IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Percival Everitt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd October 1880.
PERCIVAL EVERITT, of Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES."
The object of this Invention is to provide a skate which will admit of being
firmly secured to the boot of the skater and disengaged therefrom with facility.
Instead of relying upon metal clips, as in the most approved skates, I provide a
toe strap to receive the forward part of the boot, which strap, when tightly laced
to suit the wearer, may be further tightened up by the turning of a cam piece, or
by other simple means, until the boot is firmly held to the skate.
The heel of the boot I secure to the skate by gripping it, as in a vice, between
a fixed jaw furnished with teeth and a sliding heel piece. The blade of the skate
I fit near its opposite ends with short platforms or troad plates instead of using a
continuous sole plate as usual.
The forward tread plate I slot to permit of a cam that underlies it and is carried
by a longitudinal spindle passing up through the plate. The toe strap I rivet to
the underside of this plate, and upon the slotted plate I mount a hinged platform,
which will form the tread for the foot. On turning the cam by means of a key or
handle on its spindle it will be caused to raise the hinged platform and thus to
tighten the toe strap upon the inserted boot. Or instead of the cam pressing upon
the platform the cam may be caused to draw down the toe strap tight upon the
boot. In this case the toe strap will pass under the tread plate. Bearings are
provided for the cam spindle by rivetting bracket pieces to the blade, and these
bracket pieces (one or more) will serve to carry the fixed platform or tread plate.
When the cam is made to act upon the strap 1 may roughen a portion of its
periphery which projects through the slot in the tread plate, and thus cause it to
take a hold of the sole of the boot to which the skate is applied. Or I
may lock

page_text: the cam in its acting position by means of a pawl entering the teeth of a ratchet
wheel keyed to the cam spindle.
Another method of tightening the grip of the toe strap upon the boot of the
skater is to attach the sides of the strap to a spindle placed longitudinally beneath
the forward platform, such spindle being rotated by means of a square and key,
and retained in place by a ratchet wheel and pawl, or in any other convenient
way. Or the spindle may be turned by a worm wheel acted on by a worm on a
transverse spindle having a milled head.
Another means for effecting the tightening of the toe strap over the boot is to
provide two metal plates, one half overlying the other, and having flanges projecting
downwards on their inner edges. The sides of the toe strap will be attached each
to one of these plates, and a cam, actuated as before described, will lie in such a
position underneath these plates and between the flanges above mentioned that, on
being turned, it will draw inwards the plates to which are attached the sides of the
toe strap and thus effect the required tightening up.
The fixed jaw before mentioned is attached to or forms part of the tread plate
at the heel of the skate, and this plate is also attached by a bracket to the blade of
the skate. The blade also serves as a guide for the sliding heel piece, and a
traverse motion is imparted to this heel piece by a worm working in notches cut
in the upper edge of the blade, and carried by a spindle which has its bearing in
the tread plate bracket and also in a sliding bracket of the heel piece.
The outer ends of both the cam and worm spindles may be squared to receive
a detachable key for turning them. Or a ratchet brace movement, with a hinged
lever for folding back under the tread plate may be applied to each spindle.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Percival Everitt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st April
1881.
PERCIVAL EVERITT, of Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SKATES."
The object of this Invention is to provide a skate which will admit of being
firmly secured to the boot of the skater and disengaged therefrom with facility.
Instead of relying upon metal clips, as in the most approved skates, I provide a toe
strap to receive the forward part of the boot, which strap may be tightened up by
mechanical means. The heel of the boot I secure to the skate by gripping it, as in
a vice, between a fixed jaw and a sliding heel piece, which, by its advance, will
thrust the boot tightly under the adjusted toe strap.
The mechanical tightening up of the toe strap may be effected in several ways,
as will be hereafter explained, but the plan which I prefer is that illustrated in
Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a skate complete, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the
same.
This skate, it will be seen, is made without a sole plate, it being provided in lieu
thereof with two tread plates A, B, which are made fast to the steel blade C by
means of bent down portions of the tread plates, which are rivetted at their lower
ends to the blade, and constitute the brackets' supports A¹, B¹, respectively.
Fitted to the tread plate A is a strap a, which overlies the toe of the boot, and is
caused to bind thereon so as hold the skate firmly in position.
The heel of the boot is secured in a manner somewhat like that ordinarily adopted
in the best construction of skates, but the details of construction and action of this
part of the skate are novel, as will be presently explained.
The toe strap a is made capable of adjustment to suit various sizes of boot, and
it is tightened upon the boot in a simple and efficient manner.
The ends of the strap a are made fast by screws or rivets to opposite sides of a
metal roller a¹, mounted in turned down transverse portions of the tread plate A.
This roller is shewn in place in the front end elevation, Fig. 3, and the connection
of the strap therewith is clearly illustrated. Keyed to the spindle of this roller
(sec the cross section, Fig. 4) is a ratchet wheel a, into the teeth of which a
retaining pawle a³ takes. This pawle is attached by rivets to the underside of the
tread plate A near its rear end, and the ratchet wheel is held in contact therewith
by the pressure of an elastic india rubber cushion a' inserted in the hinder bracket
support A of the plate A. The spindle of the roller is extended rearwards to form
a thumb piece, by which the ratchet wheel is depressed out of contact with the
retaining pawle when it is desired to slacken the toe strap.
The outer end of the spindle of the roller a' is squared to receive a key, by the
turning of which the roller is caused to tighten up the strap a, and thereby secure
the toe of the skate to the boot of the wearer.
For securing the heel of the boot a fixed jaw b is provided, which, together with
the sliding heel piece b', will grip the heel as is a vice. This jaw b is formed out
of a forward extension of the heel plate B, which extension is bent upwards
vertically, and its edge is then turned over and sharpened, or, if desired, serrated to
enter the front of the heel.
The heel piece 6¹ has a horizontal extension 62, which underlies the plate B, and
formed out of bent down pieces from this horizontal extension piece 6 is a hollow
pendent bracket 63 (see the back view, Fig. 5). A rivet which connects the lower
ends of these bent down pieces together passes through a horizontal slot c in the
blade C, and forms a supporting and guiding pin for the sliding heel.

page_text: Within the hollow bracket B¹ is fixed a nut b* for the reception of a traversing
screw 65, which is used to slide the heel piece towards and from the toe strap.
The spindle of this screw has a squared head to receive a key, and it is also
formed with a collar bo which takes a bearing in the hollow bracket b³, the sides of
the bracket being slotted vertically to form bearings for the collar.
The skater in fitting this skate to his foot, having previously adjusted the toe
strap to the size of his boot, thrusts the boot under the strap and brings the front
of the heel into contact with the fixed jaw b. He then by means of a key turns
the traversing screw 65, and causes the sliding heel to thrust the boot forward
until it is firmly held by the toe strap, the edge of the jaw entering the front of
the heel, and thereby allowing of the advance of the boot to the extent required
for effecting a firm attachment of the skate to the boot.
When it is desired to remove the skate it will only be necessary to draw back
the sliding heel piece b¹ from the fixed jaw b by turning the screw 65 in the
opposite direction, and the skater will then be free to withdraw his foot from
the skate, the tapering or wedge shape of the boot sole providing for the instant
slackening of the grip of the toe strap, without recourse being had to the tightening
roller for that purpose.
In place of using a screw for traversing the heel piece, other devices may be
employed with good effect; thus, for example, I may use a cam lever pivotted to the
extension piece of the sliding heel, and capable of bearing against the bracket
support of the heel plate, so that as the lever is brought into action, the heel will
be advanced as already explained.
An arrangement of this character is illustrated in Sheet II., where Fig. G is a
side elevation, and Fig. 7 a plan view of a skate thus fitted. In this example the
extension piece 62 of the sliding heel is lengthened to receive the pivot pin of a
cam lever b. A longitudinal slot is made in the extension piece b to receive the
pivot pin of the cam lever, and to permit of its adjustment nearer to or further
from the back of the heel. The pivot pin is threaded to receive a nut which serves
to hold it firmly in its adjusted position. The cam lever b' works below the
extension piece be, and bears against the fixed bracket B' as its fulcrum when
brought into action to advance the sliding heel. The tail of this lever b7 is made
elastic, and it takes the form of a clip spring, which when the lever has acted upon
the sliding heel to its full extent, is snapped under the spindle of the roller a¹, so
as to lift the ratchet wheel into contact with the fixed pawle a³, and thus at one
and the same time lock the toe strap roller and the heel in position.
To slacken the skate it is only necessary to press down the elastic tail of the cam
lever clear of the spindle, and to pull round the lever to the dotted position
of Fig. 7, when the skater can readily detach the skate from his boot.
In the arrangement of toe strap above described, I have shewn the strap as
undivided, but in some cases I propose to divide the strap and to connect it by
means of a lace, which will provide for a rough adjustment of the strap to the
boot of the wearer, the tension grip being obtained by means of a cam situate
below the tread plate.
In Sheet III., of the Drawings I have shewn two modes of carrying out this
modification.
Fig. 8 is a side view of so much of a skate as will illustrate a simple mode of
obtaining the grip of the toe strap from the pressure of a cam, and Fig. 9 is a
cross section of the skate so fitted.
In these Figures a is the divided strap which passes under the tread plate A and
up through slots in the slide of the plate to be laced, as at a*. Between the tread
plate and the strap is a cam a¹ mounted longitudinally of the skate and immediately
above the skate iron C. This cam is equal in length to the breadth of the toe
strap, and the spindle of the cam is free to turn in the brackets A¹ like the spindle
of the roller in the first described arrangement.
It is also fitted with a ratchet wheel a³ for engaging with a fixed pawle a³
which retains the cam in its adjusted position. In other respects this skate will

page_text: be like that first described, or its sliding heel piece may be operated as described
with reference to Sheet II. of the Drawings.
By applying a key to the square end of the cam spindle the cam may be turned
so as to draw the toe strap to tension upon the inserted boot, and this tension of
the toe strap will be retained by the ratchet wheel and pawle until released as
described with relation to the preceding arrangements.
This
Instead of applying the cam to act directly upon the strap, I may attach the
divided strap at the lower ends to sliding plates, and cause the cam to draw these
plates together and thereby tighten the toe strap upon the inserted boot.
arrangement is shewn in side elevation at Fig. 10, in plan view at Fig. 11, and in
cross section at Fig. 12.
In these Figures the divided strap a is connected at its lower ends by rivets or
otherwise to a pair of sliding plates a, a, which are themselves connected to the
tread plate A by headed guide pins, which pass through transverse slots in the
plates, and are screwed or rivetted to the tread plate.. The lower sliding plate a® is
slotted longitudinally to receive the bent down edge of the upper plate a³, and
allow a free lateral play for this bent down extension of the upper plate.
Similarly the lower plate has bent down portions at its opposite side to that of the
upper plate, and these bent down extensions of the two plates serve to embrace a
double cam a', which is mounted below the tread plate A like the cam in the last
described arrangement.
The object of making the cam double is that its opposite sides shall simultaneously
(as the cam is turned) bear against the turned down extensions of the plates a³, a6,
and thus cause the plates to slide inwards so as to draw the toe strap to tension.
To provide ample space for the cam between the tread plate A and the blade C,
I slot both the sliding plates a, a, so as to allow the cam to project through them,
and I thus effect an economy of space.
The spindle of this cam I provide with a square for turning it, and a ratchet
wheel for retaining it in its set position, as before described. To release the grip of
the strap it is necessary first to disengage the ratchet wheel from its pawle by
pressing down the spindle of the can against its elastic support, and then to turn
the cam by means of the key.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Skates," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
I claim,―
First. In combination with an adjustable toe strap and a fixed or stationary
gripping jaw, a sliding heel piece for pressing forward the foot of the skater into
the grip of the toe strap, such sliding heel piece being actuated by a screw spindle
or its equivalent, in the manner above described.
Second. The means above described, with reference to Sheet I. of the Drawings,
for adjusting the tension of the toe strap.
Third. The arrangement for tightening the toe strap, as described with reference
to Sheet II. of the Drawings.
Fourth. The arrangement for tightening the toe strap, as described with reference
to Sheet III. of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Percival Everitt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Thirty first day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
PERCIVAL EVERITT. (L.S.)