Abstract:
Present ice skates  10  have a relatively great distance between the sole and the surface of the blades  40  for contacting the ice in use. This leads to instability. The present invention provides an ice skate comprising a boot or shoe, a sole and at least one blade  140  integral therewith, wherein the distance between the blade surface, for contact with ice in use, and the underside of the sole is approximately 20 mm or less.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present non-provisional patent application claims the benefit of priority of: foreign Patent Application No. GB1100412.4, which is entitled AN ICE SKATE and which was filed Jan. 11, 2011; foreign Patent Application No. GB1111220.8, which is entitled AN ICE SKATE and which was filed Jul. 1, 2011, all of which are incorporated in full by reference herein. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to an ice skate and finds particular, although not exclusive, utility in the provision of skates for the skate hire market. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Ice skates include blades attached to the underside of a sole. The distance from the surface of the blade (for contact with the ice in use) and the underside of the sole is typically in the range 50 to 75 mm. 
         [0004]    Such a relatively great distance leads to instability for the wearer. This may be due to a relatively high centre of gravity and/or due to the angle through which the skate may rotate before an edge of the skate sole contacts the ice. These factors may lead to the possibility of injury especially for inexperienced skaters. 
         [0005]    Although ice skates with “low profile” blades, where the distance from the surface of the blade (for contact with the ice in use) and the underside of the sole is less than 50 mm, are known, they are limited to two blades or are of the strap-on/clip-on format. For example, JP59085273U describes an ice skate having two low profile blades; U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,528 and DE3442292A1 both describe a strap-on skate for use with other footwear, such as shoes, having two low profile blades; and DE573498 describes a clip-on skate with a single low profile blade. 
         [0006]    Skates with two blades may cause problems with turning or cornering as will be understood. Strap-on and clip-on skates have inherent problems with stability and rigidity. 
         [0007]    One aim of the present invention is reduce this instability and provide an improved ice skate for novices. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    In a first aspect, the invention provides an ice skate comprising a boot or shoe having a sole and only one blade integral therewith, wherein the distance between the blade surface, for contact with ice in use, and the underside of the sole is approximately 20 mm or less. 
         [0009]    The blade may be integral with the sole by such means as the moulding of the sole and/or other means such as clamps, glue, welding, riveting, screwing etc. According to the first aspect, the blade is not of the strap-on or clip-on variety. The blade may be attached to the boot or shoe with a blade support member located between the sole of the boot or shoe and the blade. The blade support member may be integrally moulded with the sole of the boot or shoe. Alternatively, the blade support member may comprise a heel plate and a sole plate. The heel plate and/or the sole plate may be welded, or otherwise similarly attached, substantially at right angles to the blade. The heel plate and/or the sole plate may be screwed, riveted and/or similarly affixed to the sole of the boot or shoe. 
         [0010]    The blade may be a typical ice skate blade of metal construction. 
         [0011]    The relatively short distance between the blade surface, for contact with ice in use, and the underside of the sole provides a lower centre of gravity compared to existing known ice skates. It also provides a substantially reduced angle through which the skate may rotate before an edge of the sole contacts with the ice. Accordingly, the skater may feel more confident when skating. 
         [0012]    In a second aspect, the invention provides an ice skate comprising a foot retaining means, a sole and at least two substantially parallel blades, wherein the distance between the blade surface, for contact with ice in use, and the underside of the sole is approximately 20 mm or less, and wherein the at least two blades are approximately 10 to 30 mm apart. The relatively narrow spacing of the blades compared to those in the known prior art overcomes the problems with turning or cornering, noted above. 
         [0013]    These two blades may be inclined relative to one another. The angle of inclination may be approximately 2 degrees such that the blade surfaces, for contact with ice in use, are further apart than the portions of the blades in contact with the sole. 
         [0014]    These two blades may be located approximately centrally of the sole. In this regard, they may be located about an imaginary line running from heel to toe. 
         [0015]    These two blades may be approximately 15 mm, apart. There may be only two substantially parallel blades. 
         [0016]    The foot retaining means may be a boot or shoe. In one embodiment, the foot retaining means may include attachment means for attaching the ice skate to initially separate footwear. For instance, the foot retaining means may comprise straps. The blade may be integral with the sole, and this may be by such means as the moulding of the sole and/or other means such as clamps, glue, welding, riveting, screwing etc. According to the second aspect, the blade may be of the strap-on or clip-on variety. The blade may be attached to the boot or shoe with a blade support member located between the sole of the boot or shoe and the blade. The blade support member may be integrally moulded with the sole of the boot or shoe. Alternatively, the blade support member may comprise a heel plate and a sole plate. The heel plate and/or the sole plate may be welded substantially at right angles to the blade. The heel plate and/or the sole plate may be screwed, riveted and/or similarly affixed to the sole of the boot or shoe. 
         [0017]    The foot retaining means may be size adjustable to accommodate different sizes and types of footwear. 
         [0018]    In typically known ice skates, the sole is inclined from the heel to the toe (being further from the ice at the heel). This angle may be equal to, or greater than, 6 degrees from the horizontal. The present invention, however, may provide a heel to toe angle for the sole of approximately less than 6 degrees. In one embodiment, the heel to toe angle of the sole may be substantially zero degrees. This may provide a greater feeling of security to a novice ice skater. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]    The above and other characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. This description is given for the sake of example only, without limiting the scope of the invention. The reference figures quoted below refer to the attached drawings. 
           [0020]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a known ice skate; 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  is a view along the blade of the ice skate of  FIG. 1  with the blade substantially vertical; 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  is a view along the blade of the ice skate of  FIG. 1  with the blade keeled over; 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  is a side view of an ice skate according to the invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  is two views along the blade of the ice skate of  FIG. 4  with the blade substantially vertical and keeled over; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 6  is two views along the blade of a different ice skate according to the invention with the blades substantially vertical and keeled over. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0026]    The present invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention. 
         [0027]    Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in other sequences than described or illustrated herein. 
         [0028]    Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in other orientations than described or illustrated herein. 
         [0029]    It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It is thus to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B. 
         [0030]    Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may refer to different embodiments. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics of any embodiment or aspect of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments. 
         [0031]    Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention. 
         [0032]    Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form yet further embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination. 
         [0033]    In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description. 
         [0034]    The invention will now be described by a detailed description of several embodiments of the invention. It is clear that other embodiments of the invention can be configured according to the knowledge of persons skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit or technical teaching of the invention, the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims. 
         [0035]    Part of a known ice skate  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  comprising a boot  20 , a skate support member  30  and a blade  40 . The skate support member  30  includes holes  50  within it for weight reduction, aerodynamic and/or aesthetic reasons. The underside of the boot  20  has a forward angle of approximately 6 degrees; in other words, the heel part of the underside of the boot is further from the ice, in use, than the toe part. The member  30  runs from heel to toe and is relatively narrow as is more clearly seen in  FIG. 2 , which is a view from the toe looking along the length of the skate to the heel. The blade  40  is typically hollow-ground such that it is slightly concave having two protruding edges along its longitudinal length. The depth of the concavity is typically approximately 0.5 mm. The width of the blade  40  is approximately 3 mm, although other widths are contemplated, such as less than 10 mm, or less than 6 mm. 
         [0036]    Although the blade  40  is shown having a substantially rectilinear base portion (the portion that contacts the ice in use), it may have a curvilinear form, being convex, with a notional centre of radius located vertically above the ice. 
         [0037]    In use, an ice skate is typically positioned such that the plane of the blade  40  is held substantially vertical relative to the ice surface, as shown in  FIG. 2  in which the referenced features are the same as in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0038]    The distance from the surface of the blade  40 , which contacts the ice surface in use, to the underside of the boot  20  is typically in the range 50 to 75 mm. This means that when the skate twists about a horizontal axis, as may happen with an unsteady skater, it will turn through approximately 50 degrees before the edge of the sole of the boot  20  contacts the ice surface as is more clearly shown in  FIG. 3 . The angle “A” denotes the angle that the boot has turned through. At such an angle, the skater will, almost certainly, have fallen over and not be standing upright. The angle is dependent on the width of the boot and it should be understood that the boot widths shown in the Figures may only be indicative. 
         [0039]    By contrast, one embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 4 . This comprises a boot  120  and a blade  140  held in place to the boot  120  with a skate support member which is located between the sole of the boot  120  and the blade  140 . 
         [0040]    The blade support member may be integrally moulded with the sole of the boot  120 . Alternatively, it may be affixed to the sole of the boot. 
         [0041]    The underside of the boot  120  has a forward angle of approximately less than 6 degrees; more particularly, it may be in the range zero to 4 degrees. In other words, the difference in distance of the heel part of the underside of the boot to the ice, relative to the distance of the toe part of the underside of the boot to the ice is less than presently known in the prior art skate of  FIG. 1 . 
         [0042]    The distance from the surface of the blade  140 , which contacts the ice surface in use, to the underside of the boot  120  is equal to, or less than, 20 mm, and may be in the range 9 to 17 mm. Alternatively, it may be in the range 7 to 20 mm. 
         [0043]    Due to the relative closeness of the underside of the boot  120  to the ice, if the skater loses their balance and the boot tips over it will turn through a much smaller angle than the prior art skate. This is demonstrated in  FIG. 5  where the skate having its blade in the substantially vertical position and with it tipped over are both shown. It will be seen that the angle “B” through which the skate has turned is approximately only 20 degrees, although it may be in the range 10 to 30 degrees. 
         [0044]    Another embodiment of the invention is an ice skate having a boot  220  and two blades  240  as shown in  FIG. 6 . This Figure shows the skate in the substantially vertical position and with it tipped over. It will be seen that the angle “C” through which the skate has turned is approximately only 20 degrees, although it may be in the range 10 to 30 degrees. 
         [0045]    Such a skate may be used by children. 
         [0046]    Although not shown in  FIG. 6  it is possible that, in another embodiment, the longitudinal sides of the two blades  240  are not in the same plane (and thus not parallel with one another) but are in fact angled relative to one another such that the surfaces that contact the ice, in use, are further apart than the portions of the blade in contact with the blade support member/sole of the boot. This angle may be approximately 2 degrees, although an angle in the range 1 to 5 degrees is possible. 
         [0047]    Although not shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6 , the blade(s)  140 ,  240  may also be hollow ground such as is known in the prior art. Also, although the blade  140  is shown having a substantially rectilinear base portion (the portion that contacts the ice in use), it, and the corresponding portions of the blades referenced “ 240 ” in  FIG. 6 , may have a curvilinear form, being concave, with a notional centre of radius located vertically below the blade.