Patent Publication Number: US-2015084299-A1

Title: Skate assistance system and method

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This patent applications references the Provisional Patent Application 61/872,763, with the filing date Sep. 2, 2013. The present invention relates to training for inline skating. It has a brake so the skater can stop on extremely steep inclines. It has a resistance mechanism so the skater can skate against resistance. The invention has video camera mounts, so the skater can see their skating technique and improve it. The invention also has mounts for water bottles and for food, for long distance skating. The invention also folds up so the skater can transport it easily. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Although skating is not a difficult activity to master, it can be difficult to learn to skate well. Skaters often want to be able to climb steep hills or mountains, but are concerned that they will not be able to make the descent safely. Serious skaters often use speed skates that do not have brakes. Stopping on the skates can be done, but it often damages the skate&#39;s very expensive wheels. Many of the stopping techniques are frequently unreliable or insufficient to skate in or around traffic, people walking/jogging/running, or people walking dogs on long leashes. Skaters also face many situations where they must deal with physical obstacles, such as cracks or heaving of road and sidewalks, or dangers, such as traffic or pedestrians, Skaters also have difficulty being visible to traffic. 
     When skaters train for an event(s), they also like to review their technique. This is very difficult to do, since it requires a clear view of their feet and legs. Skaters will use a camera on a pole or an assistant on a bicycle or on skates to video tape their feet. There have also been skaters that will skate behind a vehicle with a mirror, angled down toward their feet. 
     Skaters need to drink a lot of water when skating long distances. Skaters must have someone deliver water to them along the way. If the skater does not drink an adequate amount of water, they must store the water on their person, like in a jersey pocket This limits how much they can drink. The same problem applies when a skater eats. 
     There are limited options for a skater, if they want to apply resistance, to make them a stronger skater. There have been attempts to use a parachute, towed behind the skater, but this doesn&#39;t work if the wind changes or the wind is too strong. 
     The present invention is directed at resolving all of these problems and needs. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
     Skaters, especially, speed skaters have difficulty stopping or controlling their speed on steep slopes or in situations with many potential hazards (traffic, pedestrians, runners, etc.), This is due to the inadequacy of the current braking systems for skates. In the case of speed skates, they do not come equipped with any braking mechanism and rely on the skater to use stopping techniques which destroy very expensive wheels. 
     This device can be used in front of the skater, not unlike speed skaters do when drafting another skater. The device primarily allows the user to govern their speed, or stop completely, in order for the device to work, it must behave similar to a real skater, staying in front of the skater as they move from side to side skating. When the skater uses the device, they typically skate with it on its large wheel. When skating with the device in front of them, they hold the device by its handle bars and move the device like a wheel barrow. 
     When the device is being pulled by the skater, all of the basic benefits still work. The braking does not work as well when being pulled. The device does follow the skater, when being towed by the skater, 
     By applying a resistance source, the device is also a training aid to skaters. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
     It is an object of this invention to provide the skater with a safe means of stopping quickly or stopping reliably down long descents. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide variable resistance to the skater so that they can improve their training, or even skate down hills. 
     It is an additional objective of this invention to provide the skater with valuable feedback, in the form of data and video, to assist them with becoming a better skater. 
     Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a platform for the skater to store water and nutrition, so they can eat and drink on long skates. 
     It is further an object of the present invention to provide the skater with increased visibility to make skating safer. 
     Broadly, the system for training a skater includes a bicycle wheel, connected between two stays. The two wheel stays, that hold the bicycle wheel, are connected to handle bars with a handle bar support. Each handle bar support is connected to a wheel stay with a hinge or is connected to the brake mount. Each handle bar support will fold down, by rotating on the hinge that connects it to the wheel stay, for transport. When being skated with, the handle bar support is kept stationary by a strut that connects the handle bar support to the bicycle wheel axle. The strut is kept secure by tightening the wheel axle against it with the wheels quick release or wheel axle nut. The bottom of each handle bar support has a hinged mount for a video camera. The video camera mounts to a rod with a counter balance weight at its opposite end. As the skater moves the device up or down, around the midpoint of the bicycle wheel, the camera remains pointed in the same direction. The skater controls the activation of the video camera with a remote control fastened to the handle bars. Inc handle bars are fastened to the top of the handle bar supports with a bolt. The bicycle wheel is secured between the wheel stays with a drop out that bolts to each stay at needy the midpoint of each wheel stay. The wheel stays are connected together, near the top of the bicycle wheel, with a brake mount. The brake mount fastens to each wheel stay with a bolt through each wheel stay. The brake mount has a conventional side pull wheel brake connected, at the midpoint of the brake mount, and is used for braking against the bicycle wheel. The side pull brake is controlled using is brake handle attached to the handle bars. The wheel stays are bent inward and the end of each wheel stay meet. The front of the wheel stays are fastened together with a plate that bolts to the top and end, of the two wheel stays. The plate is designed to fasten a magnetic resistance device that runs against the bicycle wheel to provide resistance to the skater. The magnetic resistance unit comes in contact with the bicycle wheel using a cable that puns the unit against the front of the bicycle wheel and is controlled by the skater with a brake lever on the handle bars. The end or each of the wheel stays also has a drop out fastened to the bottom with a bolt, for the pitch prevention wheel The pitch prevention wheel is a small wheel, or set of wheels, that keeps the system from pitching into the surface under hard braking. 
     These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is side view of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is the top view of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     The diagrams are numbered and correspond to numbers in the parentheses.  FIG. 1  and FIG,  2  show the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     The device has the front wheel of a bicycle ( 1 ). A side pull brake ( 3 ) is attached to the frame ( 2 ) of the device.  FIG. 2 , ( 15 ) shows the brake mount. The brake mount,  FIG. 2  ( 15 ) mounts between the wheel stays ( 14 ) and is held in place with two threaded knobs ( 16 ). The threaded knobs ( 16 ) mount the brake mount  FIG. 2  ( 15 ) to the wheel stays ( 14 ) with two bolts that go through the wheel stays ( 14 ). The side pull brake ( 3 ) works on the bicycle wheel ( 1 ) to provide braking for the skater. The threaded knobs ( 16 ) are used to make disassembly and transport of the device easier. The frame ( 2 ) is made of 1 inch square tubing. The bicycle wheel ( 1 ) is supported by the frame ( 2 ), between the wheel stays ( 14 ), with handle bars ( 4 ) that are held by the skater. The wheel ( 1 ) is held to the frame ( 2 ) by two wheel mounts ( 9 ). The wheel mounts ( 9 ) are flat steel, approximately 3/16″ thick, 2″ wide, 3″ long, bent at a 90 degree angle down the middle (often referred to as “angle iron”), with a single hole on one side. The hole in the mounts ( 9 ) are used to hold each mount ( 9 ) to each wheel stay ( 14 ), with a bolt that goes through the mount ( 9 ) and the wheel stay ( 14 ). The mounts ( 9 ) have a slot on the opposite side of the mount hole, to receive the quick release on the wheel ( 1 ). The handle bars ( 4 ) are typical bicycle handle bars for a mountain bike, and are round and about ⅞ of an inch at the ends. The frame ( 2 ) has a set of small wheels on an axle ( 5 ) attached to the front, bottom of each wheel stay ( 14 ). The small wheels ( 5 ) are mounted to the wheel stays ( 14 ) via a set of four bolts. These wheels ( 5 ) are used to keep the device from pitching into the ground under hard braking when the skater uses the side pull brake ( 3 ). If the skater does not want to use two wheels ( 5 ), the invention has also been created using a single wheel in place of the two wheels ( 5 ). The disadvantage to such an embodiment is that it must be laid on its side when not being used or constantly supported by the skater. The advantage to such an embodiment is that the single wheel is less weight and also does not catch as easily on physical obstacles that are larger than the front wheels. The axle for the wheels ( 5 ), used in the prototypes, is a wide skateboard truck. A weight ( 6 ) is attached to the front of the frame over the small front wheels ( 5 ), using a ⅜ inch bolt and fender washer. The weight ( 6 ) is used to counterbalance the items mounted to the handle bars ( 4 ) to keep the device from falling backward when not being used. 
     The handle bars ( 4 ) of the device have a brake lever ( 7 ) on the left side. This is the same as a bicycle brake lever; the left hand controls the front brake on a bicycle. The handle bars ( 4 ) bolt to the handle bar supports ( 8 ) to allow the device to be disassembled for transport or to mount a camera, using the bolts that hold the handle bars ( 4 ) to the handle bar supports ( 8 ) by replacing the bolts with a stud. The handle bars ( 4 ) have holes in them for the bolts that hold them to the handle bar supports ( 8 ). The handle bar supports ( 8 ) are threaded at the top of each support to allow the handle bars ( 4 ) to be bolted to the handle bar supports( 8 ). The handle bar supports ( 8 ) are further secured by a strut ( 10 ) which connects to the wheel&#39;s ( 1 ) quick release mechanism. This keeps the handle bar supports ( 8 ) secure when under hard braking. One of the embodiments of the invention connects the wheel stays ( 14 ) to the handle bar supports ( 8 ) with a heavy duty hinge. The wheel stays ( 14 ), in this embodiment, have a slight bend at the axle of the wheel ( 1 ), to make the ends of the wheel stays ( 14 ) meet up with the heavy duty hinge, connecting the handle bar supports ( 2 ) to the wheel stays ( 14 ). This embodiment&#39;s advantage is to make transport of the device more convenient by allowing the device to fold up. 
     A tether ( 11 ) is mounted to the handle bar ( 4 ) and is attached to a belt that goes around the skater&#39;s waist. This tether ( 11 ) is used to keep the device from going out of control if the user falls. An adjustable magnetic resistance unit ( 13 ) is also installed on the unit. The skater can adjust the resistance using the control ( 12 ) mounted to the handle bars ( 4 ). The adjustable magnetic resistance unit ( 13 ) is a common type, similar to the ones used for bicycle indoor trainers. One of the embodiments of this invention allows the skater to turn on or of the magnetic resistance ( 13 ) using a brake lever mounted to the right side of the handle bars ( 4 ). In this form, the brake lever pulls the magnetic resistance unit ( 13 ) against the wheel ( 1 ) when the lever is pulled by the skater. A brake cable is connected to the magnetic resistance unit ( 13 ) that pulls the unit toward the wheel ( 1 ). The magnetic resistance unit ( 13 ) comes out of contact with the wheel ( 1 ) when the skater releases the lever and the brake cable connected to the magnetic resistance unit ( 13 ), becomes slack. The magnetic resistance unit ( 13 ) is bulled toward the front of the device with a return spring connected to the wheel stays ( 14 ). 
     Video cameras can also be attached to the fastener that connects the handle bar support ( 8 ) to the wheel strut ( 10 ). By mounting the camera to a rod with a counter balance at the other end, and then mounting the rod, at its mid point, to the fastener that connects the handle bar support ( 8 ) to the wheel strut ( 10 ), the video camera can be kept parallel to the skaters feet. 
     In another embodiment of the invention, a skater may attach different handle bars to the handle bar supports ( 8 ), and using a shorter wheel strut ( 10 ), the skater can attach the handle bars to a belt around their waist, and they can push the device, as they would normally, or turn around and connect the device to their waist and tow the device behind them.