IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER
Year: 1876

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to Charles Frederick Wood, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of
SKATES."
IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Frederick Wood at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th September 1876.
CHARLES FREDERICK WOOD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."
My Invention relates to improvements in roller skates, whereby increased facilities
are provided for guiding the wheels or rollers and steering the skate in any desired
course under the action of the foot of the operator without the necessity for the
canting, rocking, or tilting of the foot rest or stock, and it has reference to tho
arrangement of skate described in the Provisional Specification filed by me the
25th of April, 1870, No. 1735.
According to my said former Invention the foot rest or stock was divided
longitudinally, and the two halves were connected to the axles of the wheels or
rollers in such a manner that by the act of the operator vertically depressing one or
the other of the two halves and thereby elevating the other half the wheels or
rollers were locked and the skate was directed in the required "curvilinear course.
Now my present Invention has for its object simplifying the connection between the
two halves of the divided foot rest or stock and the axles, so as to obtain a similar
result without the employment of intermediate devices of a complicated and
expensive construction, which object is effected in the following manner :-
According to one modification each axle is provided with a projecting pin, around
which is fitted, so that the pin shall be capable of turning therein, a stem or socket
piece carrying a double crank arm, the two crank pins of which arranged on opposite
sides are fitted into transverse horizontal holes forined in the two halves of the divided
foot rest or stock. Fixed pendent pins are also provided, one for each axle, projecting
from opposite halves of the foot rest or stock, which pins enter apertures formed in
the axles and constitute the fulcra around which the axles turn when either half of
the foot rest or stock is depressed, both sets of wheels being thus caused to work in
unison in either direction at the will of the operator.
Price G21

page_text: If desired the hollow stems or socket pieces may be carried on the axles and the
entering pins be carried on the crank arms, and the fulcra may be formed by pins
having eyes or forked extremities encircling or partially encircling the axles, the
result being similar to that obtained with the converse arrangement firstly herein-
before described. Springs or yielding and resilient contrivances may be employed
for restoring the two halves of the foot rest or stock to their normal level position
for running in a rectilineal course if required.
According to another modification the projecting pins from the axles are dispensed
with, and the cranked stems from the foot rest or stock are rivetted or attached
by similar means to the axle, so as to admit of the swivelling motion of the latter,
in which case I substitute for the fixed fulcra bell-crank levers each of which is
centred or pivotted to one of the stems and is loosely connected by its two arms to
the axle and the foot rest or stock respectively.
According to a further modification the two stems carrying the pins around which
the axles swivel are slotted and jointed (or otherwise connected so as to admit of
their swivelling) to their respective double crank arms, and are connected together
by a longitudinal red or bar, in which case the fulcra may be obtained either by
means of arms arranged beneath or connected to the foot rest or stock and engaging
with projections carried on the axles, thus forming double bell-crank levers, or by
means of single bell-crank levers, as herein-before described under the second
modification.
The apparatus may be further modified in various ways whilst retaining the
principle of the Invention, vizt. that of transmitting the motion of the divided foot
rest or stock to the axles by the intervention of double crank arms engaging with
the two halves of such foot rest or stock.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Frederick Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th March 1877.
CHARLES FREDERICK WOOD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."
My said Invention relates to improvements in roller skates, whereby increased
facilities are provided for guiding the wheels or rollers and steering the skate in any
desired course under the action of the foot of the operator without the necessity for
the canting, rocking, or tilting of the foot rest or stock, and it has reference to the
arrangement of skate in respect of which Letters Patent were granted to me dated
the 25th of April, 1876, No. 1735.
According to my said former Invention the foot rest or stock was divided
longitudinally, and the two halves were connected to the axles of the wheels or
rollers in such a manner that by the act of the operator vertically depressing one or
the other of the two halves (the other half being simultaneously elevated) the wheels
or rollers were locked and the skate was directed in the required curvilinear course.
Now my present Invention has for its object simplifying the connection between
the two arms of the divided foot rest or stock and the axles so as to obtain a similar
result without the employment of intermediate devices of a complicated and
expensive construction, which object is effected in the following manner :-
According to one modification, each axle is provided with a projecting pin, around
which is fitted, so that the pin shall be capable of turning therein, a stem or socket
piece carrying a double crank arm, the two crank pins of which arranged on opposite
sides are fitted into transverse horizontal holes formed in the two halves of the
divided foot rest or stock. Fixed pendent pins are also provided, one for each axle,
projecting from opposite ends of the foot rest or stock, which pins enter apertures
formed in the axles and constitute the fulcra around which the axles turn when

page_text: either half of the foot rest or stock is depressed, both sets of wheels being thus
caused to work in unison in either direction at the will of the operator.
If desired, the hollow stems or socket pieces may be carried on the axles, and the
entering pins be carried on the crank arins, and the fulcra may be formed by pins
having eyes or forked extremities encircling or partially encircling the axles, the
result being similar to that obtained with the converse arrangements first herein-
before described. Springs or yielding and resilient contrivances may be employed
for restoring the two halves of the foot rest or stock to their normal level position
for running. in a rectilineal course if required.
According to another modification the projecting pins from the axles are dis-
pensed with, and the cranked stems from the foot rest or stock are rivetted or
attached by similar means to the axles so as to admit of the swivelling motion of
the latter, in which case the fulcra may be obtained by means of bell-crank levers,
each of which is centred or pivotted to one of the steins, and is loosely connected
by its two arms to the axle and the foot rest or stock respectively.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now pro-
ceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the
Figures on the annexed two Sheets of Drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, of my Drawings represents a side elevation, with the near
wheels or rollers removed, of a roller skate constructed, according to one modifica-
tion of my Invention; and Figure 2 is a plan of the under side, and Figure 3 an
elevation of the heel end of the same, both corresponding to Figure 1.
In these Figures the wheels or rollers are shown in their parallel or neutral posi-
tion for running in a rectilineal direction.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent similar views to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the same
skate, with the wheels or rollers converged for travelling in a curved course.
Figures 7 and 8 reprosent respectively a detail elevation and plan of a portion of
the apparatus.
Figure 9 represents an end elevation of a similar skate, slightly modified in the
details of its construction.
Figure 10, Sheet 2, represents a sectional elevation of a roller skate constructed
according to another modification of my Invention; and Figure 11 is a plan of the
under side, and Figure 12 an elevation of the heel end of the same, both corre-
sponding to Figure 10.
A is the foot rest or stock, composed of two separate longitudinal halves a, a²,
meeting along the longitudinal axial line b, and B, B are the axles carrying the
wheels or rollers C, C, by the locking or converging of which latter, by the act of
the operator vertically depressing with his foot one or the other of the two halves
a, a, as described in the Specification of my said former Letters Patent, the skate
is directed in the required curvilinear course.
According to my present Invention the axles B, B, are connected to the two
halves a, a, by means of double crank arms D, D, shewn detached in Figures 7
and 8, engaging therewith in the manner herein-after described.
Referring to the arrangement illustrated by Figures 1 to 8 of the Drawings, each
axle is provided with a projecting pin c, around which is fitted, so that the pin
shall be capable of turning therein, a stem or socket piece E, carrying one of the
double crank arms D, D, before referred to. These crank arms are each furnished
with two crank pins d, d¹, arranged on opposite sides thereof, and which respectively
fit into transverse horizontal holes formed in the two halves a, a¹, of the divided
foot rest or stock. Fixed pendent pins F, F', are also provided, projecting from
opposite ends of the foot rest or stock, and which enter so as to be free to slide
therein apertures formed in the axles, and constitute guides for the axles and fulcra,
around which they turn in their swivelling motion. These pins, which are shewn
in my Drawings as attached to the half a of the divided foot rest or stock, may be
fitted to the half a' in lieu of to the half a if desired; G, G, represent steel springs of
U shape attached to both halves of the stock, one at each end thereof, which

page_text: springs or equivalent yielding and resilient contrivances may sometimes be advan-
tageously employed for assisting in restoring the two halves a, a¹, of the divided
foot rest or stock A to their normal level position, and with them the axles B, B,
carrying the wheels or rollers C, C, to a parallel position when it is required to
change from a curved to a straight course, but such springs or contriv: nees may
be dispensed with if desired.
The apparatus operates in the following manner:- -When it is desired to pursue a
straight course the operator bears equally upon the two halves a, a¹, of the foot rest
or stock A, which then remain in one and the same horizontal plane, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 3. If however it be required to turn the skate or to run in a
curvilinear track, say for example in the direction indicated by the arrow in
Figure 3, the operator depresses with the foot the half a of the foot rest or stock,
and as the crank arms D, D, which by their pins d, d, are connected with the half a
of the foot rest or stock are also connected by their socket pieces E, E, to the
pins c, c, of the axles B, B, and as the ground forms a resistance preventing any
vertical motion of the wheels or rollers, and the axles are moreover guided by the
pins F, F, it follows that the socket pieces E, E, will be moved into an inclined
position, and the axles carrying the wheels or rollers will be swivelled round, as
shewn in Figure 5, the pins c, c, turning in their socket pipes E, E, which
swivelling action is controlled by the pendent pins F, F, around which the axles
turn as upon fulcra, and as the two outer crank pins d', d', of the crank arms D, D,
are so placed as to engage with one and the same half a¹ of the foot rest or stock,
and the two crank pins d, d, both engage with the opposite half a of the foot rest
or stock, whilst the fulera F, F, are both situate upon one and the same half, it
further follows that the opposite axles are caused to converge, as shewn in Figure 5,
and both pairs of wheels or rollers are turned simultaneously so as to direct the
skate in the required course.
This swivelling and converging action is further promoted and facilitated by
reason of the two halves of the foot rest or stock being firmly secured to the foot of
the skater by means of straps H, H; for inasmuch as the half a of the foot rest or
stock is also connected by the crank pins (,, to the crank arms D, D, which are
connected by the pins d, d, to the opposite half a, it follows that when one half is
depressed the other half is simultaneously elevated, as shewn in Figures 4 and 6.
When therefore the operator exercises a preponderant pressure upon one half he at
the same time by means of the straps H, H, tends to draw up the other half, and
the two forces acting conjointly and simultaneously co-operate in effecting the
turning or swivelling of the axles through the intervention of the crank arms D, D,
and the pins F, F, to which both the axles and the foot rest or stock are connected.
When it is required to resume the straight course the operator depresses with his
foot the half a¹ until the two halves are brought into a level position, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 3; the springs G, G, when the same are employed, assisting in
restoring the foot rest or stock to such normal condition. Or if it be desired to
turn the skate in the reverse direction to that assumed in the example herein-before
given the pressure on the half a¹ is continued until such half is depressed (the half a
being simultaneously elevated), whereby the axles B, B, with their wheels or
rollers C, C, will be caused to converge in the opposite direction to that indicated
in Figure 5, and the skate steered in the required course.
If desired the fulcra F may be formed by pins having eyes F¹ encircling the axles,
as shewn in Figure 9, such pins entering (so as to be free to slide therein) socket
pieces F attached to the foot rest or stock. Or the extremities of the pins at the
part where they engage with the axles may be bifurcated in lieu of being formed
with eyes if preferred. The hollow stems or socket pieces E, E, may also be carried
on the axles, and the entering pins c, c, carried on the crank arms D, D, in lieu of
the converse arrangement heroin-before described.
According to another modification which is illustrated by Figures 10, 11, and 12
(Sheet 2), the projecting pins from the axles are dispensed with, and the stems E, E,
carrying the crank arms D, D, are rivetted, as shewn, or attached by similar means

page_text: to the axles so as to adinit of the swivelling motion of the latter, in which case the
fulcra are obtained by means of bell-crank levers F, F, each of which is centred or
pivotted at a point e to one of the stems E, and is loosely connected by its two
arms ff, to the axle and the foot rest or stock respectively.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine myself to the precise
details of the apparatus herein-before described and illustrated on the accompanying
Drawings, as the same may obviously be varied without departing from the
principal of the Invention, but what I consider to be novel and original, and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, in a roller skate having the foot rest or stock constructed in two
longitudinal halves or parts converting the vertical movements imparted under the
action of the foot of the skater by such halves or parts of the foot rest or stock into
a gyratory or swivelling motion of the wheels or rollers by the employment of
double crank arms engaging with the two halves or parts of the foot rest or stock
and pivotted to or connected with the axles in combination with fulcra or auxiliary
contrivances, all substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Frederick Wood, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
CHARLES FREDERICK WOOD. (L.S.)