IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES."
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stammers Morrisson, of Albert Square, Clapham
Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stammers Morrisson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd November 1875.
I, STAMMERS MORRISSON, of Albert Square, Clapham Road, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEEL OR ROLLER SKATES," to be
as follows:-
Attempts have heretofore been made in the construction of wheel or
roller skates to render the turning therewith easy, and for this purpose
certain kinds of springs have been proposed, and in some cases used in
connection with the axles on which the wheels are mounted. Now the
primary object of my Invention is to produce wheel or roller skates,

page_text: whereby the wearer may with facility produce when using them graceful
curves and evolutions, while at the same time sufficient for comfort
to the wearer of clasticity and pliability for the feet are obtained.
First. In the employment of springs, whether curved or straight, flat 5
or edgewise, continuous or interrupted, which pass between the cross
bars of wheel or ball skates, or are affixed at the level of such cross
bars.
WATER And routions, wine at the same time sumcient
to the wearer of elasticity and pliability for the fect are obtained.
My Invention consists,—
First. In the employment of springs, whether curved or straight, flat
or edgewise, continuous or interrupted, which pass between the cross
bars of wheel or ball skates, or aro affixed at the level of such cross
bars.
Second. In the employment in wheel or ball skates of an elastic
washer for the prevention of jarring inseparable from the use of metal
only.
Third. In the employment of a new or improved stop, as hereafter
described.
The cross bars forming the bearings for the rollers or wheel spindles,
viz., the front cross bar and the back cross bar, are connected together
by a band or strip of thin and clastic iron or steel, and though the band
or strip is preferably flat and somewhat curved or bent, so that in
starting from one cross bar, say the front, and extending to the other,
say the back, it dips in the central part in such manner that it is nearer
at that part to the under side of the foot plate than at the two ends or
cross bars. I do not limit myself to this curved flat spring as a straight
spring or a spring curved endwise might answer a similar purpose. Iu
this way I not only allow or obtain for the cross bars a certain amount
of lateral play sufficient to produce gracefully and without additional
exertion to the wearer those curves and evolutions required to be
produced when adroitly using these skates, but at the same time I have
a solc or cushion for the foot which is movable and not rigid; while in
addition to being able to move more gracefully and with greater
freedom, this spring provides for the bringing of the wheels back to
their proper axes for straight running when the slight pressure requisite
for the production of curves shall have been relaxed.
My Invention further consists in the employment of an elastic washer
or washers, preferably of india-rubber resting on the cross bars, through
which a spindle passes as well as through bearings in brackets con-
nected to the front and back of the foot plate.

page_text: And my Invention further consists in the use either at the top of the
bearings or just above the elastic washer, of a washer stop to limit the
extent of movement of the axes upon which the wheels are placed, such
stop being distinct from the nut or nuts used to connect and tighten the
pivots upon which the cross bars work or to which they are joined, and
by which nuts the tension of the cross bars can be increased or
diminished at pleasure.
I do not limit myself to the use of any defined number of wheels, as
these appliances can be adapted as required; and I consider that in the
use of two wheels a straight spring would be equally as good as a
curved spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Stammers Morrisson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd May 1976.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STAMMERS
MORRISSON, of Albert Square, Clapham Road, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Stammers Morrison, Her special
licence, that the. said Stammers Morrisson, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Stammers Morrisson,
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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc,
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 Stammers Morrisson, 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

page_text: The wheels or rollers a of the skate run freely upon axles b, and are
kept in their places by means of split linch pins c. The brackets e from
which the axles b project are pivoted so as to move freely upon studs f
projecting from the boss or sole plates g. The boss or bracket on the
plate g forms a shoulder against which the upper part of the bracket e
bears, while it is prevented from coming off the stud ƒ by a screw pin h
at the lower end thereof, as best seen at Figure 1. The plates gare
fixed to the sole of the skate by means of screws.
As will be observed the brackets e are pivoted at angles opposite to
one another, and so as to face in opposite directions. Small brackets j
project from their lower parts, and between these brackets a thin flat
steel or iron spring & extends lying in a vertical plane and curved upwards,
as seen at Figure 1. This spring is attached to the brackets j by
means of screws or pins l, and one or both of the holes in the spring
through which the screws or pins pass should be made oblong so as to
allow for the play of each pair of rollers.
By means of this arrangement it will be readily understood that this
skate is peculiarly adapted for the production of graceful curves and
evolutions, since whatever angle to the line of progression one pair of
rollers may be caused to assume, the other pair is by means of the
connecting spring k thrown into an identically similar but opposite
angle, as illustrated by the diagrams at Figure 3. When the foot is
lifted the elasticity of the spring brings the rollers instantaneously back
to their normal position.
To prevent the brackets e from turning too far upon the studs f,
stops m are provided consisting of pins screwed into the bosses on the
plates g, and formed with an oblong head so as to make the amount of
play of the bracket e adjustable at pleasure. The upper part of the
bracket e may be provided with "lugs" or projections, as shown,
which come into contact with the stop m when the limit of play is
reached.
Although a curved connecting spring has been shewn and described
with reference to the foregoing Figures, such curvature is by no means
a necessary element in the construction of my skates, and Figures 4
and 5 illustrate a skate to which a straight flat spring is applied and
attached in a manner similar to that already described, but with the
points of attachment situated at a greater distance from the axes. These

page_text: !
Figures also show a single roller a situate at each end of the skate and
embraced by jaws x extending from the pivoted brackets e.
Figures 11 and 12 are detailed views of studs and brackets e.
Figures 6 and 7 shew a skate similar in construction to that described
with reference to Figures 4 and 5, but having two separate rollers at
each end of the skate, instead of the single roller shown at Figures 4
and 5, and with a double curved connecting bar or spring k trussed in
the centre, where the side play may be limited by stops, as shewn.
Figures 8 and 9 are side and end elevation respectively of a skate,
shewing a spring / connecting the two brackets e, and employed in
conjunction with the washer stop, which consists in this case of a pin "
screwed into the pivot f, so as to confine an india-rubber washer or
pads between the washers and "; the upper part of this washer stop
bears upon the fixed bracket g, and the lower part upon the pivoted
bracket e.
The bracket e is thus always under the control of the washer
stop, and its motion round the pivot f is limited by the pin.r coming
into contact with the sides of an oblong recess formed in the bracket e
and through which the pin r passes.
Instead of the india-rubber pads herein-before described a coiled
spring might be employed, as shewn at Figure 13. Either of the said.
clastic washer stops might without departing from my Invention be
applied to roller skates without the connecting springs herein-before
described and shewn, although in that case the reciprocal motion of the
roller axes would be lost.
Figure 10 is a side elevation partly in section of a roller skate with
vertical pivots f, f, placed on elastic washers y, y; the socket e is by
means of a loop or hook connected to the fixed bracket to forming part
of the casting 9. In this case the action of the. skate is dependant upon
the washer stop 8, and the round connecting spring or bar k though the
spring is not so necessary for the action.
Figure 10* is a section through the upper part of a roller skate con-
structed according to a modified arrangement of Figures 8 and 10. The
pivot is vertical and its rocking plate d works on an india-rubber
washer y in the casting 9, and is pivoted to two lugs on g. The washer
stop 8 is placed in a manner similar to that at Figure 8; j is the pro.
jecting arm for the attachment of the connecting bar or spring k.

page_text: Having now decribed the nature of my said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I am aware that
roller or wheel skates have been constructed in such manner as to obtain
what has been called a canting or rocking action in order to facilitato
the performing of curves or gyrations, but I do not attempt to lay any
claim to what I would term for the sake of illustration the broad
principle of obtaining in roller or wheel skates a canting or rocking
action, but I do claim as my improvements in the construction of
wheel or roller skates,―
First. Connecting roller skate axles, brackets, or carriers constructed
substantially as set forth by means of a spring, substantially in manner
and for the purposes described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Second. The construction and employment of adjustable stops, as
shown in Figures 1 to 7, and elastic washer stops, as shewn at Figures 8,
9, and 12, substantially in manner shewn and described with reference
to the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The working of a socket e round a fixed stud or pivot ƒ, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stammers Morrisson, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Second day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand night hundred and coventy