Some new invention. I am a bit skeptic how well this really works. I believe it will not polish the edges which are actually used. Polishing the areas which does not even contact to ice does not make sense. If they are able to polish edges, they must have genius invention not to round the edges while polishing. My assumption is that this may work on hockey skates with very flat hollows.
I have sent them some questions, but they never replied to me. Perhaps I asked too difficult questions when I requested high quality pictures from the polished figure skate blades and explanation how they prevent rounding of the edges. I asked also price. Rumors says that this device costs several thousands $.
https://diamond-sharp.com/en/diamond-sharp-en/
https://youtu.be/o7ece2JuZV0
* According to their website (
https://diamond-sharp.com/en/diamond-sharp-en/): "With the
patented Mirror Sharp polishing machine, we have started a revolution in grinding." <<Emphasis added.>> The principals in the company are listed as Carsten Brunet and Markus Lausberg. Since the website proudly boasts, "Diamond Sharp - Mirror Sharp: The Revolution Made in
Germany" <<Emphasis added.>>, I searched the patent database of the European Patent Organization (EPO). I searched under each principal's name separately and came up with this one relevant result:
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/073198196/publication/EP3819081A1?q=pn%3DEP3819081A1. They have filed patent applications with the German Patent and Trademark Office and with the EPO. Neither application has issued as a patent; they are both pending, according to the information on the EPO site as of this date.
* The applications are in German. My German is really rusty, so I punted to the English machine translation provided by the EPO (machine translations to other European languages are provided as well). This is purely a goodwill service for convenience of patent searchers,
not an official translation.
* Here are the English machine translations of the first three claims from the EPO published application:
1.
Transportable device (1) for processing a surface (2), in particular the running surface, comprising a blade (3), in particular an ice skate blade an electric drive, arranged in a housing (4) designed in particular as a portable and/or rollable case, for rotating a surface treatment agent (5) mounted rotatably in the housing (4) and designed as a polishing wheel
and a control device (11) arranged in the housing (4) and having actuating means for controlling the drive of the surface treatment means (5),
characterized in that the surface treatment means (5) has a treatment zone (17) in the area of the circumference, which comprises a cross-sectional area with a slope and/or a taper (20) and/or a chamfer and/or a rounding (21).
2.
Device (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the surface treatment agent (5) comprises a textile fiber material such as felt, in particular containing wax and/or a diamond additive, such as diamond dust, or made of textile fiber material such as felt, in particular containing wax is formed.
3.
Device (1) according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the processing zone (17) of the surface processing means (5) is slightly narrower than the width of the runner or than the distance between the runner edges (26), so that during the surface processing of the runner (3) the edges (26) of the runner (3) remain unprocessed.
* My summary of key points. The independent claim 1 (broadest scope claim) does not place any limitation on whether or not the edges are polished. The dependent claim 3 (narrower scope) specifies the thickness of the polishing wheel to be narrower than the distance between the inside and outside edges of the blade such that the edges are
not polished. The dependent claim 2 (narrower scope) specifies a polishing wheel made at least in part of textile fibers, such as felt. The felt is treated with wax, diamond abrasive, or a combination of wax and diamond abrasive.
* When I have time, I'll read through the entire application to see whether they discuss polishing the edges themselves. But I agree that polishing
only surfaces that do
not contact the surface of the ice is a waste of time.
ETA1: I've read through the application. They do not address polishing the edges. On the contrary, they claim that it's preferable
not to polish the edges such that they stay sharp. English machine translation of Paragraph [0042] of the Description:
[0042]
A lateral view of the polishing wheel 5 resting on the skid 3 can be seen in Fig.
2C can be removed.
During the machining of the runner surface 2, the disk 5 rotates at at least 3,000 rpm, and the runner 3 is guided along the polishing disk 5 in a horizontal direction, preferably in the opposite direction, i. H. so that processing zone 17 and skid 3 have opposite directions of movement during processing.
A polishing paste 22 can be used between the runner 3 and the disk 5 .
A particularly good result in the surface treatment of the runner 3 is achieved when the polishing wheel 5 is a little narrower than the distance between the runner edges 26.The effect of this is that the runner edges 26 are not processed during the finishing process, the edges 26 thereby remain “sharp” and the runner 3 becomes “more sharp-edged”. <<Emphasis added. Not clear to me what "more sharp-edged" means. That could be a machine translation issue. I'll check the original when I have time. ETA2: Yep, the runner is sharper if you choose not to dull the edges by polishing them. Imagine that!!!>>
This measure means that the runner 3 has better gliding properties with regard to cornering stability and/or changes in direction or load.