AU748459B2

AU748459B2 - An in-line skate

Info

Publication number: AU748459B2
Application number: AU32357/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Roger Fowle
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-06-02
Filing date: 1999-05-31
Publication date: 2002-06-06
Anticipated expiration: 2019-05-31
Also published as: AU3235799A

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT (Original) APPLICATION NO:

LODGED:

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION LODGED:

ACCEPTED:

PUBLISHED:

RELATED ART: NAME OF APPLICANT: ACTUAL INVENTOR: ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: INVENTION TITLE: ROGER FOWLE

APPLICANT

LORD COMPANY, Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, of 4 Douro Place, West Perth, Western Australia, 6005, AUSTRALIA.

"AN IN-LINE SKATE" DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION NO'S: Australian Provisional Patent Application Number PP3847 filed on June 2, 1998 The following Statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me/us:

TITLE

"AN IN-LINE SKATE" The present invention relates to an in-line skate.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided an in-line skate including a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on a frame, a boot pivotally connected to the frame at a pivot, and interconnecting means disposed between the boot and the frame, the interconnecting means being in operative communication with the boot and with at least one wheel such that when downward pressure is applied to the boot, the boot pivots about the pivot and forward propulsion is transferred by the 10 interconnecting means to the at least one wheel and thereby, in use, to the in-line skate.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a front elevation of an in-line skate in accordance with the present 15 invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the in-line skate of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front perspective view of the in-line skate of Figures 1 and 2; and o Figure 4 is a perspective view of a rear portion of the in-line skate of Figures 1 to 3 showing a mechanism of the skate to an enlarged scale.

In the drawings, there is shown an in-line skate 10 including a plurality of wheels 12, 12a mounted in line to a frame 14.

A boot member 16 is mounted on top of the frame 14. The frame 14 includes a first side plate 18 disposed below the boot member 16 and a second side plate 20 disposed to one side of the boot member 16.

The side plates 18 and 20 are disposed parallel to one another and are provided with an axle 22 which extends transversely through the side plates 18 and A front region of the boot member 16 is provided with a pair of spaced depending flanges 24. The flanges 24 are mounted about the axle 22 and are pivotal thereabout.

A central longitudinally extending flange 26 is disposed below a heel region of the boot 16. A connecting rod 28 is pivotally connected to the flange 26.

A driving wheel in the form of a first gearwheel 30 is rotatably mounted in the frame 14. The connecting rod 28 is pivotally and eccentrically connected to the first gearwheel 30 by means of a pin 32. The pin 32 forms an interference fit with a 10 transverse aperture in the first gearwheel 'The first gearwheel 30 meshes with a smaller first intermediate gearwheel 34 which is arranged for rotation with a second intermediate gearwheel 36 of similar size to the first gearwheel 30. The intermediate gearwheels 34 and 36 are also rotatably mounted in the frame 14.

15 The second intermediate gearwheel 36 meshes with a smaller second gearwheel 38 which is mounted adjacent a one way clutch 39, the second gearwheel 38 through the one way clutch 39 engaging drive to wheel 12a which is third from the front of the in-line skate The one way clutch 39 may be a simple trouble free component which looks like a normal sealed bearing. However, it has an internal arrangement which allows for free rotation in one direction but causes locking up if rotated in the opposite direction.

The one way clutch 39 allows the gearwheels to apply forward rotation to the wheel 12a on a downward stroke of the boot member 16.

The one way clutch also allows the wheel 12a to free wheel independently in the forward direction so that the in-line skate 10 may coast. Further, the one way clutch 39 enables the gearwheels to move in a counter rotation direction when the boot member 16 is raised, the counter rotation direction being opposite to the rotation direction during a downward stroke.

Preferably, all wheels and gearwheels are mounted on low friction bearings which allow them to rotate or spin very freely.

The in-line skate 10 also includes biasing means in the form of a spring assembly 41.

The spring assembly 41 includes a coil spring 42 extending upwardly from a bar 44 ii.: 10 extending transversely between the plates 18 and 20 of the frame 14. An upper end of the spring 42 is in contact with a cross member 43 of a T-assembly 46. A plate includes flanges 48 projecting downwardly from the plate 50, the flanges 48 being provided with apertures 45 for pivotably receiving the cross member 43. The plate is affixed to an underneath region of the boot member 16 rearwardly of the mounting 15 of the flanges 24 and forwardly of the mounting of the connecting rod 28. The Tassembly 46 includes a downwardly depending rod 47 which extends through the coil spring 42 and protrudes from beneath the bar 44. The amount of upward travel of the rod 47 is limited by a restraining member in the form ofa restraining pin (not shown).

Washers 49 may be provided intermediate the cross member 43 and the spring 42.

The arrangement is such that downward pressure applied to the boot 16 is transferred to the T-assembly 46 by virtue of the plate 50 and the flanges 48. This, in turn, causes the spring 42 to compress between the T-assembly 46 and the bar 44, and the restraining pin and a lower portion of the rod 47 to move downwardly away from the bar 44. When downward pressure is released from the boot 16, the spring 42 urges the T-assembly 46 to move upwards and the restraining pin and the lower portion of the rod 47 to move towards the bar 44 until the restraining pin contacts the bar 44. It will be appreciated that the location of the restraining pin relative to the rod 47 determines the maximum permitted distance of the T-assembly 46 from the bar 44.

The position of the restraining pin is also chosen so that the pin 32 on the gearwheel is prevented from moving overcentre and so that a downward stroke of the boot transfers maximum torque to the gearwheel In addition to or as an alternative to positioning the restraining pin so as to limit rotation of the gearwheel 30 and ensure that maximum torque is transferred to the first :10 gearwheel 30, a stop member could be provided on the one of the gearwheels, in this example on the first gearwheel 30, the stop member contacting the axle of rear most °o °0 S.i wheel 12 when downward pressure is released from the boot 16 so as to thereby S.prevent the first gearwheel 30 from moving overcentre.

o° Further, the frame 14 has a front frame portion and a rear frame portion 52 which is 15 pivotally connected to the front frame portion at a pivot 55. The rear frame portion has plates 54 and 56 corresponding to the plates 18 and 20 respectively. The plates 54 and 56 of the rear frame portion 52 carry the rearmost wheel 12 and the wheel 12a.

Further, the plates 54 and 56 of the rear frame portion 52 extend forwardly and, in this example, are pivotally mounted about the same axis as the first and second intermediate gearwheels 34, 36. The pivotable mounting of the rear frame member 52 enables the rearmost wheel 12 and the wheel 12a to move in separate arcs independently of the remaining wheels 12 to give the in-line skate 10 an element of suspension for travel over rough ground. Further, in order to ensure that the bulk of the downward pressure would be on the wheel 12a, a biasing arrangement, for example a spring, may be accommodated on the in-line skate 10 so as to bias a frontmost portion of the rear frame portion 52 and thereby the wheel 12a away from the boot 16. Having the two rearmost wheels 12, 12a able to move in separate arcs and biasing the wheel 12a away from the boot 16 ensures that the wheel 12a maintains firm traction with the ground whilst the in-line skate is travelling over rough terrain.

Further, as can be seen in Figure 1, the drive mechanism is accommodated between the frame members 18 and 20. The boot 16 shown in Figure 1 is a right boot so that the plate 20, which is disposed to one side of the boot 16, is outermost in use. This reduces the possibility of a user accidentally causing the frames 14 of the in-line skates 10 to contact one another in use.

In use, the in-line skate 10 is worn by a user in a normal manner. In order to obtain forward propulsion, downward pressure is applied to the connecting rod 28 by a heel of the user. This causes the connecting rod 28 to be move downwardly towards the frame 14 and to cause axial rotation of the first gearwheel 30. This causes simultaneous axial rotation of the first intermediate gearwheel 34 and thus the second intermediate gearwheel 36.

The axial rotation of the second intermediate gearwheel 36 causes the second gearwheel 38 to rotate axially. Axial rotation of the second gearwheel 38 also causes the wheel 12a to rotate and impart forward drive to the in-line skate 10. Movement of the connecting rod 28 also results in compression of the spring 42. The drive ratio from the second gearwheel 38 to the wheel 12a is 1:1.

When the downward heel pressure is removed the boot 16 pivots about the axle 22, and is urged to move upwardly away from the frame 14 under upward pressure exerted by the compressed spring 42 until the heel region of the boot 16 locates in an elevated position as shown in the drawings. Depression of the heel region and the connecting rod 28 and the corresponding imparting of forward drive to the in-line skate may be repeated as often as required.

The boot member 16 may be arranged to be locked down to the frame 14 via a locking pin (not shown). In this condition, the one way clutch 39 allows the in-line skate 10 to be used in a conventional manner.

It will be appreciated that the gearwheels 30, 34, 36, and 38 may be covered, for example by a plastic shroud, so as to protect the gearwheels from dirt or foreign :10 material and prevent access to the gearwheels by a user.

It will also be appreciated that the size and number of intermediate gearwheels between the first gearwheel 30 and the second gearwheel 38 is dependent on the desired gear ratio, and although two intermediate gearwheels 34 and 36 are shown in the above described embodiment, other arrangements are envisaged. For example, 15 the first gearwheel 30 could mesh directly with the second gearwheel 38 or the number of and/or the size of the intermediate gearwheels could be altered as appropriate. It is also envisaged that one driving wheel may be provided in place of the gearwheels, the wheel 12a being mounted on the same axle as the wheel 12a so that downward movement of the connecting rod imparts forward drive directly to the wheel 12a.

Modifications and variations such as would be apparent to the skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An in-line skate comprising a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on a frame, a boot pivotally connected to the frame at a pivot, and interconnecting means disposed between the boot and the frame, the interconnecting means being in operative communication with the boot and with at least one wheel, the interconnecting means including a one way clutch such that when downward pressure is applied to the boot, the boot pivots about the pivot and forward propulsion is transferred by the interconnecting means to the at least one wheel and thereby, in use, to the in-line skate. 0%

2. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interconnecting means further comprises a connecting rod pivotally connected to the boot and eccentrically 15 pivotally connected to a driving wheel in operative communication with the said at least one wheel.

3. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 2, wherein the driving wheel is a first gearwheel, and the interconnecting means further comprises a second gearwheel in operative communication with the first gearwheel, the second gearwheel being disposed on the same axis as the said at least one wheel.

4. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 3, wherein the interconnecting means further comprises at least a first intermediate gearwheel disposed between the first 9 gearwheel and the second gearwheel, the first intermediate gearwheel being in operative communication with the first and second gearwheels. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 4, wherein the interconnecting means further comprises a second intermediate gearwheel, the first and second intermediate gearwheels being mounted on a common axle, the first intermediate gearwheel meshing with the first gearwheel and being smaller in diameter than the first gearwheel and the second intermediate gearwheel meshing with the second gearwheel and being larger in diameter than both the first intermediate gearwheel and the second gearwheel.

6. An in-line skate as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5, whereby a stop member is disposed on one of the gearwheels, the stop member being adapted to :restrict rotation of the said one of the gearwheels so as to thereby prevent the 15 connecting rod from moving overcentre of the driving wheel. o*o*

7. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 6, wherein the stop member is provided on the first gearwheel and the stop member is configured such that the stop member contacts a rear wheel axle of the in-line skate to thereby prevent the connecting rod from moving overcentre of the first gear wheel.

8. An in-line skate as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, the in-line skate having a first biasing means adapted to bias the boot away from the frame.

9. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first biasing means comprises a spring assembly disposed between the boot and the frame. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 7, wherein the spring assembly comprises a spring, a rod pivotally connected to the boot and extending downwardly through the spring, and a bar disposed on the frame, the bar having an aperture for receiving the rod and the bar acting against the spring so as to bias the boot away from the frame.

11. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 8, wherein an end of the rod remote from 10 the boot comprises a restraining member adapted to restrict upward movement of the rod relative to the bar. o S"12. An in-line skate as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the S. frame comprises a forward frame portion and a rear frame portion, the rear frame 15 portion including the interconnecting means and the rear frame portion being pivotable relative to the front frame portion.

13. An in-line skate as claimed in claim 12, further comprising second biasing means for biasing the rear frame portion to pivot such that the said at least one wheel is biased away from the boot and thereby, in use, towards the ground.

14. An in-line skate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings. 11 DATED THIS 9TH DAY OF APRIL 2002 1 jLcr~ 4 ROGER FOWLE By his Patent Attorneys LORD COMPANY PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Si S. 55 S. S. S S S S. S S S

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