Automatic blade holder

Abstract

The method is for profiling blades with a belt grinding profiling machine. The blades are mounted into a vise. A vertical position of the template is adjusted by rotating the rotatable knob. The motor is turned on to rotate the grinding belt over the grinding wheel. The guide wheel engages the underside profile of the template. The guide wheel of the template guides movement of the grinding wheel mounted on the common axle by moving the guide wheel along the underside profile of the template. The grinding belt grinds material off the underside of the blade until a portion of the underside profile of the template is copied to the underside of the blade.

1 .- 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A method of profiling one or more ice skate blades held by a profiling apparatus, the method comprising:
 causing a first hub of the profiling apparatus to move in a direction transverse to a longitudinal direction of the one or more ice skate blades to contact and to follow at least a profile of a template held by the profiling apparatus;   causing a second hub of the profiling apparatus to move in conjunction with the first hub, the second hub being in a spaced apart relationship relative to the first hub in a second direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the one or more ice skate blades; and   causing an abrasive belt to rotate about the second hub to remove ice-contacting material from the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades to apply the profile of the template onto at least a portion of an ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades as the one or more ice skate blades move in the longitudinal direction of the one or more ice skate blades.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises causing the first hub to follow the profiling surface of the template without rolling as the rotating abrasive belt removes material from the at least a portion of the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises causing the first hub to roll along the entire profiling surface of the template once the abrasive belt no longer removes material from the at least a portion of the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades and the profile of the template has been copied onto the at least a portion of the one or more ice skate blades. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises a preparation operation preceding the profiling of the one or more ice skate blades to determine an amount of the material to be removed from the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades during the profiling operation. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein, during the preparation operation, a motor configured for driving the abrasive belt is deactivated such that the abrasive belt does not remove material from the at least a portion of the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the preparation operation comprises reciprocating the blade holder along the longitudinal direction of the apparatus to obtain a visual indication of an amount of the material to be removed from the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades during the profiling operation. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first hub does not to roll along the at least a portion of the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades to denote that material will be removed from said portion during the profiling operation as a visual indication of an amount of the material to be removed from the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades during the profiling operation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first hub rolls along a remaining portion of the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades to denote that material will not be removed from said remaining portion during the profiling operation as a visual indication of an amount of the material to be removed from the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades during the profiling operation. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises restricting motion of the blade holder along the longitudinal direction of the apparatus as the blade holder is reciprocated. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the motion of the blade holder is restricted by a guiding mechanism. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises restricting motion of the first hub along the second transverse direction to the longitudinal direction of the apparatus as the first hub contacts and follows the profiling surface of the template. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises restricting motion of the second hub along the second transverse direction to the longitudinal direction of the apparatus as the second hub moves in conjunction with the first hub. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the motion of the first hub and the second hub are restricted by a guiding mechanism. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises adjusting a position of the template in the template holder in at least one of the longitudinal direction of the apparatus and the second transverse direction of the apparatus with a positioning mechanism. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises adjusting a position of the template in the template holder in both the longitudinal direction of the apparatus and the second transverse direction of the apparatus with a positioning mechanism. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises locking the position of the template in the template holder with a positioning mechanism. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises adjusting a position of the first hub relative to the profiling surface of the template with an adjustment mechanism. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises adjusting a position of the profiling surface of the template relative to the ice-contacting surface of the one or more ice skate blades with an adjustment mechanism. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method comprises pivoting the blade holder about the longitudinal direction of the apparatus between a first position for loading the one or more ice skate blades in the blade holder or unloading the one or more ice skate blades from the blade holder and a second position for profiling the one or more ice skate blades. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the method further comprises locking the blade holder in the second position. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises clamping the one or more ice skate blades in the blade holder with a clamping mechanism.