IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Cæsar Frederick Franklin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th February 1876.
ALEXANDER CESAR FREDERICK FRANKLIN, of Brighton, in the County of Sussex,
Civil and Mechanical Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES."
My said Invention relates to wheel or roller skates, and is designed to render
such skates more convenient and less dangerous to persons using them than other
wheel or roller skates heretofore constructed.
The most important feature of the said Invention is the application or adaptation
to these skates of a brake or locking device, whereby the. wheels or rollers or one or
more of them may be so controlled that by a simple movement or adjustment of the
said device the said wheel or wheels may he rendered incapable of turning in one
direction, while left free to turn in the other direction. It is not absolutely necessary
that the brake should form a dead lock as long as it has sufficient restraining power
to render the motion in the reverse direction difficult.
In ordinary cases I do not consider it necessary that the said brake or locking
device should be capable of adjustment to lock the wheels in more than one
direction. I so construct and arrange the said device in combination with the
wheels or rollers of the skate, that the skater can by a slight movement set it com-
pletely out of gear or connection with the said wheels so that they will turn freely
in both directions. The said Invention also relates to a novel construction of parts
to be employed in combination with the aforesaid means for controlling the wheels,
whereby the body or stock of the skate can be slightly depressed on either side to
harmonize with the inclined position of the skater when describing curves, so that
an equal or nearly equal pressure upon the wheels shall be maintained. And in
combination with the above I prefer that the axle of either the leading or trailing
wheels or both shall be fitted to turn upon a vertical pin or pivot to facilitate the
guiding of the skates.
My said Invention is carried into practise as follows, that is to say:-The wheels
or rollers at one end of the skate are fixed upon their axle so as to rotate with the
same; the said axle being fitted to turn freely in bearings connected with the body
or stock. On this axle between the two wheels is formed or fixed a wheel or
drum smaller in diameter than the said wheels. This inner wheel or drum may
be formed of wood, metal, or other suitable material, and may be covered on its
periphery with cork or india-rubber. Around and in combination with this wheel
or drum I arrange a band or strap of thin steel, or other suitable material.

page_text: One end of the said band is pivoted or pin-jointed to the extremity of a lever or
spring bar attached to or connected with the stock or body of the skate, the other
end of the said band or strap is also pivoted or jointed to the said lever at a short
distance from its extremity. The said band being connected with the lever or
spring and surrounding the wheel or drum, as above described, when properly set or
adjusted will permit the wheels of the skate to turn freely in one direction, but not
in the other direction. The said brake will be ordinarily so set that the wheels can
move forward only, so that the skater can run freely in that direction, and can
make use of the locking or binding of the wheels to prevent falling. This
Invention will therefor be very advantageous to persons commencing to skate, and
who have not yet acquired perfect control of the skates, as they may use the
locking device while learning the exercise, and when they feel sufficient confidence
in themselves to dispense with the support thereby afforded can set it to leave the
wheels free to turn in both directions, as in ordinary wheel or roller skates.
I prefer that the means for adjusting or setting the brake or locking device into
or out of action, should be so arranged that the same can be operated by the foot of
the skater. For this purpose I may use a small sliding wedge provided with a
knob or button at the side of the stock, and which when pushed inward will raise
the aforesaid strap or band and keep. it clear of the periphery of the brake wheel or
drum; or I may have a small cam arranged to act in like manner upon the said
lever or spring, or a small pin operated by means of a knob or button or other
convenient means for restraining the locking or tightening action of the said lever
or spring, thereby leaving the wheels free to rotate in either direction.
Instead of having the wheels fixed upon the axle and the brake arranged as
above described, the brake may be applied to one wheel, in which case the wheel
will be loose upon its axle.
Instead of employing a brake or locking device as above described, I may use a
ratchet wheel and spring pawl or other mechanism, which will prevent the rotation
of the skate wheels in one direction, while permitting them free rotation in the
other direction, and which can be set or adjusted to lock or release the wheels as
desired by the skater.
In combination with the above I sometimes arrange the stock or body of the
skate upon which the foot rests separate from the wheel base, and support it and
connect it with the wheels by a spring somewhat similar in form to a coach spring,
to allow of its oscillation to accomodate the skate to the angle at which a person
would lean in turning a curve or corner.
By means of the above-described improvements I as nearly as possible accomodate
the notion of the skate to the natural action of a person skating, and I reduce the
possibility of falling to a minimum.
The above-described brake or locking device may be applied to the wheels or
1ollers of existing roller skates.