A water draining, stable grip 2 piece blade guard. Designed to universally fit all ice skate styles and sizes.
To design a two piece blade guard that uses springs to fasten together. Avoiding existing patents, design and create a guard that can compete with and outperform the Guardog ‘Top Notch’ guard.
SFR has a soft feel brand presence, focussing on functionality. 3-part silicone injection moulding techniques were also worth investigating.
When exploring the brief, it was vital to fins areas that were critical to the products functionality, as well as unique selling points to make it competitive.
Designing both a unique and function tread.
Using different material thicknesses to ensure flexibility.
Creating a universal fit for all ice skates, including figure and hockey skates.
Using water outlets to allow water to drain from the skate blade and to prevent rust.
Having unique front and back ends to help users know which was around to place them, and differ from competitors.
SFR is known not only as a strong brand in the ice skating world, but also in sports protection. Building off of SFRs success in both these areas there was a clear opportunity to develop protection for the ice skate blades, as well as ensuring users do not slip on the ice.
For the product to work, have water outlet points, and keep costs at the required price point, a 3-piece injection mould was used.
It was important to keep a constant dialogue with the manufacturer when designing the blade guards. we wanted to make sure the product would remain within budget, and draw on the expertise in the field to ensure the best possible finished product from the injection moulding process.
Considerations needed to be made regarding how the guard would be orientated to make sure that sections of the mould would not collide.
Draft angles were used to guarantee that the product would be able to be easily removed from the mould.
Ridges and holes to allow water to leave the guard.
One issue that many skaters have when using guards is that water can remain within, causing rust and smells to begin. With this guard we added holes to allow the water to run through the skate. To help prevent water build up within ridges were added to help guide the water flow, especially when inserting or removing the skate blade.
A unique tread pattern and independent front and rear ends.
1. To help signify the different front and rear, a heel grip was added as well as accents to the design such as the cut out flick at the back and a point at the front.
2. The blade guards available on the market all had similar tread patterns that consisted of a single depth linear pattern. I designed a multi level tread that changes depth, spacing and length. This gives users more stability when walking in the blades both on and off the ice.
3. Many complaints from users of previous blade guards were that they did not have different front and rear ends. This mean that they did not quite fit the skate correctly. The front of the blade guard was given a shorter height to ensure it would fit all skates universally.
Designing flex points to help users apply and remove the skate and give users a guide for cutting.
Blade guards can be difficult to put on and remove. Differing material thickness meant the guard could be flexible where it is needed most, to allow users to easily remove and apply the guards. Within the design small cut outs were made. These points allow users to measure their skate and use these points to cut the guard to size. The cut outs allows for the users to have a visual point on where to cut but also hold a blade or scissors in place when cutting.
A rust preventing, sturdy, universal skate, that is easy to use.
The SFR 2-Piece Blade Guard has become a must have for ice skaters and hockey players. Coming in a range of colours and smells that can be cut down to fit any size of skate, using the top indents as cutting guides. The unique tread design prevents slipping in all directions. The water outlets have ridges to direct water to allow water to escape to help prevent the blades rusting while the soft edges can help stop blunting when walking. With the indentations and cutting guide holes, these guards are able to flex to fit around your blade.
