IMPROVEMENTS IN SKATES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Ingall Barber, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SKATES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Joseph Ingall Barber at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 24th February 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
INGALL BARBER, of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SKATES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and
have made solemn Declaration that I am the first and true Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Ingall Barber, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement :-
This Invention has for its the formation of skates adapted for boots, or
shoes of different sizes, and capable of being attached thereto and detached
therefrom instantaneously without the aid of straps, buckles, or other ordinary
fastenings.
The means by which I propose to effect these improvements consist,

page_text: first, in affixing the skate irons to sole and heel rests clips; 2ndly, in making
these clips respectively adjustable longitudinally for embracing and being
affixed to the heel, and adjustable laterally for embracing and being affixed
to the soles; and, 3rdly, in making the said sole and heel clip rests, either or
both of them, adjustable along the skate iron at a greater or less distance
from each other.
The mode of forming and constructing the said improved or self-adapting
skate is illustrated upon the accompaying Drawing, to which the following
explanation refers :—
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWING.
This Drawing is intended to illustrate the mode of carrying out my said
Invention in practice, and shews a skate drawn the full size.
Fig. 1 shews one of my said improved self-adapting skates in side elevation;
Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof; Fig. 3, a front elevation; Fig. 4, a
plan view; Fig. 5 shews a plan view of the sole clip adjusting volute screw
detached; Fig. 6 represents the heel clip as mounted on a screw collar.
The same parts of the skate clips and adjustment are lettered with similar
letters in each Figure, so that the following index applies to all the illustra-
tions where the respective reference letters are repeated.
a is the skate iron; b, the adjusting sole clip; c, the adjusting heel clip;
d, the sole plate rest; e, the heel rest; e¹, the heel abutment; f, an adjusting
volute screw, by turning which the sole clips are caused to expand and contract
laterally; 9, 9, thumb-pieces or discs for turning the plate f; h, the heel clip
carrier; i, a screw shank or collar at the bottom of the heel clip; by turning
this clip to the right it is caused to approach the abutment e¹, and by turning
it to the left to recede therefrom, so that it can be thereby adjusted to the
heel of the boot; j, the carrier binge; k, side or saddle flanges formed at the
under part of the heel rest and abutment, between which flange at ; the end of
the carrier is inserted, and by which flanges the heel abutment clip, &c., are
secured to the skate iron or rivets k¹, k¹; l, a centre boss or shank of the sole
rest plate d; an opening is cut in the bottom portion of this sbank for letting
the skate iron at a¹ into it, where both are secured firmly together by the
rivet which passes through the whole; m, m, are side projections of the
sole rest d; the under sides of these projections and plate are formed with a
dovetal notch or groove to receive similarly formed shanks of the sole clips;
the ends of these shanks are each formed with a short dipping flange n, which
flanges or teeth fit into the groove n¹ in the adjusting plate ƒ see (Fig. 5); as
this plate is turned to the right the teeth n are caused to approach the centre

page_text: by the form of the groove, and vice versa, so that the clips can be adjusted to
the sole with the greatest nicety thereby; this groove acts as a screw when
turned as before stated. o, a collar placed upon the shank / under the plate f,
and held in position the cross pin or screw p (which can be withdrawn
when required, for keeping the grooved or adjusting plate fin the required
position.
In order to render the heel clip capable of being more accurately and
readily adjusted to the heel of the boot, instead of mounting it directly upon
the carrier, as shewn at Figs. 3 and 4, it may be mounted upon a screw
collar, as shewn at Fig. 6. By this means the collar is free to turn upon the
screwed end of the carrier, and carries the clip with it without it being
necessary to turn the latter round; the screwed collar may be formed with a
small milled head q at the rear end thereof for turning it, and have a fixing
collar r at the front end for securing the clip when mounted thereon. The
sole and heel rests may, if required, be mounted upon the skate iron so as to
be adjustable thereon longitudinally; this may be effected by cutting slots in
the latter and securing the side pieces and k, of the sole and heel plates
respectively thereto by clamping screws.
I should also bere observe that in place of fitting and actuating the side
clips, as shewn upon the Drawing, the clip might be let into or fitted under
the plate f, and be adjusted by a right and left handed screw or other mechanical
equivalent.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention, and
illustrated and explained certain modes of carrying the same into effect in
practice, without restricting myself to the precise details indicated by the
Drawing, I hereby further declare that what I more particularly claim as my
improvements and desire to secure by the above-mentioned in part recited
Letters Patent is, the construction of skates with adjusting sole and heel
clips for securing the same to the boot or shoe, and thereby dispensing
(wholly or partially) with the use of straps, buckles, and other like fastenings
hitherto used for that purpose.
In witness whereof I, the said Joseph Ingall Barber, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 24th day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOSEPH INGALL BARBER. (L.S.)