AN IMPROVED SKATE
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Johann Peter Becker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th February 1881.
JOHANN PETER BECKER, junior, of Remscheid, Prussia. "AN IMPROVED
SKATE."
My said Invention relates to that class of skates in which the sole and heel
clamps, which are to connect the skate to the shoe or boot, are previously adjusted
and secured in a position to allow the foot to be freely set upon the plate of the
skate, fitting into the clamping devices, the said clamps then being simultaneously
drawn backward by a suitable mechanism to grasp the sole, heel, and firmly secure.
the skate to the foot. To disconnect the skate the said mechanism is again released,
the clamps go asunder, and the foot is free.
The forward and backward movement of the clamping devices in most of the
skates of this kind is operated by a lever or by the elastic foot-plate of the skate,
but they all require the said forward and backward movement of the parts that
carry the clamps.
The object of my Invention is to provide a very simple device for operating the
said forward and backward movement, which device allows of an extremely easy
handling of the respective parts of the skate.
The sole clamps and the heel-clamp with their respective connecting parts are
simultaneously drawn back and pushed forward by a sliding plate with a slot
through which the screw bolt of the heel clamp, extends, a nut adjusting and
securing the sole and heel clamps in their proper position. Motion is imparted
to the said sliding plate by a drawing rod worked by a handle with excentric
pivots. The said handle turns with its fulcrum pivots in bearings provided at
the rear of the skate. The excentric pivots of the said handle are hinged to the
said drawing rod.
When the said handle is down the drawing rod and slide bar are pushed forward,
the sole-clamps are spread asunder, and the heel clamp is so far advanced that the
foot can freely be placed upon the plate of the skate. Upon turning the handle
upwards the excentric pivots will carry the drawing bar backwards, and by these
When the
means the clamping devices are forced to grasp the sole and heel.
handle is turned so far up as to join closely to the heel, the exentrics will be
turned over their highest joint, and consequently the handle is prevented from
falling down spontaneously, that is; it requires a certain pressure to put it down
again when the skate is to be disconnected.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Johann Peter Becker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th July 1881.
JOHANN PETER BECKER, junior, of Remscheid, Prussia,
SKATE."
"AN IMPROVED
My said Invention relates to that class of skates in which the foot and heel-
clamps, which are to connect the skate to the shoe or boot, are previously adjusted
and secured in a position to allow the foot to be freely set upon the foot-plate of
the skate, fitting into the clamping devices, the said clamps then being simul-
taneously drawn backwards by a suitable mechanism to grasp the sole and heel,
and firmly secure the skate to the foot. To disconnect the skate the said mechanism
is again released, the clamps go asunder, and the foot is free.
The forward and backward movement of the clamping devices in most of the
skates of this kind is operated by a lever, or by an elastic foot-plate of the skate,
but they all require the said forward and backward movement of the parts that
carry the clamps. The object of my Invention is to provide a very simple device
for operating the said forward and backward movement, which device allows of an
extremely comfortable handling the respective parts of the skate, and which also
allows to disengage the skate of one foot by a pressure exercised by the other foot
without the use of the hand.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side-view of a skate of my
improved construction; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, the foot-plate partly
broken off.
The sole-clamps d, d, which at their rear end are jointed by a pivot & which
'slides in a slot of the foot-plate, are adjusted, together with the heel-clamp f by
means of a screw-bolt and nut e so as to allow the foot to be freely set upon the
foot-plate, upon which the sliding-plate g, the front-part of which is secured to the
pivot d, and to which the heel-clamp is secured by the bolt and nut e, is drawn
backwards and operates the clamps d and f to grasp the sole of the skater firmly
between them. On pushing the sliding-plate g forward again the heel-clamp f
and the sole-clamps & will simultaneously be moved forward and leave the foot
free at once.
The device for operating the back-and forward-movement of the sliding-plate g
consists of the handle b and a drawing-rod c, the latter being connected by hinges
or joints at one end to the sliding-plate g, at the other end to the handle b by
means of the pivot a. The said handle b is turning with two pivots in the bearings
h, h, provided in the casing at the rear-end of the skate.
The position of the handle b and heel-clamp f, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,
indicates the position of the skate before it is secured to the foot. On turning the
handle into the vertical position the pivot a, owing to its eccentric position to the
fulcrum, will carry the drawing-rod c as much back as the distance between the
centres of h and a in the opposite direction, the lift accordingly becoming double
that distance. In this vertical position the handle b will remain, as it is prevented
from falling down by itself, because the excentric a then is turned over its highest
point. It always requires a certain pressure to bring the handle b down again in
order to undo the skate.
A modification of this construction is shown in Fig. 3, which is a side-view, and
in Fig. 4, which is a plan of the hind-part of the skate. Instead of the eccentric a
connected to the handle b, the latter is arranged to turn in the casing i by means
of a crank-pin h¹, h¹, the crank al of which works within a vertical slot of a plate c¹.
The said plate c¹ receives a sliding to-and-fro movement by the said crank-pin h¹, h¹,
whenever the handle b is turned up or down. The plate c¹ forms part of the

page_text: horizontal sliding-plate g, and, accordingly, in this modification the joints between
the sliding-plate g and the plate c', and between the drawing-rod and the handle,
are omitted, and consequently they cannot be blocked-up with ice.
I prefer to give the upper part of the handle b the curved shape, as shown in
Fig. 3, in order that it may easily be trod upon by the other foot, and thereby put
down when the skate is to be disengaged. The skater accordingly may undo the
skate without the use of his hands, so far as the unbuckling of the strap is not
concerned. The projecting arm b' formed to the handle b serves to pass a strap
through the slot formed by said arm. The use of a strap, though by no means
necessary, is wished for by many skaters, and it serves, besides to keep the handle b
secured in its vertical position.
Another modification is shown in Fig. 5. In this construction the sliding-plate g
is replaced by a screw-spindle k secured to the sliding-piece g¹, which forms part
of the plate c, and is worked, as before described, either by the eccentric a, Fig. 1,
or by the crank pin h', h', of the handle b, Fig. 3. The said screw-spindle passes
through the sheaves f', m, which are secured to the heel-clamp f, and through the
sheaves, which are secured to the bolt d' of the sole-clamps. The said sheaves
run loosely upon the spindle without touching the same. Between the sheaves
and between the sheaves f', m, a sheave n is arranged with a female screw turning
upon the screw-thread of the spindle k. The rim of the sheaves n is rough to
allow them to be easily turned. The said sheaves n serve to adjust the heel-clamp
and the sole clamps previous to the action of the handle b, and by this means the
use of a nut-key, which the skater must carry about him, as in the former con-
structions, is no more necessary. By turning the sheaves n to either side the
respective clamp will be moved closer up or away from the heel or sole, the guiding
sheaves and m being pushed on as the sheaves n are turned upon the threaded
spindle. The handle 6 works upon the steady spindle k exactly in the same
manner as upon the sliding plate g, and the skate is secured or disengaged in the
same manner, as described before, by one turn up or down of the handle.
Having thus fully described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that the details of the skate
hereinbefore described and shown in the Drawings may be considerably varied;
but what I claim is,―
First. The combination of the handle beccentrically jointed to the drawing-rod c
with the sliding-plate g for the purpose of operating the clamps, substantially as
described and shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
Second. The sliding-plate g formed in one piece with the plate c¹ in combination
with the handle b and crank-pin h', h', working in a slot of the plate c¹, sub-
stantially as described and shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
Third. The arm b' formed to the bandle b for the purpose of securing a strap,
as described and shown in Fig. 3.
Fourth. The screw-spindle
with the nut-sheaves n and guide-sheaves l, m,
in combination with the sliding piece g³, substantially as described and shown in
Fig. 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said Johann Peter Becker, junior, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
JOHANN PETER BECKER, JUNIOR. (L.S.)