Skate blade holder tool grasping central portion of skate blade

Abstract

A blade holder tool enables a user to insert the skate blade into a sharpener unit for sharpening. The skate blade is a user-removable skate blade having a central portion and endward portions that include blade retention features that engage a user-controlled blade retention mechanism of a skate to secure the skate blade in the skate. The blade holder tool includes an upper portion graspable by a user to hold the blade holder tool and place it in an inserted position in the sharpener unit. It further includes a lower blade-engaging portion that grasps the central portion of the skate blade and locates the skate blade in a sharpening position in the sharpener unit. Because it grasps skate blade in a central portion, the blade holder tool has a universal quality enabling it to be used with skate blades of a variety of sizes or lengths.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A blade holder tool for a user to hold a skate blade and insert the skate blade into a sharpener unit for a sharpening operation, the skate blade being a user-removable skate blade having a central portion and endward portions including respective retention features configured to engage a user-controlled blade retention mechanism of a skate to secure the skate blade in the skate, the retention features of the skate blade having a blade-size-specific spacing in a spacing range for skate blades across a range of blade sizes, comprising:
 an upper portion being graspable by a user to hold the blade holder tool and place the blade holder tool in an inserted position in the sharpener unit; and   a lower blade-engaging portion configured to grasp the skate blade at its central portion and to locate the skate blade in a sharpening position in the sharpener unit when the blade holder tool is in the inserted position holding the skate blade.   
     
     
         2 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the sharpening position of the skate blade has X-axis and Z-axis position components and a Y-axis rotational component in a plane of the skate blade, the X-axis component located on an X axis extending in a direction of the lower edge of the skate blade, the Z-axis component located on a Z axis perpendicular to the X axis, the Y-axis rotational component being about a Y-axis perpendicular to the plane of the skate blade, and wherein the blade-engaging portion includes blade positioning features co-configured with features of the skate blade for establishing one or more of blade centering along the X axis, blade vertical locating along the Z axis, blade rotational position about the Y axis, and blade heel/toe orientation along the X axis. 
     
     
         3 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 2 , wherein the blade positioning features include markings co-configured with markings or shapes on the skate blade to provide a distinct visual indication when the skate blade is correctly positioned in the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         4 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 3 , wherein the markings on the blade holder tool include shapes that visually merge together with respective shapes of the markings on the skate blade when the skate blade is correctly positioned in the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         5 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 4 , wherein the shapes include half-shapes that visually merge together into whole-shapes. 
     
     
         6 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 2 , wherein the blade positioning features include graphical features configured to indicate to a user a correct orientation of the skate blade in the blade holder tool, the correct orientation corresponding to the correct heel/toe orientation of the skate blade in the sharpening position. 
     
     
         7 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 6 , wherein the graphical features include respective graphical indicators for a toe end of the skate blade and a heel end of the skate blade at respective toe and heel locations of the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         8 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 6 , wherein the graphical indicators are labels applied to an exterior surface of the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         9 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 2 , wherein the blade positioning features on the blade holder tool include mechanical features that mate with respective mechanical features on the skate blade only when the skate blade is correctly positioned in the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         10 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 9 , wherein the mechanical features on the blade holder tool include one or more posts, and the mechanical features on the skate blade include one or more respective cutouts that mate with respective posts of the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         11 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 10 , wherein the posts on the blade holder tool include posts extending along the X axis and having respective distinct shapes, and wherein the cutouts on the skate blade include correspondingly shaped cutouts extending along the X axis to mate with the respective posts only when the skate blade has the correct blade centering and the correct blade heel/toe orientation. 
     
     
         12 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 10 , wherein the posts are marked at respective end surfaces for visual identification by a user. 
     
     
         13 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 10 , wherein the posts are located at respective cutouts in the blade-engaging portion for visual identification by a user. 
     
     
         14 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 2 , wherein the blade-engaging portion includes a flex beam configuration providing for an interference fit with the skate blade, the interference fit providing sufficient force to hold the skate blade while permitting insertion and removal of the skate blade by pushing and pulling action of a user's hand. 
     
     
         15 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 14 , wherein the force is in the range of 1 to 3 pounds. 
     
     
         16 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 15 , wherein the flex beam configuration includes chamfered edges to ease the insertion of the skate blade into the blade holder tool by the pushing action. 
     
     
         17 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 2 , including a pair of opposed pivoting members and a biasing member forcing the pivoting members to a closed position, and wherein the blade-engaging portion includes respective inner surfaces at respective ends of the pivoting members providing a pinching force to hold the skate blade. 
     
     
         18 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 17 , wherein the biasing member is a spring. 
     
     
         19 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 2 , further including a blade thickness gauge configured to provide an indication that the skate blade is within a predetermined range of thicknesses to be correctly received and held by the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         20 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 2 , including graphical indicators configured to indicate to a user a correct left-to-right orientation of the blade holder tool in the sharpener unit, the correct left-to-right orientation corresponding to the correct heel/toe orientation of the skate blade in the sharpening position. 
     
     
         21 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 20 , wherein the graphical features include respective graphical indicators for a left end of the blade holder tool and a right end of the blade holder tool as viewed by a user with the blade holder tool in the inserted position. 
     
     
         22 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 20 , wherein the graphical indicators are labels applied to an exterior surface of the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         23 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the upper portion includes a unit-engaging portion having a mechanical registration feature co-configured with a mechanical feature of the sharpening unit for establishing the inserted position of the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         24 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 23 , wherein:
 the skate blade is retained in the sharpening unit by retention jaws;   the mechanical feature of the sharpening unit includes an asymmetric feature of the retention jaws; and   the mechanical registration feature of the blade holder tool is co-configured with the asymmetric feature of the retention jaws in an asymmetric manner enabling the blade holder tool to assume only a correct heel/toe orientation in the inserted position.   
     
     
         25 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 23 , wherein the mechanical registration feature on the blade holder tool includes a jaw interface protrusion, and the mechanical feature of the sharpening unit includes a cutout on one of the retention jaws, the jaw interface protrusion being sized and configured to be received by the cutout when the blade holder tool is in the inserted position. 
     
     
         26 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 25 , wherein the other retention jaw includes a respective cutout shaped differently than the cutout of the one retention jaw, and the jaw interface protrusion is sized and configured to not be received by the respective cutout of the other retention jaw. 
     
     
         27 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 25 , wherein the jaw interface protrusion has an outer contour corresponding to a contour of the cutout of the one retention jaw, and the respective cutout of the other retention jaw includes a bump-out encountered by the jaw interface protrusion when the user attempts to place the blade holder tool in the sharpener unit with the blade holder tool oriented backward. 
     
     
         28 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 25 , wherein the jaw interface protrusion has a bump-out sized and configured (1) to be received by a corresponding notch of the one retention jaw when the blade holder tool is in the inserted position, and (2) to be encountered by a non-notched portion of the other retention jaw when the user attempts to place the blade holder tool in the sharpener unit with the blade holder tool oriented backward. 
     
     
         29 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the sharpener unit includes protective covers at respective ends of a blade-receiving opening of the sharpener unit. 
     
     
         30 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 29 , wherein the tool body is shaped and sized to block a central portion of the blade-receiving opening of the sharpener unit when the blade holder tool occupies the inserted position. 
     
     
         31 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 29 , wherein the blade-receiving opening is an elongated entry slot. 
     
     
         32 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 29 , wherein the protective covers include respective members. 
     
     
         33 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 32 , wherein the endward portions of the blade holder tool are configured to engage the members of the protective covers when occupying the inserted position at the blade-receiving opening. 
     
     
         34 . A blade holder tool according to  claim 33 , wherein the protective covers include sensors configured to be activated by the members when engaged by the endward portions of the blade holder tool, the sensors providing an indication of presence of the blade holder tool in the inserted position, the indication used by a controller of the sharpener unit to enable the sharpening operation. 
     
     
         35 . A skate blade sharpening system, comprising:
 a sharpener unit configured to receive a skate blade for a sharpening operation; and   a blade holder tool for a user to hold a skate blade and insert the skate blade into a sharpener unit for the sharpening operation, the skate blade being a user-removable skate blade having a central portion and endward portions including respective blade retention features configured to engage a user-controlled blade retention mechanism of a skate to secure the skate blade in the skate, the retention features of the skate blade having a blade-size-specific spacing in a spacing range for skate blades across a range of blade sizes, the blade holder tool including (1) an upper portion being graspable by a user to hold the blade holder tool and place the blade holder tool in an inserted position in the sharpener unit, and (2) a lower blade-engaging portion configured to grasp the central portion of the skate blade and to locate the skate blade in a sharpening position in the sharpener unit when the blade holder tool is in the inserted position holding the skate blade.   
     
     
         36 . A skate blade sharpening system according to  claim 35 , wherein the upper portion of the blade holder tool includes a unit-engaging portion having a mechanical registration feature co-configured with a mechanical feature of the sharpening unit for establishing the inserted position of the blade holder tool. 
     
     
         37 . A skate blade sharpening system according to  claim 36 , wherein the blade holder tool includes graphical indicators configured to indicate to a user a correct left-to-right orientation of the blade holder tool in the sharpener unit, the correct left-to-right orientation corresponding to a correct heel/toe orientation of the skate blade in the sharpening position. 
     
     
         38 . A skate blade sharpening system according to  claim 35 , wherein the sharpener unit includes protective covers at respective ends of a blade-receiving opening of the sharpener unit, and wherein the upper portion of the blade holder tool is shaped and sized to block a central portion of the blade-receiving opening of the sharpener unit when the blade holder tool occupies the inserted position. 
     
     
         39 . A skate blade sharpening system according to  claim 38 , wherein the endward portions of the blade holder tool are configured to engage the members of the protective covers when occupying an inserted position at the blade-receiving opening, and wherein the protective covers include sensors configured to be activated by the members when engaged by the endward portions of the blade holder tool, the sensors providing an indication of presence of the blade holder tool in the inserted position, the indication used by a controller of the sharpener unit to enable the sharpening operation.