Patent Number: 059268573
Section: description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to FIG. 1, the armor with rollers is essentially formed by a jacket 1, a pair of gauntlets 2 extending up to the user's arm and articulated at the elbow around a pivot 3, and a pair of leg-pads articulated around a pivot 5 on shoes 6 equipped with roller skates 7. A helmet of conventional type 8 also forms an integral part of this armor. These different holding elements are made of a sufficiently rigid material and are provided with articulations and with closing elements 9 enabling the user to fit them in place and to fix them onto the associated parts of his trunk or his members. Each gauntlet 2 is equipped on the one hand at the level of the elbow joint with a pair of rollers 10, 10' mobile around a common fixed rotation axis 11 in such a way as to define an assembly that can be broadly speaking assimilated to conventional roller skates, and on the other hand, beyond the hand, with a fixed roller 12 of larger dimension. A gripping opening 13 is also provided enabling the user to have the use of his hands. According to FIG. 1, the leg-pads are provided at the level of the knee joint with a pair of rollers 14, 14' fitted around a common fixed rotation axis 15 in such a way as to constitute an assembly that is broadly speaking equivalent to the pairs of rollers 10, 10' with which the gauntlets are equipped at the level of the elbow joint. According to the example represented in the figures, the skates 7 fitted on the shoes 6 articulated on the leg-pads 4 comprise four rollers 22 grouped in pairs in conventional manner. The skates 7 are moreover equipped with a pair of complementary rollers 23 notably similar to the rollers 22 and situated at the front part of the shoes 6 at the level of the user's toes. The jacket 1 is for its part equipped respectively at the front part P and at the dorsal part D with an abdominal frame 16 and a dorsal frame 17 both fitted by means of flexible securing parts. According to FIG. 1, the abdominal frame 16 is equipped with three rollers mounted loose, i.e. two rollers 18, 18' respectively situated at the level of the shoulders and one roller 19 situated at the level of the pelvic region. Two rails of obstacles 20, 20' are also provided on the abdominal frame 16 enabling the user to slide on steps or on a balustrade. In a manner which is not represented, the dorsal frame 17 has a configuration to a great extent similar to that of the abdominal frame 16, but is equipped not with three but with four rollers mounted loose, i.e. two rollers situated at the level of the shoulders and also two rollers situated at the level of the lumbar region. Two buttock support rollers 21, 21' are also provided, represented schematically by a broken line and fitted affixed to the bottom part of the dorsal part of the jacket 1. According to FIG. 2a, after he has put on the armor with rollers according to the invention, the user can start off his run as if he was on roller skates, then kneel down and place one knee on the ground as in FIG. 2b, then his hands and both knees so as to reach the position represented in FIG. 2c before spreading himself out onto all fours (FIG. 2d) and then lying down in the fully supine position represented in FIG. 2e. He can then get up while still rolling by performing the same movements as to lie down but in the reverse order. When he wants to slow down from the supine position represented in FIG. 2e, the user can perform with his arms a movement derived from the snow-plough well known to skiers by opening his elbows out and pressing down on them while closing up his forearms in the direction of the arrows a (FIG. 2f) to bring his hands together according to the position represented in FIG. 2g. From the kneeling position represented in FIG. 2c, the user can also move onto his back by moving his arms to the rear according to FIG. 2h while keeping contact with the ground, and then rocking on his feet according to FIG. 2i to the seated position represented in FIG. 2j before rocking backwards to the supine position according to FIG. 2k. Here again, to get up the user has to perform the same movements but in the reverse order.