Unitary skate assembly having vertical spring means
First Claim
1. A blade/boot plate assembly arranged for attachment to a skate boot, comprising a unitary metal member having;
- an elongated generally horizontal blade occupying a first plane,at least one boot plate means having a first generally horizontal portion thereof located above said blade and occupying a second plane that extends normal to said first plane, and said boot plate means including a second generally horizontal portion thereof that is located generally below said first portion and is connected to said first portion through a U-shaped bend that extends generally parallel to said second plane and normal to said first plane, anda vertically twisted metal portion connecting said second portion of said boot plate means to said blade.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A single blade ice skate is disclosed wherein the ice engaging blade, the toe boot plate and the heel boot plate are formed as a unitary assembly from a flat sheet of metal stock material, with the two boot plates being attached to the blade by way of twisted metal extension portions. In the initial flat state, the blade portion, the two extension portions and the two boot plates occupy a common physical plane. The two extension portions that connect the boot plates to the blade are then twisted 90° in this common plane, and in a manner to place the two boot plates in planes that are normal to the plane of the blade and normal to the common plane of the initial metal stock material. The two boot plates are then bent into a U-shape, so as to provide a U-shaped vertical spring member for each of the boot plates, the spring member acting between the two boot plates and the blade (i.e. a spring member operating in the vertical plane of the blade), while at the same time providing a rigid lateral connection between the plane of the two boot plates and the plane of the blade, thereby rigidly maintaining these planes as normal planes during a skating maneuver.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A blade/boot plate assembly arranged for attachment to a skate boot, comprising a unitary metal member having;
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an elongated generally horizontal blade occupying a first plane, at least one boot plate means having a first generally horizontal portion thereof located above said blade and occupying a second plane that extends normal to said first plane, and said boot plate means including a second generally horizontal portion thereof that is located generally below said first portion and is connected to said first portion through a U-shaped bend that extends generally parallel to said second plane and normal to said first plane, and a vertically twisted metal portion connecting said second portion of said boot plate means to said blade. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for producing a unitary blade/boot plate assembly from a unitary metal member, comprising the steps of;
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providing a flat, sheet-like metal member occupying an X-Y plane, shaping said metal member to form (1) an elongated blade portion that extends generally in an X direction within said X-Y plane, (2) at least one boot plate means located in a Y direction within said X-Y plane and above said blade portion, said boot plate means including an upper and a lower portion that join at a first bend line that extends in an X direction within said X-Y plane, and (3) a web portion connecting the lower portion of said boot plate means to said blade portion and extending in a Y direction within said X-Y plane, said web portion joining said lower portion of said boot plate means at a second bend line that is generally parallel to said first bend line and extends in an X direction within said X-Y plane, twisting said web portion about an axis that extends in a Y direction within said X-Y plane, so as to cause said first and second bend lines to extend in a Z direction within a Y-Z plane that is perpendicular to said X-Y plane, forming a bend of about ninety degrees at said second bend line, and forming a U-shaped bend of about one hundred eighty degrees at said first bend line, to thereby place said upper and lower portions of said boot plate means one above the other, with said lower portion being adjacent to said blade. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A blade/boot plate assembly arranged for attachment to a skate boot, comprising;
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a unitary metal member having a boot plate portion that extends in a generally horizontal direction, said boot plate portion being integrally connected to a second generally horizontal portion by way of a generally 180°
, U-shaped spring bend, said second portion then underlying said boot plate portion, and a generally vertically extending web portion integrally connected to said second portion of said unitary metal member by way of a generally 90°
bend, said web portion then extending in a generally vertical downward direction and underlying said second portion of said unitary metal member, and said web portion terminating in an lower end portion,a U-shaped generally vertical slot formed formed in said lower end portion, and having a generally horizontal width equal to a given thickness, an elongated generally horizontally extending blade located in said U-shaped slot and having a generally vertical thickness about equal to said given thickness, and weld means cooperating with said blade and said web portion to thereby attach said unitary metal member to said blade. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification