po~tions
of the boot are in the form of elongate slots extending tran~-
versel~ with respect to the length of the skate blade.
The main advantage attained by the invention lies in
the fact that clamping of a skate blade unit to a skating boot,
making a very rigid secure connection, is carried out by means
of a simple and rapid operation of screwing in two or more
screws or bolts after having placed inside the boot suitable
plates in overlying positions to the sole and heel portions of
the boot. Secure rigid connection is ensured by a synergistic
action of screwing the scre~s or bolts into the blade unit and
of elastic deformation of the metal plates. Such a clamping
can therefore be carried out directly by the user who can easily,
when desired, set about replacing the boot or the blade unit
without having to resort to employing skilled personnel or to
use special tools. Moveover in embodiments in which the holes
are transverse slots the user can easil~ adjust the or~entation
of the blade in relation to the boot until a desired portion
has been reached, conforming to hîs own anatomical characteri-
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stics and to the current or intended use o~ the skate, These
transverse slots may have diEEering plan Eorms, for example
they may be rectilinear or curved in accordance with the
likely adjustment to be made in the orientation between the
. boot and skate blade unitO
Further characteristics and advantages oE the invention
will become apparent Prom a consideration oP the following
description oE various embodiments oP ~he invention, provi
ded purely by way oE non-limiting example, and in which re
~0 Eerence is made to the accompaning drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a partly sectioned side view oE an ice skate
having a skate blade unit and skating boot attached together
in accordance w;th the teaching oE this invention;
Figure 2 is a partially sectioned perspecti~e view oE ~he
ice skate o Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a partially sectioned side view oE a second
embodiment oE the invention;
Figure 4 is diagrammatic plan view showing various di~=
Perent related positions in which the skate blade unit can be
located in relation to the boot, and which can be obtained
by means of the clamping arrangement illustrated in Figures
1 to 3;
Figure 5 is partly sectioned side view oE a blade unit
oÆ a ~urther embodiment oE the invention; and
Figure 6 is a partly sectioned perspective ~iew o~ an
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ice skate ~ormed as yet a further embodiment oP the inven=
tion~
ReEerring to Figures 1 and 2; there i5 shown an ice
skate 1 comprising a blade unit 2 and a boot 3, in which
~ the blade unit comprises a blade carrier 4 molded in a
known way Prom a suitable plastics materialf and a blade 5
: partially embedded into the carrier 4 during the molding
by which the carrier 4 is formed. Projecting upwardly Prom
the carrier 4 there are three supports 6,7 and 8, oP which
; 10 the Pront or forward support 6 is solid whilst the intermedia
te and rear support 7 and 8 are hollow. The Porward and inter
mediate support 6,7 have a common plate 9 joining their upper
ends; this plate 9 has a suitable thicXness and a plan Eorm
and cross-sectional shape which is substantially the same as
that of the sole portion 10 of a boot 3 to which it is intended
to be attached~ The top o~ the hollow rear support 8 has a ~lan
ged edge ~ also having a suitable thickness and a plan Porm and
cross-sectional shape substantially the same as that oP the
heel portion 12 oP the boot 3.
On the inside of the boot 3, and overlying the sole portion
10, there a metal plate 13, o~ suitable thickness and oP a shape
; which substantially conPorms to the shape oP the said sole por-
tion 10. This plate has a pair o~ holes 14, 15 (see Figure 2),
through which, upon assembly, pass respective screws 16, 17
which serve for connecting the Porward end oP the skate blade
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unit 2 to ~he boot 3 as will be described in greater detail
below. A second metal plate 18 is located within the boot
3 above the heel portion 12 and has substantially the same
plan ~orm shape as thisO A hole 19 passes through the metal
plate 18, through which hole passes a screw 20 which serves'
~or connecting the rear portion oP the skate blade unit 2 to
the boot 3.
In the embodiment o~ Figures 1 and 2 the hole 15 of the
metal plate 13 and the hole 19 o~ the metal plate 18 are
aligned with corresponding holes 15a, 19a, in the sole portion
10 and the heel portion 12 respectively oP the boot 3, these
in turn being aligned one with the axis of the hollow inter=
mediate support 7 and the other with the axis o~ the hollow
rear support 8. Upwardly ~rom the bottom o~ these hollow sup
ports 7 and 8 there project respective hollow threaded bosses
21, 22 9 into which the screws 17 and 20 are screwed ~pon
assembly. A ~urther screw 16 is screwed into the thickness
o~ the plate 9 and is locked in place by a nut 23~
As shown in Figure 3, ~or the purpose oP increasing the
tearing resistance of the screws 17 and 20 ~rom the respective
bosses 21~ 22, there embedded in the latter, as shown in Fig.
3, a ~langed nut 24. In thi~ embodiment the bosses 21 and 22
have plain axial holes 21a ~or receiving the screws 17 and 20,
: The very secure connection o~ the skate blade unit 2 to
the boot 3 is ensured by the synergistic action o~ the screws
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16, 17 and 20 screwed into the chosen plastlcs material ~rom
which the carrier 4 is made9 and o~ the elastic de~ormation
of the metal plates13 and 18, which are prePerably made oP
steel, which firmly grip the sole portion 10 and the heel
portion 12 o~ the boot 3 against the p:Late 9 and 11 Pormed
as the upper part o~ the blade carrier 40
In the embodiment illustrated diagrammatically in Pigure
4, the holes ~ormed in the metal plates 13, 18 and those Pormed
in the sole and heel portions 10,12 respectively, are made in
0 the shape o curved slots 2S, 26 and 27 respectively In par=
ticular the slots 25, 26 in the forward metal plate 13 and the
Eorwara part oP the sole portion 10 are convex towards the toe
oP the boot whilst the slot 27 in the rear plate 18 and the
- heel oP the boot are convex towards the heel end o~ the boot~
By means o~ these ~pecially shaped holes it is possible Por
the user to vary the orient~ion and position oP the blade 2
and support 4 o~ the ice skate in relation to the boot 3, as
in diagrammatically illustrated by the broken lines in Figure
4. This possibility is especially useul ~since the skate can
now be adapted to the type oP sporting-"exercise" which the
user intends to per~orm, thus achieving an optimal eEficiency
which was not possible with skates o known construction,
Obviously the above mentioned curved slots can be made
in di~ferent numbers and with.diPPerent shapes rom those il
~25 lustrated, in order to obtain di~erent orientations oP the
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boot 3 in relation to the blade unit 2~ Thus~ Por example,
the slots may be rectilinear , or those in the sole portion
10 and the metal plate 13 may be curved whi~t in the heel
portion 12 and its associated metal plate 18 there may be
made respective cicular holes rather than slotsO
In Figure 5 there is illustrated a ~urther embodiment
oP this invention, which has a blade carrier 104 in which
there is ~ormed, at the Pront~ a hollow support 107 oE larger
dimensions than those o~ the corresponding Eorward suppor~ 7
in the previous embodiment; the upper opening oP this ~orward
suppor~ is surrounded by a peripheral Elange 109 the shape
and dimension o~ which are such it constitutes a bearing Eor
the sole portion o~ the boot 3. Within the hollow support 107
there are ~ormed two bos~es 121, 221, into which it is inten=
ded ~or two screws (not illustrated) to be screwed, for the
purpose o~ gripping the ~ront metal plate 13 and the sole por
tion of the boot 3 to the blade carrier 104. It is advantageous
Eor there to be embedded in at least one oP the said bosses 121,
221, a Elanged nut 123 to improve the security o~ the screwed
connection.
In the ~inal embodiment illustrated in Fi~ure 6, the boot
3 is provided with a single metal plate 124 extending Erom the
~ront to the rear and having a ~orward portion 113 and a rear
118 shaped to cooperate with the respective sole portion 10
and heel portion 12 o~ the said boot.
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