IMPROVE- MENTS IN ROLLER SKATES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Webb, of 1, Upper North Street,
Brighton, in the County of Sussex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."
Sealed the 23rd February 1875, and dated the 18th September 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William
Webb at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
:
Petition, on the 18th September 1874.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM WEBB, of 1, Upper North Street, Brighton, in
the County of Sussex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES," to be as follows:-
:
This Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates. For
this purpose I form a roller skate of a clog or sole having two wheeled
carriages applied to it on its under side, one near the toc, the other
under the heel; cach carriage is capable of locking or turning around.
a pin fixed into the sole plate; from cach carriage an. arm extends to
and beyond the centre of the skate; the ends of the arms overlap one
another, and are connected together by a pin passing through a slot in
°

page_text: each, so that if one wheel carriage is turned in one direction the other
is turned to the same extent in the opposite direction, and the skate
thereby caused to run in a curved course. On the top of the clog or
sole I apply a rocking or canting plate for the tread of the foot to rest
upon, and I connect this plate to the forward wheel carriage in such
manner that the carriage shall be turned whenever the plate is rocked
or canted to one side or the other. This I prefer to do by connecting
the two ends of the plate by straps to the arm which extends backwards
from the front wheel carriage, the straps being led over rollers at the
sides of the clog or sole, so that when the plate is canted the arm will ]
be drawn to one side or the other. Below the rocking or canting plate
I apply a pad or pads of vulcanized india-rubber or other elastic sub-
stance, or springs to control its rocking or canting. Straps are also
applied to the ends of the plate to fasten over the foot, and there are
also other straps attached to the heel of the clog or sole to fasten over 1
the instep, or other means may be adopted of securing the skate to a
person's foot.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles William Webb in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WILLIAM WEBB, of 1, Upper North Street, Brighton, in the County of
Sussex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles William Webb, Her
special license that I, the said Charles William Webb, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
William Webb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles William Webb, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 dato
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles William Webb, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:―
This Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates. For
this purpose I form a roller skate of a clog or sole, to the under side of
which are pivotted two castings, one at the back under the heel, and tho
other at the front near the toe; the pivots are at right angles to the
clog or sole, and each casting carries an axle with a roller or rollers
mounted upon it; the castings have also arms standing out from them
which meet, and are coupled together below the centre of the clog or
sole in such manner that if one casting is turned in one direction the
other casting is turned to a corresponding extent in the opposite
direction. The upper surface of the clog or sole is formed with a
longitudinal central ridge upon which the foot rests, and the turning
of the castings upon their pivots is effected by inclining the foot to
one side or the other whilst the clog or sole remains in a horizontal
-position.
Various ways of causing the inclination of the foot to turn the castings
may be adopted, as herein-after explained.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I have shewn in the Drawings hereunto annexed a
roller skate constructed according to my Invention. In this skate
various ways are made use of for effecting the turning of the castings
to one side or the other by the inclining of the foot; these may either
be employed separately, or they may be used in conjunction with one
another,

page_text: Figure 1 shews a plan view of the skate; Figure 2, an under side
view; Figure 3, a transverse section through the line a, b; and Figure 4,
another transverse section through the line c, d.
In these Figures a is the clog or sole; b, 61, are castings turning
upon pivots c which stand out at right angles from the under side of
the clog or sole, one near the toe, the other under the heel; d, d, are
plates of metal surrounding these pivots and fixed to the clog or sole;
these metal plates form smooth surfaces for the upper part of the
castings to rest against. Each casting is formed with four descending
arms which carry at their lower end an axle e; rollers are mounted
upon these axles in either of the three compartments between these'
arms, by which arrangement the skate may readily be adjusted to run
on 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 rollers, according as the wearer desires; f, f, are arms
standing out from each of the castings; these arms meet together and
overlap one another below the centre of the stock or sole. Near the end
of each arm is a slot, and a ping is passed through the slots in the two
arms to couple them together, so that if one casting is turned in one
direction, the other will be turned to a corresponding extent in the
opposite direction, and the axles of the rollers will thus be caused to
radiate to one side of the skate or the other and cause the skate to run
in a curved course. The arm f which is led back from the front.
casting 6 has a strap / secured to it; the strap is led over two rollers k
at the sides of the clog or sole, and is secured at its two ends to two:
plates 1, 1; these plates have pins m, m, fixed to them which pass down
through holes in the clog or sole; the lower end of one of these pins
on either side of the skate rests on an incline n carried by the arm ƒ, as¸
shewn at Figure 3. When the arm ƒ is parallel with the central lino,
of the skate the plates are level, or nearly so, with the central ridge of,
the clog or sole; but if the foot is inclined to one side or the other one.
of the plates is depressed, and the pin which descends from it and
bears upon the incline n forces the arm f to one side, whilst the incline n
on the opposite side of the arm lifts the other plate 1; 8, 8, are blocks
of india-rubber below each plate ; the strap h serves to keep the
plates connected to the clog or sole when the skate is out of use; or
these plates might be both carried by a lever turning on a horizontal
pin on the central line of the clog or sole, and give motion to the arm ƒ
by means of the strap h.

page_text: end of the skate. The heel rests upon a pad o of vulcanised india-.
rubber, and rising up through this pad on each side of the skate is a
pin p' forming the upper part of a lever p which at its lower end bears
against a projection f¹ on the arm f. When the foot is inclined and one
or other of these pins p¹ is depressed, and the lever p turned on its axis,
its lower end acts against the projection on the arm and inclines it to
one side. In a similar manner levers p acting upon projections in the
arms fmay be applied at the front of the skate; r, r, are straps by which
the skate is secured to the wearer's foot.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim,-
1. Connecting together the front and back axles of the rollers of roller
skates by arms or levers coupled together at the centre of the skate, sub-
stantially as described.
2. The combined arrangement of roller skate, substantially as described,
consisting of a clog or sole with two roller carriages turning upon pivots
standing out at right angles from its under side, and with means for
controlling the turning of such roller carriages upon their pivots by the
inclination of the wearer's foot to one side or the other.
3. Forming the upper surface of the clog or sole of a roller skate with
a raised longitudinal ridge for the centre of the foot to rest on, substan- ·|
tially as described.
4. The employment of pins passing downwards through the clog or
sole of a roller skate to act upon the roller carriages and control their
turning, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Webb, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this 11th day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-