Land vehicles – Skates – Runner type
Patent
1998-03-12
2000-09-05
Camby, Richard M.
Land vehicles
Skates
Runner type
280 1112, A63C 1700
Patent
active
061131113
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a frame for a sporting device for coupling to a shoe, such as a ski which is slidable or rollable by means of wheels, in particular a cross-country ski, or a skate frame for an ice-skate or roller-skate, which frame comprises: sub-frame for pivoting in a main plane and which is provided with or adapted to be provided with a runner or wheels; and
Such a frame is known for a skate and has been commercially available for many years under the name tumble skate.
The object of such a variable construction is to make the force exerted by the skater on the ice or the ground as great as possible so as to thereby maximize the effectiveness of muscle power and the speed to be thus achieved.
It has been found that while the known skate has the advantage of a very simple construction it is not able to realize the stated objective.
An important cause of this technical deficiency of the known skate lies in the fact that both sub-frames are connected for mutual pivoting in a zone located in the region of the tip of the shoe. While a large pivot angle can thereby be realized, the force to be exerted has an effective point of engagement located so far from the front of the foot that an effective force transfer is illusory.
The invention has for its object to embody a skate frame such that the effectiveness of the force transfer is made as great as possible, on the one hand by choosing, optionally in variable manner, the effective point of engagement of the thrust forces during skating on the basis of physiological and ergonomic considerations and on the other by allowing the user to use the calf-muscles during skating, which is not the case with known, non-variable skates and which is the case to only very small, almost negligible extent with the described known tumble skate.
What is of great importance is that the frame allows the possibility of bending the foot in a manner which is similar to that in a walking movement. This is important for a stable thrust and for the best possible effective use of the relevant muscles. The prior art skates are not capable of this.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In respect of the above the frame according to the invention has the special feature that the sub-frames are mutually pivotable and translatable in the said main plane.
A specific embodiment has the feature that the sub-frames form part of a mechanism comprising at least four mutually pivotable and/or translatable (optionally theoretical) rods. It must be appreciated that the term "rod mechanism" as used above must be interpreted in a broad sense. A translation in a particular direction can for instance be seen as a rotation of an infinitely long rod extending in transverse direction of the translation.
The upper sub-frame can be embodied such that the position of the shoe relative to this upper sub-frame is adjustable. Longitudinal adjusting means can be present for this purpose.
A frame is recommended which has only one degree of freedom.
A degree of freedom is defined as a movement possibility of a mechanism or a connection which can be designated with only one variable, for instance the pivot angle an element can make round a hinged connection. In this case the degrees of freedom are defined in relation to the relative movement possibilities of the upper sub-frame and the lower sub-frame.
The other aspect of the invention relates to the fact that the frame has a (real or virtual) pole path. A pole path is the set of instantaneous centres of rotation or poles of the upper sub-frame relative to the lower sub-frame. Attention is drawn to the fact that for a well-defined pole path the frame may only have one degree of freedom.
The embodiment is recommended in which the pole path is substantially straight.
This latter variant can advantageously have the special feature that the pole path extends substantially horizontally.
At least for sporting devices with foot bending, this latter variant is preferably embodied such that the pole path extends between a starting position under th
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patent: 5588774 (1996-12-01), Dentale
Gierveld Johan
Hol Diederik Hendrik Alewijn
Otten Egbert
Camby Richard M.
Gierveld Beheer B.V.
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