Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to skateboards in ~eneral, and
more particularly, to a skateboard having speed control means.
The resurgence of interest in skateboards has been well
documented in the press during the last year. Skateboards were
first seen in the-mid-60s when surfers used them to practice and
develop their surfing skills on "sidewalk surfboards". Over the
last decade, attempts to improve the control and stability of
kateboards have significantly advanced skateboard design and
onstruction. The new skateboard, with its flexible chassis, wide,
¦ stable steering trucks and precision bearing urethane wheels, is a
l far cry from the "sidewalk surfer" of the 1960s. These improvement
¦ have made skateboarding safer and more enjoyable for a larger group
f people and now skateboarding has come into its own both as a
¦recreational activity and as a sport in which amateurs and
¦professionals alike can compete for prizes in events ranging from
freestyle acrobatics to high-speed slalom and downhill racing.
¦ Un~ortunately, with the increase in skateboarding
¦popularity there has been a concomitant increase in skateboard
¦related injuries. At present, the direction and speed of the
¦~kateboard is limited to the dexterity of th~ rider. Directional
control is achieved by leaning in the direction one would like to
~ steer~ Speed control is achieved by steering transversely to the
: ill in a zig ag ~anner. The only practical way for the rider eo
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stop is to jump off of his skateboard because the current skateboar s
have no brakes.
Jumping from the skateboard imposes some very obvious an
dangerous constraints on the skateboard rider. This is especially
pertinent because skateboarding has now become a high-speed, hill
coasting sport. Additionally, once the skateboard rider has falle
or jumped from his ska~eboard, the skateboard continues to plummet
down the hill and many have been injured by run-a-way skateboards.
The art of coasters and roller skates contains various
illustrations of braking systems. Examples of such braking
systems are shown in the following United States Patent Nos:
225,361; 1,026,712; 1,890,755; 2,014,060; 3,180,678; 3,224,785 and
3 J 288,251. The ground contacting rub block braking systems shown
in Nos. 225,361 and 1,890,755 are not suitable for controllin~
modern day high-speed skateboards. The wheel contacting braking
systems shown in the other patents are generally unsatisfactory or
impractical for skateboards.
It is accordingly a general object of the present
¦invent~on to provide an improved skateboard with speed-control mea s.
¦ I~ is a specific object of the invention to provide a
¦speed control means that does not require steering changes to
¦maintain speed control
It s another object of the invention to provide a speed ¦
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control means for braking to a ful] stop without jumping from the
skateboard.
It is ~till another object of the invention to provide
for automatic engagement of the speed-control means when the rider
S either jumps or falls off of the skateboard.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a
skateboard having a flexible and resilient, generally planar
chassis in which the amount and direction of flexing of the chassis
controls the proportional engagement and disengagement o the
brake means.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide
a skateboard with speed-control means in which the degree of speed
reduction is controlled by the rider's position and physical
attitude on the skateboard.
It is a feature of the invention that the rider's
position for brake engagement is instinctive and is a position that
is best suited for the rider to resist the deacceleration forces
of brakiny.
It is another feature of the invention that overbraking
will cause a weight shift or dispostion of the rider which
automatically disengages the brake.
It is still another feature of the present invention that
the rider's position for disengaging the brake is a position best
suited for t acceleration of the board after the speed control
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has been disengaged.
It is a further feature of the invention that the rider's
o~ition upon dlsengagement of the speed control means is the
typical and normal riding position for control of the skateboard.
It is still a further feature of the invention that the
natural resiliency of the skateboard chassis can be employed to
operate a brake that is engaged automatically when the rider is not
on the board and when the rider is on the board the brake can be
released or engaged by the position and physical attitude of the
rider.
It is an additional feature of the invention that
existing yieldable, resilient skateboard can be modified to provide
a skateboard having the desired speed control means.
Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showing an unloaded,
flexi~le and resilient chassis skateboard having a brake mechanism
which is depicted in the engaged position;
Figure 2 is a side elevational view o the skateboard of
~igure 1 showing the chassis in a irst loade~ condition for
disengaging the brake mechanism;
~0 Figure 3 is another side elevational view of the skate-
¦board o Figure 1 showing the chassis in a second loaded condition
¦for engaging the brake mechanism;
¦ Figure 4 is still another side elevational view of the
skateboard o Figure 1 ~howing the second loaded condition of the ¦
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skateboard in Figure 3 together with tilting of the chassis to
. provide greater breaking force than that achieved when the skate-
board is loaded and positioned as shown in Figure 3;
Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views of the
skateboard shown in Figures 1 through 4, respectively, illustrating
the unloaded chassis of Figure 1 without a rider and the position
of the skateboard rider for the loaded chassis conditions depicted
in Figures 2 through 4;
Figure 9 is an exploded view in perspective of the brake
mechanism;
Fiqure 10 is a view in side elevation of the brake
mechanism in the disengaged position; and,
Figure 11 is another view in side elevation of the brake
;ochanlsm sh ing the brake ~echanlsm in the eryaged pos tion.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning now to the drawings, there is shown a ska~eboard
with brake means constructed in accordance with the present
invention and indicated generally by the reference numeral 10.
The skateboard 10 comprises: a flexible and resilient, generally
pla~ar chassis 12 having mounted thereon front and rear wheel
assemblies 14 and 16, respectively; a brake mechanism, indicated
generally by the reference numeral 18 and shown ln greater detail
in Figures 9 through 11, and a brake linkage actuator 20.
The flexible and resilient, planar skateboard chassis 12
is formed preferably of aluminum or plastic, either solid or
laminatedl with a predetermined degree of yielding for a given load
A wide variety of currently available skateboards can be used for
the chassis 12. Although the chassis has been described as
"generally planar" it should be understood that the chassis can
have an upwardly swept rea~ portion 22, commonly termed a "kicktai
center
and/or an upwardly bowed/portion, commonly referred to as a "camber .
Both o~ these configurations are included within the term "generall
lanar'l as used herein.
The chassis 12 can be constructed as a single unit or as
plurality of units. In the latter case, a rigid rear portion can
e connected to a flexible forward portion or two rigid portions
an be joined a resilient, flexible connection. In each of thes
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linstances e connection is located in front of the wheel axis of
the rear a~semblies. The term "flexible and resilient chassis" as
used herein shall be construed to include all of these chassis
configurations.
The ~ront wheel assembly 14 comprises a truck unit 24
upon which are mounted wheels 26. The truck unit 24 is a
conventional truck unit that is readily available in the market-
place. One representative example of a suitable truck unit is the
"Tracker" truck. The wheels 26 can be formed from a variety of
aterials, but preferably are the commercially available standard
urethane wheels.
The rear wheel assembly 16 includes a truck unit 24 and
rear wheels 28 at least one of which is provided with the brake
; mechanism 18. For purposes of simplicity, the rear truck unit has
been illustrated as a non-steerable unit. It should be understood
that if steerable truck units are employed for the rear truck, the
brake linkage 20 should be connected to the truck at its center of
steering in order to prevent engagement or disengagement of the
brake as a result of steering.
The major components of the brake mechanism 18 are best
; viewed in Figures9 through 11 Referring to these Figures, rearwheel 28 is rotatably mounted on a threaded axle 30 and retained
¦thereon by 1 king nut 32. A brake drum 34 is mounted wlthin and
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and secured to the rear wheel 28. Radially movable brake shoes 36
are positioned within brake drum 34 for radial movement toward and
away from the brake drum. The movement of the brake shoes 36 is
controlled by means of a hrake shoe cam 38 that i~ rotatably mounte
on axle 30. The brake shoe cam 38 has an actuator arm 40 that is
rotatably mounted with respect to the brake linkage 20 by means of
an a.ctuator pin 42.
It can be seen from an inspection of Figures 9 through 1
that longitudinal movement of the brake linkage 20 will rotate the
brake shoe cam actuator 40 about the axle 30. This rotational
movement causes the brake shoe cam 38 to bear against the brake
shoes 36 thereby moving the brake shoes radially outward against
the brake drum 34. Rotation of the brake shoes 36 is prevented by
means of brake shoe pivot pins 44 which are slidably mounted within
slots 46 formed in a brake shoe cage 48 that is secured to truck
xle 30.
¦ Referring back to Figures 1-4, it can be seen that the
¦brake lingage 20 is pivotally mounted at pivot 50 with respect to
¦the frontwheel assembly 14 and pivotally mounted wi~h respect to
¦the rear wheel assembly 16 and brake mechanism 18 as described
¦above. Given this arrangement, any change in ~he angle of the ::
¦truck units with respect to a reference plane or a change in the
¦l heel length tween the front and rear wheel a~semblies will
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produce a movement of the brake actuator arm 40 and a concomitant
movement of the brake shoes 36 to engage or disengage the brake
mechanism.
Referring back to Figures l through 8, Figures l and 5
illustrate the skateboard of the present invention in an unloaded
s~ate with the brake mechanism in the engaged position. ~1hen the
skateboard chassis is loaded by the weight of the rider in the
?osition shown in Figures 2 and 6, the brake mechanism is disengaged
It can be seen from a comparison of Figures l and 2 that the brake
actuator linkage 20 rota~es pin 42 in a counterclockwise direction
to disengage the brake mechanism. This action is shown in detail
in Figure lO.
If the skateboard rider shifts his weight as shown in
¦Figure 7, the skateboard chassis is loaded in a second and differen
¦position from that shown in Figure 2. The resulting weight shift
¦produces the loading indicated in Figure 3 by the arrows. This
¦loading causes the brake linkage 20 to rotate pin 42 in a clockwise
¦direction thereby engaging ~he brake mechanism. A detailed view of
this action is illustrated in Figure ll.
~ ¦ It should be observed that under the chassis loading
; 1 conditions illustrated in Figures l through 3 there is a
¦ corresponding angular change of the truck units with respect to a
1 reference plane e.g., the ground plane. This angular change is
¦indicated as angle A, A' and A" in Figures l through 3,
; ¦ respectively. It can also be seen that there is a corresponding~change in the istance between the front and rear wheel axec.
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Additional braking force can be generated by loading the
chassis at the locations shown in Figure 3 and then tilting the
chassis as shown in Figure 4. The increased loading on the rear
portion of the chassi~ is represented by the thicker arrow in
Figure 4.
¦ It will be appreciated from the foregoing discussion
¦ that the brake mechanism is engaged automatically when the skate-
I board is in the unloaded state. Thus, if the rider jumps or falls
I off of the skateboard the skateboard will stop automatically
¦ thereby preventing a runaway skateboard. The degree of brake
¦ engagement (from zero to full) in the unloaded state can be
¦ adjusted by varying the physical and/or angular relationships o
¦ the components e.g. shortening or lengthenin~ the brake linka~e
¦ actUator 20 or adjusting the angular relationship of the rear
¦wheel assembly 16 with respect to the chassis, etc.
¦ Although the preceding description has been directed to
¦ the operation of a brake mechanism, it will be appreciated that th
¦ mechanical action produced by the flexing of the chassis can be
¦ employed to operate a variety of different mechanisms. For exampl
¦ if the skateboard has a battery powered brake light, the brake
light can be energized through a switch that is closed by the acti~n
of the brake linkage 20. Sound devices and other warning apparatu~
can also be controlled by the present invention.
Having described in detail a preferred embodiment of my
invention lt will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that
numerous modiications can be made therein without departing from
¦¦ the s~ope of he inVention as defined in the following claims.
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