Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ICE SKATE SHARPENING APPARATUS FOR SPEED SKATES WITH CURVED
BLADES
Background & Summary of the Invention
Disclosed herein is an ice skate blade sharpening apparatus for speed skates
with curved blades that will prevent disrupting or altering the curve of the
blade
during sharpening.
The curved speed skate blade was first introduced in 1993 (patent 5,320,368).
Speed skate racing is done with turns only in the counter-clockwise direction.
Skate boots and blades for some events are adjusted to take advantage of this
fact.
Blades are mounted on boots with an offset to the left and some blades are
positioned
to the left in their support structure.
Blades of expert skaters are also bent to the left. Bending is done with
mallet,
vise or tool until the blade "looks right" or "feels right". The toe of the
blade may be
bent so the blade turns more sharply when a skater's weight moves forward. The
heel
of the blade may be bent so the blade turns more sharply when the skater's
weight
moves back. The whole blade may be bent in a smooth arc for increased ice
contact
and stability.
Speed skate blades are sharpened by hand. They are placed into a
sharpening apparatus with the bottoms of the blades facing upwards and clamped
parallel with each other along their length. No speed skate sharpening
apparatus
accommodates the new curved speed skate blade that has been available since
1993.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a new sharpening apparatus with two
blades clamped in a manner that prevents the disruption of the curve in, or
straightening, the blade.
Previous sharpening apparatus' use flat clamping jaws that un-curve or
straighten the speed skate while sharpening. Fig. 2 shows a prior-art table
style
sharpening apparatus with flat clamping jaws; Fig. 3 shows prior-art frame
style
sharpening apparatus with flat clamping jaws. FIG. 4 shows a diagram of how a
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curved blade is straightened during sharpening with flat clamping jaws and the
arrows indicate the direction of the force applied to the curved skate blade.
When straightening of the curve of the blade occurs during sharpening, the
curve of the blade will change. After several sharpenings, the blades curve
will have
changed so much that the blades will have to be re-curved to get back to the
original
curved configuration.
The sharpening apparatus described herein has heads on the jaws of the
clamps, which pivot in a generally horizontal plane and relative to the
clamping
jaws. These pivoting heads pivot to align with the curve of the blade during
sharpening thereby leaving the curve undisrupted during sharpening. FIG. 5
shows
a diagram of how a curved blade is clamped with its curve undisrupted when
clamped in the present invention with jaws that have pivoting heads. The
advantages to maintaining the curve of the blade during and after sharpening
is the
skater will have the same "feel" when skating on the blades after sharpening
as
before sharpening, and the blades will not have to be re-curved after
sharpening.
The present invention:
will prevent disrupting the curve of speed skate blades during
sharpening;
will prevent blades from having to be re-curving after sharpening;
comprises parts made from computer numerical control machining
for maximum accuracy
is made from solid components (e.g. metals) as opposed to hollow
components, thereby providing more stability while sharpening
Brief Description of Drawings:
Fig. 1 is a perspective drawing of two speed skate blades clamped in the
sharpening frame in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a prior-art table style speed skate sharpening apparatus with flat
clamping jaws.
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Fig. 3 is a prior-art frame style speed skate sharpening apparatus with
flat clamping jaws.
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing how curved blades are straightened when
clamped with flat clamping jaws.
Fig.5 is a diagram showing how curved blades remain curved when clamped
with clamps that adjust to the curve of the blade as with my clamping jaws
with pivoting heads.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a fully assembled speed skate sharpening
apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 7 is a close-up view of the clamping jaws with pivoting heads.
Fig. 8 is a close-up exploded view of the clamping jaws with pivoting heads.
Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the sharpening apparatus demonstrating the
motion of a sharpening stone during the sharpening process.
Fig. 10 is a perspective view of clamping jaw 1 with female pivoting head 2
held in place with a vertical pin 3 allowing female pivoting head 2 to pivot
horizontally relative to clamping jaw 1.
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of clamping jaw 1 with male pivoting head 2
held in place with a vertical pin 3 allowing male pivoting head 2 to pivot
horizontally relative to clamping jaw 1.
Fig 12 is a perspective view and an exploded view of clamping jaw 1 with
adjustable head 2 and adjustable head 3 inserted into the housing of clamping
jaw 1. Adjustable head 2 and adjustable head 3 offset each other using ball
bearings 4.
Fig 13 is a perspective view and an exploded view of clamping jaw 1 with
adjustable head 2 and adjustable head 3 inserted into the housing of clamping
jaw 1. Adjustable head 2 and adjustable head 3 offset each other using
hydraulic chamber 4.
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Fig 14 is a perspective view and an exploded view of clamping jaw 1 with
adjustable head 2 and adjustable head 3 inserted into the housing of clamping
jaw 1. Adjustable head 2 and adjustable head 3 adjust independently using
springs 4.
Fig 15 is a perspective view of clamping jaw 1 with pivoting head 2 secured
to clamping jaw 1 with flexible connector 3. The flexibility of flexible
connector 3 allows pivoting head 2 to pivot horizontally relative to clamping
jaw 1.
Fig. 16 is a perspective view of clamping jaw with a rounded head. The
rounded head will have a single point of contact on the surface of the blade
to
keep the curve of the blade unchanged.
Fig. 17 is a perspective view of outer clamping jaw 1 secured to inner
clamping jaw 2 with horizontal pin 4. Inner clamping jaw 2 is secured to main
housing 3 with vertical pin 5 allowing inner clamping jaw 2 to pivot
horizontally relative to main housing 3.
The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the
invention to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intent is to
cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included
within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended
claims.
The following reference numerals are employed in the figures to indicate the
associated elements of the embodiment depicted:
1 front main body clamp housing
2 rear main body clamp housing
3 alignment rod
4 alignment rod leveler screws
5 alignment stop
6 alignment stop set screws
7 outer j aw
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8 inner jaw
9 jaw connector pin
pivot head vertical
11 pin second pivot
5 12 head
13 second vertical pin
14 jackscrew
round knob
16 insert screw
Detailed Description
The sharpening apparatus is shown in perspective view fully assembled in
Fig. 6. A front main body clamp housing 1 is connected to a rear main body
clamp
housing 2 with an alignment rod 3. Alignment rod 3 aligns and secures front
main
body clamp housing 1 and rear main body clamp housing 2 properly by tightening
the alignment rod leveler screws 4. An alignment stop 5 is attached to front
main
body clamp housing 1 with the alignment stop set screws 6.
A perspective view of the clamping jaws with pivoting heads is shown FIG. 7.
An exploded view of the clamping jaws with pivoting heads is shown in FIG. 8.
Outer
jaw 7 is connected to front main body clamp housing 1 with a j aw connector
pin 9. A
pivot head 10 is inserted into outer jaw 7 and held in place with a vertical
pin 11
allowing pivot head 10 to pivot horizontally relative to, and against the rear
of, the
clamp recess the outer jaw 7. A second pivot head 12 is inserted into inner
jaw 8 and
held in place with a second vertical pin 13 allowing second pivot head 12 to
pivot
horizontally relative to and against the ear of the clamp recess of the inner
jaw 8. A
jackscrew 14 is threaded into the outer jaw 7. A round knob 15 is attached to
the
jackscrew 14 and secured with an insert screw 16. When round knob 15 is turned
clockwise, the top of outer jaw 7 is drawn towards inner jaw 8 bringing pivot
head 10
and second pivot head 12 into contact with opposing sides of the speed skate
blade.
Pivot head 10 and second pivot head 12 will pivot horizontally to come into
full
contact with the speed skate blade along the blade's curved surface.
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The ice skate sharpening apparatus for speed skates with curved blades
achieves its results as follows:
Two speed skate blades are inserted into the sharpening apparatus with
the bottoms of the blades facing upwards and are set parallel with each other
along their length as seen in Fig. 1.
As shown in Fig. 7, when round knob 15 is turned clockwise, outer jaw 7 will
come in contact with one side of the blade and push the blade towards inner
jaw 8.
Pivot head 10 and second pivot head 12 will pivot or slide in a generally
horizontal
plane and relative to outer jaw 8 and inner jaw 10 to conform to the curved
radius of
the blade. This process is repeated for the other 3 clamping jaws with
pivoting
heads.
A flat sharpening stone is moved across the blades at the same time and
flattens the bottoms of the blades. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one
embodiment of
the sharpening apparatus with two blades clamped parallel and a sharpening
stone on
top of the blades. The arrows indicate the direction the stone is moved to
flatten the
bottoms of the blades.
Unlike a hockey skate blade or a figure skate blade, which have a hollow on
the bottom of the blade, a speed skate blade has a flat bottom with sharp 90-
degree
corners on the inner edge and the outer edge of the blade. The achieved result
is that
the curve of the blade remains unchanged during the sharpening process.
Various alternative embodiments of the clamping mechanisms are depicted in
Figs. 10 - 17 which are generally described below:
The clamping jaw and the pivoting head of the clamping jaw can be
configured to prevent disrupting the curve of the blade in different ways.
Below is a
listing of some of these different ways with accompanying diagrams:
Female pivoting head supported with a vertical pin through a male
support, Fig. 10.
Male pivoting head supported with a vertical pin through a female support,
Fig. 11
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Two heads on a single jaw of the clamp that offset each other using ball
bearings, Fig. 12
Two heads on a single jaw of the clamp that offset each other using
hydraulics, Fig. 13
Two heads on a single jaw of the clamp that offset each other using
springs, Fig. 14
A pivoting head on the jaw of the clamp with a flexible connection
between the pivoting head and the jaw allowing the head to pivot
horizontally, Fig. 15
A preformed radius on the head of the jaw of the clamp with no mechanics
Fig. 16
A clamp with flat jaws where the whole clamping mechanism pivots
horizontally along the main support of the sharpening apparatus, Fig 17
The pivot heads and the end of the jaws can be surfaced with a different
material, for example, rubber, cloth, or plastic so as not to mar or damage
the
skate blades.
The pivot heads and the ends of the jaws can be various sizes and
shapes. Different materials, sizes, and interconnections can be used for all
components.
