Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a roller ski and, more particularly, to a 1 roller ski of the type comprising a pair of steerable front rollers and a brake mechanism associated with rear rollers, thus making it possible to effectively steer and brake the ski at the user's desire.

Description of the Prior Art

As is well known in the art, the roller ski is an article of game or sports designed to run on a snowless flat ground or pavement at a higher speed. The conventional roller ski includes a vehicle-like body having a foot mount formed on the middle extension thereof, a pair of laterally spaced front rollers rotatably mounted on the leading head portion of the body and a pair of laterally spaced rear rollers carried at the trailing tail portion of the body in a rotatable manner. When in use, a player wearing the roller ski may cause it to move forward or rearward through the use of elongate poles gripped by its hands, just as the skier does on the snowy ground.

With the prior art roller ski known and used thus far, however, it is almost impossible to steer the ski without positively moving the player's feet and, hence, the ski body toward the direction in which the roller ski has to advance. In other words, the ski player must forcedly reorientate or relocate the body of the roller ski each time when the steering of change-of-direction is required. This is mainly because the axle of the front rollers is fixedly secured to the ski body in an immovable fashion. Another disadvantage of the prior art roller ski is that it is difficult for the player to brake the rotating rollers at its will, since the typical roller ski fails to employ a reliable brake mechanism.

Summary of the Invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a roller ski which enables a player to steer and brake the ski in a convenient manner whenever such need arise.

With the object in view, the presant invention provides a roller ski which comprises a body having a head stock, a middle foot mount and a tail stock, a pair of front rollers carried by a common front axle, a pair of rear rollers carried by a common rear axle which is rotatably mounted on the tail stock of the body, an arrangement for mounting the front rollers to the head stock of the body in a steerable fashion and a brake mechanism selectively operable for braking the rear rollers to thereby stop the roller ski.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the roller ski made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the roller ski, with a portion thereof .removed to illustrate the steering operation of the front rollers; and

Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway side elevational view best showing the steerably mounted front rollers and the brake mechanism applied to the rear rollers.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring now to Fig. 1, the roller ski comprises a body 1 of elongate configuration which is divided into a head stock 2, a middle foot mount 3 on which the player's foot may be seated and a tail stock 4. Mounted on the head stock 2 are a pair of laterally spaced apart front rollers 5 that are interconnected to one another by a front axle 6. Likewise, a pair of laterally spaced apart rear rollers 7 are rotatably mounted on the tail stock 4 through the use of a common rear axle 8.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 through 3, a gripper 9 is provided on the middle foot mount 3 so as to hold the player's foot in place. The gripper 9 includes a couple of laterally opposing jaws 10, each located at lateral edges of the middle foot mount 3 for movement toward and away from each other, and a change-over lever 11 for causing the opposing jaws 10 to move with respect to one amother, thus selectively tightening and loosening the foot (not shown) seated on the foot mount 3.

As can be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, a pivot axis 12 is housed with the head stock 2 to extend vertically upwardly with respect to the front axle 6. The pivot axis 12 is rotatably supported by upper and lower bearings 13 and 14 which, in turn, are affixed to the head stock 2. A swingable arm 15 extends backward from the pivot axis 12 to carry the front axle 6 at its free end. A a result, the front rollers 5 may be subjected to angular movement about the pivot axis 12, e.g., from a solid line position toward a position indicated by phantom line in Fig.2, which enables the player to steer the roller ski in a convenient manner. It shoud be appreciated that a torsion spring 16 is utilized to urge the front rollers 5 into parallel alignment with a longitudinal center line of the body 1, thereby ensuring that the roller ski has a tendancy to advance along a straight line.

Referring to Fig. 3, it can be seen that a brake mechanism is applied to the rear rollers 7 with a view to enabling the player to optionally brake the

moving roller ski. The brake mechanism includes a brake shoe 17 pivotably attached to the tail stock 4 of the body 1 for pivotal movement into and out of engagement with the rear axle 8, a dual position pressure button 18 projecting above the middle foot mount 3 in the vicinity of the tail stock 4 for vertical reciprocating movement between an upper released position and a lower depressed position and a linkage lever 19 pivoted to the tail stock 4 for transmitting the vertical reciprocating movement of the pressure button 18 to the brake shoe 17.

In operation, if the player desires to change the moving direstion of the roller ski leftwise for instance, he can first apply a pressure to the head stock by his toe and then twist the body 1 rightwise. thus the swingable arm 15 is caused to pivot clockwise about the pivot axis 12, making it possible for the roller ski to turn to the leftward. Should the player wish to turn rightward, the above steering operation may be carried out in the opposite direction.

In order to brake the moving roller ski, the player may step down the pressure button 18 into a depressed position, in response to which the linkage lever 19 is caused to rotate counterclockwise, thereby bringing the brake shoe 17 into engagement with the rear axle 8 to prevent the rear rollers 7 from further rotation. If the player steps down the pressure button 18 once again, it would assume the released position to thereby bring the brake shoe 17 out of engagement with the rear axle 8.

While the present invention has been set forth in relation to a preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.