AN IMPROVED ROLLER SKATE
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Washington Parker Gregg, of Boston, in the County
of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America,
for the Invention of " AN IMPROVED ROLLER SKATE
"
for the Invention of “ Au Iwpdowed ROLLER SKAT
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Washington Parker Gregg
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 29th August 1865, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN that I, WASHINGTON PARKER GREGG, of Boston, in the County of
Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America, have
invented an "IMPROVED ROLLER SKATE," and I do hereby declare that the
nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, or, in other words, its construction and mode of operation, are fully
described in the following Specification, and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
The nature of my: Invention consists in-a novel construction of the roller
skate.
The accompanying Drawings exhibit the stock and rollers' of a skate
embodying my Invention, or improvements of such Drawings.
Figure 1, exhibits the skate in top view; Figure 2, in side elevation
Figure 3, in longitudinal section, and Figure 4, in transverse section.

page_text: In carrying out my Invention I make the stock A of the skate of either
Firon or wood of a suitable form, and with any simple attachments for fastening
it to the foot of a person, combining lightness, strength, and security.. I
arrange two comparatively small rollers B, B, for support, one partly under
the heel, and the other partly under the toe of the stock; and I also arrange
two comparatively large rollers C, C, for driving one on each side of the stock
under the arch of the foot near the line of gravity of the skater. I make the
rollers, their axles, and connections or fastenings of metal or wood, or partly
of both, solid or otherwise, securing lightness, strength, and durability. The
size of the stock is to be adapted to the foot, and the size of the rollers may
be varied according to the skill of the-skater, and the quality of the skating
surface. For common purposes, the smaller rollers may be three inches in
diameter and one inch in width on the periphery, and the larger rollers may
be five inches in diameter and one inch in width on the periphery. The
axles or journals of the side rollers project from the stock; these rollers enable
the skate to run with greater speed and ease than it could by means of the
heel and toe runners alone. They are so arranged that their peripheries or
the bearing surfaces thereof shall be a little lower than those of the heel and
toe rollers, in order that the skater while skating may drive himself almost
entirely by the large rollers. Roller skates thus constructed run with great
ease and rapidity, and do not injuriously sprain the feet, nor weary the limbs,
and they will not easily tip backward or forward, and they impart from the
first an unusual feeling of security to the skater in all possible movements.
This skate is well adapted to hard side walks, large halls, gymnasiums, and
skating schools, and in suitable places for travelling purposes.
I claim a roller skate constructed with a stock, having a small supporting
roller under each end, and a large driving roller on each side, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Washington Parker Gregg, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
WASHINGTON PARKER GREGG. (L.S.)