Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02892295 2015-05-20
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
ICE SKATE BLADE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved ice skate blade for an ice hockey
skate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hockey is a very competitive sport. As training programs and coaching has
improved, so too
has the speed and skill of the players. In addition, with advances in
technology, hockey
equipment has improved over the years ¨ becoming lighter and stronger. Skates
have been
designed with blades that balance the competing requirements of strength and
weight ¨ the
blade needs to be thick enough to resist transverse impacts on the blade and
yet be as thin as
possible to limit their weight. For example, blades have been made of high
grade stainless steel
and lightweight aluminum fused together by epoxy and rivets.
Besides, the focus on strength/weight, a number of new skate blade designs
have been
developed in order provide the user with an advantage over a standard skate
blade.
For example, U.S. Patent No. 4,314,708 teaches an ice skate blade having an
elongated flat
blade body defining opposed side walls and a support bottom edge having a slot
in at least a
forward half portion thereof intermediate the opposed side walls and a solid
rear portion. The
bottom portion of the blade is wider (up to 150 thousandths of an inch) than
the top, which is
the typical blade thickness (about 120 thousandths of an inch). According to
the patent, this
additional thickness is required in order that opposed side walls (shoulder
portions 24) on each
side of the slot are sufficiently thick to resist transverse impact during a
game of hockey.
According to the patent, the two thin opposed side walls provide better
penetration of the ice as
each side wall is thinner than a regular skate blade. In addition, the patent
teaches that the thin
blades in combination with the subctantially flat bottom edge provides for
better acceleration
and stability in sweeping curve motions or in backward skating.
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U.S. Patent No. 4,907,813 issued to Hall teaches a skate blade having a
skating edge having
two widths. The front toe portion of the blade has a width equivalent to a
standard hockey ice
skate, while a gliding portion behind the toe portion has a narrower width
corresponding to ice
skate racing blades. According to the teachings of Hall, "the provision of the
narrower blade
portion in this area of the edge allows for an increase in gliding speeds
similar to that obtained
with racing skates" (see column 2, lines 44-46).
In addition to designs reducing the width of the blade in order to increase
performance, other
designs have focussed on the angle of the blade. For example, U.S. Patent No.
6,830,251 to
Titzmann teaches an ice skate blade having an upper portion with parallel
sides (like a normal
hockey skate blade), and a lower portion having two faces flared outwardly
from the upper
portion thereby providing angled cutting edges, the angle being between 4 to
12 degrees from
the vertical, preferably 8 degrees. Titzmann teaches that the effectiveness of
the blade is
dependent on the special relationship between the bottom width, preferably
between 4-5 mm,
and the preferred angles of the lower faces. As sharpening the blade will
affect this, the blade
will lose its preferred advantage, becoming less effective with each
sharpening. The solution
presented by Titzmann is to use material for the blade that is hard enough not
to require
frequent sharpening.
U.S. Patent No. 7,234,709 issued to Lambert also teaches angling the skate
blade cutting edge
in order to improve performance. Lambert teaches a skate blade having an upper
portion
having a standard skate blade width, a middle portion wider than the upper
portion and a lower
portion having angled side walls such that it is wider at the bottom than at
the top where it joins
with the middle portion. According to Lambert, the preferred angle is between
2 and 8 degrees,
and most preferably between 4 and 5 degrees. The middle portion is 4 mm wide
and provides
added rigidity, with the angled lower portion "providing edges with much
improved ice
penetration with the result that trajectory changes are greatly facilitated,
and better release are
retained when skating" (column 5, lines 11-14).
While the above designs have addressed various shortcomings of prior art skate
blades, there
remains a need for an improved skate blade.
Objects of the invention will be apparent from the description that follows.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention consists of a skate blade for use on an ice skate, the skate
blade having an upper
portion having substantially parallel sides defining a standard hockey blade
width
(approximately 3 mm) and a lower portion having substantially parallel sides
defining a
uniform width, preferably between 4.06 mm to 6.35 mm.
The lower portion is of a uniform thickness (width) having a height measured
from the bottom
edge of the blade of between 3.175 mm to 4.45 mm.
The foregoing was intended as a broad summary only and of only some of the
aspects of the
invention. It was not intended to define the limits or requirements of the
invention. Other
aspects of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the detailed
description of the
preferred embodiment and to the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the
following
description in which reference is made to the appended drawings and wherein:
Fig. 1 is a side view of a skate blade according to the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the skate blade shown in Fig. 1, taken
along line A-A.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The preferred embodiment of a skate blade 2 according to the present invention
for use in
playing hockey is shown in Fig 1. The skate blade 2 has a top edge 4, a bottom
edge 6 and an
upper portion having a pair of side walls 5, 7, and a lower portion having a
pair of side walls 9,
11, as shown in Fig. 2. The side walls 5, 7 are substantially parallel and
define a blade width 20
corresponding to the standard width of a hockey skate blade (approximately 3
mm). The lower
portion 10 side walls 9, 11 are also substantially parallel and define a blade
width (or thickness)
16 that is wider than that of the upper portion.
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Preferably, lower portion 10 has a uniform blade width of between 4.06 mm
(.160 inch) to 6.35
mm (.250 inch) and a height 18 that is between 3.175 mm to 4.45 mm (.125 to
.175 inches).
The height of the lower portion allows the blade to be ground and reshaped
without losing the
width at the bottom to maintain the same performance grind after grind when
being sharpened.
In addition, some skaters like to alter the bottom of the blade, grinding more
at the front and
back of the skate blade in order to increase the arc of the blade. Having a
sufficient height of
lower portion 10 allows a blade to be sharpened in this fashion while still
maintaining the same
bottom edge width throughout the length of the blade. This is not possible
with the prior art
angled side edge designs. At the same time, limiting the height of the lower
portion helps keep
the overall weight of the blade down so as not to impact long term performance
by a user.
The most preferred width of the lower portion is between 4.39 mm to 4.83 mm
(.173 to .190
inches), with the larger size being more desirable for use with a larger user
(100 kg or 220 lbs
and above). Once into the larger weight users, the additional width appears
helpful in
preventing the skate blade from digging too deep into the ice surface.
The skate blade 2 is equipped with a mounting system for mounting the blade
into a blade-
holding system for a skate as known in the art. As shown in Fig. 1, the
mounting system could
be in the form of a pair of connecting elements 12 and 14 elevated above the
top edge 4 of
blade 2. Of course, the connecting elements of the mounting system can be
modified to
correspond to a variety of different blade-holding systems in order to
accommodate different
skate brands.
As shown in Fig. 2, the bottom surface 22 is concave between opposite bottom
edges 6 of sides
5, 7. The concavity can be varied as known in the art and depending on the
skater's own
preferences.
When using the blades of the present invention as compared to a standard
hockey skate blade,
the glide speed is notably faster and requires less effort. The blades may be
sharpened (ground)
many times without any performance loss as the width of the lower portion will
remain constant
for many skate sharpenings (essentially until the blade has been reduced to an
overall height
that a user would consider too small for use and get a new blade). In
addition, as discussed
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above, a given user can re-profile the arc of the blade and maintain the same
performance
characteristics along the full length of the blade edge.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the preferred and
alternative embodiments
have been described in some detail but that certain modifications may be
practiced without
departing from the principles of the invention.
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