ICE HOCKEY SKATE

PATIN POUR HOCKEY SUR GLACE

English Abstract

The blade of an ice hockey skate, which blade
consists of a plastic material blade body and a runner
body made of metal, must be exchanged from time to time
due to damages suffered. Until now this was a quite
in-trinsic procedure and the exchanging had to be made at
the manufacturer of the ice hockey skate because the
blade is mounted to the boot by tubular rivets. Here, the
blade is mounted to the shoe by means of such nut and
bolt mounting devices which are in a position to take up
the considerably higher loadings encountered at ice
hockey skates in comparison with figure skating or ice
dancing ice skates. The nut of the mounting device is a
special structural member which is separate from the shoe
sole and consists preferably of a metal.

French Abstract

L'ensemble lame d'un patin à glace pour la pratique du hockey consiste en un corps de lame en matière plastique et une lisse en métal qui doivent être remplacés de temps à autre en raison des dommages subis. Jusqu'à maintenant, cette opération était très intrinsèque et le remplacement devait être effectué chez le fabricant du patin à lame pour le hockey étant donné que l'ensemble lame est monté sur la chaussure au moyen de rivets tubulaires. Dans la présente invention, l'ensemble lame est assemblé à la chaussure au moyen d'une fixation à écrou et boulon positionnés de manière à pouvoir supporter les charges considérablement plus élevées des patins de hockey en comparaison de celles des patins de patinage artistique ou de danse sur glace. L'écrou du dispositif d'assemblage est un élément structural particulier qui est séparé de la semelle de la chaussure et est farbriqué préférablement en métal.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. An ice hockey skate, including a boot having
a shoe sole, a blade mounted to the boot by means of
mounting units, which blade includes a blade body made of
a plastic material and a runner body made of metal, which
runner body is embedded in the blade body, said mounting
units comprising each a nut and bolt mounting device,
whereby each nut is a special structural member which is
separate from the shoe sole, whereby said boot has an
inner space and said nut borders the inner space and is
adapted to be inserted into the shoe sole from the inner
space and removed from the shoe sole into the inner
space, whereby said nut is structured as a disk having a
central hub and having a plurality of points located at
the rim of the disk and extending perpendicularly to the
disk plane, and in which said hub comprises an inner
thread, said bolt comprises a head and said points are
directed towards the head of the bolt of the nut and bolt
connecting device, and said points and said hub of the
nut extend perpendicularly from the disk plane in the
same direction.
2. The ice hockey skate of claim 1, in which
each nut and bolt connecting device comprises a
self-locking nut or a self-locking bolt.

3. The ice hockey skate of claim 1, in which
said nut is structured as a disk having a central hub and
said shoe sole includes an insole made of leather and an
insole reinforcement member made of a hardened nonwoven
of a plastic material, and in which the thickness of the
nut excluding the hub corresponds substantially to the
combined thickness of said insole and said insole
reinforcement.
4. The ice hockey skate of claim 1, whereby
said nut is structured as a disk having a central hub,
said shoe sole includes an outer sole made of a plastic
material, said blade body has a front blade plate and a
rear blade plate, and whereby at least one of said blade
plates contacts said outer sole, in which said hub of the
nut is located partly in said outer sole made of a
plastic material.

Description

209027~
(45 604 c) ICE HOCRBY SKATE
RAr~GROUND OF THE INV~'1'10N
1. FIELD OF THE 1~V~ 10N
The invention relates to an ice hockey skate,
including a boot having a shoe sole, a blade mounted to
the boot by means of mounting units, which blade includes
a blade body made of a plastic material and a runner body
made of metal.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The blade of known ice hockey skates is
mounted to the boot by means of rivets. Commonly, tubular
rivets are used for this task and specifically totally
fourteen rivets per boot. The blade body made of a plas-
tic material includes commonly two blade plates, namely a
front blade plate and a rear blade plate. The front blade
plate is mounted at the front shoe sole area and the rear
blade plate at the rear shoe sole area to the boot. The

~ 209027~
common technique is to mount the front blade plate by
means of eight rivets and the rear blade plate by means
of six rivets to the boot. If the blade must be removed
from the boot, e.g. because the boot itself has been dam-
aged or the blade body of plastic material or the runner
body of metal are damaged, this removing or dismounting,
respectively, cannot be made easily and fast, the ice
hockey skate is rather sent back to the manufacturer,
where the tubular rivets are removed by means of special
devices and the exchanged parts of the ice hockey skate
are again assembled by aid of a riveting apparatus. This
known procedure is quite obviously not satisfactory.
The technique of mounting the metal runner
body to the boot used at figure skating or ice dancing
ice skates cannot be used in ice hockey skates for the
following reasons. The metal runner body is screwed at
the figure skating and ice dancing ice skates by means of
wooden screw bolts into the leather insole of the boot.
This form of mounting is sufficient for such kinds of ice
skates because it ensures a safe mounting regarding the
forces which are encountered. If necessary, such a metal
runner body can be dismounted in a short time from the
boot if e.g. a different metal runner body (iron) is to
be mounted to the boot. Due to the considerably higher
forces which act onto the ice hockey skates above men-

20~0275
3 22295-623
tloned mountlng technlque by means of wooden screws dld not
prove ltself.
SUMMARY OF THB INVBNTION
Hence, lt ls a general ob~ect of the lnventlon to
provlde an lce hockey skate, ln whlch the blade can safely be
mounted to the boot and may in splte thereof be dlsmounted from
the boot ln a short tlme and by slmple procedures.
The present lnventlon provldes an lce hockey skate,
lncludlng a boot havlng a shoe sole, a blade mounted to the boot
by means of mountlng unlts, whlch blade lncludes a blade body
made of a plastlc materlal and a runner body made of metal,
whlch runner body ls embedded ln the blade body, sald mountlng
unlts comprlslng each a nut and bolt mountlng devlce, whereby
each nut ls a speclal structural member whlch ls separate from
the shoe sole, whereby sald boot has an lnner space and sald nut
borders the lnner space and ls adapted to be lnserted lnto the
shoe sole from the lnner ~pace and removed from the shoe sole
lnto the lnner space, whereby sald nut ls structured as a dlsk
havlng a central hub and havlng a plurallty of polnts located at
the rlm of the dlsk and extendlng perpendlcularly to the dlsk
plane, and ln whlch sald hub comprlses an lnner thread, sald
bolt comprlses a head and sald polnts are dlrected towards the
head of the bolt of the nut and bolt connectlng devlce, and sald
polnts and sald hub of the nut extend perpendlcularly from the
dlsk plane ln the same dlrectlon.
BRIBF D~h~ ON OF THB DRAWINGS
The present lnventlon wlll be better understood and
ob~ects other than those set forth above wlll become apparent
" ,:

2390275
'~
3a 22295-623
when conslderatlon 18 glven to the followlng detalled
descrlptlon thereof. Such descrlptlon makes reference to the
annexed drawlngs, whereln:
Flgure 1 ls a bottom vlew of a preferred embodlment of
the lnventlve lce hockey skate; and
Flgure 2 18 a vlew of a vertlcal sectlon through the
rear area of the lce hockey skate.
,.~.
,

209027S
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED ENBODIMENTS
The ice hockey skate includes a boot 1 and a
blade 2 mounted thereto, whereby the latter includes a ~-
blade body 3 made of a plastic material and a runner body
4 made of metal, which metal runner body 4 is embedded in
the plastic material blade body 3.
The plastic material blade body 3 has a rear
blade plate 5, which can be said to be mounted to the
heel area of the boot 1. The plastic material blade body
3 includes, furthermore, a front blade plate 6, which is
mounted so to say to the sole area of the boot. The for-
mulation of the above statements are made in this partic-
ular manner in spite of the fact that the boot 1 has a
continuous, at least approximately planar outer sole 7
made of a plastic material. This sole 7 is also called
TR-sole (thermoplastic rubber). The total shoe sole 8 in-
cludes, furthermore, an insole 9 made of leather and an
insole reinforcement 10 placed thereupon and consisting
of a set or hardened, respectively, nonwoven made of a
plastic material, e.g. a polyester-nonwoven. This insole
reinforcement 10 is a protection of the insole 9 made of
leather against the influence of humidity, i.e. it en-
sures the insole maintaining its shape. These three
structures 7, 9 and 10 are solidly mounted to each other.

209027~
Furthermore, a further insole is present which consists
of a foamed body 11 and a textile weaving 12. The textile
weaving 12 is a covering material of the insole rein-
forcement consisting substantially of the foamed body 11.
The boot includes, furthermore, an upper 13 and a heel
area 14.
Figure 1 discloses that the front blade plate
6 includes in accordance with the commonly known tech-
nique eight through holes 15; the rear blade plate in-
cludes in the same manner the commonly applied six
through holes 15. According to the prior art, the blade 2
has been riveted to the boot 1 via these totally fourteen
through holes 15, whereagainst in accordance with the in-
vention now merely totally eight nut and bolt mounting
devices are used, which ensure a sufficient mounting of
the blade 2 to the boot 1. Quite obviously, the superflu-
ous six through holes 15 visible in Figure 1 are no
longer necessary for the ice hockey skate structured in
accordance with the invention.
Each nut and bolt mounting device 16 includes
a threaded bolt 17 and a nut 18, whereby both are prefer-
ably manufactured of a metal. The nut 18 is accordingly a
special structural member which is separate from the shoe
sole, whereby in contrast thereto the insole which is
made of leather acts at the above mentioned figure skat-
ing and ice dancing ice skate as nut. At the illustrated

~ 2090275
embodiment the nut 18 borders the inner space 19 of the
boot and can be inserted coming from the inner space into
the shoe sole 8 and conversely removed from the shoe sole
into the inner space. The head 20 of the threaded bolt
contacts the respective outer surfaces 21 of the rear
blade plate 5 and front blade plate 6, respectively,
whereby the screw bolt is insertable into the shoe sole 8
from the outside and conversely can be removed therefrom
towards the outside of the boot.
In order to avoid a loosening of the nut and
bolt mounting unit a self-locking nut or a self-locking
screw bolt are provided. For a locking of the nut 18
against the threaded bolt 17 (MS-locking) various systems
are known. For instance, a self-locking nut is sold under
the name "elastic-stop-nut". Preferably, a self-locking
nut which is produced and sold by the company SFS Stadler
is used, which nut is known under the trademark
'spedcaps". The nut and bolt mounting device 16 can in-
clude e.g. a M4-thread. The head 20 of the threaded bolt
can have various shapes. The bolt 17 of the example il-
lustrated in Figure 1 is, for instance, a cross-slotted
screw bolt or Phillips screw, respectively. Especially
advantageously a bolt head is used, which includes a
hexagonal recess and additionally slots. By means of the
hexagonal recess any screw bolt can be tightened opti-
mally and also biassed.

209027~
The nut 18 is designed as a nut which can be
driven in, to which end it includes a disk 22 having a
central hub 23 and a plurality of points 24 located at
the edge of the disk and ext~n~ing perpendicularly to the
plane defined by the disk, whereby the hub 23 is equipped
with an inner thread 25. At the nut and bolt mounting de-
vice 16 illustrated in Figure 2 the tips of the points 24
face the head 20 of the threaded bolt. The thickness of
the nut 18 without its hub 23 corresponds substantially
to the total thickness of insole 9 and insole reinforce-
ment 10. The hub 23 of the nut 18 is located in part in
the outer plastic sole 7. The points 24 and the hub 23 of
the nut 18 project from the plane defined by the disk 22
perpendicularly in the same direction.
In order to produce a nut and bolt mounting
initially the bore holes 26 and 27 for the shaft of the
threaded bolt and for the hub 23 are formed in the shoe
sole 8. The blade 2 comes from the respective manufac-
turer already including the through holes 15. Now, the
nut 18 is set from the inner space 19 of the boot to-
gether with its hub 23 onto the bore hole 27 and hammered
thereinto. By a tightening of the threaded bolt 17 the
nut 18 is pressed into the position illustrated in Figure
2. Due to mentioned self-locking nut or the preferred
self-locking screw bolt ('~spedcaps") the respective set

2090275
-
8 22295-623
blassed posltlon and skate of the nut and bolt mountlng devlce
16 ls malntalned.
Flnally, lt shall be noted that the lnsole 9 of
leather conslsts of a compound of leather flbers whlch ls sold
under the reglstered name "Lefa".
Whlle there are shown and descrlbed present preferred
embodlments of the lnventlon, lt ls to be dlstlnctly understood
that the lnventlon ls not llmlted thereto, but may be otherwlse
varlously embodled and practlced wlthln the scope of the
followlng clalms.
~f

Representative Drawing