IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Duddell, of Queen's Park, Brighton, in the County
of Sussex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Duddell at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th January 1876.
GEORGE DUDDELL, of Queen's Park, Brighton, in the County of Sussex.
PROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."
"
IM-
I construct
The spring
The spring.
This Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates.
roller skates with a solo board, on which two spring brackets are fixed.
brackets each carry an axle, and two wheels are mounted on each axle.
brackets are so constructed that when the sole board is pressed down more strongly
upon one side than the other the axles, which are originally set parallel the one to
the other, incline towards each other on the side on which the greater pressure is
applied, and so the wheels are set by the side pressure on the sole board to run in a
circular course.
The spring bracket consists of a blade spring, which at one end is made to
embrace and firmly hold the axle. The spring is bent into a triangular form, and
its other end is brought round over the axle (or the part of the blade which carries
it) so as to form a support. The middle of the spring blade is firmly fixed to the
sole board. The portion of the spring which carries the axle inclines downward
and towards the middle of the sole board, and the supporting end of the spring is
shaped so that it only bears at the centre of the blade until the sole board receives
a side pressure, and then the side pressure acts to twist the portion of the blade
spring which carries the axle; thus the axles are, as before stated, caused to incline,.
and the wheels are set to run in a circular course.
The supporting portion of the blade need have no spring action, and it may be
made separate from the blade which carries the axle; it aids in supporting the
weight upon the skate, and it forms a stop controlling the twisting of the blade
spring.
In order to keep the wheels upon the axle a ring groove is turned in the axle,

page_text: and a ring of wire, by preference squaro in section, is made to embrace the axle
and enter the groove, but so as to project sufficiently to prevent the wheel and the
washers escaping from their places.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said George Duddell in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 10th July
1876.
GEORGE DUDDELL, of Queen's Park, Brighton, in the County of Sussex.
PROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."
"IM-
This Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates, and relates
especially to a new and more simple method than any heretofore devised for con-
necting the sole board with the axles of the wheels, so that when the impulsion of
the skater is communicated to the sole board laterally, the axles (which are
originally set parallel) may be caused to incline towards each other on the side
upon which the impulse is applied, and thus the wheels may be set to run in a
circular course.
For this purpose I attach the axles to the sole board by means of
spring blades of such a length as to allow the requisite freedom of movement, and
at the middle of each blade I provide a support, which prevents the blade yielding
unduly to the direct downward pressure upon the sole board. The blade and the
support may be made in one piece or separately.
In order to keep the wheels upon the axle a ring groove is turned in the axle,
and a ring of wire, by preference square in section, is made to embrace the axle and
enter the groove, but so as to project sufficiently to prevent the wheel and the
washers escaping from their places.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
a is
Figure 1 is a side view of a skate constructed according to my Invention.
the sole board, provided with suitable straps to attach it to the foot; b, b, are the
axles; c, c, the wheels; d, d, are the blade springs, which should be of steel or
other suitable metal; e, e, are the supports for sustaining the springs in the middle,
and preventing the blades from bending or yielding to the downward pressure of
the weight on the sole board.
A side view of the parts a, b, d, and e, but without the wheels c, is shown at
Figure 2.
Figure 3 is an under side view, and Figure 4 a back view. In the latter of these
Figures the wheels c are indicated; f is a screw passing through the spring blade d,
and attaching it loosely to the support e, so that the blade may not be liable to
injury by being bent back away from the support. It will be observed that the
support is cut away or bevilled, so that it only touches the blade in the middle,
except when the sole board is pressed down on one side as far as it is intended that
it should be able to go, and then the support operates as a stop; 9, 9, are metal
washers. The way in which the wheels and washers are held upon the axle is
clearly shown in those Figures. The axle has a groove cut around it at h in
Figure 3, and when the wheel and washers have been put on the ring i is allowed
to close around the axle into the groove, which it partly fills.
The ring, which should be made of wire of a rectangular section, is shown
separately at Figure 5. By means of suitable pliers the ring is sprung open, and
passed over the end of the axle to its place. The blade d is attached to the
axle a by being lapped around it, and a rivet is inserted to render the joint more
gecure.

page_text: Figures 6, 7, and 8 are similar to the Figures 2, 3, and 4, except that they show
the blade d and the support e in one piece.
Figures 9, 10, and 11 represent the blade d and support e as separate parts, but
somewhat different in form from the corresponding parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
The principle on which these skates depend for their action will be more easily
understood on the inspection of the Diagram A. Let a, b, c, d, and e, f, g, h, be
two rectangular spring blades, and let the corners a, b, c, of the one, and e, f, g, of
the other be fixed in the plane of the paper. Now suppose the corners d and h to
be raised from the plane of the paper, and the figure will assume the form indicated
by the diagram B, in which the sides c, d, and g, h, are inclined the one to the
other. The result will be similar if we suppose the four corners c, d, g, h, all to be
free and above the plane of the paper, and c and g to be pressed down towards the
paper, whilst d and h are drawn up to an equal extent. The dotted lines in
diagram B.(prolongations of the sides c, d, and g, h,) may be regarded as repre-
senting the axles of the skate, and it is obvious that they become inclined the one
to the other so soon as c, d, and g, h, cease to be parallel to the plane in which are
the sides a, b, and e, f.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to
the exact details, but I claim the construction of roller skates, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Duddell, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
GEO. DUDDELL. (L.S.)