A NEW AND IMPROVED SKATE
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hardman Gillett at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd February 1880.
.
JOHN HARDMAN GILLETT, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Gentleman. "A NEW AND IMPROVED SKATE."
This Invention consists in forming the hard wood or other correspondingly
unyielding clog or block of the skate in the form of the sole and heel of a boot,
and attaching a boot upper to the said clog or block. A combined skate and boot
is thus formed and is put on to the foot as an ordinary boot, being laced up as
an ordinary lace-up boot, or otherwise fastened. The skate blade may be attached
in any convenient manner to the clog, but is preferably fixed by means of plates
rivetted through ears thereon to the blade, and screwed to the clog with ordinary
wood screws. The upper may be lined with fur or other soft material for pro-
tection of the ancle, and a sock may be placed under the foot. A skate formed in
this manner is cheap, firm, and durable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Hardman Gillett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
August 1880.
JOHN HARDMAN GILLETT, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Staffordshire,
Gentleman. "A NEW AND IMPROVED SKATE."
This Invention has for its object a new and improved combined skate boot,
which not only affords great facility and convenience to the wearer for putting on
and wearing the same, but combines simplicity of construction with economy of
manufacture.
In order to carry out my Invention I proceed as follows:-I form the wooden
block or clog to which the blade of the skate is attached in the shape of the sole
and heel of a boot, to the base of which the blade is securely and firmly fastened
by set screws, which take into suitable metal brackets of either plain or ornamental
design secured to such wooden block by screws or rivets, or in any other convenient
manner, and thus allows of blades of any shape, and suitable for any purpose, being
fitted thereto in a few minutes by the wearer.
I then fasten to such wooden block a boot upper made of leather, velvet, or any
other suitable material, and furnished with laces or other convenient fastenings to
allow of its being tightly secured to the foot of the wearer.
Such boot upper is so
fastened to the wood block or sole by suitable tacks or nails which are driven into
a groove running round its upper edge, and which tacks or nails are concealed from
view by a strip of leather or welt laid over the same, and secured either by metal
tacks or wooden pegs, or otherwise to the block.
When completed my improved combined skate boot assumes the appearance of
an ordinary boot having a skate blade attached to the sole thereof. Such blade
may be made either plain or ornamental, but when it is intended to be used for
figure skating, the front or toe is made pointed, as shewn in Fig. 3, instead of
being curvilinear, as shewn in Fig. 1.
The block or sole of the boot may be made either of wood, vulcanite, metal, or
any other suitable inflexible material, while for ladies' wear the top may be lined
with fur or any other soft material, as well for ornament as to prevent chafing of
the ankle, and a sock may be fitted internally in order to afford comfort to the
wearer.
One great advantage of my Invention is, that I thereby entirely dispense with
the screws and straps employed with the ordinary wood block skate, and thus
thoroughly obviate the numerous and well known inconveniences attendant
thereon.
Another great advantage is, that there is no possibility of my improved combined
skate boot springing off the foot under pressure as frequently occurs with
Inechanical skates, as it affords far greater firmness of foothold, and consequent
security to the wearer, at the same time that skates manufactured on my improved
principle are more durable and economical than those in ordinary use.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn two views of one of my improved
combined skate boots, Figure 1 being a view in side elevation of the same, and
Figure 2 being a plan view of the wooden clog or sole shewing the method of
attaching the blade of the skate thereto. In these Figures similar letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts.
a is the inflexible block or sole.

page_text: Having thus particularly described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I claim,―
The improved principle of constructing a skate by attaching a boot upper of any
suitable description to an inflexible clog or block shaped like the sole and heel of a
boot, and having a suitable skate blade fitted thereto so as to form a combined
skate boot, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein before described
and illustrated; I also claim as novel the improved method of securing the skate
blade by set screws instead of by rivets, so as to allow of its being readily changed
by the wearer.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hardman Gillett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
JOHN HARDMAN GILLETT. (L.S.)