Importance

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Abstract

A steerable wheel assembly for use on a roller skate is disclosed. The wheel assembly consists of a wheel having a roller bearing inserted into each side thereof and a shaft installed between the roller bearings. The shaft has journals machined on each end thereof which are fitted into inner rings of the aforementioned roller bearings to enable the wheel to rotate. Machined through the center of the shaft is a channel having a flat upper surface, a lower surface and two slanted surfaces, into which an axle is inserted. The axle includes four flat surfaces and, more specifically, two slanted surfaces which are parallel to and offset a predetermined clearance distance from the two slanted surfaces of the channel, a top surface and a bottom surface. The top and bottom surfaces of axle the are parallel to and positioned at a predetermined distance from the upper and lower surfaces of the channel respectively. The axle pivots on centered ball bearings and is supported on the bottom by elastic cushions. When a skater learns to alter the center of gravity or exerts more leg pressure on one of the roller skates equipped with the invention herein, the aforementioned axle sways to the biased side by pivoting on the aforementioned ball bearings, thereby causing the wheel to cant towards the same side and results in the body turning in the desired direction.

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First Claim