IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hodges Bishop, of Holloway Road, in the County
of Middlesex, and Henry Frederick Hailes, of Hornsey, in the same County, for
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hodges Bishop and
Henry Frederick Hailes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
9th December 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, having been previously
adjusted to fit the boot of the skater, may be instantly applied and firmly secured
thereto, or be as readily disengaged therefrom when required.
In carrying this Invention into effect we construct a skate in the following
manner: A sole plate of metal is carried in front by a bracket piece rivetted to
the blade, and it is supported near its rearward extremity by an upright or short
standard to which it is firmly secured by means of a screw.
The said upright
may be carried by a bracket piece rivetted to the blade or be formed in one
therewith. This sole plate is provided with side clips for holding the sole of the
boot, such clips being slotted to render them laterally adjustable, and they may
each be securely fixed in position by a bolt and nut. The rear end of the sole
plate overlies the heel plate, and it is slotted to allow of the longitudinal adjust-
ment of a gripping piece with which it is provided, such adjustable gripping
piece being furnished with prongs, or a chisel edge for entering the front of the
heel of the boot.
The heel plate is supported by a bracket piece which overlaps each side of the blade,
and the sides of the bracket piece are united by a pin which slides in a slot made in
the rear end of the blade. This arrangement allows of the heel plate moving
longitudinally, but prevents its rising out of place. The front portion of this heel
plate underlies the rear end of the sole plate, and it is slotted to allow of its passing
over the upright or standard before mentioned which supports the rear end of the
sole plate. The heel plate is provided at its rear with roughened flanges for
securely holding the outside of the heel of the boot. Depending from the forward
end of the heel plate is a lug, and pivotted on the upright which carries the sole
plate is a cam headed lever, which, when brought into action, causes the cam head
C

page_text: to bear against the lug depending from the heel plate, and thereby forces the said
heel plate forward, tightly gripping the heel of the boot in back and front and
forcing the sole of the boot into the grip of the side clips.
Instead of the foregoing arrangement of a cam headed lever for putting a grip
on the boot, the same result may be attained by means of a curved lug depending
from the heel or sole plate of the skate. This curved lug acting like a cam will
bear against a curved slot formed in the blade; and on being depressed will cause
the plate to which it is attached to be forcibly slidden over or under the other plate,
thus ensuring a gripping of the boot between the adjustable gripping piece before
mentioned, and the roughened flanges with which the heel piece is provided. The
boot also, as in the previous arrangement, will be forced into the grip of the
adjustable side clips. The cam projection will be retained in position by means of a
locking lever secured alongside the blade. On placing this lever at right angles to
its normal position, the boot will be readily released from the gripping surfaces.
In this arrangement it will be necessary to pivot the sole plate or the heel plate
(according to the position of curved lugs just described) to the blade of the skate.
The principle of causing the tread plates to slide the one over the other by
means of a forcible cam action will be preserved, and the boot in every case will be
forcibly thrust into the grip of the adjustable side clips.
It is obvious that this thrust may also be imparted by the use of a simple
connecting link instead of a cam projection.
It may however be desirable for the purpose of lessening the strain on the
stitches which unite the sole of the boot with the upper to provide the sole plate with
a leathern toe piece or strap, such toe piece or strap being first adjusted by lacing
or otherwise to suit the wearer of the skate, and subsequently tightened upon the
boot in the act of applying the skate. This mechanical tightening of the toe strap,
or it may be the metal side clips (for the principle of action would be precisely
similar), is effected as follows:-The advantage of the system employed being that
the tightening up of the toe strap is distributed equally over its entire surface,
thus causing a uniform pressure throughout upon the boot of the skater, instead of,
as might be the case, putting a greater strain on the toe than over the instep of
the boot.
To the underside of the toe plate a pair of lever arms are pivotted at their
forward ends on the same fulcrum pin, and to these lever arms the two halves of
the toe piece or strap are securely rivetted. The rearward ends of these lever arms
are bevilled off for the purpose to be subsequently explained. When the foot is
inserted in the toe piece or strap, and the toe piece is sufficiently laced up, a V
shaped notch cut in the forward end of the heel plate is caused to engage with the
bevilled ends of the lever arms; and on the heel plate being thrust forward by the
action of the cam headed lever or the curved lug already described, the inner
surfaces of the V shaped notch will slide upon the bevilled ends of the lever
arms, thereby drawing the rearward ends of the said arms closely together and
tightening the toe piece or strap upon the boot.
These lever arms may be pivotted midway of their length to one fulcrum pin,
and their forward ends (carrying short bars to which the edges of the toe piece
are attached) may be caused to approach each other and thereby impart to the
toe piece an additional grip on the boot by means of a blunt point forcing open
the rearward ends of the lever arms. In this case the said rearward ends would
curve slightly outwards to allow of the blunt point of the heel plate entering
between them and forcing them apart.
If desired, the toe piece or strap may be rivetted to the edges of the sole plate,
as it may be found by experience that a sufficient additional grip on the boot is
imparted to the toe piece by the mere act of forcing forward the boot of the skater
by the cam headed lever or the curved lug (acting as a cam) which has previously
been described as causing the gripping of the heel of the boot.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Robert Hodges Bishop and Henry Frederick Hailes in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 9th June 1881.
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 having been previously
adjusted to fit the boot of the skater, may be instantly applied and firmly secured
thereto, or be as readily disengaged therefrom when required.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings we have shewn in several views the
arrangement which we prefer to employ in attaining this object. Fig. 1 is a
longitudinal vertical section of our improved skate combining an adjustable
toe strap with a sliding heel, the adjustment of the strap and the advance of
the heel to ensure a firm grip of the boot being effected simultaneously; Fig. 2 is
an inverted plan view of the skate, the blade or runner being removed to expose to
view the underlying parts; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the heel portion of the skate,
and Fig. 4 is a back elevation of the same.
A is the toe plate supported on brackets b, b', rivetted to the blade or runner B;
C is the heel plate which is slotted at its front end and rear to receive guide
pins c, c', the former of which secures the inner end of the toe plate to the bracket
b. b is a third bracket rivetted to the blade B and receiving the guide pin c¹,
which is preferably a headed screw, the head lying in a rebate of the rear slot in
the heel plate formed by an under stiffening piece rivetted to the heel plate, and
carrying the roughened gripping flanges c².
The guide pin c, besides securing the toe plate to the runner, forms the fulcrum
for a cam headed spring lever D, shewn in the detached view at Fig. 5, which
serves to impart the requisite gripping motions to the skate; E is the toe strap,
the ends of which are rivetted to a pair of lever arms E', E', pivotted at their
forward ends to the underside of the plate A. These arms E¹ extend rearwards
and enter a shallow box C¹, their extremities being tapered off towards the centre
of the skate to form a double wedge. Within the box C are corresponding
inclines, which when thrust into contact with the ends of the lever arms will
draw those arms together, and tighten the toe strap upon the boot of the skater.
The cam head of the lever D bears upon the back of this box when the lever is
moved towards the central line of the skate, and a catch d, projecting from the
bracket 62, serves to retain the lever D in its acting position.
When the lever is moved towards the dotted position of Fig. 2, its cam head will
bear against a pin c³ projecting from the underside of the heel plate C, and thereby
thrust back the heel into the dotted position; F is an adjustable gripping jaw
standing up from the inner end of the toe plate, and intended to bear against the
front face of the heel.
Supposing the toe strap to be adjusted by its lace to suit a given sized boot, the
skater inserts his toe under the strap, the lever D being at the time in the
position of Fig. 5, and having his heel well in place on the heel plate he draws
back the lever and snaps it under the catch. By this simple operation of the
lever the heel plate is advanced, and the boot heel is thrust tightly against the
gripping jaw F, at the same time the lever arms E' will be caused to tighten
the toe strap upon the boot. This mechanical tightening of the toe strap it
should be remarked possesses this peculiarity, viz.:-That inasmuch as the
tightening movement increases in proportion to the increased circumference of
the boot from the toe to the instep, the tightening of the toe strap will be
distributed equally over its entire breadth, thus causing a uniform pressure upon
the boot of the skater.

page_text: An obvious modification of the above described arrangement for simultaneously
clipping the heel and the toe of the boot is to substitute for the toe strap adjustable
clipping jaws, which, being made fast to the lever arms, may be caused to grip the
sole as the heel plate is advanced, and to release the sole when the heel of the boot
is released.
Sheet II. of the Drawings shews another arrangement of skate which is capable
of secure attachment to the boot of the skater by the pressure of the foot of the
skater upon the skate, and the turning of a locking strap lever. A toe strap may
be applied to the sole plate if thought desirable, but in the Drawing adjustable
clips are shewn for gripping the opposite edges of the sole.
Fig. 6 is a side view of this arrangement of skate, the parts being in the position
they would assume when locked to the boot of the skater.
In this Figure, A is the sole plate, which is free to slide over the forward end of
the heel plate C, which latter is hinged at its rear end to the blade or runner B.
This blade is provided with bracket supports 61 and 62, which form bearing surfaces
for the toe and heel plates, the bracket 62 has its face recessed to the thickness of
the heel plate at the part where the sole plate overlies it and projects on either
side thereof. By thus recessing the bracket 6' it will form a bearing surface for
both plates. The heel plate is slotted longitudinally to allow of a cam shaped
projection a on the underside of the sole plate projecting down through the heel
plate C, and of the gripping jaw F standing up from the sole plate through the
heel plate. A bolt and nut f, which secures the gripping jaw F to the sole plate,
serves to secure the two plates together, leaving them however free to slide endwise
one over the other. A cross pin passing through the cam shaped projection a also
assists in connecting the sliding plates together; Fig. 7 shews the skate in side
view, but with the sole plates raised from the runner on the joint b. On the rear
side of the bracket 62 is an incline which is intended to resist the pressure of the
cam projection a when the sole plate is depressed, and thereby to slide it backwards
so that the jaw F may enter the front of the heel of the boot and force it back into
contact with the roughened gripping flanges c² standing up from the back of the
heel plate.
This back motion of the sole plate will force the adjustable clips a', with which
the sole plate is fitted, firmly onto the sole of the boot, and thus hold it fast. This
compound gripping action, it will be understood, is caused by the simple downward
pressure of the foot, and to secure the parts in their locked position a locking
lever D is provided, the same being pivotted to the blade or runner B. On bringing
this lever into line with the runner, its head will be caused to overlie a shoulder
on the end of the cam a, and thus lock the hinged parts firmly to the runner.
To give increased lateral stiffness to the skate, the incline on the bracket b² enters
a longitudinal recess in the face of the cam a.
To remove the skate from the boot, it is only necessary to raise the foot from the
ground and disengage the locking lever, when the runner will fall away by its own
weight from the cam projection a on the sole plate, and leave the foot free to slide
the sole plate forward from the dotted to the drawn position of Fig. 7. This
forward movement of the foot will disengage the boot heel from the heel clips c²,
and by tipping the foot and drawing it backwards it will be disengaged from the
sole clips a¹.
It will be obvious that the sole plate may be hinged to the runner, and the heel
plate be caused to slide as explained with reference to the sole plate. In such case
the heel plate will carry the cam piece, which will be reversed in position, and will
bear against an incline on the front side of the bracket piece 62. Or, in place of
the cam and incline, either plate may be connected to the runner by a link which,
as the skate is opened or closed, will give an endway movement to the sliding plate,
thus causing the boot to be gripped or released, as above explained.
For locking the skate thus modified a locking lever D will be provided, the
head of which will enter a notch cut in a lug pendent from the outer end of the
sliding plate.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Skates," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we
claim,―
First. The arrangement of mechanism above described for simultaneously
tightening the grip of the toe strap or its equivalent upon the fore part of the
boot, and advancing the heel of the skate to press the boot heel against the fixed
jaw of the sole plate, as and for the purpose above set forth.
Second. In a hinged skate, the means above described for imparting an endway
motion to the sole or heel plate, as and for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Frederick Hailes, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
HENRY F. HAILES. (L.S.)