IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES
Year: 1875

page_text: · LETTERS PATENT to William Walkington, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES."
Sealed the 10th August 1875, and dated the 13th February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Walkington
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th February 1875.
I, WILLIAM WALKINGTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer,
'do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES," to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention relates to wheel or roller skates sometimes called
parlour skates, and which are designed for use indoors and in other
situations where ordinary skates cannot be used.
In the employment of wheel or roller skates there is difficulty in
turning easily, so that the skater cannot gracefully produce the various

page_text: curves and figures which render the amusement of skating so attractive,
and which enable this amusement to be carried on successfully on
surfaces of limited area. Various contrivances have been adopted for
overcoming this difficulty, but none of them have been so effectual as to
enable the turning to be performed with that facility and absence of
exertion which are so desirable. But my Invention effectually over-
comes all difficulty connected with this matter, and renders a wheel or
roller skate as easily manageable as an ordinary runner skate skilfully
used.
The said Invention consists in fitting and arranging the wheels or
rollers upon the stock or body of the skate in combination with devices
which allow the skate to be turned with very slight exertion on the part
of the wearer.
.
The said Invention is carried into practise as follows:- -On the under-
Bide of the body or stock of the skate I place two brackets one at the
heel and the other at the toe of the skate. These brackets are pivoted
or journalled upon pins or studs which project down from the stock, and
are secured to the same, preferably by metal plates fixed by screws or
otherwise upon the stock. And upon these pins the said brackets are
free to turn horizontally or in a plane parallel with the surface of the
stock. These brackets form bearings for the axles or journals of the
wheels or rollers of the skate. Each axle is fitted with one wheel or
roller or two wheels or rollers of brass or other suitable metal and of
convenient size. The pivots of the said brackets are not central with
the shafts or axes of the rollers, but are preferably placed about an inch
therefrom, that is to say, the said brackets are rather more than an inch
in length from their pivots to their free or outer ends, and the said shafts
are placed near and parallel with these ends, and I combine with the
'said brackets a spring or springs attached to the brackets and the stock,
and so arranged that they tend always to keep the said brackets central
with the stock, that is to say, to keep the roller shafts at right angles to
'the longitudinal centre line of the stock. But a very slight impulse
given by the foot in either direction will cause the said springs to yield
and the brackets to turn on their pivots.
And it will be seen by the above description. that, skates constructed
'according to this Invention will turn by the lateral or

page_text: of the foot upon the stock, and will permit the skater to perform with
ease all the desired curves or evolutions without rocking the ankles upon
the skates and consequent loss of stability.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Walkington in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WALKINGTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Walkington, Her special
licence that I, the said William Walkington, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Walkington,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Walkington, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Walkington, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
:

page_text: and by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:—
In the employment of wheel or roller skates there is difficulty in
turning easily, so that the skater cannot gracefully produce the various
curves and figures which render the amusement of skating so attractive,
and which enable this amusement to be carried on successfully on
surfaces of limited area. Various contrivances have been adopted for
overcoming this difficulty, but none of them have been so effectual as to
enable the turning to be performed with that facility and absence of
exertion which are so desirable. But my Invention effectually over-
comes all difficulty connected with this matter, and renders & wheel or
roller skate as easily manageable as an ordinary runner skate skilfully
used.
The said Invention consists in fitting and arranging the wheels or
rollers upon the stock or body of the skate in combination with devices
which allow the skate to be turned without bending the ankle to one
side or rocking the stock or body of the skate, and with very slight
exertion on the part of the wearer.

page_text: On the under side of the stock or body A of the skate I place the two
brackets B, one at the heel and the other at the toe of the skate, as
shown.. These brackets are pivoted or journalled upon the screws, pins,
or studs C, which project down from the stock A, and are attahced to the
same, preferably by the metal plates G which are secured to the stock A
by screws or otherwise. It will be seen that, the under surface of these
plates, and the top surfaces of the brackets are plane surfaces, so that
while the said stock is kept from rocking or tilting or inclining out of
a horizontal plane upon its wheels or rollers or the brackets supporting
the same, the said brackets are free to turn upon the pivots C horizontally
or in a plane parallel with the surface of the stock. These brackets are
formed with suitable bearings for the axles or journals J of the wheels or
rollers I of the skate to turn freely in, or the said axles may be fixed and
the wheel I fitted to turn upon them. Each axle is fitted with two
wheels or rollers I which are formed of brass or other suitable metal
and of convenient size. Or I may modify my said Invention by pro-
viding each axle with one wheel or roller. It will be seen that the
pivots C of the said brackets are not central with the shafts or axles J of
the rollers, but are preferably placed at some distance in advance of the
same, as shewn, that is to say, the said brackets are of such a length
from their pivots C to the centres of the axles J as to permit the required
movement of the said axles in the turning of the skate. And I combine
with each of the said brackets springs H which lie in the said curved slots
or grooves, and bear against the ends of the same and the stop pins D on
the brackets, or are otherwise so arranged that they tend always to keep the
said brackets in their central position on the stock, as shewn in Figure 1,
that is to say, they tend always to keep the shafts J at right angles to a
line drawn centrally from the point a to the point 6 of the stock. But
a very slight impulse given by the foot in a horizontal plane either to
the right or left of the skater will cause the said springs to yield and the
brackets to turn on their pivots C.
"
And it will be seen by the above description that skates constructed
according to this Invention will turn by the lateral or horizontal pressure
of the foot upon the stock, and will permit the skater to perform with
ease all the desired curves or evolutions without bending the ankles
upon the skates, and the consequent fatigue and loss of stability to the
skater which would be caused by so bending the ankles and rocking or
tilting the stock of the skate upon its wheels or rollers.

page_text: Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim, the peculiar
construction, combination, and arrangement of parts of a wheel or roller
skate as herein set forth, wherby the said skate can be turned or guided
without rocking or tilting or inclining the stock or body of the same
upon the wheels or rollers.