United States Patent (19) 11) Patent Number: 5,373,584 Parcells, III 45) Date of Patent: Dec

USOO5373584A United States Patent (19) 11) Patent Number: 5,373,584 Parcells, III 45) Date of Patent: Dec. 20, 1994 54 SLIDING ACCESSORIES TO PERMIT 4,688,269 8/1987 Maeshima ................................... 2/2 N-LNEROLLER SKATING MANEUVERS 4,700,403 10/1987 Vacanti...... ... 2/22 EQUIVALENT TO ICE SKATING 4,930,162 6/1990 Cote .......................................... 2/16 MANEUVERS 5,070,545 12/1991 Tapia a & A4 as saw a so e o a as a a sea as a sas 2/195 5,095,547 3/1992 Kerns ...................................... 2/60 76 Inventor: Charles A. Parcells, III, 1167 5,220,691 6/1993 Wiegers .................................... 2/24 Lakepointe, Grosse Pointe Park, 5,234,230 8/1993 Crane et al. ......................... 280/81 Mich. 48230 Primary Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder 21 Appl. No.: 20,196 Assistant Examiner-Michael A. Neas 9 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James M. Deimen 22 Filedilled: Feb.es 19, 1993 57 ABSTRACT : s a - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - a - a A2. To provide effective and protective sliding means for Y Y. as se ess sesses see2/24; so seas 2/160; se sessess e a 2/908;sess as 280/811s in-line roller skating, ultra-high molecular weight poly 58) Field of Search 2/2, 16, 20, 22, 23 ethylene (UHMW) plates are detachably fastened to the protective outerclothes and gloves of the user. Hook 6.". A. BS, 2. and loop fasteners are used in a manner that permits the 280/81, 809 UHMW plates to articulate on the fastening as the plate slides or skids on the pavement and the user's position 56) References Cited changes during the slide. With the hook and loop fasten ing, excessive shear stress or pulling, from contact with U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS an obstruction, permits the UHMW plate to separate 1,577,540 3/1926 before these stresses damage the skid plate, the hook 3,322,873 5/1967 and loop fastening, the adhesive bonds or the underly 3,945,042 3/1976 ing protective clothing. The result is a slide or sliding 3,991,420 1 1/1976 4,071,913 2/1978 fall as on ice in ice skating and various fall and slide 4,317,237 3/1982 maneuvers of the ice skater are made practical for the 4,561,123 12/1985 in-line roller skater on pavement. 4,599,747 7/1986 4,641,641 2/1987 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets 64 62 IO4 68 U.S. Patent Dec. 20, 1994 Sheet 2 of 3 5,373,584 FIG 5 FIG 6 58 a 58 6O 6O 56 F/ G 8 U.S. Patent Dec. 20, 1994 Sheet 3 of 3 5,373,584 5,373,584 1. 2 with a second hard piece atop the wrist preventing full SLONG ACCESSORESTO PERMIT N-LINE freedom of movement of the hand. ROLLERSKATING MANEUVERSEQUEVALENT Some individuals have experimented with gloves TO CE SKATNG MANEUVERS having a large piece of polycarbonate plastic perma nently attached to the palm of the hand. The hard and BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION tough polycarbonate plastic provides significantly greater protection from abrasion than the normal The field of the invention pertains to roller skating leather or cloth palm. However, plastic plates perma and, in particular, to accessories for serious in-line roller nently fastened to the palms and of sufficient size to skating activities. In-line roller skates comprise skates 10 protect the gloves and hands against sliding abrasion having a plurality of wheels (usually four) mounted one make the gloves difficult to remove and greatly inter behind the other in the nature of a blade analogous to fere with grip if not removed. Moreover, the positions ice skate blades. of the plates on the gloves cannot be altered because of In-line roller skating has become increasingly popular the permanent attachment. These hand protection de in recent years in part because in-line skates are well 15 vices are relatively heavy, and because they are so cum suited to outdoor skating on pavement and much more bersome, are not practical for use by in-line skaters. maneuverable than two by two roller skates. Thus, The applicant, having been confronted with the al in-line roller skates can be skated more like ice skates most total lack of any accessories suitable for accidental and similar speeds attained on relatively smooth pave or purposeful sliding on pavement by in-line skaters, has ments. As a result, activities common on ice are now developed performance enhancing accessories as de being attempted on concrete, asphalt and other pave scribed below to permit aggressive in-line roller skating nets. and aggressive in-line street hockey playing with more Contact at speed with most pavements causes effects of the speeds, thrills and falls of ice hockey and tourna generally much more severe than contact with ice. ment skating. Primarily, contact at speed of the hand, hip or knee, 25 whether accidental or purposeful, stops the vertical SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION component of motion almost instantaneously whether The invention comprises several sliding accessories on ice or pavement, however, on ice the innate slippery attachable to the protective clothing and gloves of an surface permits the horizontal component of motion to in-line roller skater. The accessories comprise both flat continue almost unabated. Thus, ice skaters, figure skat 30 and curved plates of ultra-high molecular weight poly ers and hockey players take many falls and only rarely ethylene (UHMW) detachably fastened to the clothing undergo serious injury. Figure skaters and hockey play and gloves. The detachable fastening for the UHMW ers are specifically coached on proper falling techniques plates comprises hook and loop fasteners (Velcro TM and may practice these techniques to avoid injury. for example). Hook and loop fasteners are well known However, most pavements are not so forgiving. With 35 for attaching a variety of items to clothing and gloves, the purposefully non-slippery surface of most pave however, the applicant has discovered that three unob ments, the horizontal component of motion is brought vious attributes of hook and loop fasteners are critical to to a halt by high friction almost as quickly as the verti the outstanding success of the use of UHMW plates as cal component. Thus, injury or significant damage to sliding accessories for in-line roller skating. The superior "slipperiness' and resistance to abrasion clothing is substantially more likely with falls in in-line of the UHMW plates, in combination with the detach roller skating and, even with protective equipment such able nature of hook and loop fasteners, permits acciden as the gloves of hockey players, falls on pavement are tal and purposeful falls and slides of ice skating to be rarely purposely practiced. For instance, hockey cloth performed in in-line roller skating on concrete and as ing and gloves can protect against some injury by the 45 phalt with the comparable relative safety of ice skating pavement, in particular, severe abrasions and bruising, and at a lower cost permaneuver when compared to the however, the sudden horizontal halt can cause severe use of traditional protective gear. The applicant sub damage to joints, bones, tendons and muscles that scribes to the idea that it contributes more to a skater's wouldn't likely occur with a similar fall on ice. With safety to practice landing rather than simply avoid multiple falls traditional hockey clothing and gloves 50 crashes. The sliding equipment disclosed below is de may be ruined unacceptably fast. signed to make "landing practice' feasible and cost If purposeful falling techniques are attempted and effective. practiced in conventional hockey clothing and gloves, Counter-intuitively the detachable nature of hook or other traditional in-line skate protective gear, the and loop fastened UHMW plates permit the UHMW cloth is quickly abraded and shredded by the pavement. 55 plates to “move around' or articulate on the attachment In an attempt to overcome the effects of abrasion some in response to both the unevenness of the pavement and what, "cap-shaped” knee pads of molded nylon, poly the constantly changing position of the wearer whether ethylene or ABS plastic are riveted or sewn to the it be his knee, his hip, his hand or his skateboot that is clothing to protect both the knees and the clothing. bearing his weight in contact with the pavement. In With a number of falls these hard knee pads become effect, the wearer is sliding on pavement as if sliding on severely abraded and the permanent fastenings (rivets ice. The invention permits in-line “street hockey' (pref and stitching) tend to tear loose, substantially destroy erably played in an empty parking lot) to be played ing the usefulness of the protective garment. closer to the same speed, intensity, vigor and excitement A device typically called "wrist guards' is currently of ice hockey with less damage to the player's underly offered to in-line roller skaters. These comprise a cloth 65 ing clothing and protective equipment. band about the wrist with a piece of curved hard plastic The three critical but unobvious aspects of the hook attached under the wrist generally extending over the and loop attachment of the UHMW plates are, firstly, a heel of the hand. Such wrist protectors splint the wrist differing curvature between the UHMW plate equipped 5,373,584 3 4 with one part of the fastenerglued on and the underly FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of an attach ing element of clothing having the complementary fas able knee slider plate assembly; tener sewn or glued on. Thus, the UHMW plate pur FIG. 11 is a side view of a roller skate with toe and posely does not fully and completely attach, but rather inside curved plate guards; is free to articulate on the attachment with portions 5 FIG.

Load more