Truck for a rideable vehicle, such as a skateboard

A skateboard truck (10) for a skateboard (100) having a pivotal member (12) which is arranged to be connected to the deck (102) of the skateboard. The pivotal member (12) carries the wheel assembly (13) of the truck (10). A locking mechanism (14) is also provided. In a first (unlocked) mode of operation, the pivotal member (12) is a able to pivot so that the truck (10) is movable in a to and fro manner. This first mode of operation permits a rider to perform advanced maneuvers using a skateboard (100). In a second (locked) mode of operation, the truck (10) is locked against such to and fro movement by the locking mechanism (14).

DESCRIPTION 
The present invention relates to a truck for a rideable vehicle, such as a 
skateboard. The truck of the present invention is arranged to be connected 
to the undersurface of a rideable vehicle, e.g., the deck of a skateboard. 
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
Conventional rideable vehicles, such as skateboards, use a pair of trucks, 
one at the front and one at the rear of the rideable vehicle. These trucks 
carry the wheels of the vehicle and are rigidly mounted to the 
undersurface of the rideable vehicle. It is generally difficult for a 
rider to perform advanced riding manoeuvres on these conventional rideable 
vehicles, due to the limited performance capability of conventional 
trucks. Often, such advanced riding manoeuvres are not possible or can be 
performed only by very skilled riders. 
In particular, conventional trucks do not readily permit a rider to use 
his/her body weight to try to impart a to and fro type movement to the 
truck to thereby propel the rideable vehicle. 
The employment of this technique to move the rideable vehicle in a to and 
fro direction, i.e., propel the rideable vehicle, is made easier by the 
truck of the present invention. Thus, the truck of the present invention 
permits advanced riding manoeuvres to be more easily performed by a rider 
of a rideable vehicle, such as a skateboard. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a 
truck for a rideable vehicle comprising pivotal member means and a wheel 
assembly carried by said pivotal member means, said wheel assembly 
comprising at least two spaced apart wheels and said pivotal member means 
is arranged to be pivotally connected to said vehicle by pivotal 
connection means, wherein said pivotal connection means is provided at a 
first location of said truck, said wheel assembly is provided at a second 
location of said truck spaced from said first location and said pivotal 
member means is pivotal via said pivotal connection means such that said 
truck is moveable in a to and fro manner and, in use, enables a rider to 
propel said vehicle to which said truck is attached, in a forward 
directional along a surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
In the drawings, there is shown a skateboard 100 incorporating a truck 10 
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
The truck 10 is provided at the front of the skateboard 100. 
The skateboard 100 itself comprises a deck 102 and another (rear) truck 104 
both of which may be of conventional form. The deck 102 may be provided 
with an upwardly inclined offset portion 106 at its rear end and a rounded 
tapered portion 108 near its front end. The truck 10 comprises a pivotal 
member 12 which carries the rest of the truck 10 including a wheel 
assembly 13, and a locking mechanism 14. The rest of the truck 10 is 
attached to the pivotal member 12 by bolts 15. The pivotal member 12 is 
arranged to be connected to the deck 102 of the skateboard 100. 
A pivotal connection 16 is arranged to connect the pivotal member 12 to the 
deck 102 such that the pivotal member 12 is able to perform pivotal motion 
relative to the deck 102. The pivotal connection 16 is provided near one 
end of the pivotal member 12 and the rest of the truck 10 is provided near 
the other end of the pivotal member 12. 
The pivotal connection 16 is arranged to be connected to the forward part 
of the deck 102, with the pivotal member 12 extending rearwardly. 
An embodiment of the pivotal connection 16 is shown in FIG. 2. 
The pivotal connection 16 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a short shaft or pin 18 
which is arranged to be connected to the deck 102. The shaft 18 has a 
circular plate 20 connected at the end thereof in a transverse manner. The 
circular plate 20 has a circular groove 22 near the periphery thereof to 
accommodate a first set of ball bearings 24. 
A circular plate 26 is supported in the pivotal member 12 by a web 28 that 
extends between upper and lower walls 30 and 31, respectively, of the 
pivotal member 12. The pivotal member 12 is also provided with an outer 
wall 32 which extends between the upper and lower walls 30 and 31. The 
circular plate 26 has a circular groove 34 to accommodate the first set of 
ball bearings 24. 
Thus, the circular grooves 22 and 34 are in registration such that they 
form upper and lower circular grooves, respectively, to retain the first 
act of ball bearings 24. A further circular groove 36 is provided in the 
plate 26 adjacent the circular groove 34 (but on the opposite side of the 
circular plate 26) to accommodate a second set of ball bearings 38. 
Another circular plate 40 is provided above the second set of ball 
bearings 38 and is provided with a circular groove 42 to accommodate the 
second set of ball bearings 38. 
Thus, the circular grooves 36 and 42 are in registration such that they 
form lower and upper circular grooves, respectively, to retain the second 
set of ball bearings 38. The circular plate 40 is connected to the deck 
102 by portions 43a and 43b. The upper wall 30 is provided with an opening 
to accommodate the shaft 18 and portion 43a. When the pivotal member 12 
pivots via the pivotal connection 16 only the circular plate 26, web 28 
and walls 30, 31 and 32 move. The other parts of the pivotal connection 16 
do not move. 
The pivotal connection 16 permits the pivotal member 12 to pivot smoothly 
due to the dual arrangement of ball bearings 38 and 24 above and below, 
respectively, the circular plate 26. 
The locking mechanism 14 comprises a bracket 44, arranged to be connected 
to the deck 102, and a locking member 46 pivotally held by the bracket 44. 
The bracket 44 comprises a base 48 and two side portions 50 extending 
therefrom. The base 48 is provided with apertures 52 such that screws 54 
may be passed therethrough and into the deck 102 to connect the bracket 44 
to the undersurface of the deck 102. The base 48 is also provided with a 
cut out 56. 
The two side portions 50 are each provided with a hole 58 near one of their 
corners. These holes 58 are aligned. The inside faces 59 of the side 
portions 50 are each provided a pin 60 near a curved edge 62 thereof. 
The locking member 46 comprises a base 64 and two side portions 66 
extending therefrom. The two side portions 66 are each provided with a pin 
68 extending from their outer faces 69, near one of their corners. The 
pins 68 are aligned. 
The sides 66 are each provided with a hole 70. A locking block 72 is 
positioned between the two side portions 66 near straight edges 74 of the 
side portions 66 on the base 64. 
The side portions 66 are provided with curved edges 76. The holes 70 are 
provided near the curved edges 76. The pins 68 of the locking member 46 
locate in the holes 58 of the bracket 44 such that the locking member 46 
is pivotal relative to the bracket 44. 
The pins 60 on the side portions 50 of the bracket 44 may engage in the 
holes 70 of the side portions 66 of the locking member 46 to retain the 
locking member 46 in a non-locking position. 
In the non-locking position, the pivotal member 12 is free to pivot and so 
the truck 10 is able to pivot. 
In this non-locking position (shown in broken lines in FIG. 1, in solid 
shade lines at the right of FIGS. 4, and in 6), the curved edges 62 and 76 
are aligned. The pivotal member 12 is provided with a pin 77 extending 
from each side 78 thereof. 
The pins 77 engage in the holes 70 in the side portions 66 of the locking 
member 46 when the locking member 46 is pivoted to its locking position to 
retain and locking member 46 in its locking position. 
In this locking position (shown at the left in FIG. 4 in broken shade lines 
and in FIG. 5), the side portions 66 of the locking member 46 are 
positioned adjacent the sides 78 of the pivotal member 12. The straight 
edges 74 of the side portions 66 and a surface of the locking block 72 are 
in substantial contact with the deck 102. A portion of the locking block 
72 abuts with the surface of the pivotal member 12. This is best seen in 
FIG. 4. 
In the locking position, the pivotal member 12 is unable to pivot, thereby 
preventing to and fro movement of the truck 10. This is because the side 
portions 66 abut with the sides 78 of the pivotal member 12 to prevent any 
sideways, or pivotal, movement of the pivotal member 12. Further, the 
locking block 72 abuts with the pivotal member 12, being positioned 
between the pivotal member 12 and the deck 102, to stabilize the pivotal 
member 12. 
The cut-out 56 is provided in the base 48 to enable the locking member 46 
to be easily pivoted from the non-locking position to the locking position 
by an operator using his/her finger to flick the locking member 46 into 
position. The locking block 72 has a rounded edge 73 to facilitate 
movement of the locking member 46 to and from the locking position past 
the edge 75 of the pivotal member 12. (As an alternative, the edge 75 of 
the pivotal member 12 may be rounded, and the edge 73 of the locking block 
72 may be straight-edged.) 
Stop members 79 may be provided to limit the movement of the pivotal member 
12. 
The stop members 79 are arranged to be connected to the underside of the 
deck 102 near the front end thereof, on respective sides of the pivotal 
member 12. 
The remainder of the truck 10 may be of conventional form. Thus, the truck 
10 may further comprise a mounting plate 80 connecting the remainder of 
the truck 10 to the pivotal member 102 by way of bolts 81; resilient 
portions 82 on either side of a collar 83 extending from a casing 84; the 
casing 84 encloses the axle-bearing shaft which carries the axles upon 
which the wheels 85 are mounted which together make up the wheel assembly 
13; a bolt 86 extending through he resilient portions 82, collar 83, a 
sleeve 87 and into the mounting plate 80; along with nuts 88 to retain the 
wheels 85 on the truck 10. 
Similarly, the truck 104 may be of conventional form. Thus, the truck 104 
may comprise a mounting plate 110 connecting the truck 104 to the deck 102 
by way of bolts 112 with an intermediate block 116 of resilient material, 
along with nuts 118 to retain the wheels 120 on the truck 104. The other 
parts of the truck 104 are obscured in FIG. 1, but it will be understood 
that these may be of conventional form, as hereinabove stated. 
The preceding description of convention parts is provided by way of 
information even though they do not, in themselves, form part of the 
present invention. The manner of operation and use of a skateboard 100 
incorporating a truck 10 in accordance with the present invention will now 
be described. 
In the locking position of the locking member 46 of the locking mechanism 
14 of the truck 10, the pivotal member 12 is unable to pivot. The truck 10 
is thus locked against any to and fro side to side movement. Thus, the 
truck 10 functions as a conventional truck and the skateboard 100 may be 
ridden as a conventional skateboard. 
When the locking member 46 is moved to its non-locking position, the 
pivotal member 12 is able to pivot by way of the pivotal connection 16 and 
the truck 10 is able to move in a pivotal, to and fro, side to side 
manner. 
This to and fro swinging type motion of the truck 10 is limited by the stop 
members 79. The two extreme positions of the truck 10 are shown in broken 
lines in FIG. 6. When the non-locking position of the locking member 46 is 
engaged, a rider can stand on the deck 102 and by shifting his/her weight 
from side to side is able to get the skateboard 100 into motion such that 
it moves in a forward direction. The rider can do this without touching 
the ground with his/her foot. 
The side to side movement of the rider causes the pivotal member 12 to 
pivot back and forth between the stop members 79 via the connection 16. 
This causes the truck 10 to also move in a corresponding to and fro 
swinging manner. This causes the skateboard 100 to move in a forward 
direction. The truck 10 of the present invention also permits the 
skateboard 100 to be forwardly moved along an incline. Accordingly, the 
truck of the present invention permits a rider to perform advanced riding 
manoeuvres on a skateboard. 
Modifications and variations such as would be apparent to a skilled 
addressee are deemed within the scope of the present invention.