Patent Application
20220280862
The invention discussed herein relates to the general field of ice-skating accessories and describes a skate blade with pre-applied variable curvature, variable stiffness, and modular boot mounting system.
Speed skating blades are generally manufactured with an aluminum or steel longitudinal tubular structure, into which a steel blade is mounted on one side of the tube, and aluminum mounting “cups” or “arms” are attached to the opposite side of the tube to allow for the mounting and adjustment of a boot. There are two general types of speed skating blades, one being designated for short track skating on a 111 m skating track, and the other for long track skating on a 400 m skating track. The short track blades are designed to be mounted in a fixed position at the forefoot and heel of the boot as shown in
When aluminum tubes are used, the steel blade is mounted inside a machined slot using adhesive that remains somewhat elastic once cured. When steel tubes are used, the steel runner of the blade is normally mounted inside the tube using a welding, brazing, or soldering process. Adhesives are not currently used in the context of a steel runner and tube assembly.
Since speed skate racing is generally performed with turns only in the counterclockwise direction. To maximize stability and skating efficiency, skate boots and blades are typically configured to take advantage of the counterclockwise turns. Blades are mounted on boots with an offset to the left, and some blades are positioned to the left in their support structure. The blade runner surface is also generally adjusted with a radius or “rocker” (R,
In addition to applying a rocker radius to the runner surface of the blade, the blades can be also bent (B,
The bending of skate blades historically was done with a mallet, vise, or similar tool until the blade “looked right” or “felt right.” The bending process was usually applied to the blade's tube, rather than the blade runner because the blade runner is more delicate, and the tube tends to retain the applied curve better. 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 entire blade can be bent in a smooth arc for increased ice contact and stability, or it may have variable curvature to allow the skater to increase or decrease their turning efficiency depending on the portion of blade they apply pressure to. There was little predictability in this process when performed with mallets and vices, and as a result, skaters were often hesitant to skate on blades bent in this manner.
Many tools have been developed to assist in the bending of blades. Unfortunately, the mechanical bending process creates work hardened areas and fatigued areas along the length of the tube resulting in inconsistent stiffness along the length of the blade assembly. The more manual bending is performed, the more inconsistent the tube becomes due to cold work hardening of the aluminum and the development of Persistent Slip Bands, resulting in cumulative damage fatigue and the inability to retain the desired shape during use of the blade. Manual bending processes, which increase the strength in effected areas by cold working, also result in a reduction in ductility. The yield strength and the percent elongation as a function of percent cold-work shows that a small amount of cold-working results in a significant reduction in ductility. This results in significant added expense to the skater, as blades that have significant runner metal left must be discarded because the blade will no longer hold the desired bend.
Mechanical bending operations not only result in metal fatigue, but they also cause issues with the adhesive used to bond the steel runner to the blade tube because the adhesive increases the previously described problems with the metallurgical stress fatigue properties of the blade. Adhesives of the type used for creating the tube/runner assembly generally have elastic properties. Most of this industry's commonly used adhesives fall in the 30% elasticity range. Because there are six disparate surfaces that are bonded with the adhesive (three sides of steel runner and three sides of machined aluminum), the manual bending operation must overcome the elastic properties of the adhesive in addition to the metal spring back issues of the aluminum tube and steel runner in order to change the bend radius of the blade assembly. To overcome the elastic deformation of spring back in the metal, as well as the adhesive's propensity to stretch, sometimes significantly (30%), the technician must bend the tube far beyond the desired shape in order to enact plastic deformation, and have it return to the desired shape when relaxed. This extensive overbending significantly increases the fatigue impact on the tube. Additionally, the overbending also results in fatigue sheer stress on the glue bond because of the surface sheer created by the changing radii of the four vertical surfaces when the bending operation is performed. This stress on the glue bond surfaces can, and does, result in catastrophic blade delamination which can result failure of the assembly and potentially in injury to the athlete. To combat the delamination problem caused by the bending process, some manufacturers “pin” the runner into the tube using mechanical rivets. This pinning process results in further problems because it locks the tube and runner in a static location. When mechanical bending processes are implemented on a pinned blade assembly, the contact surfaces of the steel runner and the slot in the aluminum tube are prevented from moving along their contact planes. This results in waves in the locations where the pins are installed, and the pin makes it impossible for the tube and runner to move at all, so bending becomes even more difficult resulting in more bending operations being required, resulting in more fatigue and reduces life of the blade assembly. The waves created by the mechanical pins result in performance degradation of the assembly.
An additional problem that the mechanical bending process commonly introduces, irrespective of the tool used, is the application of bending force being applied at more or less than the required perpendicular position to the runner surface. The result of this is a torsional loading of blade tube that results in an angled deformation of the runner surface. This deformation results in sub-standard performance characteristics whose root cause is difficult to identify by skate technicians with the measuring tools currently in use in this industry. When this occurs, the skater will feel unstable when turning and may experience crashes whose root cause cannot be easily identified. These crashes can result in serious injury. When this torsional deformation occurs, it is difficult if not impossible to correct, and it results in significant added expense to the athlete because the entire blade assembly must be replaced.
In 2013, Inze Bont filed Canadian patent application CA2883755A1 which presented the idea of a blade that is made with a pre-curved slot that would limit the need for mechanical bending. However, Mr. Bont's proposed solution inherently creates a blade with inconsistent performance because the flange dimensions where the curve is applied vary over the length of the blade. Further, because the curve is a generic consistent curve, the need for further mechanical bending is required to make the blade usable for its intended purpose. The fact that the flange dimension varies dramatically over the length of the blade results in inconsistent stiffness over the length of the blade and the stiffness characteristics are not aligned with the areas of the blade where more stiffness, or less stiffness, is desirable. This results in the bending process being more difficult due to the inability to determine the appropriate amount of force to impart on the structure to result in the correct final bend characteristics. Further, this results in degraded performance of the assembly because the stiffness characteristics of the blade are not aligned where the athlete needs them to be for best performance. The implementation of this design during the manufacturing process results in a variable stack effect of mechanical problems which makes the preparation of skate blades more of an art than a science in that every blade is inherently different and constantly changing during the preparation process. While this idea did improve the state of the art, the inherent requirement that the subsequent mechanical bending process is still necessary in significant amount still carries with it all the problems described above. Since its introduction, this method of manufacture has been adopted by all current blade manufactures and has been the industry standard since 2013.
An additional problem with the process introduced by Mr. Bont's proposed solution is that the section of the tube where the curved slot is located is designed for a straight slot. The act of machining a radiused slot in the existing flange design results in inconsistent flange thickness along the length of the flange. The inconsistent nature of the flange thickness results in improperly located variably increased/decreased stiffness of the assembly along the length of the runner. This variable thickness imparts increased/decreased stiffness without regard to the intended operation of the assembly and results in sub-optimal performance characteristics. The impact of this inconsistency is that it is nearly impossible to achieve anything but a compromised setup of the blade because there is no way to control whether there is the correct amount of stiffness in the correct locations along the flange.
Research has shown that a skate blade will develop a harmonic resonance as it moves across the ice. The rocker and bend of the blade results in a relatively small contact area with the ice surface with large portions of the runner surface are not in contact with the ice. The result of these portions of the blade being decoupled from the ice is that the tube/runner assembly vibrates much like a tuning fork. This harmonic oscillation can impact the behavior of the blade and its ability to correctly follow the desired track, as well as providing the skater with undesirable feedback on what the blade is doing as the skater shifts her weight forward or backwards on the runner's radius to effect a course change. The present invention proposes to address this vibration issue by introducing vibration reducing systems like fluid dampers, elastomeric vibration isolators, or tuned mass damper systems to the hollow portion of the tube. Depending on the frequency of the vibration, different compounds, or combinations thereof, may be required. If viscous fluids are used, the addition of a hollow foam core may be necessary to counter the effects of fluid movement within the tube. For lighter skaters, foam may be sufficient to address vibratory concerns. Compounds that are used in this application must be thermally dimensionally stable to prevent unintended increases in stiffness as well as hydraulic pressure failure of the tube assembly due to the severe temperature ranges that ice skate blades must endure. The performance impact of this harmonic resonance is equivalent to the operation of an impact drill being used to drill into concrete. When using a regular drill to attempt to drill into concrete, even very heavy pressure will barely make an impact on the concrete. When a vibratory impact is imparted through the drill, it can quickly drill through the concrete. In similar fashion, a vibrating blade will tend to cut into the ice or skid on this ice, whereas a blade that can tune or eliminate the harmonic resonance will allow the blades penetration into the surface of the ice to be adjusted to more desirable levels. This adjustability will produce the following benefits:
All short track and long track skate blades produced to date are delivered by the manufacturer in unusable condition. They all require manual radius and bending operations and other preparatory steps to make the blade usable by the athlete.
An additional problem with all skate blade prior art is the boot mounting system design. For short track skates, the mounting system is generally referred to as a “cup”. For long track skates, the mounting system is generally referred to as a “bridge”. These components are integral parts of the complete assembly. The current generation of short track blades are all based on the original design conceived by Johan Bennink, the founder of Maple Skate B.V. in 1992. This design is generally constructed using a machined aluminum extrusion or block of aluminum billet, though other materials such as titanium can be used, and other methods of manufacturing such as forging can be used, to create a uniform mounting structure to connect the boot to the blade tube. The initial design involved bolts to attach the cup to the boot mounting surface, and the cup was mated to the blade tube using bolts and nuts. This system provided very little consistency because of the loose mounting tolerances and the lack of any locating features. The result of this lack of locating features and loose tolerances was that reproducing the preferred setup for each athlete was entirely trial and error and very long blade replacement times due to the multi-part fastening system. The blade replacement times were reduced when the industry began replacing the requirement for nuts in favor of a tapped hole in the cup which improved the efficiency of installing and replacing the blade. In 2014, Maple Skate B.V. introduced alignment marks on the edge of the cups to aid in reinstallation of the blade assembly to the boot mount when blades needed to be changed; however these marks were merely located at random locations on the edge of the cup as shown in
Long track speedskating's blade mounting system, referred to as a clap skate, is quite different from short track's cup system. Unlike in traditional skates where the blade is rigidly fixed to the boot and blade, clap skates have the blade attached to the boot by a hinge mechanism at the front. This allows the blade to remain in contact with the ice longer, as the ankle can now be extended toward the end of the stroke, as well as for more natural movement, thereby distributing the energy of the leg more effectively and efficiently. This clap design is permitted only in long track speed skating. It has been banned from short track speed skating due to safety concerns.
The bridge mounting of the long track skates allows the attachment of the boot at the forefoot and heal of the boot to a beam that is normally constructed of aluminum and fashioned to attach in a hinge fixture at the front third of the blade tube. The bridge incorporates springs which cause the blade to return to its starting location aligned with the bridge. The entire assembly is referred to as a “clap” mechanism, aptly named because to the clapping sound that is made when the blade returns to rest against the bridge.
The mounting system for clap skates has remained virtually unchanged since the 1990's. The current design for all manufacturers has consistently relied on nuts and bolts to attach the boots to the clap arm bridge and the installation and adjustment of these fasteners is difficult and time consuming. Further, while the current generation of clap arm bridges do have forward/aft alignment marks which allow more accurate positioning of the blade in that orientation, there is no reproducible methodology for correctly positioning the blade angle in relation to the boot, which is a key aspect of the athlete's setup for the blade.
Current cup and bridge designs do not account for improperly manufactured skate boots when mounting surfaces are not installed in a parallel orientation relative to the mating surfaces of the cup/bridge of the blade assembly. Specifically, the boot mounts may be slightly angled so that they do not mate completely flat with the cup mounting surface as shown in
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved skate assembly incorporating improved methods for applying desired radius, including complex compound multi-radii, and bend profiles to skate blades during the manufacturing process. Such methods may improve the precision of the radius and bend. Improved methods for affixing the blade runner into the tube are also needed. Improved surface finishes will reduce labor and increase performance. Precise location of variable stiffness characteristics along the tube and flange surfaces will allow for improved performance for individual skater requirements. Improved mounting systems for affixing and positioning boot mounting cups and bridges to the boots will allow for easier installation, consistently repeatable alignment, and the ability to adjust to improperly manufactured boot mounts. Anti-pull-out boot mounts will enable a much safer and more ridged assembly with the mounting cups and clap arms.
In accordance with an embodiment of a skate blade assembly with a pre-applied radius and bend, and an adjustable mounting system, is presented herein. A skate blade, having a generally elongated configuration, is defined as a blade runner which provides a contacting section for contacting a gliding surface such as ice, and a blade attachment section for attaching the blade to a skate boot, inclusive of the boot mount features that affix to the blade attachment assembly. The skate blade also defines a blade longitudinal axis, a blade first side surface, and a blade second side surface. The blade with pre-applied bend is comprised of: a tube with mounting flange with the desired bend profile and variable stiffness profile applied during the fabrication process and a matching slot installed in the vertical orientation, a blade runner with retention features, and a modular mounting system with alignment and retention features for installing the assembly onto a skating boot with anti-pullout and alignment features.
Accordingly, several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows:
An additional feature of the present invention is the elimination of the requirement for deburring the skate blade during routine sharpening maintenance through the application of a Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) surface coating. In addition to the elimination of the deburring requirement, this feature also dramatically reduces the possibility of surface corrosion of the steel runner surface, while also increasing surface wear resistance and reducing friction, thereby reducing maintenance requirements and increasing performance.
Additionally, the boot mounting and alignment features of the invention allow for the installation of boots with improperly installed mounts to self-align for proper contact of all mounting surfaces without imparting torsional loads to the assembly. Further, the use of the optional proposed anti-pull-out boot mounts and the alignment system together allows the skater or technician to ensure that any changes that occur as a result of impact damage or loosened fasteners can be quickly identified and corrected. Further, the alignment features allow for set up of new equipment to be quickly and easily reproduced, as well as being quick to change and highly repeatable
Additionally, these design changes result in the first blade ever produced that can be immediately used by an athlete when delivered by the manufacturer without any additional mechanical work being required, beyond sharpening, thereby significantly reducing labor costs and decreasing the probability of damage to the assembly resulting from improper modifications. Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.
Many objectives of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in many ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the invention to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover some possible 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 embodiments depicted:
With reference now to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of an ice skate blade with pre-applied variable curvature, variable stiffness, adhesive retention features, and modular boot mounting and alignment system is herein described. It should be noted that the articles “a,” “an,” and “the,” as used in this specification, include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
With reference to
The skate blade assembly is shown in an exploded view in
As shown in
We presently contemplate that the tube (1) of this embodiment be made of aluminum and Computerized Numerical Control machined from an extruded shape of material to minimize waste, but other materials and methods are also suitable including, but not limited, to alloys, plastics, composites such as carbon fiber, etc.
We presently contemplate that the runner (3) be made of steel, but other materials are suitable.
We presently contemplate that the mounting cups (8), or alternately long track clap arms, plates (10), and boot mounts (16), and retention gib (11) be made of aluminum, but other materials also suitable.
We presently contemplate that the fasteners (9, 12, 13, and 14) be made of steel and titanium alloy, but other materials are also suitable.
We presently contemplate that the boot mount cup plates (10) can be made of different thicknesses to increase or decrease the effective height of the blade assembly; however, the height increase can also be accomplished by increasing the height of the cup itself while maintaining the thin mounting plate.
We presently contemplate that the adhesive (6) will be a commercially available adhesive appropriate for bonding dissimilar metals. We also contemplate the use of adhesive with steel-on-steel combinations of the blade and tube. A gluing process like that used with aluminum tubes is possible and may be preferred due to some performance benefits a glued assembly would offer, including but not limited to impact energy reduction that can reduce blade damage and vibration dampening.
We presently contemplate that the adhesive retention feature will be round holes (4a) drilled into the runner (3a) (
We presently contemplate that an adhesive pooling feature will be an angled chamfer (7) machined into the top edge of both flanges (21 and 22) that form either wall of the mounting slot (5), but other methods including notches, divots, slots, etc. are also suitable to achieve the desired result (
We presently contemplate that the variable stiffness flange (21) will be CNC machined to specifications, including radius specifications, during the manufacturing process.
We presently contemplate that the alignment grids and marks on the boot mounting cups/arms (8), plates (10), and mounting blocks (13) will be laser etched into the aluminum surfaces, but these marks can also be included by CNC machining, screen printing, surface labeling, etc., or other suitable means. Further, the graduation marks are specifically for the purpose of making the installation and alignment procedure a repeatable process and they can be designated by letters, numerals, or other symbols as appropriate.
We presently contemplate a surface coating (24) on the runner (3) to be performed using diamondlike carbon (DLC), however chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), or similar surface finishes can achieve similar results (
A dampening feature, shown in
Accordingly, the reader will see that the skate blade assembly of the various embodiments can be used to provide an assembly that requires minimal set up steps for the end user, such steps are easy to accomplish, easily repeatable, and consistent in their application.
From the description above, many advantages of some embodiments of our skate blade assembly become evident:
The multi-radii pre-curved slot (5) in the tube (1) allows for the significant reduction, or elimination, of manual bending operations while yielding the preferred bend for each skater.
The multi-radii, or “complex,” pre-installed bend radius (23) allows for the significant reduction, or elimination, of manual bending/rockering operations. By providing a pre-radiused blade and tube, including complex radii, a consumer may purchase a blade and/or tube that is reasonably close to desired specifications. This would result in not only less time and effort to provide final alterations, but also the metal memory of the blade and tube will be closer to the desired specifications than is currently available in the market.
The elimination of mechanical fastening rivets allows for the runner to move within the bonding adhesive's range of elasticity during use as well as during minor mechanical bending operations that may be required to maintain the bend of the blade over time.
The adhesive rivets that result from the use of the retention feature (4) offer improved retention of the runner in the tube while also reducing weight of the assembly without the previously described negative impact of standard metal rivets. We currently anticipate four retention holes, but there can be more of less than four.
The adhesive pooling feature (7) ensures that any excess adhesive that may be applied during the installation of the runner into the tube will flow into the retention area rather than moving up the side of the runner surface, which must subsequently be removed by the skater or technician prior to use.
The boot mounting plates (10) allow for easier and faster replacement of broken or damaged blades as well as easier and less expensive adjustment of the height of the assembly to improve cornering clearance of the boot when the skater is leaning in the corner.
The alignment grid (17) and marks (15) on the mounting cups (8), plates (10), plate fasteners (11) and anti-pull-out boot mounts (16), allow the skater to easily align the boot and blade and reproduce the preferred setup quickly and easily if components must be replaced for wear or damage (
The Micro-adjustment screws (13) of the quick release cups, allow the skater to have reliable and repeatable setups, across all their blades.
Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some of the several embodiments. For example, the tube can have other shapes, such as circular, trapezoidal, triangular, etc.; the mounting cups/arms, plates, and anti-pullout boot mounts can likewise have other shapes, such as those shown in
The anti-pull-out boot mount (16) has an angular shape to prevent the pull-out of the mount from the shell of the boot.
The present invention may be manufactured and used in industry, with a primary purpose of being used in the ice-skating industry. Other industries may be able to utilize the invention including, but not limited to, skiing, snowboarding, mountaineering, and other sports.
This Application claims the benefit of priority to prior filed U.S. Application No. 62/880,230, filed 30 Jul. 2019, and incorporates the same by reference herein in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2020/044361 | 7/30/2020 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62880203 | Jul 2019 | US |
