IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES, AND IN BOOTS OR SHOES TO WHICH SKATES ARE OR MAY BE APPLIED
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Binnie Drybrough, of Edinburgh, in the County
of Midlothian, North Britain, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES, AND IN BOOTS OR SHOES TO WHICH SKATES ARE
OR MAY BE APPLIED."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Binnie Drybrough
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th December 1880.
THOMAS BINNIE DRYBROUGH, of Edinburgh, in the County of Midlothian, North
Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES, AND IN BOOTS OR
SHOES TO WHICH SKATES ARE OR MAY BE APPLIED."
This Invention which relates to improvements in the construction of skates, and
to improvements in boots or shoes to which skates are or may be applied, has for
its object to get rid of the stiffness of skates as hitherto constructed, in order that
the natural elasticity of the foot may not be interfered with by the continuous
stiff blade extending from beel to toe as hitherto used.
The means constituting the Invention by which the foregoing object is attained
is susceptible of certain modifications as follows:-
According to the first modification the object is effected by constructing the
blade of the skate in two or more pieces, which are connected together by links,
slots, and pins, or by springs, or by equivalent connections, which will permit of
the different parts of the skate blade to move or be moved by or to yield to the
elastic action of the foot.
According to the second modification the object is effected by using a continuous
blade, in which that portion extending from nearly below the instep of the foot to
the heel is thinned down from the upper side so as to be more or less elastic. The
after part, tail, or heel piece of the elastic portion is held in a slot in a bracket or
guide attached to the heel of the boot, and for the purpose of giving support to this
thinned or elastic after piece of the skate blade a connecting piece may be inserted
between the front thick part of the blade and the heel bracket, against which the
elastic portion of the blade will bear when the weight of the skater's body is

page_text: brought to rest upon it; or this connecting piece may be dispensed with, or a
continuous elastic blade may be used.
Under a third modification the foregoing object is effected by constructing the
sole and heel of the boot of an elastic material, such as gutta percha or sufficiently
hardened india rubber, into which either an elastic skate blade is inserted, or to
which pieces of skate blade may be attached.
Under a fourth modification the foregoing object is effected by constructing that
portion of the boot between the heel and sole, with a sufficient spring or springs
thereon or therein to enable the connecting links or pieces hereinbefore described
under the first modification to be dispensed with. The spring or springs may be
applied either outside the under part of the leather or other material of which
the shoes or boots are constructed, or on the inside thereof; or the spring or
springs may be applied between the layers of material of which the said part of the
boot is constructed. The foregoing Invention may also be applied in whole or
in part to roller skates.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Thomas Binnie Drybrough in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th June 1881.
THOMAS BINNIE DRYBROUGH, of Edinburgh, in the County of Midlothian, North
Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES, AND IN BOOTS OR
SHOES TO WHICH SKATES ARE OR MAY BE APPLIED."
My said Invention relates to improvements in the construction of skates, and to
improvements in boots or shoes to which skates are or may be applied, and has for
its object to get rid of the stiffness of skates as hitherto constructed, in order that
the natural elasticity of the foot may not be interfered with by the continuous
stiff blade extending from heel to toe, as hitherto used.
This object is effected by constructing the blade of the skate in two or more
pieces, connected together by links, pins, and slots, or by springs, or by equivalent
connections, or attached separately to the boot or shoe, so as in either case to
permit of the different parts of the skate blade yielding to the elastic action of the
foot.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I now proceed
more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
Bay :-
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a boot to which a skate, constructed
according to my Invention, is applied; and Figure 2 is a plan of underside of
the same. The blade of the skate is made in two pieces, A, and B, the part A
being held by the screws a between lugs b on the plate c, screwed to the heel of
the boot, and the part B being secured to the sole of the boot by the hinged plate d,
one of the flaps of this hinged plate being connected to the part of the blade B by
angle plates e rivetted thereto and to the said flap, and the other flap being screwed
to the sole of the boot. A piece of india rubber or other elastic material f is partly
sunk through the lower plate between the flaps of the hinged plate d. Between
the parts A and B of the skate blade is a link or bridge g, rivetted at one end to
the one part A, and carrying at the other end a pin h engaging in a slot i in the
part B. By this construction of the skate it will yield to the elastic action of the
foot, as shewn in Figure 3. The blade of the skate may be divided into a greater
number of separate parts if desired, and in place of connecting the parts directly to
the boot or shoe they may be connected to any ordinary sole plate, to be fastened
by straps or otherwise to the boot or shoe. Other suitable or convenient means
than those illustrated of connecting the parts of the blade to the boot or shoe, or
to the sole plate, may be employed, and the parts of the blade may be connected
together by springs or other convenient or suitable devices, which will allow of the
movement of the separate parts of the blade to follow the action of the foot.
Figure 4 represents a modification of my Invention, in which the separate parts
of the blade A and B are unconnected, and are attached separately to the heel and
sole respectively of the boot or shoe. The waist (that is the portion of the boot or
shoe between the heel and sole) has a spring k bearing thereon. This spring may
be either outside or inside this part of the boot or shoe, or it may be between the
layers of the leather. The said spring may be connected in any suitable manner
to the boot or shoe, but preferably it is a strip or plate, or strips or plates, of strong
elastic steel, secured at one end to the heel and at the other end to or near to the
sole of the boot or shoe.
It will be evident that the skate blade in this modification may be in more than

page_text: two separate parts, and that the separate parts may be secured to an elastic yielding
or jointed sole plate instead of directly to the boot or shoe, if desired.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or
may be used or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that
I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein-
before described, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original and therefore claim as
the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The construction of skates wherein the blade is formed in two or more
parts, essentially as and for the purpose described.
Second. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the skate
illustrated in and described with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Third. The improved combined boot or shoe and skate, consisting of a blade in
separate parts, connected respectively to the heel and sole of the boot or shoe, and a
spring applied to the waist of the boot or shoe, essentially aş berein before described
and illustrated in Figure 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Binnie Drybrough, have hereunto.
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
THOMAS BINNIE DRYBROUGH. (L.S.)