Abstract

Hockey players are able to glide on the ice due to a thin layer of water lying between the blade of the skate and the ice itself. When players skate, that thin water layer becomes a ‘snow’. As the players continue to skate, the layer of ‘snow’ becomes thicker and thicker, making the ice harder to skate on due to the increased friction between the skate blade and the ice. The theory of this report is to show how the company Thermablade’s design and concept of the heated hockey skate can be altered to improve the product. Using Faraday’s Law of induction in a basic circuit could implement this theory. Thermablade is an amazing product that broke barriers regarding skate technology, but there may be simpler and cheaper ways to achieve the same end goal of the heated skate blade. This project focuses on the needs of the many numerous hockey players around the world, ie., the cost of the product and the implementation of a new charging device. This would be accomplished by replacing an externally rechargeable battery with a linear generator. The goals for overall performance are to statistically compete with the Thermablade and proper implementation of the system without the user feeling the physical presence of the system within the skate. The product must be 97-99% reliable since the TUUK holder is not easily removable from the boot of the skate. The cost per pair must be $150 because it will make the product more affordable for all players., and if the product is licensed the cost will be much cheaper. Another ECE 498 Design Report Fall 2015 3 major goals fitting the criterion of the project is licensing, if at all possible. The potential of licensing the product would benefit everyone because it would keep the costs down and the product would not have to be sold separately. The weight of the product, when attached to a skate, must be within 10% of the weight of the same skate with a regular TUUK holder attached [18]. The primary design involves Bauer Vapor X60 skates, using the blade as a resistor in a voltage divider to gain the heat needed to bring the blade to 41°F, or the use of a resistive strip, depending on availability, and a linear generator that is very similar to that found in a shake flashlight . There will also be an energy storage component of the device that will hold enough power to sustain the blade’s desired temperature over time.