EP1523375A1

EP1523375A1 - Sole plate for skate

Info

Publication number: EP1523375A1
Application number: EP03765139A
Authority: EP
Inventors: René Borel; Shane Coburn; Dustin Latimer
Original assignee: Salomon SAS
Current assignee: Powerslide Sportartikelvertriebs GmbH
Priority date: 2002-07-18
Filing date: 2003-07-10
Publication date: 2005-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2023-07-10
Also published as: CN1298401C; EP1523375B1; AU2003263280A1; CN1668361A; US6902173B2; US20040012163A1; WO2004009192A1; DE60331835D1

Abstract

The invention relates to a skate comprising a sole plate consisting of a lower wheel-bearing longitudinal member (10) which extends in the longitudinal axis of the sole plate. According to the invention, each end of the aforementioned longitudinal member (10) is provided with a housing which is defined by two lateral walls (11, 12, 13, 14) and a wheel (16, 17) is assembled therebetween, mounted on an axle (18, 19). In addition, the longitudinal member is provided with a lower arch (24) which is disposed between the above-mentioned wheel housings and which is defined by a dished surface that is set back in relation to the line defined by the points of contact between the two wheels and a level bearing surface. The invention is characterised in that the length of the arch (24) is equal to or greater than a third of the distance between the two wheel axles which are disposed at either end of the longitudinal member.

Description

SKATE CHASSIS

The invention relates to a roller skate, in particular a skate suitable for making figures.

Such a skate is known for a so-called aggressive practice where the skater performs sliding or jumping figures over obstacles that are made available to him by the street and urban furniture, in particular the edges of sidewalks or concrete walls, ramps of staircase, benches.

Patent application EP 891 794 describes a skate for such a practice.

It includes a frame surmounted by a shell and a slipper for the skater's foot.

The chassis has two elongated and parallel wings forming a groove in which are mounted four wheels arranged in line. Between the two middle wheels, the wings of the chassis are hollowed out to form a sort of arch oriented transversely to the longitudinal direction defined by the chassis.

The skater uses this arch to slide for example along a curb or a stair railing with his skate across. The arch is used as a guide support during a sliding phase and as an impulse support during a jump. Two other support areas of the skate are also used to make figures. These are the two corner surfaces delimited by the sole of the shell, or the support plate of the shoe, and the wings of the chassis on the external and internal sides. Whenever the skater does not roll, but slides with one of the parts of the skate, we speak of 'grind'. When this slide takes place in the area separating the two central wheels, we speak of 'royal grind'.

As far as the arch is concerned, its length and height dimensions are relatively small, given its location between the middle wheels. Therefore the possibilities of evolution of the skater are relatively limited and in general the skater slides while maintaining his skate transversely to the edge or the ramp.

An object of the invention is to improve these possibilities of evolution and to give more fluidity in the figures produced by the skater.

For this, the invention proposes a shoe having a chassis with a lower wheel support spar extending in the longitudinal direction defined by the chassis, the spar having a housing at each of its ends delimited by two side walls between which is assembled. a wheel mounted on an axle, and the spar having between the wheel housings a lower arch delimited by a curved surface recessed with respect to a line defined by the points of contact of the two wheels on a flat surface, and characterized by the fact that the arch extends over a length equal to or greater than one third of the distance between the two wheel axles. On the other hand, the vault is characterized by its geometry which ensures a deflector function so that when the skater is in the 'grind' position he can rotate 180 ° while remaining in contact with the ramp and without the wheels do not touch it. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the function of the deflector is ensured by the presence of extensions provided at the end of the arch and which cover the lower part of the wheels located towards the inside of the spar.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the geometry of the arch is such that if one fictitiously extends it in the direction of each of the two wheels, the line thus produced passes under the wheels. Preferably, the fictitious line is substantially tangent to the periphery of the wheels, while passing below.

The invention will be better understood by referring to the description below and to the attached drawings which are attached to it.

Figure 1 shows a side view of a shoe according to a first embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom view of the wheel support spar.

Figure 2a is a front view of the wheel support spar.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the spar of FIG. 2.

Figure 4 shows a side view of a beam according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the beam of FIG. 4.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a beam according to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the shoe associated with the spar of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the assembly of the shoe and the beam of FIGS. 6 and 7.

The shoe 1 shown in FIG. 1 comprises in its upper part a shell 2 designed to receive a shoe.

The shell has a support plate 3 which is designed to receive a shoe sole and a rod 4 which goes up along the skater's ankle.

The skater's foot and shoe are immobilized in the shell by a meta strap 7, a lower leg strap 8 and an instep strap 9. The straps 7, 8 and 9 are optionally furnished with padding cushions.

The shell is made of any suitable material, and in particular of plastic material possibly loaded with fibers.

The construction which has just been described is not limiting, and instead of a shell provided for receiving a shoe, one could have a rigid cradle with a flexible liner in which the skater puts his foot directly. Other construction methods may still be suitable.

Referring to Figure 1, under the hull is a side member 10 for supporting the wheels.

The spar 10 extends longitudinally along the hull continuously over substantially its entire length. At each of its ends, the beam 10 has a housing limited by two side walls 11, 12 and 13, 14. A wheel 16, 17 is housed in each of the housings, and it is mounted on an axis 18, 19 carried by the side walls of the spar. The wheel is of any suitable nature. Preferably its diameter is relatively small. Good results have been obtained with wheels from 54 to 58 millimeters in diameter, but this is not limiting. Since there are only two wheels and no longer four, the surface available for the 'grind' is more important.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the height of the spar is slightly less than the diameter of the wheel and the axis of the wheel is preferably placed towards the middle of the height of the spar at a projection of the side walls for the wheels are released from the side member towards the front and rear of the shoe.

In addition, preferably, the spar has lower extensions 20, 21 which are flush with the surface defined by the contact lines between the wheels and the ground. In this way the spar provides reduced ground clearance towards the two ends of the spar. More specifically for the illustrated embodiment, the extensions extend to the wheels so as to wrap the lower part of the wheels located towards the inside of the spar. These extensions are deflectors which avoid contact of the wheels with the 'grind' surface, which may for example be a ramp. Preferably, the extensions have on each side of the wheels chamfered sections 20a, 20b, 21a, 21b, respectively to avoid contact between these extensions and the ground during the inclination of the pad.

FIG. 2a shows a front view of the beam 10 showing the angle of inclination of the chamfered faces 20a, 20b. Their inclination approaches the tangent 60 defined by the extension of the line of possible contacts between the wheel and the ground. So the transition between ground / wheel contact and ground / grind surface contact is much smoother. In the present case the chamfered sides are substantially parallel to the tangent line 60 but have an elevation greater than the latter so as not to hinder the angle taken during rolling.

Between the two extensions 20 and 21, the lower face 24 of the spar describes a vault delimited by a curved surface recessed relative to a line defined by the contact points of the two wheels on a flat surface.

According to the illustrated embodiment, the curvature of the vault 24 is not constant, it has a curved surface in its middle part and planar, or substantially planar, surfaces inclined towards each of its ends. However, this is not limiting and the radius of curvature could vary along the vault or be constant throughout the latter. Similarly, the vault could be non-symmetrical with respect to its middle part.

According to the illustrated embodiment, the curved surface of the middle part of the arch corresponds to the top 24a of the arch which is slightly below the level of the axes 18, 19 of the wheels. This geometry favors the positioning of the skater on the ramp, when the pad is exactly perpendicular to the ramp, the pad / ramp contact is made at the top 24a of the arch.

Seen from above, the spar preferably has two curved lateral surfaces 26 and 27 which converge towards one another towards the middle of the length of the spar. As for the surface 24, the surfaces 26 and 27 can be of constant curvature or not and be symmetrical or not. These lateral surfaces somehow form lateral arches.

Preferably, a chamfer zone 28, 29 is located at the junction of the arch 24 with the two lateral surfaces 26 and 27. Instead of a chamfer, one could have several successive chamfers with different orientations or even a rounded junction surface. .

The lateral arches and the chamfered areas leave a flat area at the level of the lower arch 24 which is of the order of 20 millimeters at the top 24a. The flat zone extends from the top 24a to the two extensions 20 and 21.

The arch 24, the lateral surfaces 26, 27 are provided to serve as a guide support when the shoe slides, for example along a ramp, with different orientations of the shoe relative to the ramp. Because of the large stride of the vaults relative to the length of the spar, the skater has easier evolution during a figure and support during a jump. The difference between the distance L between the two axes 18, 19, and the longitudinal extension N of the arch 24, is less than the average diameter of the wheels, D. Thus the extensions 20 and 21 cover part of the wheels. The reduced ground clearance at the wheels also improves the possibilities of evolution by facilitating the passage of the wheels over the ramp. The amplitude of the arch considerably increases the possible sliding angle. The skater is no longer limited to the transverse positioning of the skate relative to the ramp. A rotation of 180 ° of the skid relative to the ramp is even possible without the wheels touching the rail. Indeed, the extensions 20 and 21 perform the role of a deflector when the orientation of the spar approaches that of the ramp.

The extensions 20, 21, covering part of the wheels located towards the inside of the spar, provide a wheel fairing function which also has the function of facilitating the transition between the rolling phases, when the wheels are in contact with the ground and "grind" phases, when the spar is in contact with the ground or the "grind" surface

(rail, ramp, edge, etc.). The line 61 of fictitious extension of the contour of the arch 24 is close to being tangent with the line of possible ground / wheel contacts so as to make the transition between the rolling and "grind" phases smoother. In practice, in order not to hinder the rolling phases, the wheel / ground contact is located under the line 61 of extension of the arch 24.

According to the embodiment shown, the extensions 20, 21 cover the lower part of the wheels located towards the inside of the spar. However, this is not limiting and the extensions can also be constituted by downward extensions of the side walls 11, 12, 13, 14, ensuring, as for the mode shown, the function of a deflector. The spar is made of any suitable material, and in particular of plastic material possibly loaded with fibers and molded. As illustrated in FIG. 3 for example, the spar can be constructed with a "U" section which defines the wall of the various vaults, with connecting spacers 31, 32 and 33 near the wheels and towards the middle. Other construction methods may also be suitable.

The spar is assembled to the shell 2 or, where appropriate, to a shoe by any suitable means. For example, as shown, the spar is equipped on the front and rear with two shouldered housings 36, 37 located in the areas of spacers 31 and 33 near the wheels. These housings are provided for assembly screws of the shell on the upper part of the spar, possibly in cooperation with complementary forms of interlocking. This assembly method advantageously makes it possible to exchange the element of the skate which receives the skater's foot or shoe. But it is not limiting and other assembly methods could also be suitable, for example the spar and the hull could form a one-piece assembly.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a variant construction of the chassis according to the invention.

As in the previous case, the chassis has a spar 40 fitted with a wheel 41, 42 at each of its ends. The spar has a lower arch 45, two lateral arches 46, 47 and two chamfered zones 48, 49 of junction.

Unlike the previous construction method, the arch extends over only part of the length of the spar. The vault remains however more extensive than the arches used until now for figure skates and the chassis supports only two wheels. To achieve the results expected by the invention, the vaults must extend over a distance greater than a third of the distance between the axes of the wheels and preferably greater than half this distance.

Despite the absence of lower extensions as in the previous embodiment, the deflector function is ensured by the particular geometry of the arch. The arch has a constant curvature and its extension towards the two ends of the longitudinal member draws a fictitious line 43 which is substantially tangent to the periphery of the wheels while being lower than the latter. It is also possible that, as in the previous embodiment, the lower arch has a curved middle zone surrounded by two flat, or substantially flat, and inclined zones.

The lateral arches 46, 47 extend longitudinally as much as the lower arch. This is not, however, limiting and provision can be made for the lateral vaults to extend over a distance different from that of the lower vault.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 show a third embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the chassis provided for fixing two wheels at each of its ends comprises two main parts, a spar 50 and a shoe 51. Figure 6 shows a perspective of the spar 50. As in the previous embodiments, it extends longitudinally and has at each of its ends a housing limited by two side walls. Openings are made in these side walls, which allow the fixing of the wheels. Each of the side walls is also equipped with a vertical mortise 53 in dovetail. The central part of the spar is formed by an arch 52. The spar is made of a plastic material loaded with glass fiber to increase its resistance.

FIG. 7 presents a perspective view of the shoe 51. It comprises two lateral flanks 54 and 55 interconnected on the side of their lower part by a vault 56. The longitudinal extension N of the vault is greater than a third of the distance L separating the two wheel axles. In addition, the vault is extended at each of its ends by extensions 57 and 58 intended to cover a lower part of the wheels. These extensions 57 and 58 provide the deflector function and prevent contact of the wheels with the ramp during a maneuver carried out on the latter. The shoe 51 is made of a material which facilitates sliding, for example Delrin®. This is not limiting and we can choose another material

Figure 8 shows a sectional view of the assembled chassis before it is attached to the shoe. The two wheels were mounted in the spar housings. Then the shoe is slid from below on the spar. Studs 59 projecting from the inner faces of the lateral flanks of the shoe cooperate with the mortises 53 formed in the spar to position and maintain the shoe on the spar. Cylindrical chimneys 60 are produced in the shoe which serve for the insertion of two fixing means (not shown) for attaching the shoe and the spar to the shoe.

In this embodiment of the invention, all the parts of the chassis which come into contact with the surfaces to be grinded consist of the shoe, which is interchangeable. The shoe can thus easily be replaced if it is too worn or if it is desired to modify the sliding properties of the skate. For example, an inexperienced skater will prefer a shoe with limited gliding capabilities. Another advantage of this embodiment lies in the fact that the wheel axles (not shown) are completely hidden by the shoe. There is therefore no risk of damaging the screw heads used for fixing the wheels. In addition, untimely unscrewing of the latter and the loss of a wheel during practice is excluded. The profile of the vault is that of a "v", two substantially flat surfaces frame a curved middle portion. Such a profile gives the skater a reference position, that of a grind direction perpendicular to the alignment of the two wheels and of a contact between the chassis and the ramp being made deep within the arch, ie in its curved middle portion.

Naturally, the present description is given for information only, and other modes of implementing the invention could be adopted without going beyond the scope of the latter.

Claims

1. Skate having a chassis with a lower spar (10, 40) extending in the longitudinal direction defined by the chassis, the spar (10, 40) having at each of its ends a housing delimited by two side walls (11, 12, 13, 14) between which is assembled a wheel of diameter D mounted on an axis (18, 19), a distance L separating the two axes from each other, the spar having a vault between the wheel housings lower (24) bounded by a curved surface set back from a line defined by the contact points of the two wheels on a flat surface, characterized in that the longitudinal extension V of the lower arch (24) is greater than third of the distance L between the two axes (18, 19): V> L / 3

2. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that the longitudinal extension V of the lower arch (24) is greater than the distance L subtracted from the diameter D of the wheel: V> L - D.

3- Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that the spar has two lateral arches (26, 27, 46, 47) which extend over a distance equal to or greater than one third of the distance between the two wheel axles present at each end of the beam.

4- Skate according to claim 3, characterized in that the lower arch (24) and the lateral arches 26, 27 are joined by chamfer zones (28, 29).

5- Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that the beam (10) has lower extensions (20, 21) towards each of its ends.

6- Skate according to claim 5, characterized in that the extensions (20, 21) extend to the level of the wheels (40, 42) of which they surround the lower part.

7- Skate according to claim 6, characterized in that the extensions (20, 21) have chamfered sides (20a, 20b, 21a, 21b) on each side of the wheels.

8- Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that the vault (24) has a continuous curvature.

9- Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that the curvature of the arch (24) varies over its length.

10- Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that the spar has stepped housings (36, 37) provided for its assembly to a shell (2) or a shoe.

11- Skate according to claim 3, characterized in that it has in section a shape of "U" which defines the wall of the various vaults (24, 26, 27) with connecting spacers (31, 32, 33) .

12- Skate according to claim 9, characterized in that the vault has a curved surface in its middle part and flat surfaces and inclined towards each of its ends. 13- Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that the fictitious line (43) extending the arch towards the two ends of the spar passes under each of the two wheels.

14- Skate frame comprising: a spar extending in a longitudinal direction and provided at a first of its ends with a first housing delimited by two side walls between which a wheel of diameter D is assembled, and provided with a second of its ends of a second housing delimited by two side walls between which is assembled a second wheel of diameter D, the fixing axes of the two wheels making a distance between them L, a shoe fixed under the spar, covering at least the lower part the side member located between the first wheel and the second wheel and comprising a lower arch capable of coming into contact with a “grind” surface outside the skate during practice, the longitudinal extension V of the lower arch being greater than a third of the distance L: V> L / 3.

15- Chassis according to claim 14, characterized in that the longitudinal extension V of the lower arch is greater than one third of the distance L subtracted from the diameter of the wheel: V> L - D.

16- Chassis according to claim 15, characterized in that, the shoe and the spar are fixed to the rest of the shoe by means of two fixing means.