Roller skate with brake

Claim 2

A roller skate having a plurality of wheels in linear array attached to a foot receiving boot having a toe area and heel area with a plane passing through the toe area and heel area defining forward and rearward skating directions comprising: a wheel depending from said toe area; a wheel depending from said heel area; a pair of axles positioned transverse to said skating directions on a support member depending from said boot; at least two interior wheel assemblies rotatably mounted on said axles for rotation in said skating directions; each said axle being positioned within said interior wheel assemblies; and said axle being rotatably mounted with respect to said support member so that each said interior wheel assembly is rotatable about an axis parallel to said skating directions.

Claim 3

The roller skate according to claim 1 including a brake member for each of said interior wheel assemblies in operative association with each said axle to retard rotation of said wheel assembly as each said wheel assembly rotates about said axis.

Claim 4

The roller skate according to claim 2 wherein each said brake member provides a progressively increasing braking force as each said wheel assembly progressively increases its degree of rotation about said axis.

Claim 5

The roller skate according to claim 3 wherein each said brake member comprises a cam surface and a cam follower urged into contact with said cam surface by a resilient member.

Claim 6

The roller skate according to claim 4 wherein each said cam surface is mounted on said support member and each said cam surface is shaped to progressively move said cam follower outwardly against said resilient member thereby progressively compressing said resilient member to progressively increase the braking force.

Claim 7

The roller skate according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said wheels depending from said toe and heel areas are elevated relative to said at least two interior wheel assemblies.

Claim 8

The roller skate according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said wheels depending from said toe and heel areas are elevated relative to said at least two interior wheel assemblies and wherein said at least two interior wheel assemblies are pivotally mounted.

Claim 9

The roller skate according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said wheels are substantially spherical in shape.

Claim 10

The roller skate according to claim 1 including a brake member in operative association with each said axle to retard rotation of each said interior wheel assembly as each said wheel assembly rotates about said axis.

Claim 11

The roller skate according to claim 9 wherein each said brake member provides a progressively increasing braking force as each said wheel assembly progressively increases its degree of rotation about said axis.

Claim 12

The roller skate according to claim 10 wherein each said brake member comprises a cam surface and a cam follower urged into contact with said cam surface by a resilient member.

Claim 13

The roller skate according to claim 11 wherein said cam surface is mounted on said support member and said cam surface is shaped to progressively move said cam follower outwardly against said resilient member thereby progressively compressing said resilient member to progressively increase the braking force.

Claim 14

A roller skate having wheels attached to a foot receiving boot having a toe area and heel area with a plane passing vertically through the toe and heel areas defining forward and rearward skating directions, said wheels being mounted for normally rotating in said skating directions, said roller skate comprising: a wheel depending from said toe area; a wheel depending from said heel area; a support member depending from said boot; at least a pair of interior wheels each comprising at least one segment and having at least one surface substantially defining a surface of revolution in at least two orthogonal directions; and an axle within each of said interior wheels having an axis extending transverse to said skating directions and rotatably secured to said support member for rotation in a first angular direction in a plane transverse to the skating directions.

Claim 15

A roller skate having wheels attached to a foot receiving boot having a toe area and heel area with a plane passing vertically through the toe and heel areas defining forward and rearward skating directions, said wheels being mounted for normally rotating in said skating directions, said roller skate comprising: a wheel depending from said toe area; a wheel depending from said heel area; a support member depending from said boot; at least a pair of interior wheels each comprising at least one segment and having at least one surface substantially defining a surface of revolution in at least two orthogonal directions; and an axle within each of said interior wheels having an axis extending transverse to said skating directions and rotatably secured to said support member for rotation in a first angular direction in a plane transverse to the skating directions.

Claim 16

The roller skate according to claim 13 wherein said support comprises a shaft having an axis extending in said skating directions and first bearing means for rotatably securing each said axle for rotation in said first angular direction about said shaft.

Claim 17

The roller skate according to claim 13 including brake means for impeding the rotation of each said axle in said first angular direction to provide a brake load in said first angular direction.

Claim 18

The roller skate according to claim 15 wherein said brake means comprises means for providing a progressively increasing braking resistance to said axle as said axle rotates from a neutral position.

Claim 19

The roller skate according to claim 16 wherein said brake means includes a cam secured to said support and resilient means secured to said axle for engaging said cam and responsive to the rotation of said axle in said first angular direction for providing said braking resistance.

Claim 20

The roller skate according to claim 13 wherein said wheels each comprise two substantially semispherical segments forming a substantially spherical wheel, each segment being rotatably secured for rotation in said skating directions independently of the other segments on a different axle.

Claim 21

The roller skate according to claim 18 wherein said axles are pivotally mounted to permit said axles to pivot with respect to said boot.