IMPROVEMENTS IN SKATES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Cooke Parson, junior, of the City of
Bristol, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SKATES."
Sealed the 1st April 1869, and dated the 2nd October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Cooke Parson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd October 1868.
I, THOMAS COOKE. PARSON, junior, of the City of Bristol, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SKATES,"
to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object simplicity in the mode of fastening
the skate, combining the most perfect fixedness with great ease and
comfort, there being no pressure on any part of the foot.
The skate is fixed to the heel of the boot by means of a moveable
lever attached to the end of the sole plate which forces the heel into
fixed spikes secured at the back of the heel plate, and is adjustable to
any size.
The sole plate is fastened by lateral movable stays which can be
adapted to any width. Attached to these is a leather band and buckle.

page_text: crossing over the foot, whereby without any pressure the skate is kept
firmly in place.
The sole and heel plates may be constructed in one piece and made of
any metal or wood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Cooke Parson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
COOKE PARSON, junior, of the City of Bristol, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Cooke Parson, junior, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas Cooke Parson, junior, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Cooke Parson, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed; should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SKATES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Cooke Parson, junior, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Cooke Parson, junior, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The Invention has for its object simplicity in the mode of fastening

page_text: the skate combining the most perfect fixedness with great ease and
comfort, there being no pressure on any part of the foot.
The skate is fixed to the heel of the boot by means of a movable
lever attached to the end of the sole plate which forces the heel into
fixed spikes secured at the back of the heel plate and is adjustable to
any size.
The sole plate is fastened by lateral movable stays which can be
adapted to any width. Attached to these is a leather band and buckle
crossing over the foot, whereby without any pressure the skate is kept
firmly in place.
-
The sole and heel plates may be constructed in one piece and made of
any metal or wood.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a perspective view of a
skate with an open worked metal sole plate a attached to the blade 6 by
pins c, which pass through the blade and a projection d depending from
the bottom of the sole plate. e is the movable lever jointed or attached
to the back end of the sole plate a. The outer or opposite end of the
lever carries an adjustable nut f, which can be screwed up or moved on
the lever to fit any sized heel of boot. The wall g of the heel plate / is
provided with spikes i, i, which are caused to enter and hold the heel of
the boot firmly when pressure is applied by standing upon the skate.
j,j, are stays fitted to the sides of the sole plate a; they are screwed into
sockets formed in the under side of the sole plate, and can be adjusted to
suit any width of boot. The upper ends of the stays are formed with
slots k to which straps 1, 1, are connected. These straps are passed over
the foot and fastened by a buckle m. The fore end of the sole plate a
is pinned to the nose or swan neck n of the blade, as shewn. When the
lever e is applied to a skate with a wooden sole I pivot it on a pin, as
before explained, and as shown in Figure 2, which is a perspective
elevation of a skate with a boot p in the position it occupies when
first placed thereon. In this skate the sole plate and the heel are
formed out of one piece. A recess is cut in the face of the sole for the
lever to lie in, as indicated in Figure 3, which is a perspective view
showing the same boot in the position it occupies in the skate when
fixed.

page_text: First. The employment of a movable and adjustable lever to skates in
the manner and for the purposes herein described and shown in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Second. I claim the combination of the lever and the spikes on the
heel plate of skates in manner and for the purpose herein-before
described and represented in the Drawings.
And, third. I claim the employment of movable and adjustable stays
on the sole or sole plate of skates in the manner and for the purpose
herein-before described and represented in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Cooke Parson, junior,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this (30th) Thirtieth day of
March One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
THOMAS COOKE PARSON, JUN³. (L.S.)
THOMAS COOKE PARSON, JUN³. (L.S.)