US1924948A

US1924948A - Roller skate

Info

Publication number: US1924948A
Application number: US610956A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward O Lieberenz
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1932-05-12
Filing date: 1932-05-12
Publication date: 1933-08-29
Anticipated expiration: 1950-08-29

Description

Aug. 29, 1933.

E. O. LIEBERENZ ROLLER SKATE Filed May 12,1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 29, 1933. E. ol LIEBERENZ ROLLER SKATE 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 Filed May l2 Patented ug. 29, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a roller skate having driving means connected with the wheels, which is actuated by the weight of the skater each time the skate is placed on the ground after moving the foot forward.

A further object of the invention is to provide a roller skate of a design wherein the same is divided into a foot attached portion and a wheel carrying portion with connecting levers therebetween, and in which-the foot attached portion moves substantially vertically relative to the wheeled portion, for the operation of a gear driving mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not conned to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings but may be changed or modied so long -as such changes or modications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure l is a view in side elevation of a skate constructed in accordance with the present invention, the near wheels thereof being removed and a portion being broken away to show a detail of construction;

Figure 2 is a View in top plan of the skate with the rear half of the platform and the heel supporting plate cut away;

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken substantially upon the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure l.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, it will be seen that the skate is composed of the two

principal units

1 and 2 constituting respectively the foot attached portion and the wheel carrying portion.

The wheel carrying portion 2 of the skate comprises the pair of spaced parallel side beams or plates 3 which are provided at their front and rear ends respectively with the

upstanding ears

4 and 5.

At the forward and rear ends of the beams 3 there extends transversely thereof and therethrough the front and rear axles 6 and '7, these axles turning freely in the openings or apertures of the beams through which they pass. At thel front end of the skate the ends of the axle 6 outwardly of the frame bars or plates 3 pass through

sleeves

8 and 9 and beyond these sleeves the axles have secured thereto the front wheels 10.

Each of the

sleeves

8 and 9 has integral therewith an elongated plate ll which positions against the outer face of the adjacent frame 3 and these plates carry the laterally extending pins 12 which upon their outer ends are threaded to receive a nut 13.

Adjacent each of the plates 1l the side frames carry an outwardly extending ear 14 which is apertured to receive the shank portion 15 of a screw eye 16, the eye of which has the pin 12 extended therethrough. On either side of the ear 14 is a nut 17 and by the adjustment of these nuts 17 upon the shank 15 cf the screw eye the

sleeves

8 and 9 are shifted longitudinally of the frame to shift the axle or shaft 6, the apertures in the frame side members 3 through which the axle 6 passes, being in the form of an elongatedy slot for this purpose.

The sleeve 9 is of slightly less length than the sleeve 8 and there is mounted on the axle 6 and secured thereto between this sleeve and the adjacent Wheel 10, the small sprocket gear 18 which receives driving power for the turning of the axle 6 and wheels 10, in the manner hereinafter more fully described.

Intermediate the ends of the beams 3 there is connectedtherebetween a rotatable power shaft 19. Thisshaft 19 has mounted for free rotation thereon the spur gear 20, with which is integrally formed a sleeve 21 which connects with a disk 22. The disk 22 carries adjacent its periphery and projecting from one face, a pin 23 and mounted upon this pin is a spring pressed pawl 24, The pawl and pin are upon the side of the' disk 22 opposite from the spur gear 20. Mounted upon and secured to the shaft 19 upon the side of the disk 22 upon which the pawl 24 is located, is a ratchet wheel 25, with thev teeth of which the pawl 24 is maintained in constant engagement byv the control spring therefor which is indicated by the numeralY 26.

Upon the end of the shaft 19 which is directly to the rear of the sprocket gear 18, is a large driving sprocket gear 27 and these'sprocket

gears

18 and 27 are connected together by the sprocket chain 28.

The rear ends of the side members 3 of the wheel carrying frame have mounted upon the axle 7 the supporting wheels 29 and these wheels and the wheels 1G at the front of the skate may be rubber-tired shown, if desired. The shaft 7 also has thereon between the wheels 29 and the side members 3 of the frame, the spacing sleeves 30 which maintain the wheels and frame beams properly spaced apart.

The forward ears 4 of the frame beams 3 are connected by a shaft 31 while the ears 5 are connected by a shaft 32. The shaft 31 passes through the apertured ends of a pair of arms each of which is indicated .by the numeral 33, for which it forms a pivot and the opposite ends 'of these arms are formed to provide an elongated head 34 in which is a longitudinal slot 35.

Crossing the arms 33 are similar arms 36 which at their lower ends are formed to provide the heads 37 which have the longitudinal slots 38 therein through which the shaft 32 passes. The arms 33 of one pair and those arms 36 of the other pair are spaced apart, one of each pair being upon one side of the skate and where they cross midway between their ends they are connected by the center shaft 39. The two pairs of arms in association thus form two side by side lazy tongs. The shaft 39 carries suitably spaced collars 40 disposed on opposite sides of the crossed pairs of arms through which it passes, to maintain these arms in the proper relation one of these collars as shown in Figure 2 is set in away from the adjacent crossed arms 33-36 and between it and the adjacent* arms is interposed a sleeve 41 which is formed integral with and transversely of one end of a gear segment 42,.the teeth of which are in mesh with the teeth of the spurgear 20. Integral with this gear segment 42 is an arm 43 which extends forwardly and terminates in a sleeve 44 through which the forward shaft 31 passes and about which shaft the gear segment oscillates, the longitudinal center of the shaft 31 being the radial center ofthe gear segment.

The foot supporting portion l comprises a platform in the form of an elongated plate 45 which extends longitudinally over the beams 3 of the wheel frame and at each end of this plate or platform are formed the depending side ears 46, adjacent ones of which are connected by the transverse shafts 47.

The shaft 47 which is located at the rear end of the platform 45 passes through the elongated slots 35 formed in the upper ends of the arms 33 and the other shaft 47 passes through suitable apertures in the upper ends of the arms 36.

To the top surface of the platform 45 there are secured the forward and

rearv bracket members

48 and 49 respectively which have the upturned end portions 50 and 5l, and overlying these

brackets

48 and 49 are the toe and

heel plates

52 and 53 respectively upon which the foot of the skater is placed. The

plates

52 and 53 respectively carry upon their under faces the spaced downwardly extending ears 54 and 55 which position between the upstanding ends of the underlyingbrackets and receive through suitable apertures therein the

pivot pins

56 and 57 which are respectively carried by the front and

rear brackets

48 and 49. Each of these

brackets

48 and 49 has mounted between its upstanding ends a rubber block 58 through which the adjacent pivot pin passes and the upper side of each rubber block.

Locas@ bears against the under side of the overlying toe or heel plate as the case may be and limits the rocking movement of the plate on the pivot pin.

The bracket 48 is riveted securely in position as indicated at 59 to the platform 45, while the bracket 49 has secured thereto the downwardly extending screw 60 which passes through a slot 61 formed longitudinally in the platform 45 and receives upon the underside of the platform the holding nut 62. By the provision of this scrcew or bolt, the head of which is embedded in the rubber block thereover, the longitudinal adjustment of the heel plate on the platform may be effected.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that in the use of the present skate the foot of the skater is placed over the platform with the heel on the plate 53 and the ball of the foot or the toe portion of the shoe on the plate 52 and secured by straps in the usual manner, the securing straps not being shown as these and the sole gripping clamps of the device are conventional.

The skater upon lifting his foot allows the wheel frame structure 2 to drop away from the platform, thus separating the ends of the-toggle arms and drawing the gear segment up tothe limit of its movement as shown in Figure 1, this movement being limited by the

shafts

32 and 47 reaching the ends of the

slots

35 and 38 of the toggle arms through which they position. Upon then placing the skate back upon the ground and throwing his weight thereonto the gear segment 42 will be rapidly forced downwardly as the center shaft 39 to which it is attached is depressed in the movement of the platform 45 toward the frame beams 3, and rotation will be imparted to the drive wheels 10 through the spur gear 20, disk 22, pawl and ratchet 24-25 and the sprocket wheel and chain assembly which couples the shaft 19 with the front axle 6.

While the drawings illustratea sprocket and chain connection between vthe driving shaft 19 and the front axle only, it will, of course, be readily understood that a. duplicate of this sprocket chain and gear assembly may be placedv upon the opposite side of the skate to connect the rear axle 7 with the driving shaft 19, if desired, so that power may be transmitted to the front and rear wheels simultaneously. Y

The tensioning of the sprocket chain 28 is controlled by the manipulation of the nuts 17 to shift the front axle 6 forwardly or rearwardly as necessary, as previously explained.

Having thus described the invention, what isclaimed isz- 1. A roller skate of the character described, comprising a wheel supported frame including a pair of axles, wheels carried by said axles, a foot supporting body overlying said wheel supported frame, a lazy tong structure forming a connection between the frame and the overlying body permitting relative vertical movement between the frame and body, said lazy tong structure having a center pivot, a driving mechanism connected with one of said axles and carried by the frame, and means coupling said driving mechanism with the center pivot of the lazy tong connection for operating said driving means.

2. A roller skate of the character described, comprising a wheeled structure including a pair of axles, a power shaft carried by the wheeled structure, a driving connection between the power shaft and one of said axles, a foot supporting structure overlying the wheeled structure, connecting arms between the foot supporting structure and the wheeled structure permitting relative vertical movement therebetween, an element joined to said connecting arms and vertically reciprocated therewith during the relative movement between the structures connected thereby, and means for transmitting power from said vertically reciprocated element to said power shaft.

3. A skate of the character described comprising a wheel supported frame including a pair of axles, a power shaft rotatably supported by said frame, a driving connection between said power shaft and one of said axles, a gear element rotatably mounted on the power shaft, a foot supporting structure overlying the frame, connecting arms between the frame and the foot supporting structure permitting relative vertical movement therebetween, means establishing a driving connection between the gear and power shaft when the gear is rotated in one direction, and a toothed element carried by said arms for vertical reciprocation and connected with the said gear for trans- 'mitting motion to the driving connection.

4. A skate of the character described comprising a pair of elongated spaced parallel bodies, a pair of axles connecting said bodies, wheels carried by said axles, a power shaft mounted between said bodies, a driving connection between said power shaft and one of said axles, a foot supporting platform overlying said bodies, crossed centrally pivotally connected arms joining said platform and said bodies and pivotally connected at their ends thereto whereby relative vertical movement between the platform and bodies is permitted, a gear carried on said power shaft, means for establishing a driving connection between the gear and power shaft when the gear is turned in one direction, and a toothed element connected with said arms to be vertically reciprocated thereby during the relative movement between the platform and the bodies and having driving connection with said gear for transmitting motion therethrough to the driving shaft.

5. A skate of the character described comprising a pair of elongated spaced parallel bodies, a pair of axles connecting said bodies, wheels carried by said axles, a power shaft mounted between said bodies, a driving connection between said power shaft and one of said axles, a foot supporting platform overlying said bodies, crossed centrally pivotally connected arms joining said platform and said bodies and pivotally connected at their ends thereto whereby relative vertical movement between the platform and bodies is permitted, a gear carried on said power shaft, a toothed element connected with said arms to be vertically reciprocated thereby during the relative movement between the platform and the bodies and having driving connection with said gear for transmitting motion 'therethrough to the driving shaft, and means permitting the free rotation of said driving shaft and driving mechanism during the reverse nondriving movement of said toothed element, and establishing a driving connection between the toothed element and the driving mechanism during the driving movement of the element.

6. A roller skate of the character described comprising a pair of side by side spaced elongated members, axles connecting said members, a power shaft mounted between said members, a gear member mounted upon said power shaft for free rotation thereabout, pawl and ratchet connecting means between said gear member and the shaft, a driving sprocket chain connection between said power shaft and one of said axles, a foot supporting platform overlying said axle, means connecting the platform with said elongated members permitting relative vertical movement between the members and the platform, a toothed element carried by said last means and vertically reciprocated with the platform and further having connection with said gear, and wheels carried by said axles.

7. A roller skate of the character described comprising a pair of side by side spaced elongated members, axles connecting said members, a power shaft mounted between said members, a gear member mounted upon said power shaft for free rotation thereabout, pawl and ratchet connecting means between said gear member and the shaft, a driving sprocket chain connection between said power shaft and one of said axles, a foot supporting platform overlying said axle,

vmeans connecting the platform with said elongated members permitting relative vertical movement between the members and the platform, a toothed element carried by said last means and vertically reciprocated with the platform and further having connection with said gear, wheels secured to said axles, and means for shifting the axle with which the driving gear chain is connected, longitudinally of the said members for adjusting the tension of the driving chain.

8. A skate of the character described comprising a pair of elongated spaced parallel members, axles connecting the ends of said members, wheels mounted on and secured to said axles, a power shaft carried by said members, a spur gear mounted upon said power shaft for free rotation thereabout, a ratchet gear carried by and secured to said power shaft, pawl connecting means between the spur gear and the ratchet gear, a sprocket chain driving connection between the driving shaft and one of said axles, a pair of lazy tong elements each comprising two crossed arms, a shaft extending transversely of the skate and having each end pivotally connecting a pair of the arms at their crossing points, the lower ends of the arms of each pair being pivotally connected with said elongated members, a foot supporting platform pivotally connected with and supported by the upper ends of the said pairs of arms, a gear segment carried by and suspended from said last shaft and having toothed connection with said spur gear, and means for maintaining the gear segment constantly in engagement with the spur gear during its reciprocation with the shaft to which it is attached.

EDWARD O. LIEBERENZ.