Land vehicles – Skates – Wheeled skate
Patent
1997-10-22
2000-08-22
Camby, Richard M.
Land vehicles
Skates
Wheeled skate
280 1128, A63L 100
Patent
active
061059773
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a roller contrivance intended for at least one foot, such as a roller skate, skateboard, roller ski or the like, comprising a base frame and at least one row of mutually sequential rollers mounted on said frame.
A conventional roller skate includes two pairs of rollers fixed to the base frame. In order to change direction when skating on roller skates of this kind, the skater must lift at least one roller pair of each skate so as to be able to turn his/her feet. In recent years, there has been developed another type of roller skate which includes a series of rollers attached mutually sequentially beneath the skate shoe, i.e. so-called roller blades. The rollers of such skates are also fixed in the longitudinal direction. This type of roller skates, which typically include four or five rollers, afford a slightly more rigid skating action, wherein the foot must be lifted slightly higher each time the skating direction is corrected. This is compensated for by the fact that the narrow, blade-like array of rollers are more similar to the blade or runner of a conventional ice skate, wherein the method of skating is very similar to conventional ice-skating, much more so than with the older roller skates in which the rollers are arranged in pairs, despite the difficulty in steering the roller blades in motion.
One important difference between roller-skating and conventional ice-skating is that the friction generated between the rollers and the solid undersurface is considerably higher than the friction generated between the blade of an ice skate and the ice. It is easy to skid on ice skates, i.e. to slide laterally to the direction of travel, which is not possible to achieve on roller skates because of the friction generated between rollers and underlying surface. Consequently, it is not possible to achieve with known roller skates the elegance and self-assurance that can be achieved with ice skates. Added to this is the difficulty of stopping abruptly in a controllable fashion, since it is not possible to skid to an abrupt stop on roller skates. Present-day roller blades normally have a rubber brake block on the heel of the shoe, which can be brought into contact with the underlying surface by inclining the shoe rearwardly, therewith to obtain a braking effect.
Another essential difference between conventional ice skates and roller skates is the impossibility of starting from a stationary position on a flat surface and skating backwards when wearing known roller skates. Skating backwards is an important part of the technique employed by ice-hockey players and bandy players during the game. Backward skating is also an important feature in figure skating. The only way of moving "backwards" on traditional roller skates is to jump up when moving forwards and twist the body and the skates through 180.degree.. This is very difficult to achieve, besides being risky, and does not enable the skater to increase rearward speed on a flat skating surface.
What has been discussed in the aforegoing with regard to known roller skates also applies to a large extent to conventional skateboards, which are normally provided with two pairs of wheels fixed in the longitudinal direction of the board.
An object of the present invention is to provide a roller contrivance which is intended for use with at least one foot, for instance a roller skate, skateboard, roller ski or like contrivance that has improved maneuverability and which enables directional changes to be made when moving forwards or backwards.
Another object is to provide a roller skate on which a skater is able to skate more like the manner of a conventional ice skate than was previously possible with roller skates.
Another object is to provide a roller skate with which the skater is able to skate backwards in essentially the same way as that permitted by a conventional ice skate.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a roller skate that has a brake function which is coupled to the rollers such as to come into force when the skat
REFERENCES:
patent: 3484116 (1969-12-01), Allen
patent: 4838564 (1989-06-01), Jarvis
patent: 5085445 (1992-02-01), Boyden
patent: 5397138 (1995-03-01), Mangelsdorf
Bengtsson Kent
Swande Jerker
Camby Richard M.
Orebroskenan Aktiebolag
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