IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Romanes, of Worthing, in the County
Sussex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES.”
Sealed the 13th May 1875, and dated the 31st March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Romanes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st March 1875.
I, JOHN ROMANES, of Worthing, in the County of Sussex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ROLLER SKATES," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates whereby
the skater is enabled readily to perform various evolutions therewith.
For this purpose I provide the skates, as heretofore, with two pairs of
wheels or rollers, one pair at the front part and the other pair at the
rear part thereof.
The axes of these wheels or rollers are, according to my Invention,
mounted in inclined slots formed in bearing pieces fixed rigidly to thẹ

page_text: stock or foundation board or plate of the skate, and a spring, which may
be adjustable, is caused to bear upon each axle so as to keep it at the
bottom of the inclined slots, and therefore square with the skate when
the skater desires to run in straight lines.
Instead, however, of fixing the bearing pieces rigidly to the foundation
board and forming inclined slots therein to receive the axles of the
wheels, the axles may pass through plain circular holes in which they
fit, and in this case the bearing pieces are mounted on the stock or
foundation board in such manner that they can turn thereon and be
inclined at various angles thereto in the following manner :-The bearing
pieces are connected together in pairs by a cross piece, through which a
screw or bolt passes. This screw or bolt passes through a block of india-
rubber acting as a spring placed between the cross piece and the stock or
foundation board. One end of each cross piece is formed with a pin or
projection which passes into and is guided by a curved slot formed in a
plate fixed to the stock or foundation so as to limit the motion of the
parts, whilst the other end of each cross piece bears against an incline
also formed on or fixed to such plate. If desired the pin and slot may
be dispensed with and other means of limiting the motion may be
adopted. Other springs may, however, be employed than those above
named.
By the arrangements herein described the skater can, by throwing his
weight more or less on the one or other side of the skate, bring the
inclines into action, and thereby cause the axles of the wheels to assume
an angle to each other more or less acute, by which means he will be
enabled to skate at will either in straight lines or in curves.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Romanes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 30
ROMANES, of Worthing, in the County of Sussex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-eighth

page_text: year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Romanes, Her special license that I, the
said John Romanes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Romanes, 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 ROLLER SKATES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Romanes,
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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Romanes, 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, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed and to the figures and letters marked thercon, in which
similar parts are marked with similar letters of reference, that is to
say:
-
The Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates whereby
the skater is enabled readily to perform various evolutions.
For this purpose I provide the skates, as heretofore, with two pairs of
wheels or rollers a, a, one pair at the front part and the other pair at the
rear part thereof.
The axes b, b, of these rollers a are, according to the arrangement
shown at Figures 1, 2, and 3, mounted in inclined slots c¹ formed in
bearing pieces c fixed rigidly to the stock or foundation board or plate d
of the skate, and a spring e of india-rubber, adjustable by means of a
screw, is caused to bear upon each axle b, so as to keep it at the
bottom of the inclined slot c¹, and therefore square with the skate wheṇ
the skater desires to run in straight lines, whilst when it is desired to
run in curved lines the skater can, by inclining the stock or foundation
board d of the skate, cause the springs e to yield on the one or the other

page_text: :
side, as desired, and thereby cause the axles to be acted upon on such
side by the inclined slots c¹, to incline the axles 6 towards each other
and thereby cause the skate to run in a curved direction.
The springs f, instead of being formed of india-rubber, may be of
other suitable material and form, and I would here remark that instead
of placing the cheeks of the bearing pieces c in which the inclined slots
are formed on the inner sides of the wheels a, a, they may be placed on
the outer sides thereof, in which case the axles would require to be
lengthened, and, if desired, each axle may pass through a circular
flaring hole formed in a central bearing piece to enable the axle to rock
in such central bearing piece when the skate is running in curved
lines.
Instead, however, of fixing the bearing picces c rigidly to the foun-
dation board or plate d, and forming inclined slots c' therein to receive
the axles of the wheels a, as above described, the axles & may, according
to the arrangement shown at Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7, pass through plain
circular holes, in which they fit, and in this case the bearing pieces c
arc mounted on the stock or foundation d in such manner that they can
turn thereon and be inclined at various angles thereto in the following
manner: The bearing pieces c are connected together in pairs by a
cross piece c², through which a bolt or screw passes. This screw or
bolt passes through a block of india-rubber / acting as a spring placed
between the cross piece c² and the stock or foundation board d. One
end of cach cross piece c² is formed with a pin or projection c³ which
passes into and is guided by a curved slot i formed in a plate i fixed to
the stock or foundation board d, so as to limit the motion of the parts,
whilst the other end of each cross piece c² bears against an incline ¿¹
formed on or fixed to the plate i. If desired, the pin c³ and slot ¿¹ may
be dispensed with, and other means of limiting the motion of the parts
may be adopted, whilst other springs than those shown and described
may be employed to bring the parts back to their normal position.
By the arrangements herein shown and described I am enabled to
produce roller skates, combining in a high degree the qualities of
simplicity, efficiency, and cheapness, and enabling the skater, by
throwing his weight more or less on the one or other side of the skate
to bring the inclines into action, and thereby cause the axles of the
wheels to assume an angle to each other more or less acute, as shown at

page_text: Figure 7, by which means he will be enabled to skate at will either in
straight lines or in curves.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that I
do not claim the employment of the rocking action of the stock or
foundation board of the skate to cause the skate to run in curved lincs,
as such is now well known and in common use, but I claim as my
Invention the modes of causing the rocking of the platform to regulate
the angle of the axles b by means of inclines c¹ or i³, and parts acting
therewith, and thereby cause the skate to run in curved lines, substan-
tially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Romanes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-