Resilient tires and wheels – Spring wheels – Deformable ground engaging part
Patent
1993-02-05
1995-02-14
Stormer, Russell D.
Resilient tires and wheels
Spring wheels
Deformable ground engaging part
280842, 152 12, 152276, 152301, 301 53, B60C 710, B60C 722
Patent
active
053886232
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to elastic wheels each provided with a tire part which can be elastically deformed in a direction perpendicular to that of the running rotation of the wheel during the running thereof and to a pair of skis provided with the elastic wheels.
Various kinds of sporting goods have been hitherto developed for an operator to slide down a slope without snow or slide on the ground without snow, using a technique similar to that of skiing. One of the typical ones is a so-called pair of roller skis each having wheels rotatably attached to the front of and at the back of a mount on which a ski boot is placed or to the bottom surface thereof, and the running function of the rotating wheels is utilized to provide the function of sliding down a slope or sliding on the ground similarly to the function of the ski.
If a skier slides down a slope wearing such roller skis and attempts to operate them with a technique similar to that of the original skis on snow, it is necessary to apply a strong force on the roller wheels in the direction perpendicular to the running direction of the wheels and, at the same time, make them shift (sideslip) in the direction perpendicular to the running direction. However, since the ordinary wheels are rotated about the wheel shaft, the running direction is limited to that perpendicular to the wheel shaft. The shifting of the wheels in the direction perpendicular to that of the running rotation thereof generally damages the running property of the wheels and causes significant damage to the tire parts.
This has brought about the development of a wheel having a tire part made of an elastic material such as a rubber material and provided at the ends of the outer periphery thereof with edges (For example, refer to JP-B-61-59745). This means that the wheel is devised to positively cause a sideslip to easily allow a turning motion and, at the same time, to cause the edges to produce a braking operation to make the turning motion sharper.
However, since the sideskipping motion utilizing such a normal elastic deformation of the tire part can provide neither a sufficient turning ability nor a rapid braking and stopping motion, use of the above-described wheels for skis is difficult.
Further, another pair of roller skis have been developed in which, in order to facilitate a turning motion of the roller skis during the running thereof, each entire roller wheel is elastically supported so that application of a load causes the wheel shaft of the roller wheel to be inclined (For example, refer to JP-B-52-24901 and JP-B-53-22494).
However, such an inclination of the wheel shaft of the roller shaft during the running thereof provides an extraordinarily unstable running motion which causes the rider to easily fall down. Particularly, use of the pair of roller skis as a pair of skis is dangerous for a rider who slides down a slope at a high speed.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made in view of the points as described above and aims at providing a pair of roller skis which exhibits a running ability similar to and with a technique similar to those in the case of operating a pair of normal skis used on snow.
The inventors relating to the present application have learned that a pair of roller skis can be turned and stopped similarly to a pair of normal skis by causing the tire part of the roller wheel to produce a transversal shift in the direction perpendicular to the running direction of the wheel shaft. Hereupon, in order to achieve the object as described above, the inventors have developed an elastic wheel which facilitates the shift of the wheel in the direction perpendicular to the running direction thereof and has superior turning and braking functions.
The elastic wheel according to the invention is characterized in that the wheel comprises a wheel supporting means having a circular rim part formed on and around the outer periphery thereof, and a tire part mounted on the circular rim part of the wheel supporting means and being elasti
REFERENCES:
patent: 1214137 (1917-01-01), Clawson
patent: 1500137 (1924-07-01), Dade
patent: 1636483 (1927-07-01), Nielsen
patent: 1682899 (1928-09-01), Fletcher
patent: 1887019 (1932-11-01), Hart
patent: 2436844 (1948-03-01), Wells
patent: 2766802 (1956-10-01), Gzobowski
patent: 3380779 (1968-04-01), Albright
Hiroi Hisao
Homma Akira
Homma Susumu
Sato Hiroshi
Homma Science Corporation
Stormer Russell D.
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