AN IM- PROVED FLOOR SKATE
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Calvin B. Rogers, of Deep River, State of Con-
necticut, United States of America, and now residing at No. 13, East
Street, Red Lion Square, W.C., London, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVED FLOOR SKATE."-A communication from abroad by Reuben Shaler,
of Madison, County of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, United
States of America.
Sealed the 15th March 1861, and dated the 21st September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Calvin B. Rogers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st September 1860.
I, CALVIN B. ROGERS, of Deep River, State of Connecticut, United States
of America, and now residing at No. 13, East Street, Red Lion Square,
W.C., London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED FLOOR SKATE," to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists in a skate, which, in the place of the ordinary
runner, is provided with rollers, the operating surfaces at the periphery of
which is made elastic, by which they are to take a better hold upon the floor
or carpet. The skate body is made in the usual manner with wood or metal.
The side pieces, which are united where they connect with the body of the
skate, form a hanger, in which to have the rollers. This hanger is united to

page_text: the body with screws, or otherwise. The main body of the rollers are made
of iron, brass, or any other suitable materials; the body of each roller has a
groove turned in its periphery, to receive the india-rubber, leather, or any
other elastic substance. The rollers are secured upon axes or pins fixed in
the side pieces, the bearings or journals being in the roller instead of the side
pieces, though the journals may be in the side pieces if prefered. This skate
is intended to be used upon the or a floor or carpet, and not upon ice, and its
arrangements with the elastic rollers enables the wearer to go through the
same evolutions with it without slipping laterally that he could perform on ice
with an ordinary grooved skate for that purpose.
Having fully described the said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be carried into effect, I claim the skate described, which, in the
place of the ordinary runner is provided with rollers, the periphery of which is
made elastic, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Calvin B. Rogers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CALVIN
B. ROGERS, of Deep River, State of Connecticut, United States of America,
and now residing at No. 13, East Street, Red Lion Square, W.C., London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the 21st day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Calvin B. Rogers, Her special licence that I, the said Calvin B. Rogers, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Calvin
B. Rogers, 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 "AN IMPROVED
FLOOR SKATE," a communication to nie from abroad by Reuben Shaler,
of Madison, County of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Calvin B. Rogers, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Calvin B. Rogers, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention consists in a skate, which, in the place of the ordinary
runners, is provided with rollers, the operating surfaces at the periphery of
which is made elastic, by which they are made to take a better hold upon the
floor or carpet, as herein-after more fully explained or set forth. The body of
the skate is made in the usual manner. The side pieces in which the rolls
are fixed are united where they connect with the wood or metallic body of
skate, and form a hanger; this hanger is united to the body of skate with
screws, or otherwise, as may be convenient, care being taken to secure it
firmly. The main bodies of the rollers, which are made of iron, brass, wood,
or any other suitable material; steel may, perhaphs, on some accounts, be better
than anything else. The body of each roller has a groove turned in the
periphery to receive the india-rubber ring, which is sprung on, its elasticity
enabling the workman to do this without difficulty. Leather or some other
substance may be used for this purpose, though I perfer india-rubber; the
elasticity and closely fitting nature of the rubber ring causes it to fit very
snugly to the floor or carpet; and while metallic or wooden rollers might
enable the wearer to go ahead in a perfectly direct line with about the same
facility, they would be more liable to slip laterally in turning a curve, and
would be more injurious in their action upon the floor or carpet. The rollers
are secured upon axis or pins fixed in the side pieces, the bearing or journal
being in the roller instead of the side pieces, though the journal may be in the
side pieces, if prefered. This skate is intended to be used upon a floor or
carpet and not upon ice, and its arrangements with the elastic rollers enables
the wearer to go through the same evolutions with it without slipping laterally
that he could perform on ice with an ordinary grooved skate made for that
purpose.
I am aware that a skate with inflexible metallic rollers in the place of the
ordinary runners has been known before the date of my Invention; this skate
is, however, impracticable, and has never been used to any great extent,
doubtless for the reasons that it is incapable of giving the necessary lateral

page_text: adhesion to a smooth surface or floor to enable the skater to perform the
necessary motion in the operation of skating out; that it is noisy in its
operations, and that it is liable to mar a floor or carpet on which it may be
used. The skater in starting by pointing his toes outward makes use of the
lateral adhesion or hold of the skate to enable him to obtain by means of the
resistance which such adhesion affords the necessary or desired velocity. It is
obvious that smooth metallic rollers cannot give this lateral hold, and if
provided with sharp edges to make them bite, it is obvious that their action
must be very destructive to the surface upon which they are to operate, an
effect which a roller with a hard metallic surface can at best hardly fail to
produce. My Invention remedies these fatal defects, and give a surface of
contract which, on the one hand gives the necessary adhesion, and in the other
makes it harmless to floors on which it may be used; it besides gives an easy
elasticity to the tread as it strikes the floor, and prevents that noisy concussion
and disagreeable jar which must ensue from the use of the inflexible roller.
The flexibility of the rollers of my skate in a lateral direction also allows the
skater to run his skate in a curved line without releasing at all his hold upon
the floor, which is a matter of very considerable importance in the performance
of evolutions.
Having fully described my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be carried into effect, I claim the skate described, which, in the
place of the ordinary runner is provided with rollers, the periphery of which is
made elastic, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Calvin B. Rogers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 28th day of February, in the year of our Lord
1961
CALVIN B. ROGERS. (L.S.)