Steering and braking in-line skate or roller ski

Abstract

A steerable wheeled device such as an in-line skate or roller ski has a hollow or dish-shaped wheel, a wheel bearing, and a wheel support connecting the wheel to a steering structure that extending substantially within the outer radius of the wheel, and steers as the user's weight is displaced. The device preferably has a side-mounted chassis, and oversize wheel positioned in front and in back of the user's foot. The chassis may contain a damping and centering force mechanism to moderate behavior of the steering or suspension. Brakes such as drum or disk brakes are connected to one or more wheels and preferably actuated, e.g., with a boot-actuated linkage, such that braking occurs upon the user adopting a specific posture. In a preferred construction, the stance shifts weight back and/or down so that deceleration does not occur until the user has assumed a stable stance.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of International Patent Application PCT US99 / 26136 filed Nov. 5, 1999, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 187,627 filed Nov. 6, 1998, and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60 / 253,438 filed Nov. 28, 2000. The benefit of priority of each of the foregoing applications is hereby claimed pursuant to 35 U.S.C. .sctn..sctn. 119, 120, and they are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002] The invention pertains to wheeled recreational devices such as skates, land skis and skate boards.[0003] Many wheeled devices have been invented with varying degrees of public acceptance and popularity. Some of the most widely known are for sport and recreation, such as roller skates. Although very functional and popular, roller skates steer using a bulky mechanism which requires wheels to be in pairs. This allows them to have a certain degree of stability ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

0035] In still other embodiments, the braking assembly may utilize a drum brake instead of a disk. In that case, the drum or frictional contact surface may attach to the wheel hub, or may be integrally formed in the wheel hub, for example by steel inserts in a generally cylindrical surface of a cast or molded wheel hub assembly. A brake shoe assemb...

Problems solved by technology

This allows them to have a certain degree of stability as well as steerability, but makes them heavier than ideal, and limits their overall performance in terms of speed, handling, and the range of terrain on which they may be used.

However, they do not actually steer by weight displacement (although they may at first appear to do so).

For configurations with only two wheels and/ or longer wheelbases, steering by scrubbing the wheels is much more difficult.

Typically with these devices steering is accomplished by step turning, which is clumsy and difficult.

However, the known methods have drawbacks which have prevented them from being adopted for in-line skates or land skis, as discussed below.

This is complex from a manufacturing standpoint, and potentially unwieldy when used on a foot mounted device such as an in-line skate, roller ski, or the like.

This mechanism is unwieldy because the user's weight is applied to the frame from behind the front wheel, which requires substantially large and potentially heavy supporting members connecting the weight bearing portion of the frame to the pivot, and additional members to transfer forces between the pivot and the axle of the front wheel.

For a device with large wheels, this type of mechanism would require a potentially unwieldy frame structure, similar to those described above.

As in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,127, this mechanism requir...

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