Patent ID: 8534680

Claim:
An ice skate blade assembly for a skate, the ice skate blade assembly extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising: (a) an ice skate blade comprising first and second ends, an ice-contacting surface and an upper edge opposite to the ice-contacting surface, the upper edge comprising first and second hooks projecting upwardly proximate to one of the first and second ends respectively; (b) a blade holder having first and second pedestals and a bridge portion connecting the first and second pedestals, the blade holder further comprising a bottom portion having a longitudinal groove extending therealong for receiving the upper edge of the ice skate blade, the bottom portion further defining a recess extending upwardly from the longitudinal groove for receiving the first hook of the ice skate blade and wherein the second pedestal has an inner surface defining a cavity with a bottom aperture that opens to the longitudinal groove; and (c) a single actuator for selectively locking the ice skate blade into the blade holder and releasing the ice skate blade from the blade holder, the single actuator being at least partially mounted within the cavity of the second pedestal and comprising a finger-engaging surface accessible by at least one finger of a user from an exterior of the blade holder and a hook-receiving portion for receiving the second hook of the ice skate blade, the hook-receiving portion being movable between (i) a lock position, in which the hook-receiving portion engages the second hook of the ice skate blade to lock the ice skate blade in the longitudinal groove of the blade holder, and (ii) a release position, in which the hook-receiving portion disengages the second hook of the ice skate blade to release the ice skate blade from the blade holder, and wherein the hook-receiving portion is movable in response to the at least one finger of the user acting on the finger-engaging surface for imparting translation movement of the single actuator from the lock position to the release position.