IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Robert Hodges Bishop and Henry
Frederick Hailes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
9th November 1880.
ROBERT HODGES BISHOP, of Holloway Road, in the County of Middlesex, and
HENRY FREDERICK HAILES, of Hornsey, in the same County. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES."
The object of this Invention is to provide a skate which shall be capable of rapid
and secure attachment to the boot of the skater.
In order to attain these desirable results we provide a movable plate for the sole
of the boot to rest on, and furnish it with a socket or toe piece, or its equivalent,
for the reception of the front portion of the boot of the skater.
This movable sole plate is connected to the blade of the skate by means of two
pairs of rocking links, which are pivotted on fulcrum pins carried by bracket
pieces rivetted to the blade of the skate.
The links which connect with the foremost part of the sole plate are shorter
than those which connect with the rear thereof, by which means a compound
movement is imparted to the sole plate on its being raised or depressed, in the
former case causing it to be advanced and canted forwards, and in the latter to be
withdrawn and lowered to the horizontal position. The rear end of this sole plate
is provided with an adjustable sliding plate, having teeth or prongs formed thereon
for entering the front portion of the heel of the boot in the act of applying the
skate. A heel plate is also provided, having a vertical flange at its rear with a
roughened inner surface, the better to grip the heel of the boot. This heel plate
we pivot towards its rear through lugs depending from its underside to the blade
of the skate on which it is free to rock. If desired a small spring may be placed
beneath it to cause it to tilt backwards in readiness for the reception of the boot.
The skate is secured to the boot in the following manner :-The toe of the boot
is inserted in the toe piece or socket or its equivalent carried by the sole plate, the
prongs at its rear end having been previously adjusted by means of the sliding
plate to correspond to the size of the boot.
On depressing the foot the sole plate will be forced downwards, and also be
drawn backwards longitudinally, owing to the peculiar action of the connecting
links as before explained. The heel of the boot then pressing on the heel plate,
will cause its roughened flange to bear tightly against the heel of the boot. On
further pressure being applied the prongs on the sole plate will be thrust forcibly into

page_text: the front portion of the heel of the boot, which is backed up by the roughened flange
pressing tightly against it, and the skate will be securely attached thereto.
The several parts may then be locked in position by means of a single cam
headed lever pivotted to the blade of the skate, the cam head entering a groove or
grooves cut in a lug pendent from the underside of the sole plate.
As a modification of the abovo method of construction, we propose in some cases
to connect the forward end of the sole plate to the blade of the skate by incans of
a stud or pin working in a slot formed in a plate, which is pivotted in lugs carried
by the skate blade; or to ensure the greater lateral steadiness for the sole plate two
or more pins may bo employed, working longitudinally in corresponding slots
formed in a plate which is hinged to the skate blade as already explained. The
links at the middle or rear end of the sole plate will in this construction remain as
before described, and the compound motion of the sole plate will be practically the
same as before.
Another modification is to pivot the fore end of the sole plate on a fulcrum
pin carried in a bracket piece rivetted to the skate blade, and to connect the heel
plate (which is pivotted so as to be capable of being tilted backwards as before
explained) to the sole plate by means of a block or pins sliding in a slot or slots
formed in the sole plate, by which means we are enabled to simplify the con-
struction and disperse with the connecting links of the previously described
arrangements.
It will thus be seen that on pressure being applied to the sole and heel platos
in the act of putting on the skate, the roughened flange on the heel plate will be
brought to bear tightly against the heel of the boot as it assumes a vertical
position, and the skate will be securely attached to the boot by means of the too
and heel pieces. The parts will then be locked in position by the cam headed
lever above described, or by equivalent means.