Patent Application
20120315832
The present invention is directed to a skate squaring device, and particularly to a skate squaring device that can be used on skates with skate blade bodies having different cross sectional shapes.
A number of skate sharpening fixtures have been developed for skate sharpening machines. These fixtures hold the skate blade in place while a grinding wheel or the like is used to sharpen the skate blade. The orientation of the skate blade with respect to the grinding wheel is critical, and if the blade and wheel are not properly aligned, the blade will be sharpened in a not-square condition.
Prior art fixtures offer control of the blade orientation, see for example the Wissota and Blademaster fixtures, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,248 to Sacriska. In the Wissota “tangent finder” fixture, adjustments can be made to the height, in or out tilt, and side to side or degree of level tilt. The level of tilt is controlled by a knob wherein rotation of the knob alters the tilt of the lower blade support.
An anvil plate 107 is mounted to the anvil base 101 using block 109. The anvil plate 107 provides a surface 108 for one side of the skate blade body to rest when the skate edge is being sharpened and another surface 110. A clamp assembly 111 is also provided, which is also mounted to the anvil base 101. The clamp assembly includes a clamp 113, which is designed to be biased against the other side of the skate blade body during the sharpening operation.
The squareness of the skate blade can be checked by skate squaring devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,688 to Allen, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein. Since skate blades can have different shaped skate bodies, the squaring devices using the skate blade body cannot work precisely on all types of skate blades so that improved skate blade squaring devices are needed for these differently shaped skate blades.
The present invention is an improvement over prior art skate squaring devices and their methods of use.
One aspect of the invention includes a skate squaring device that interfaces with a skate sharpening fixture for squaring.
The invention also includes a method of determining the squareness of a skate blade edge using the inventive skate squaring device and a skate sharpening fixture.
Other aspects and advantages will become apparent from the following description. One embodiment of the invention includes a skate squaring device comprising a main frame having an elongated shape and a longitudinal axis. The main frame further comprises first and second opposing faces and a third face perpendicular to the first and second opposing faces. A slot is formed in the main frame and it runs perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. Calibration lines are located on each of the first and second opposing faces. The third face uses magnetism to be attached to a skate sharpening fixture. The magnetism can be achieved by associating a magnet with the third face. Alternatively, magnetic material could be incorporated directly as part of the main frame having the third face.
The slot is sized to receive a skate blade body when the third face is magnetically attached to a portion of a skate sharpening fixture. The calibration lines indicate a squareness of an edge of the skate blade when a magnetic angle is magnetically adhered to the edge of the skate blade and rests against one of the first or second opposing faces.
While the main frame can have different configurations, in one embodiment, the main frame is u-shaped, with the first and second faces on opposing first and second legs of the u-shaped main frame and the third face being part of a connector between the first and second legs. The slot is then adjacent to the connector and extends into a portion of the first and second legs.
In this embodiment, the connector can include the magnet for adherence between the skate sharpening fixture and the third face and preferably, the magnet is located in a recess in the connector.
While the calibration lines on the opposing faces can be located in different areas, a preferred location is that the calibration lines are located on each end of each of the opposing first and second faces.
One end of the main frame can have a cut-out for accommodating components of the skate sharpening fixture that may interfere with the attachment of the third face to the portion of the skate sharpening fixture.
The inventive skate squaring device can be combined with a magnetic angle to form an assembly for the skate squaring operation. The magnetic angle can be just an angle iron that has a magnet mounted thereon to adhere to the edge of the skate blade.
The invention also entails a method of squaring a skate blade edge by providing the main frame with the slot therein and the squaring calibration lines on opposing first and second faces thereof. The third face of the main frame is magnetically adhered to the surface of the portion of the skate sharpening fixture such that the calibration lines are parallel to the skate sharpening fixture surface and an edge of a skate blade positioned in the slot of the main frame.
The angle is magnetically adhered to the edge of the skate blade with one leg of the angle positioned adjacent to one of the opposing faces of the main frame. A relative position of an edge of the one leg and the calibration lines indicates a squareness of the skate blade edge. Preferably, the third face is attached to an anvil plate of the skate sharpening fixture and the slot is sized to accommodate differently shaped cross sections of the body of the skate blade.
The device and method of using can also include indicia on the main frame to assist a user of the skate sharpening fixture in sharpening the skate. The indicia tells the sharpener how to adjust the skate sharpening fixture, e.g., move the anvil plate up or down, based on a reading of the squareness of the skate blade. The indicia can take on any form, with one example being “UP” with an horizontal arrow beneath it, and “DN” with a horizontal arrow beneath it and pointing in the opposite direction of the arrow associated with “UP.”
One embodiment of the skate squaring device of the invention is shown in
While the calibration lines of the set 9 can have any length or configuration, the length of the lines varies as they extend across the face of each leg. This makes it easier for squaring since different calibration lines will be used for differently-sized skate blades. In the calibration lines shown in
The main frame 1 also has a slot 23, which divides the connectors 7 and 8 and extends into each of the legs 3 and 5. The slot is sized big enough so that it can receive any size skate blade, preferably without contacting the blade when it is inserted into the slot.
The main frame 1 can optionally include a cut out portion 25. This cut out portion 25 is designed so that the main frame can be used with all types of skate sharpening fixtures when the skate blade edge is checked for squareness. The cut out portion 25 is made by controlling the length of the connector 8 and the width w1 of the legs 3 and 5. Some skate sharpening fixtures have control knobs positioned below the anvil plate and the cut out portion 25 avoids interference of the knobs when using the skate squaring device.
The main frame uses magnetic attraction to attach to a portion of a skate sharpening fixture. In the embodiment of
Referring to
The skate blade body 70 is shown clamped between the anvil plate 107 and the clamp 113. The slot 23 of the squaring device 10 receives the skate blade and the face 11 rests against the anvil plate 107. Since a surface 110 of the anvil plate 107 is perpendicular to a center plane X of the skate blade body, and parallel to a true edge of the skate blade, the squareness of the skate blade edge can be determined. This determination is made by taking a magnetic angle 50, such as disclosed in the Allen patent and magnetically adhering it to the skate blade end 55 as shown in
The configuration of the squaring device shown in
Since the main frame relies on a magnetic attraction between the squaring face and the anvil plate, the main frame should be made of a non-magnetic material, e.g., aluminum or the like. Even a polymer could be used if the polymer is robust enough for repeated squarings.
The particular skate sharpening fixture shown in
The squaring operation can take place before the skate sharpening operation begins or can be done during the operation and/or at the end thereof.
The comparison of the edge of the magnetic angle with the calibration lines is the same procedure that is done in the Allen patent. The difference here is that, in Allen, the frame of the device mounts to the skate blade body. According to the invention, the main frame via the face 11 mounts to the skate sharpening fixture and in the preferred embodiment, the anvil plate of the skate sharpening fixture.
This arrangement provides significant advantages over the system of the Allen patent. In Allen, a surface of the skate blade body used for squaring was parallel to a longitudinal centerline plane of the skate blade body. Thus, this surface could be used for the squaring operation since it would be perpendicular to a true and square skate edge. However, the advent of skate blade bodies of different cross sectional shapes, e.g., non-flat surfaces, made it difficult to use the Allen device for squareness checking in these types of skate blades. Since the skate blade body is not used for mounting of the main frame and only fits in the slot 23, the shape of the skate blade body does not matter for squaring. Virtually any skate, no matter what the shape of the skate blade body, can be squared using the inventive device. This is because the slot is sized to receive the skate blade regardless of its cross sectional shape and the device uses the fact that a surface of the skate sharpening fixture, e.g., the anvil plate, is perpendicular to the longitudinal planar axis of the skate blade body for squaring purposes.
Another significant advantage is that the main frame is ambidextrous for the squaring operation. That is, either of the legs of the main frame can be used with the magnetic angle for squaring. So, a right handed person would find it easier to place the magnetic angle on the right side of the main frame as shown in
The device and its method of use can also employ indicia on the main frame or elsewhere to help a user of the skate sharpening fixture when sharpening a skate blade. In a typical skate sharpening fixtures, the control knobs in the front raise or lower the anvil plate. In order to square a skate blade, these knobs are rotated to move the skate blade with respect to the skate sharpening grinding wheel. Moving the skate blade down grinds down the upper edge of the skate; moving the skate blade up grinds down the lower edge of the skate.
In one mode of the invention, the surfaces of the main frame having the calibration lines can include indicia to tell the sharpener to move the skate blade up or down depending on the out-of-squareness of the skate blade. If the magnetic angle and calibration lines show that the upper edge of the skate blade needs to be ground down, indicia such as “UP” with “←” underneath it can be placed in the vicinity of the calibration lines on the upper part of the main frame. Similarly, if the lower edge needs to be ground down, indicia such as “DN” with “→” underneath it can be employed and situated in the vicinity of the calibration lines in the lower part of the main frame. This indicia, in whatever form it takes, can reside permanently on the main frame or be printed on adhesive stickers or the like and attached to the main frame, as needed. The indicia should be located such that the angle does not cover it when the angle is in use.
The indicia described above is only an example of indicia and virtually any indicia that would assist the sharpener in moving the skate blade using the fixture for sharpening can be used. While just one word and an arrow is exemplified, more instruction could be provided, e.g., providing more explanation with respect to the location/orientation of the magnetic angle and the movement of the skate blade. The indicia could also be located on the magnetic angle or even the skate sharpening fixture if so desired.
As such, an invention has been disclosed in terms of preferred embodiments thereof which fulfills each and every one of the objects of the present invention as set forth above and provides a new and improved method and device for sharpening skate blades.
Of course, various changes, modifications and alterations from the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that the present invention only be limited by the terms of the appended claims.
