WO1996039234A1

WO1996039234A1 - In-line roller skates

Info

Publication number: WO1996039234A1
Application number: PCT/CH1996/000220
Authority: WO
Inventors: Harald Schulthess; Patrick Naveau
Original assignee: Harald Schulthess; Patrick Naveau
Priority date: 1995-06-06
Filing date: 1996-06-06
Publication date: 1996-12-12
Also published as: EP0831956A1; FR2735035A1; CA2223266A1; FR2735035B1

Abstract

A roller skate has two or more normally aligned wheels, which can be steered when the skate is tilted sideways. The front wheel (6) and the rear wheel (11) are mounted on respective steerable supports (3, 8) pivoting about respective axes (4, 9) perpendicular to a base plate attached to or integral with a shoe (2). The two supports (3, 8) are connected by a laterally flexible blade. The blade preferably carries two adjacent intermediate wheels (20, 21) which project laterally from the geometrical envelope of the front and rear wheel transverse profiles. When the skate is tilted, one of the intermediate wheels moves sideways towards the centre plane and bends the blade (3) thereby pivoting the two steerable wheels (6, 11).

Description

INLINE WHEEL SKATE

The present invention relates to a roller skate comprising a base plate intended to be fixed or incorporated into a shoe, a front wheel supporting the base plate by means of a front support, and a rear wheel supporting the base plate by means of a rear support, the front and rear wheels having a normal position where they are aligned on a median longitudinal plane of the shoe, the front support being pivotally mounted around a front pivot axis, sensi¬ perpendicularly to the base plate, the rear support being mounted so as to orientable about a rear pivot axis, substantially perpendicular to the base plate, and the two supports being connected to each other by at least one laterally flexible blade which, when one of the supports pivots, imposes a pivoting in the opposite direction to the other support, so that the front and rear wheels define a trajectory skate curve.

Roller skates arranged in a line in a median plane are becoming more and more popular and tend to replace conventional four-roller skates when users are aiming for high speeds, in particular because these skates can have larger wheels. . Inline skates are described for example in US Patents 4,838,564 and 5,082,300. The shoe described by the first cited patent comprises a front wheel pivoting around a first substantially vertical axis and a rear wheel also pivoting around a substantially vertical axis. Return springs are associated with the wheel supports to return these wheels to a position aligned with the longitudinal axis of the shoe. The shoe described in the second patent cited comprises a series of ali¬ gnées wheels mounted between a flexible double longitudinal blade capable of bending in the turns.

These known systems are not satisfactory and do not make it possible to make turns effectively by pivoting the wheels. Indeed, for the wheels to pivot in the system described by US Pat. No. 4,838,564, a sufficient force would have to be applied to them to counter the return force of the springs. Simply tilting the pads sideways in a turn does not generate this force. In addition, to avoid vibrations of the wheels, the return springs must be relatively powerful.

For the pad of US Pat. No. 5,082,300, the lateral inclination during the race and when cornering does not make it possible to generate a lateral force capable of incur¬ ing the central flexible blade. Consequently, the position shown in particular in FIG. 9 does not correspond to a reality

The present invention aims to create a roller skate capable of offering both the advantages of high speed of in-line roller skates and the ease of cornering of skates with four steerable wheels.

To this end, the invention relates to a roller skate of the kind indicated in the preamble, characterized in that said flexible blade carries at least one intermediate rolling element whose peripheral rolling path is offset laterally with respect to said median longitudinal plane .

Thanks to this construction, the two front and rear supports can pivot together, in particular under the effect of a lateral inclination of the skater's foot, so that the axes of rotation of the front wheel and the rear wheel intersect in one point located in the vicinity of the perpendicular to the median plane which intersects this plane between the two wheels, which defines a center cornering located in front of the middle of the skate, not forward or backward. The flexible blade, or each blade if there are several, automatically brings the wheels back to their normal aligned position, when the foot is not inclined, and its elastic characteristic can be chosen as desired to ensure sufficient stability. .

One end of the flexible blade can be rigidly fixed to one of said supports, while the other end of the flexible blade is slidably connected to the other support longitudinally, but rigid laterally.

The intermediate rolling element advantageously consists of two wheels freely mounted on a common axis carried by said flexible blade, said wheels being arranged on either side of this flexible blade.

It can also consist of two wheels freely mounted on two separate axes carried by said flexible blade, said wheels being arranged on either side of this flexible blade.

In another embodiment, the intermediate rolling element consists of two freely rotating half-spheres on axes carried by said flexible blade. In this case, said axes which respectively carry said half-spheres preferably form an angle between 120 ° and 180 °.

Provision may be made for the intermediate rolling element to consist of a roller mounted on an axis carried by said flexible blade. In this case, said roller may have a cylindrical profile or a barrel profile, its peripheral surface being curved.

In an alternative embodiment, said flexible blade is made in one piece with said front support and said rear support. It can consist of a perforated molded block by zones to make it flexible. It can also include a hollowed-out central zone.

In the case where the intermediate rolling element consists of two half-spheres, the latter can be mounted on either side of a support stud carried by said flexible blade, this support stud having two converging inclined faces respectively carrying the axes of said hemispheres.

According to another embodiment, said intermediate rolling element consists of a sphere freely housed in a recess formed in a central block carried by said flexible blade.

In all embodiments, the intermediate rolling element can be offset in height with respect to the front and rear wheels, so as not to touch the ground in the normal position and in a straight line.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description of two exemplary embodiments, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a roller skate according to the invention,

- Figure 2 is a schematic view of the rear of the roller skate, along arrow II of Figure 3, in a normal position of the skate, - Figure 3 is a schematic side elevation of the roller skate of figure 1,

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the roller skate of FIG. 1,

- Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing the roller skate in an inclined position, - Figure 6 is a bottom view of the roller skate in the position of Figure 5, FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of an alternative embodiment of the skate illustrated by the preceding figures,

- Figure 8 shows an embodiment where the flexible blade and the wheel supports are made in one piece, - Figure 9 shows a bottom view of a variant in which the wheels of the intermediate rolling element are axially offset,

FIG. 10 represents a partial view of a particular embodiment of the skate according to the invention,

FIG. 11 illustrates a construction detail of the pad according to FIG. 10, FIG. 12 represents a partial view of another embodiment of the intermediate rolling element,

FIG. 13 illustrates a partial view of another variant construction of the intermediate rolling element,

- Figure 14 shows a side view of the construction of Figure 13, - Figure 15 is a bottom view, partial of a particular construction of the flexible blade, and

- Figure 16 illustrates another construction of the flexible blade.

The roller skate shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 comprises a rigid chassis formed by a base plate 1 fixed to the sole of a suitable shoe, for example a shoe with a rigid or articulated shell, of the kind used with the inline skates. The base plate 1 can be integrated into the shell of the shoe 2. On the underside of the base plate 1, a front support 3 is mounted so as to be able to pivot around an axis 4 approximately perpendicular to the plate base, that is to say approximately vertical when this plate is in the horizontal position. The pivoting assembly may include a ball bearing (not shown) or elements made of anti-friction materials such as PTFE. The front support 3 contains a cavity 5 in which a front wheel 6 is mounted so as to be able to rotate around a transverse axis 7. The axis of rotation 7 is located behind the front pivot axis 4. So similar, a rear support 8 is mounted under the base plate 1 so that pivot around an axis 9 approximately perpendicular to the base plate, if necessary using a ball bearing (not shown). The rear support 8 contains a cavity 10 in which a rear wheel 11 is mounted so as to be able to rotate about a transverse axis 12. The axis of rotation 12 is located in front of the rear pivot axis 9. Preferably ¬ rence, the axes 4 and 9 are parallel and are vertical in the normal position.

The supports 3 and 8 are connected elastically by a flexible blade 13 which, in the normal position illustrated by FIGS. 1 to 4, is in the median longitudinal plane 14 of the roller skate, the front 6 and rear 11 wheels being also aligned on this median plane. The blade 13 can for example be made of metal or a composite material. It is rigid in the median plane, but can flex elastically laterally. Its front end 15 (FIG. 4) is rigidly fixed in the front support 3 by means of two transverse screws or dowels 16. Its rear end 17 is slidably mounted in a corresponding longitudinal orifice 18 (FIG. 4) of the rear support 8, so that this end 17 is always oriented in the same direction as the rear support.

An intermediate rolling element A in this case consists of two juxtaposed wheels 20 and 21 mounted on the flexible blade 13, respectively to the left and to the right thereof. These wheels preferably have a common axis of rotation 22 which, in the normal position, is parallel to the axes 7 and 12 of the other two wheels. The two wheels 20 and 21 are symmetrical to each other and, in this case, have the same diameter as the front wheel 6 and the rear wheel 11 to simplify construction and maintenance, but this condition does not is not essential. Preferably, the four wheels 6, 11, 20 and 21 touch the ground 23 in the normal position, but one could also provide that the wheels 20 and 21 are slightly raised, as will be mentioned below. As can be seen in FIG. 2, in the normal position the point of contact 24, 25 of each wheel 20, 21 with the ground 23 is offset laterally with respect to the geometric envelope of the respective rolling surfaces 26 and 27 of the two wheels 6 and 11 aligned on the median plane 14. Consequently, when the shoe is tilted to the left, the bearing force at the contact point 24 increases and has a component F perpendicular to the median plane 14. This component makes laterally flex the flexible blade 13 so that the wheel 20 and its contact point 24 move in the direction of the median plane 14. Likewise, when the shoe is inclined to the right, the blade 13 flexes so that the right wheel 21 approaches of the median plane 14. The position inclined to the left is illustrated by FIGS. 5 and 6, where it can be seen that the lateral bending of the blade 13 simultaneously pivots the front support 3 around the axis 4 and the rear support 8 around axis 9 The three axes of rotation 7, 22 and 12 converge approximately in the direction of a common point whose position corresponds to the center of curvature of the path imposed on the skate by the relative positions of the wheels 6, 20 and 11 which are in contact with the ground, while in this case the other wheel 21 is raised. It should be noted that the bending imposed on the blade 13 is automatically limited to the position where the points of contact of the three wheels 6, 11 and 20 or 21 with the ground are approximately aligned, since the wheel would no longer touch the ground if the bending of the blade increased further. This phenomenon guarantees a stable orientation of the wheels as long as the inclination of the base plate 1 and the shoe 2 is stable. Of course, the blade 13 serves as a return spring to bring the wheels into alignment as soon as the inclination disappears. Stability in a straight line is then improved by the fact that, under these conditions, the two wheels 20 and 21 press on the ground.

FIG. 7 illustrates a variant in which the only essential difference, compared to the previous example, is the absence of the wheels 21 and 22. In this case, when the shoe tilts laterally, the bending of the blade 13 and the simultaneous pivoting of the supports 3 and 8 around their axes 4 and 9 are due to the longitudinal difference D between the axis of rotation 7 of the front wheel 6 and the axis of front pivot 4, and at a distance E between the axis of rotation 12 of the rear wheel 11 and the rear pivot axis 9. Indeed, the transverse component of the bearing force of each wheel 6, 11 on the ground produces a torque relative to the corresponding pivot axis 4, 9. The two couples thus created thus tend to rotate the supports 3 and 8 in opposite directions and to bend the blade 13 to a position which is is close to that of FIG. 6, but without reaching it since the effect of the intermediate wheel does not exist.

FIG. 8 shows a flexible blade 13 which is made in one piece with the front support 3 and the rear support 8. The material chosen is preferably a relatively hard synthetic material, and a metal blade of the leaf-spring type can be overmolded in the central part to form said flexible blade proper. In this embodiment, the intermediate rolling element is preferably composed of two twin wheels identical to the wheels 20 and 21 of FIG. 1.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the wheels 20 and 21, which constitute the intermediate rolling element, are offset axially. They are respectively carried by two axes 20a and 21a mounted on the flexible blade 13 which is made in one piece with the front and rear supports 8.

The embodiment according to FIG. 10 shows an intermediate rolling element A consisting of two hemispheres 30 and 31 mounted on a support stud 32 carried by the flexible blade. This support stud has two converging faces 32a and 32b which respectively carry the axes 30a and 31 has two half-spheres 30 and 31. The angle α of the two axes 30a and 31a is preferably between 120 ° and 180 °.

Figure 11 illustrates a detail of the previous embodiment. The pad 32 comprises a block of an elastomeric material 33, for example of hard and resistant rubber, in which is fixed by overmolding one end of the axis 30a of the hemisphere 30. The same assembly is obviously used to fix the hemisphere 31.

FIG. 12 represents a variant in which the intermediate rolling element is constituted by a roller 40 whose side wall is for example cylindrical and whose ends 41 and 42 have the shape of spherical caps. The side wall could also have a barrel profile, that is to say a domed shape. The roller 40 is mounted on an axis 43 carried by the flexible blade 13.

FIG. 13 represents a variant according to which the roller is replaced by a sphere 50, carried by an axis 51 and housed in a cavity of a support 52 secured to the flexible blade 13

FIG. 14 represents a side elevation view of the lower part of the shoe corresponding substantially to the construction of FIG. 13. The sphere 50 is mounted in its housing 52 and rotates freely, without being mounted on an axis.

FIG. 15 represents an advantageous embodiment where the flexible blade 19, produced in one piece with the front supports 3 and rear 8, consists of an openwork block. The notches 60 delimit the central part of the blade which carries the intermediate rolling element A, constituted for example by twin wheels 20 and 21, with respect to the front supports 3 and rear 8. The flexibility is due to the notches 60.

Figure 16 is a variant in which the flexible blade 13 is provided with a central recess 70 which ensures its flexibility.

The central flexible blade 13 can be replaced by a pair of parallel blades playing the same role and supporting a central wheel which would replace the twin wheels 20 and 21. To flex the flexible blades when the pad tilts, such a wheel must have a transverse profile which laterally exceeds that of the front and rear wheels in the vicinity of the ground, for example a profile with a relatively large radius of curvature. According to another variant, the two supports 3 and 8 and the blade 13 can be in one piece. Furthermore, the base plate 1 can be removable relative to the shoe 2.

Claims

1. Roller skate comprising a base plate (1) intended to be fixed or incorporated into a shoe, a front wheel (6) supporting the base plate by means of a front support (3), and a wheel rear (11) sup¬ carrying the base plate by means of a rear support (8), the front and rear wheels having a normal position where they are aligned on a median longitudinal plane (14) of the pad, the support front (3) being pivotally mounted about a front pivot axis (4), substantially perpendicular to the base plate, the rear support (8) being pivotally mounted around a rear pivot axis (9 ), substantially perpendicular to the base plate, and the two supports (3, 8) being connected to each other by at least one blade (13) flexible laterally which, when one of the supports pivots, imposes a pivoting opposite to the other support, so that the front and rear wheels define issent a curved path of the shoe, characterized in that said flexible blade (13) carries at least one intermediate rolling element (A) whose peripheral raceway is offset laterally relative to said median longitudinal plane.

2. Roller skate according to claim 1, characterized in that one (15) of the ends of the flexible blade (13) is rigidly fixed to one of said supports while the other end (17) of the blade flexible is slidably connected to the other support longitudinally, but rigid laterally.

3. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that said intermediate rolling element (A) consists of two wheels (20, 21) freely mounted on a common axis carried by said flexible blade (13), said wheels being arranged on either side of this flexible blade.

4. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that said intermediate rolling element (A) consists of two wheels (20, 21) freely mounted on two separate axes carried by said flexible blade (13), said wheels being arranged on either side of this flexible blade.

5. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that said intermediate rolling element (A) consists of two half-spheres (30, 31) freely rotating on axes carried by said flexible blade (13).

6. Skate according to claim 5, characterized in that said axes which respectively carry said half-spheres (30, 31) form an angle between 120 ° and 180 °.

7. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that said intermediate rolling element (A) consists of a roller (40) mounted on an axis carried by said flexible blade (13).

8. Skate according to claim 7, characterized in that said roller (40) has a barrel profile, its peripheral surface being curved.

9. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that said flexible blade (13) is made in one piece with said front support (3) and said rear support (8).

10. Skate according to claim 9, characterized in that said flexible blade (13) consists of a molded block (33) perforated by zones to make it flexible.

11. Skate according to claim 9, characterized in that said flexible blade (13) has a recessed central zone.

12. Skate according to claim 5, characterized in that the two hemispheres (30, 31) are mounted on either side of a support stud (32) carried by said flexible blade, this support stud having two converging inclined faces respectively carrying the axes of said hemispheres.

13. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that said intermediate rolling element (A) is a sphere (50) housed freely in a recess formed in a central block carried by said flexible blade (13).

14. Skate according to claim 1, characterized in that said intermediate rolling element (A) is offset in height relative to the front and rear wheels, so as not to touch the ground in normal position and in a straight line.