Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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The present invention relates to a braking device,
particularly for skates.
The problem of braking the wheels in order to stop or
to adjust the speed of the skate is currently felt in
5 conventional roller skates, whether constituted by a shoe
associated with a support for two pairs of mutually parallel
wheels or by a shoe associated with a supporting frame for
in-line wheels.
Conventional skates have adapted pads or blocks,
lo usually made of rubber and associated with supports that are
fixed at the tip or heel region of the shoe. When the user
tilts the shoe backwards or forwards, the pad interacts with
the ground and therefore braking is achieved.
A drawback of these brakes is that as the pad wears
5 down, the user must tilt the skate more and more with
consequent difficulty in keeping balance.
U.S. Patent No. 5,197,572 discloses a skate including a
shoe associated with a frame having a plurality of aligned
wheels pivoted between the wings of said frame. A support
20 for a brake is pivoted at the rear of the frame. The brake
is substantially constituted by a T-shaped bar that
comprises a threaded rod engaging a complementarily threaded
pad. The pad can be set at a given angle with respect to the
frame.
Other embodiments of this brake show threaded elements
that interact with adapted nuts and are adapted to vary the
angle of the support, and therefore of the brake, with
respect to the frame.
However, even these solutions have drawbacks; indeed,
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it is neither easy nor quick for the user to vary the
angular position of the support with respect to the frame,
because it is necessary to remove the skate and have
particular tools available or in any case intervene directly
5 and manually at the appropriate means associated with the
support.
The aim of the present invention is to eliminate the
drawbacks described above in conventional types by providing
a braking device that allows to achieve uniform or
10 consistent braking despite brake wear and is structurally
simple, easy to activate, and easy to industrialize.
Within the scope of the above aim, an important object
is to provide a braking device wherein said activation can
be defined by the user even while wearing the skate.
Another important object is to provide a braking device
in which the user can easily and quickly compensate for any
wear of the brake, so as to avoid changing the inclination
that he must apply to the shoe in order to achieve braking.
Another object is to provide a device that combines
20 with the above characteristics that of being reliable and
safe in use, has low manufacturing costs, and can also be
applied to conventional skates.
This aim, these objects, and others which will become
apparent hereafter are achieved by a braking device,
2s particularly for skates comprising a frame having a
plurality of wheels pivoted at said frame, a support for a
brake being pivoted in a rear region to said frame,
characterized in that it comprises means for selectively
positioning said support with respect to said frame.
~1~15 5 2
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention
will become apparent from the detailed description of a
particular but not exclusive embodiment, illustrated by way
of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings,
s wherein:
figure 1 is a partially sectional side view of the
braking device in the condition for selecting the position
of the support with respect to the frame;
figure 2 is a view, similar to figure 1, of the
lo condition for selecting the position of the support with
respect to the frame;
figure 3 is an exploded view of the components of the
device;
figure 4 is a view, similar to figure 2, of a different
15 position of the brake;
figure 5 is a view, similar to figure 4, of another
position of the support with respect to the frame in the
condition in which the brake is worn;
figures 6 and 7 are partially sectional side views of
20 respectively two different embodiments;
figure 8 is a sectional view, taken along the plane
VIII-VIII of figure 7;
figure 9 is a view, similar to figure 8, in the
condition for adjusting the position of the support with
25 respect to the frame;
figure 10 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment
of figure 7, in the condition shown in figure 8;
figure 11 is a view, similar to figure 10, of the shape
of the frame;
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figure 12 is a view, similar to figure 10, of the
embodiment of figure 7 in the condition shown in figure 9.
With reference to the above figures, the reference
numeral 1 generally designates a braking device that is
5 particularly usable for skates 2 which comprise a shoe 3
associated with a substantially U-shaped frame 4.
A plurality of wheels 7 are associated, by means of
adapted first pivots 6, between the wings 5 of the frame 4
and are accordingly mutually aligned.
A support 8 for a brake pad 9, made of plastics, is
pivoted to the rear of the frame 4 at the first pivot 6 of
the rear wheel 7 or by means of studs that are pivoted to
the wings 5 of the frame.
The support 8 is also provided with two shoulders lOa
15 and lOb, one end whereof is pivoted to the frame 4; the
brake pad 9 is associated below the support.
The braking device comprises means for selectively
positioning the support 8 with respect to the frame 4. This
means is constituted by a lever 11 that has an eccentric
20 head pivoted, by means of a second pivot 12, between the two
shoulders lOa and lOb of the support 8, in a region that is
intermediate between the ends that are pivoted to the frame
4 and are provided with the brake 9.
The eccentric head of the lever 11 interacts in
25 contrast with the free end of a bar 13, which is freely and
transversely pivoted, at one end, between the two shoulders
lOa and lOb of the support 8 by means of an adapted screw
14, which cooperates with a lock nut 15.
The bar 13 can oscillate with respect to the screw 14
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in contrast with a flexible element such as a spring 16
constituted by a metal wire. One end of the spring abuts
against a projection 17 that protrudes transversely with
respect to the two shoulders lOa and lOb, in the region that
5 lies above the brake 9, and then surrounds the stem of the
screw 14 and engages, at its other end, at the bar 13, so as
to force its positioning in the direction of said projection
17.
On the opposite side with respect to the head of the
10 lever 11, the free end of the bar 13 is provided with a
toothed region 18 that faces a complementarily shaped set of
teeth 19 that is formed to the rear of the frame 4.
The use of the braking device is as follows: after
rotatably associating the support 8 with the frame 4, and
15 after positioning the lever 11 in the open condition, as
shown in figure 1, the user can position in the desired
position the end of the bar 13 that is provided with the
toothed region 18 at the desired teeth of the
complementarily shaped set of teeth 19 formed on the frame
20 4.
This operation can be performed by the user while he is
wearing the skate.
Advantageously, in order to prevent the brake 9 from
falling to the ground when the lever 11 opens, owing to the
25 articulation of the support 8 to the frame 4, a tab 20 is
provided at at least one end of the two shoulders lOa and
lOb. Said tab protrudes perimetrically and abuts at an
adapted lug 21 that protrudes laterally with respect to a
wing 5 of the frame 4.
The arrangements of the lug 21 and of the tab 20 are
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such as to allow, for example, to position the brake 9 so
that it is slightly raised from the ground 22 when the lever
11 is open and when the support is not being supported by
the user.
The user can therefore vary, according to the wear of
the brake 9, the angular position of the support with
respect to the frame simply by gripping the lever and can
tighten it again, after opening it by, producing one or more
ratcheting actions between the toothed region 18 and the
lo complementarily shaped set of teeth 19.
Should the user forget to tighten the lever 11, the
projection 17 protrudes towards the frame 4, so that the end
of the complementarily shaped set of teeth 19 that faces the
ground 22 interacts with it by abutment beyond a given
15 degree of backward rotation imparted to the shoe.
As shown in figure 5, for example, it is possible to
achieve a distance between a ground 22 and the surface of
the brake 9 that is always constant even when brake wear
varies.
Furthermore, as shown in figure 4, the user can
deactivate the brake 9, locking the support 8 in the
position in which the complementarily shaped set of teeth 19
is furthest from the ground.
It has thus been observed that the invention has
25 achieved the intended aim and objects, a braking device
having been provided in which, even while wearing the skate,
it is possible to easily and quickly vary the position of
the brake with respect to the ground, accordingly
compensating for the wear of the brake pad or allowing to
30 deactivate it.
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The device is also structurally simple and allows the
user to brake, despite variation in skate wear, by imparting
the same inclination to the shoe.
The device is of course susceptible of numerous
5 modifications and variations, all of which are within the
scope of the same inventive concept.
Accordingly, figure 6 illustrates a second embodiment
of the invention, in which a U-shaped element 123 is
likewise pivoted inside the two shoulders at the second
10 pivot 112 for pivoting of the lever 111 to said two
shoulders 110. At the surface that faces the lever 111,
said element 123 is provided with a toothed region 118 with
which a complementarily shaped set of teeth 119 selectively
interacts. Said set of teeth 119 is formed on the inside
15 lateral surface of the facing frame 104.
Advantageously, the second pivot 112 is located at
adapted slots formed on the two shoulders 110, so as to
allow, when the lever 111 provided with the eccentric head
opens and closes, to raise, or in any case move, the element
20 123 and therefore mutually engage or disengage the toothed
region 118 and the complementarily shaped set of teeth 119.
Figures 7 to 12 illustrate a third embodiment for a
skate 202 that comprises a shoe 203 associated with a
substantially U-shaped frame 204, and between the wings 205a
and 205b of which a plurality of wheels 207 are transversely
and rotatably associated by means of adapted first pivots
206 and are therefore mutually aligned.
A support 208 for a brake 209, made of plastics, is
pivoted to the rear of the frame 204 at the first pivot 206
30 of the rear wheel 207 or by means of studs pivoted to the
21S15~2
wings 205 of the frame.
The support 208 is also provided with two shoulders
210a and 210b, one end whereof is pivoted to the frame 204;
the brake 209 is associated with the other end of said
5 shoulders, which are arranged outside the wings 205a and
205b of the frame 204.
Advantageously, a U-shaped spacer 225 is interposed
inside the wings 205a and 205b of the frame 204; the ends of
said spacer are pivoted at the same first pivot 206 of said
10 support 208.
The braking device comprises a means for selectively
positioning the support 208 with respect to the frame 204.
Said means is constituted by a lever 211 that is constituted
by a substantially C-shaped metal wire, the base 224 whereof
15 is arranged above the support 208 so as to externally
surround it in the opposite direction with respect to the
frame 204; the tips 226a and 226b of said wire are flexible
by divarication and are folded towards the pair of shoulders
210a and 210b.
Said tips 226a and 226b can be selectively positioned
at a first pair of holes 22ga and 229b formed on the two
shoulders 210a and 210b of the support 208 and at one of two
or more pairs of second holes 227a and 227b formed on said
wings 205a and 205b and on said spacer 225.
The tips 226a and 226b of the lever 211 can be
divaricated by means of two raised portions 228a and 228b at
the outside lateral surface of the two shoulders 210a and
210b of the support 208; said raised portions have inclined
surfaces with which said tips interact when the lever 211 is
raised or lowered.
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.
In this way, the tips 2~6a and 226b disengage the
second holes 227a or 227b that affect the spacer 225 and the
wings 205a and 205b of the frame 204: this allows to
reposition said tips in the other pair of second holes after
s rotating the support 208.
The dimensions and the materials that constitute the
individual components of the device may of course also be
the most pertinent according to the specific requirements.
