Patent Grant
10709957
A mounting bracket is provided to mount a skate blade to the boot of an ice skate. The mounting bracket is typically connected to the boot with a fastener provided through an oblong opening in the mounting bracket and threaded into an opening in the bottom of the boot. This design requires higher tolerance on machining both the mounting brackets and the skate blades, thus raising manufacturing costs. No matter how high the tolerance of manufacturing, there is always a gap between the mounting bracket legs and the mounting hump on the blade. This gap cannot be completely eliminated simply by tightening fasteners. Although this gap may be small, any gap can cause unnecessary vibrations which can consume energy of the skater.
Mounting brackets, also known as “mounting cups” in speed skating, are essential parts of ice skates to integrate skating blades and skating boots 3.
The mounting bracket 5 may be made of aluminum alloys and often has an oblong hole 4 (visible in
A loosening-resistant blade mounting bracket is disclosed herein which realize adjustable and stable blade mounting, eliminate loosening and gap issues, comply with skating sport rules, and integrate with existing blades and boots without costly upgrading and manufacturer retooling.
Before continuing, it is noted that as used herein, the terms “includes” and “including” mean, but is not limited to, “includes” or “Including” and “includes at least” or “Including at least.” The term “based on” means “based on” and “based at least in part on.”
It is also noted that the term “ice skate” is used herein for purposes of illustration. The term “ice skate” is not intended to be limited to any particular type and/or style of ice skate. For example, the term “ice skate” may include recreational and professional ice skates, speed skates, racing skates, figure skates, hockey skates, bandy skates, touring skates, and double skates. Nor is the term “ice skate” Intended to limit use of the mounting bracket disclosed herein to ice skates. For example, the mounting bracket may also be provided for roller skates, roller blades, and various skateboards, snowboards, and other sports equipment. The mounting bracket may have application for any of a wide variety of other end-uses, as will be readily understood by those having ordinary skill in the art after becoming familiar with the teachings herein.
In an example, the bracket 10 is four-legged with ride-on or female-male mounting mode. An example dimension of the bracket may be in the range of about 30 mm×30 mm×30 mm to 100 mm×100 mm×100 mm.
One or more slot (see 14a-f in
In the example shown in
In addition, the riser(s) may include an opening for a set screw. In
The mounting bracket 10 can be made of any suitable material(s). Examples include uniformed solid or topologically optimized hollowed metals, metal alloys, metal composite materials, organic composite materials, carbon fibers, or combinations of these and/or other materials. In an example, the mounting bracket 10 is made of a solid alumina alloy.
The mounting bracket 10 can be made of printed materials, including metals, metal alloys, metal composite materials, organic composite materials, carbon fibers, or combinations of these and/or other materials. In an example, the mounting bracket 10 is made of a printed titanium alloy.
The printed material can be in uniform solid, three dimensionally latticed solid, or combinations of these and/or other forms.
In an example, the fasteners can be made of solid metal, metal alloys, metal composite material, organic composite materials, carbon fibers, or combinations of these and/or other materials. In an example, the fasteners are made of a steel alloy. The length and diameter of the fasteners for mounting boot and blade may vary according to the configurations of the bracket 10.
It is noted that the shape of the platform 12 is merely presented as example. Of course, other shape platforms, not shown, may also be provided, as will be readily understood by those having ordinary skill in the art after becoming familiar with the teachings herein
The slot(s) may have a reduced width to host a boot fastener. For example, the width of the bracket slot hole may be between about 3 and 7 mm. In an example, the width is 6.5 mm. The slot hole may extend along the central symmetric line, or angled to match the positions of the mounting holes on the boot. In an example, the reduced width restricts the movement of the fastener and provides mounting washer more effective working surface.
In an example, the platform 12 includes a slot 14a which is substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the blade 3′ when the mounting bracket 10 is mounted as shown, e.g., in
In another example, the slot 14b is diagonal relative to a longitudinal direction of the blade 3′. For example, the slot 14b may be formed substantially 45 degrees to a longitudinal direction of the blade. However, other angles are also contemplated.
In another example, more than one slot 14c-d is provided on the platform 12. Both slots shown in
In an example, the slot hole can be installed on the mounting brackets with any skate-bracket mounting modes, such as but not limited to, single leg bracket with male-female (or insert) mounting, two-leg bracket with female-male (or ride-on) mounting, and stacking blocks mounting, as long as the slot hole is the component for fastener installation.
In an example, the slot holes can be optionally recessed.
Before continuing, it should be noted that the examples described above are provided for purposes of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting. Other devices and/or device configurations may be utilized to carry out the operations described herein.
The blade mounting bracket 10 is adaptable to the skating gear or devices using blade mounting brackets such as blade mounting cups for speed skating. In an example, the mounting brackets 10 include slot holes of width less than 7 mm. This reduced size slots provides for a lower tolerance, and less opportunity for skate skid. In other words, it significantly reduces wiggling room of the fasteners inside the slot holes.
In another example, fastening washers may be provided to have more contact surface, especially in the area closely surrounding the bolt. This also increases effective friction with the surface 12 of the bracket 10, to better stabilize the mounting.
In an example, the set screws of bracket 10 reduce or altogether eliminate the vibration caused by the gap that would otherwise exist between the mounting leg of bracket and mounting humps of blade.
In an example, the bracket 10 provides loosening-resistant and continuously adjustable blade-boot mounting. The mounting position of the blade can be firmly secured during skating by the disclosed loosening-resistant mechanism. This results in improved skate performance which can increase skater confidence.
The bracket 10 may be fully compatible with existing boots and blades, to permit skaters to continue use existing gear such as boots and blades, and thus avoid costly equipment upgrades. The bracket 10 retains and enhances all skating or maneuvering abilities featured by original skating gear. The bracket 10 can be easily fitted to blades and boots of different brands. The bracket 10 may be provided for any combinations of blades and boots.
Advantages may include but are not limited to: elimination of loosened fastener-boot mounting caused by the configurations of the current mounting brackets, no costly gear upgrades or manufacturer retooling, applicability to any boot blade configurations using mounting bracket or mounting cup, and reduction of manufacturing cost with reduced tolerance.
The operations shown and described herein are provided to illustrate examples of attachment to an ice skate. It is noted that the operations are not limited to the ordering described above. Still other operations may also be implemented.
In the example shown in
It is noted that the examples shown and described are provided for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting. Still other examples are also contemplated.
This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/711,517 filed Jul. 28, 2018 for “Loosening-resistant blade mounting bracket” of Jian Chen, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully set forth herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62711517 | Jul 2018 | US |
