Patent Grant
7866674
The present invention relates to electrically heated ice skates and particularly to a heating system for applying the heat from a battery source to the blade.
Common ice skates used in skating have an elongate blade which is arranged to slide along the ice surface. Attempts to minimise the friction between the blade and the ice using the application of heat to the blade are shown a number of prior US patents as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,119,921 (Czaja) issued Nov. 2, 1962 discloses a resistant heating element attached as a folded resistance heating element wrapped over a top of the blade of a skate so as to apply heat along the side surfaces of the blade. A battery is mounted in the open area above the blade underneath the connection of the blade to the boot.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,927 (Tvengsberg) issued Feb. 18, 1975 discloses a similar arrangement where the blade is mounted in a molded holder extending from the blade to the sole of the boot. The blade may be optionally heated in which case a resistance heating element is applied apparently along the side of the blade although this is not adequately described.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,305 (Tabar) issued Aug. 15, 1995 discloses a heating system primarily for skis which appears to be speculative in nature and includes a number of different arrangements which could be used. In FIGS. 6 and 7 is shown the heating of a skate blade where a resistance heating wire is apparently buried inside the structure of the skate blade itself. No detail is provided as to how this might be manufactured.
All of the above patents therefore show resistance heating elements but in each case the structure is clearly speculative and no detail is provided. No product of this type has been commercially available.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,669,209 issued Dec. 30, 2003, 6,817,618 issued Nov. 16, 2004 and 6,988,735 issued Jan. 24, 2006 all by Furzer and all assigned to the present assignee disclose various arrangements of heated skate blade where a battery is located in a tower of the skate support attached to the skate boot and supplies power to a heating device on the blade. In this case the heating element is in the form of a transistor which fed with current in a mode so that the transistor generates heat with the transistor communicating that heat to a side of the blade or through a separate insert of high thermal conductivity.
This application relates to the subject matter disclosed and claimed in co-pending applications Ser. No. 11/780,577 entitled HEATING ARRANGEMENT FOR ICE SKATE BLADES (corresponding to Canadian Application INSERT) and Ser. No. 11/780,580 entitled MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR ICE SKATE BLADES (corresponding to Canadian Application INSERT) all filed 20 Jul. 2007 by the same applicants and assigned to the same assignees, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved resistance heated skate blade.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a skate blade assembly comprising:
a skate blade member;
a support for the skate blade member for attachment of the skate blade member to a skate boot;
a resistance heating member extending along a surface of the skate blade member for applying heat to the skate blade member;
a battery power source carried on the support for supplying current to the resistance heating member;
the resistance heating member comprising an elongate electrically conductive wire of constant cross-section along which the current from the battery power source is conducted with a layer of electrically insulating material applied onto an outside peripheral surface of the wire, the wire extending in a substantially straight path along the surface of the skate blade member and the wire being against the surface so that the layer is held in direct contact with the surface to transfer heat thereto.
Preferably the conductive wire forming the resistance heating member is cylindrical. Such circular cylindrical wires are readily commercially available and form a convenient heat generating mechanism.
Preferably the resistance heating member includes a first portion of the wire along a first side surface of the skate blade member and returns in a second portion along a second opposed side surface of the skate blade member.
Preferably there is provided a heating control circuit board arranged above the skate blade member and the resistance heating member extends from a first electrical connection at the heating control circuit board along the first side surface of the skate blade member and returns along the second opposed side surface of the skate blade member.
Preferably the skate blade member includes a metal skate blade with an over-molding of plastics material with the plastics material forming a groove with a base of the groove at the surface of the metal skate blade and wherein the resistance heating member is received in the groove.
Preferably the over-molding of plastics material is applied along both sides of the metal skate blade with the plastics material forming on each side of the metal skate blade a groove with a portion of the resistance heating member received in each groove.
Preferably the over-molding of plastics material along the skate blade member forms a mounting therefor into the support.
Preferably the resistance heating member is compressed into the groove by a deformable bead of a resilient material.
Preferably the deformable bead of resilient material is compressed by insertion of the over-molding into the support and pressure on the deformable bead from a portion of the support.
Preferably the resistance heating member has one side in contact with the skate blade member and all other sides surrounded by a heat insulating plastics material.
Preferably the plastics heat insulating material is the over-molding and the bead of a plastics material.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a skate blade assembly comprising:
a skate blade member;
a support for the skate blade member for attachment of the skate blade member to a skate boot;
a resistance heating member extending along a surface of the skate blade member for applying heat to the skate blade member;
a battery power source carried on the support for supplying current to the resistance heating member;
wherein the resistance heating member has one side in contact with the skate blade member and all other sides surrounded by a heat insulating plastics material.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a skate blade assembly comprising:
a skate blade member;
a support for the skate blade member for attachment of the skate blade member to a skate boot;
a resistance heating member extending along a surface of the skate blade member for applying heat to the skate blade member;
a battery power source carried on the support for supplying current to the resistance heating member;
wherein the skate blade member includes a metal skate blade with an over-molding of plastics material;
wherein the plastics material is shaped to form a groove with a base of the groove at the surface of the metal skate blade;
and wherein the resistance heating member is received in the groove.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a skate blade assembly comprising:
a skate blade member;
a support for the skate blade member for attachment of the skate blade member to a skate boot;
a resistance heating member extending along a surface of the skate blade member for applying heat to the skate blade member;
a battery power source carried on the support for supplying current to the resistance heating member;
wherein the resistance heating member is compressed against a surface of the skate blade member by a deformable bead of a resilient material.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:
Referring to the accompanying drawings
The skate blade assembly 1 is generally fastened through the sole plate flange holes 7 through matching holes in the sole of an ice skate boot (not shown) with mechanical fasteners (not shown). The heel 4 and the toe 5 of the skate blade holder 3 generally are hollow.
A heating arrangement 8 in the form of a resistance heating member 100 is arranged to heat the skate blade 2 such that the heat reduces the coefficient of friction of the blade 2 on an ice surface. The heating arrangement 8 has a heat control circuit board 9 mounted on the top edge of the blade and a battery 14 and battery control circuit board 14A in the hollow heel tower 4 of the holder 3.
The circuit has a thermistor 12 which controls the temperature of the blade by controlling current to the resistance heating member 100. In practice the blade temperature is maintained just above freezing at a temperature of the order of 2 to 10 degrees Celsius and preferably of the order of 4 to 6 degrees. In many cases where the player is off the ice for a short break as in regular shifts in a hockey game, the temperature of the box or other rest area is often sufficiently high that the heater is turned off during the break period off the ice and only turns back on when the player or skater is back on the ice for a sufficient period to cool the blade down to the temperature below the set temperature. This ensures that the heater is used only when required on the ice and the battery power is not wasted when the player is off the ice. This avoids the use of motion sensors or other timing devices to control the heat application.
The holder 3 defines an elongate bottom section 15 which extends along the full length of the holder and defines along a center thereof a slot 16 for receiving the blade. The elongate member 15 is connected to the hollow towers 4 and 5 so that the towers converge downwardly and inwardly from the top flange 6, 6A toward the bottom elongate member 15. At the bottom member 15, the moulded body forming the holder is solid and this solid structure extends upwardly into the structure of the holder until the width expands sufficiently to allow the structure to be formed into the hollow towers 4 and 5 while providing sufficient strength within the holder body from the moulded plastics material.
Between the hollow towers, the holder includes a U-shaped area 17 defining a top edge 18 which is the top edge of the solid part of the body on which the bottom member 15 is formed. The top surface 18 curves upwardly at the forward end to form a wall 21 which is the rear wall of the front tower 5. Similarly the top 18 at its rear curves upwardly to form a upward and forwardly extending portion 18B which forms the front wall of the rear tower 4. The front tower 5 thus has a rear end at the rear end of the flange 6 which overlies the surface 18 and symmetrically a forward end of the flange 6A of the tower 4 also overlies the surface 18.
The front tower 5 has a front wall 21 which extends downwardly to a forward end 22 of the member 15. The rear tower 4 has a rear wall 23 which extends downwardly to a rear end 24 of the member 15. The wall extending upwardly from the member 15 to the base of the towers includes side ribs which extend upwardly and rearwardly as indicated at 25 and 25A together with downwardly extending ribs 26 which connect from the inclined ribs 25 and 25A to the bottom end 15 to provide an attractive appearance.
As best shown in the cross sectional views of
The blade 2 includes a steel blade portion 32 and an over-molded portion 33 of a plastics material. The over-moulded portion is moulded onto the sides of the steel blade 32 and across the top edge of the steel blade 32 so as to form a structural member rigidly and permanently attached to the steel blade and extending out to each side of the steel blade. Thus as shown for example in
As best shown in
The complex upper edge 40 of the steel blade portion is shaped to define a series of hooks which engage into the over-molded plastics portion 33 to maintain permanent engagement therewith. Thus there is a front hook 42 at the forwardmost end of the steel blade and this is received just behind the front edge 43 of the over-molded plastics piece so that it is embedded in the plastics piece and acts to retain the blade within that plastics piece. Similarly there is a rear hook 44 which engages into the plastics piece just in front of the rear edge 45 of the over-molded plastics piece.
The steel blade further includes upwardly projecting element 46 in the center section under the surface 18 which projects into the area at the heating element 8. Further upwardly projecting portions 50 at spaced positions along the length of the blade also provide further engagement into the plastics material. The thermistor 12 is mounted on the circuit board 9 in contact with the blade 32.
Thus at some locations as shown in
Thus as best shown in
The rearward pulling action on the blade is provided by a rear mounting member 58 of the blade. The rear mounting member 58 also projects upwardly through the over-molded plastics member 33 to provide an upwardly extending portion above that member. The rear mounting 58 includes two arms 59 and 60 between which is mounted a nut 61 received in a cylindrical bearing surface 62 allowing the nut to swivel about an axis at right angles to the axis of the nut. Thus the nut has a cylindrical outer surface which is contained within the cylindrical bearing surface 62 allowing this pivotal action to accommodate slight inaccuracies in the positioning of the blade relative to the holder. The rear wall 23 of the rear tower 4 has a recessed hole 63 for receiving a screw 64. The screw has a head which engages against a base of the recessed hole so that the screw can engage into the nut and by turning the screw the nut is pulled upwardly and rearwardly as the screw head butts against the shoulders on either side of the hole. Thus the turning of the screw 64 acts to pull the blade upwardly and rearwardly along the slot 16 so as to pull the rear part of the blade into the slot and so as to pull the blade rearwardly along the slot to force the front mounting portion 55 into the receptacle 56.
Thus the blade can be mounted on the holder by releasing the screw and by removing the projecting portion of the moulded plastics portion 33 from the slot by pulling the blade downwardly. The blade can be reinserted by simply inserting the blade approximately into its required position thus sliding the front member 55 into the receptacle 56 whereupon the screw and be inserted into the nut and the blade pulled up into place both longitudinally and upwardly.
As shown for example in
As best shown in
As best shown in
Turning now to
The tower 5 at the front is of reduced height relative to the tower 4 at the rear. Thus as is conventional the heel part of the boot is elevated above the toe part of the boot allowing the top flanges 6 and 6A to be attached directly to the bottom surface of the boot without the presence of a heel structure underneath the boot between the rear part of the boot and the top flange 6A.
The flange 6 surrounding the tower 5 is shaped so as to follow approximately the shape of the sole part of the boot and thus is slightly wider than the heel part of the boot at the flange 6A of the tower 4.
Each of the flanges includes a series of holes along the flanges on each side of the hollow tower and these holes are arranged to be fastened to the boot by rivets engaged through the flange from the underside and engaging into the receiving holes in the base of the boot.
Thus the sole has four receiving holes along each side for receiving the four holes of the flange 6. The rear part of the boot has three receiving holes on each side for receiving the rivets from the flange 6A.
The holes 7 in the front tower include some oblong holes or elongate holes 7A on the front flange 6 which are elongated in a direction side to side which are the third ones from the front of the tower 5. The holes 7 in the rear tower 4 include some oblong holes or elongate holes 7B on the rear flange 6A which are elongated in a direction front to rear direction which are the middle ones of tower 4). This allows adjustment of the position of the flange on the base of the boot so as to allow slight side to side and front to rear movement of the mount for the skate blade relative to the boot for improved alignment and ease of installation.
As best shown in
The wire 101 extends in a substantially straight path along the side surfaces of the skate blade member and the wire is held against the side surfaces 103 and 104 of the blade 32 so that the layer 101 is held in direct contact with the surface of the blade to transfer heat thereto.
The wire 101 includes a first portion 105 along the first side surface 103 of the skate blade member and a second portion 106 along a second opposed side surface 104 of the skate blade member, both being arranged close to the top edge 40 but spaced slightly downwardly from the top edge. The wire extends in a loop from a first electrical connection 108 on one side of the heating control circuit board 9 along the first side surface of the skate blade member, wraps around the end 46A of the raised section 46 of the blade 40 and returns along the second opposed side surface of the skate blade member to a second connection 109 on the other side of the heating control circuit board 9. The circuit board 9 is located directly at the end of the raised portion 46 at the top of the blade at a location where the top edge 40 of the blade 32 is recessed downwardly as shown in
As best shown in
The groove has a width equal roughly to the diameter of the wire and the resistance heating member in the form of the wire is received in the groove at the base 111 in contact with the respective side surface of the blade.
The resistance heating member in the form of the wire 101 is compressed into the groove against the surface of the blade at the base by a deformable bead 115 of a resilient plastics material. The deformable bead 115 of resilient material is compressed by insertion of the over-molding into the slot 16 of the support 15 so that the sides 28 and 29 of the slot apply pressure against an outwardly projecting portion of the bead to apply pressure on the deformable bead. In this way the resistance heating member in the form of the wire is compressed against the surface of the skate blade member at the base of the groove by the deformable bead, which is formed of a heat insulating resilient material of a hardness of for example 73 Shore A.
In this way, the resistance heating wire has one side in contact with the skate blade member and all other sides surrounded by heat insulating plastics material defined by the over-molding 33 and the bead 115.
As an alternative to the provision of two wire portions along the side surfaces of the blade, there may be provided only a single wire in a single groove with that groove located at one side or on top of the blade
The battery power supply 14 includes a battery 71 and the battery control circuit board 14A located underneath the battery and including a conventional battery protection circuit which is part of the battery since the batteries are sold with this little circuit incorporated in the battery enclosure. The battery control circuit 14A carries the components for controlling the supply of power from the battery including a low power indicator. The battery 71 and the circuit board 14A are contained within an encapsulating material 116 to form an enclosed separate item which can be inserted into the hollow tower as an integral element to be contained therein. The encapsulated battery power supply includes a pair of terminals 74 one of which can be seen in
As previously described, the blade itself can be removed from the mounting and thus the terminals 74 comprise spring-finger type wires or fingers which engage onto fixed terminals on the circuit 9. Thus simple upward pressure of the board 9 onto the spring fingers 74 as the skate blade member is inserted into the support at the required location causes the engagement between the terminals 74 and the requisite terminal on the circuit 9. The battery power supply further includes a further terminal 76 in the form of a spring finger which extends from one end of the battery control circuit board for engagement with a stud or rivet 77 carried in the tower as best shown in
A charging system for the skate can therefore comprise components which have a first terminal for engagement with the blade 32 and a second terminal for engagement with the head 78 of the stud 77. This provides a connection to the battery power supply through the battery control circuit 14A.
The circuit board 9 is thus contained within the slot 16 above the shoulders 37 and 38 and is encapsulated in this area by a suitable low pressure molding material which engages over the board 9 on top of the high pressure structural over-molding 33. The board 9 is also contained within the tower 4 of the support so that it is fully enclosed both by its own encapsulation and by the surrounding structure of the support.
The battery power supply 14 is contained within the rear tower 4 above the elongate member 15 of the support and within the enclosed tower 4. The flange 6A is sealed to the underside of the skate boot with the battery power supply 14 in place. The sealing action can be provided by a gasket which overlies the flange 6A to provide an effective sealing action to prevent the penetration of moisture from the ice or from the environment into the rear tower 4 and thus into the area of the battery power supply. The rear tower 4 is fully enclosed and sealed without any openings for switches or connections since the tapered shoulder 33 seals with the base of the bottom support 15 when the screw 64 is tightened, apart from the stud 77 which is itself sealed into a hole in the rear wall 23 of the tower 4.
In order to avoid unnecessary openings into the hollow rear tower 4, the manually operable switch arrangement for activating the power supply is defined by a pair of proximity switches 79 and 80 mounted on a flexible circuit board 83 the inside surface of the hollow rear tower 4 at sides of the tower at a position where the fingers and thumb of a user can reach around the rear wall 23 to squeeze together on respective side of the hollow rear tower to engage the areas of the tower at the proximity switches 79 and 80. The use of two proximity switches one on each side prevents inadvertent operation of the switch actuating the power supply by contact with an extraneous item such as a puck or other elements such as an opponent's stick. Thus the actuation of the switch occurs only in the event that both proximity switches are activated simultaneously and are touched for a required period of time. â–®Thus the microprocessor may be programmed that the sensors must be touched for a predetermined minimum period of time or in a pattern like a computer mouse double click, that is they may be touched for at least predetermined minimum period of time but not more than a predetermined maximum period of time then released for at least predetermined minimum period of time but not more than a predetermined maximum period of time and then touched for at least a predetermined period of time which is an extremely unlikely event unless controlled by the user reaching to the proximity switches by a finger and thumb.
The use of the proximity switches avoids the penetration of the tower 4 so that there is no possibility for moisture penetration through openings at the switches. Proximity switches are commonly available and utilize the electrical changes effected by bringing the finger or thumb into close proximity with the electrical component on the inside surface.
An indicator light or LED for indicating the activation of the power supply is visible on the exterior of the tower 4 and is provided at the location 81 visible on both sides of the blade indicated on
The arrangement described above provides a number of advantages as follows:
The heating wire has both its ends protected against moisture by the over-molding low pressure encapsulating plastic material covering the board 9. The wire is continuous and unbroken in its loop from the ends.
The heating element, in the form of the wire or other resistance heating element is compressed against the steel blade with the extrusion or bead compressed between it and the holder.
The battery 14 and electronics 14A are protected against moisture with plastic over-moulding. As an alternative to the over-molding using low pressure molded plastics material it is also possible to use conventional potting materials.
The two proximity sensors are used to actuate the power to avoid inadvertent action. They have a pattern so that the player must hold his fingers there for a given amount of time (minimum X seconds, maximum Y seconds) so that it eliminates turning on or off accidentally.
The connections provided use the steel blade and a rivet to transfer the electricity from a charger to charge the battery.
The spring loaded contacts 74 act to transfer the electricity from the battery pack to the heating device. This allows us to easily change the blade when it has been sharpen too many times.
The spring loaded contact 77 acts to transfer the electricity from the battery to the rivet.
The mechanical features of the slotted holes 7A in the flanges, the tapered joint 16 between over-molded steel blade and the support or holder and the anti-vibration ribs 33C on the over-molded steel blade provide an effective mounting of the blade on the boot.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2692326 | Crowell | Oct 1954 | A |
| 3119921 | Czaja | Jan 1964 | A |
| 3866927 | Tvengsberg | Feb 1975 | A |
| 3906185 | Gross et al. | Sep 1975 | A |
| 3913312 | Numabe | Oct 1975 | A |
| 3936755 | Sheng | Feb 1976 | A |
| 4761420 | Genain | Aug 1988 | A |
| 5088749 | Olivieri | Feb 1992 | A |
| 5248156 | Cann | Sep 1993 | A |
| 5441305 | Tabar | Aug 1995 | A |
| 6485033 | Nicoletti et al. | Nov 2002 | B2 |
| 6669209 | Furzer | Dec 2003 | B2 |
| 6817618 | Furzer | Nov 2004 | B2 |
| 6894893 | Hidesawn | May 2005 | B2 |
| 6988735 | Furzer | Jan 2006 | B2 |
| 20030107192 | Furzer et al. | Jun 2003 | A1 |
| 20050029247 | Furzer et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
| 20050029755 | Fask | Feb 2005 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090066042 A1 | Mar 2009 | US |
