AN IMPROVEMENT IN SKATES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Thompson, of the firm of Parker and
Thompson, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Tool and Patent Skate
Manufacturers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SKATES."
Sealed the 12th August 1856, and dated the 26th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Thompson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1856.
I, FRANCIS THOMPSON, of the firm of Parker and Thompson, of Sheffield,
in the County of York, Tool and Patent Skate Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SKATES," to
be as follows:-
My Invention consists in a means of providing large surfaces for the
support of the heel and ball of the foot, whereby we are enabled to form the
body of skates of a straight piece of wood, metal, or other material. I make
two apertures with narrow necks in the upper part of the skate iron, and
insert the heads of two screws made with square shoulders; the narrow necks
of the apertures prevent the screw heads being drawn through them. I insert
the upper edge of the iron in a groove along the bottom of the wood or other
material to form the body of the skate, and pass the screws through holes
made in the body; I sink or hollow out the upper part of the body around

page_text: where the screws are inserted, and screw upon them two circular or other
conveniently shaped plates, which form bearing surfaces for the heel and ball
of the foot
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filcil
by the said Francis Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
THOMPSON, of the firm of Parker and Thompson, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, Tool and Patent Skate Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Francis Thompson, Her special licence that I, the said Francis
Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Francis Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
SKATES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis
Thompson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent,
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Thompson, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, that is to
say:
My Invention of "An Improvement in Skates," consists in providing large
surfaces for the support of the heel and ball of the foot, by which means the
body of the skate may be formed of a straight piece of wood, metal, or other
material.

page_text: I make two apertures with narrow necks in the upper part of the skate
iron, and insert therein the heads of two screws made with square shoulders;
the narrow necks of the apertures prevent the screw heads from being drawn
through them. I fit the upper edge of the skate iron in a longitudinal groove
formed along the bottom of the piece of wood or other material of which the
body of the skate is composed, and I pass the screws through holes made, in
the body of the skate. I sink or hollow out the upper part of the body around
the parts where the two screws are inserted, and I mount or screw, upon cach
of the said screws a circular or other conveniently shaped piece or plate of
wood, metal, or other suitable material, which pieces or plates form the bearing
surfaces or rests for the heel and ball of the foot.
The Drawings annexed illustrate the manner in which I carry my Invention
into effect. Figure 1 is a side elevation of a skate constructed according to
my improvement; Figure 2, a plan of the same; Figure 3, a longitudinal
vertical section. A is the body of the skate, composed of a straight piece of
wood or other suitable material; B is the skate iron, the upper edge of which
is fitted into a groove formed along the bottom of the body A; C, C, are
screws which fix the body and iron together, the heads of these screws are
sunk in apertures formed in the upper part of the skate iron, these apertures
are made with narrow necks, to prevent the screws from being drawn through
them, the shanks of the screws pass through orifices in the body A; D, D, are
plates, (here shewn as circular) screwed down upon the screws C, C, into scats
or hollows made to receive them in the body of the skate A. These plates D, D,
are the bearing surfaces or supports for the heel and ball of the foot; they
may be made of wood, sheet iron, or other suitable material. a, a, are metal
nuts fitting on the screws over the plates D, D. These nuts are not absolutely
necessary, but skates will be more secure with them. b, b, are slots in the
body A, for holding the straps by which the skate is attached to the foot of the
I fix metallic eyelets into the holes made in the straps for the recep-
tion of the tongue of the buckle. Figure 4 is a plan of a skate, in which,
instead of employing circular pieces to support the heel and ball, as at D, D,
Figures 1, 2, and 3, I use, for the purpose, sheet iron plates E, E, which I
screw on to the body of the skate A by the screws C, C, which hold the skate
iron B and body A together, the heads of the screws C, C, are sunk in
apertures in the upper part of the iron, as in the skate shewn in Figure 1.
wearer.
Although I have represented only two forms of rest or support for the heel
or ball, bearing surfaces or rests of any other convenient shape may be adopted
for the purpose, and attached to the body of the skate in any suitable manner,
the important object of the Invention being to provide an economical and

page_text: solid skate, having a firm rest for the heel and ball of the foot, by forming the
body of a straight piece of wood or other material, and connecting thereto
large surfaces to support the aforesaid parts of the foot.
And having now described the naturo of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ment in skates the improved construction of skate, herein-before described,
particularly as regards the arrangements for providing large surfaces for the
support of the heel and ball of the foot.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Thompson, have hereunto set my
-hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-six.
FRANCIS THOMPSON. (L.S.)