IMPROVE- MENTS IN ROLLER SKATES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe, of 45, Old Steine,
Brighton, in the County of Sussex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROLLER SKATES."-A communication from abroad by George
Pettitt, of Oaklands Point, California, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 28th May 1875, and dated the 19th March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Rickard Patrick Burke
Taaffe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 19th March 1875.
I, RICKARD PATRICK BURKE TAAFFE, of 45, Old Steine, Brighton, in
the County of Sussex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER SKATES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates.
At the upper part of the skate there are two springs, one on each side,
which support the foot of the wearer; they are shaped to fit the sole of
the boot, and are connected together at about their centre by a plate or

page_text: plates. Each end of these springs is bent round underneath in a semi-
circular form, the ends being rivetted to cross pieces which are parallel
to the axles of rollers. These cross pieces carry at their middles vertical
tubular bearings which receive spindles which are rigidly attached to
the horizontal axles of the rollers, so that the axles with their pairs of
rollers are able to turn about the spindles in a horizontal plane. The
axles of the rollers also carry two short horizontal arms which point
inwards towards each other. The ends of two bent levers, fixed to the
plate connecting the springs before mentioned, pass through holes at the
extremities of these horizontal arms.
The action of the skate is as follows:- When the skater is standing
upright upon the skate, the axles of the pairs of rollers will be parallel
and the skate will move in a straight line. If however the skater leans
to either side, the spring on that side is compressed more than the other,
and in consequence the plate connecting the two springs (and with it the
two bent levers fixed to it) is tilted out of the horizontal, thereby
carrying the ends of the levers sideways, and thus forcing the axles of
the rollers to turn upon their vertical spindles, so that they are now no
longer parallel but incline towards cach other on the side at which the
spring is compressed, and the skate now runs in a circle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICKARD
PATRICK BURKE TAAFFE, of 45, Old Steine, Brighton, in the County of
Sussex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe, Her
special licence that I, the said Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to

page_text: 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,"
a communication to him from abroad by George Pettitt, of Oaklands
Point, California, in the United States of America), upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe, 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
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 Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe, 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, reference being had to the Drawing
hereto annexed and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in roller skates.
At the upper part of the skate there are two springs, one on each side,
which support the foot of the wearer; they are made slightly convex so
that the weight of the wearer will press them to the shape of the sole of
the boot, and are connected together at about their centre by a plate or
plates. Each end of these springs is bent round underneath in a semi-
circular form, the ends being rivetted to cross pieces which are parallel
to the axles of rollers. These cross pieces carry at their middle vertical
tubular bearings, which receive spindles which are rigidly attached to
the horizontal axles of the rollers, so that the axles with their pairs of
rollers are able to turn about the spindles in a horizontal plane. The
axles of the rollers also carry two short horizontal arms which point
inwards towards each other. The ends of a bent lever forming a bow
spring fixed to the plate connecting the springs before mentioned pass
through holes at the extremities of these horizontal arms.
To make the Invention communicated to me better understood I will
proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing,
in which,
-

page_text: Figure 1 is a side clevation; and Figure 2, a plan of a roller skate
constructed according to these improvements.
Figure 3 is a plan of the under side of the skate; and Figure 4, an end
elevation of the same.
Similar letters in all the Figures represent similar parts.
a, a, are the two springs at the upper part of the skate which support
the foot of the wearer, and are shaped to fit (when pressed) the sole of
the boot; is the plate connecting the two springs a, a, together;
c, c, are the semicircular ends of the springs; d, d, are the cross pieces
to which the ends c, c, of the springs a, a, are rivetted; f, f, are the 1
tubular bearings carried by the cross pieces d, d; j, j, are the spindles
passing through the tubular bearings f, f; e, e, are the horizontal axles
of the rollers g, g. The lower ends of the spindles j, j, are rigidly
attached to the axles e, e, and the upper ends of the spindles are rivetted
over the cross pieces d, d, so that the axles with their rollers are able to:
turn about the spindles in a horizontal plane; h, h, are the two short
horizontal arms carried by the axles e, e; i is the bent lever forming
a bow spring; this lever is rivetted to the plate connecting the
springs a, a. The ends 1, 1, of the bent lever i pass through holes near
the extremities of the horizontal arms h, h, and are kept in position by $
the pins k, k.
The action of the skate is as follows:-When the skater is standing
upright upon the skate, the axles e, e, of the pairs of rollers g, g, will be
parallel and the skate will move in a straight line. If however the
skater leans to either side, the spring a on that side is compressed moro
than the other, and in consequence the plate 6 connecting the two
springs a, a, (and with it the bent lever or bow spring i fixed to it) is
tilted out of the horizontal, thereby carrying the ends 1, 7, of the bent
lever i sideways, and thus forcing the axles e, e, of the rollers g, g, to
turn upon their central spindles j, j, so that they are now no longer
parallel but incline towards each other on the side on which the spring
is compressed, and the skate will now run in a circle.
The two springs a, a, the spring i, and the connecting plate b, may be
stamped out of one piece of metal so as to dispense with the rivets.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention communicated to
mc, and the best means with which I am acquainted for carrying the
same into effect, what I claim is, the construction of roller skates with a

page_text: bent lever forming a bow spring for inclining the axles of the rollers by
acting on horizontal arms carried by the axles, substantially in the
manner herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rickard Patrick Burke Taaffe, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.