Development of a dynamic ice-skate

Development of a dynamic ice-skate

Bloem, M.R.

Van Heur, R.J.H.G. (mentor)
Wartenbergh, L.H. (mentor)
Den Braver, O. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Integrated Product Design

2010-11-19

Since the introduction of the klapskate it seems there is not much improvement going on in ice-skates. Nothing is further from the truth. This is specifically for the ice-skates used in short track skating which are bend in the direction of the corner to gain more grip. Several researches showed that the process of bending is difficult to master and requires a great deal of knowledge and experience. Nevertheless many benefits can be achieved by implementing a bending into an ice-skate. The product is called a dynamic ice-skate. The dynamic behaviour of the skate follows and adapts automatically to the trajectory of the skating stoke. This means that the skates have a better grip on the ice during the turns and the straight ends, improving the skaters performance. For this implementation no expensive bending tools and specific knowledge is required. The skate is compatible with current skating products such as skate-shoes and sharpening tools. The dynamic (bending) behaviour is based on a simple principle. Tilting the shoe ensures that the curved upper-blade deforms the skate-blade into a bend. A ball joint bearing which is incorporated into the tube helps to tilt the upper-tube. This principle is based on a simple cardboard sketch-model. Introducing the product will be first done for competition skaters. They can use this skate as a fixed skate and it will help to improve their technique even more. If the product is successful in this group (which happened also with the well known klapskate), the implementation towards the elite skating league will be easily made.

ice-skate
dynamic

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e49b98ac-c2c6-433c-8dab-0dca9e7f2735

2011-11-19

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2010 Bloem, M.R.