SpringSkate.com Slow-Motion Video, Inline SpringSkates with Independent suspension

PLEASE READ! SpringSkates - In line skates with full suspension, not just a concept, we have several pre-production prototypes!.
Originally designed as a recreational/fitness skate to address a complaint from many skaters about the foot numbing vibrations transferred to the foot by rough pavement. The design needed to remove as much of the foot numbing buzz as possible, had to be simple, without wear surfaces or intricate parts, the only moving parts would be the spring flex. Wheels had to float easily over bumps on pavement, uneven surfaces etc. but needed to be laterally rigid, smooth while gliding but solid when pushing off. Had to attach to existing skate boots, they also had to robust, durable and lastly manufacturable with current technology and not be priced out of the market.
With countless hours / miles of testing / development our current version the V5 now addresses all our requirements and more!
During the development process we found a few additional key advantages to the design as follows:
The ability to skate safely over loose gravel on pavement, rotate all 8 wheels with only 4 screws. vs. a minimum of 8 screws on most inline 4 wheel skates, some have 16 screws (2 per axle).
User adjustable maneuverability; hockey skaters "rocker" their wheels by moving the front and rear wheel up slightly, this leaves only 2 wheels contacting the floor at any one time. Doing this the skates are much more maneuverable as the wheelbase between the two wheels in contact is now substantially shorter than the overall wheelbase of the 4 wheels. This can also easily be accomplished with SpringSkates by concentrating pressure on the front or rear of the skate which will deflect the wheels enough to lift one or even two wheels leaving two or three wheels in contact, in this condition the skate is now much more maneuverable. By transferring your weight back to all four wheels the skate will again perform as a longer wheelbase skate.
. The patented system consists of stainless steel springs attached to an aluminum frame that mounts to the boot. This allows for each wheel to flex vertically independent of the other wheels. The unique design of the springs allows for a well balanced suspension while maintaining excellent lateral stability. The frame is precision machined from an extruded aircraft grade aluminum alloy and anodized for maximum corrosion resistance. The stainless steel springs are cold formed, machined, heat treated, and polished, to exacting specifications. The stainless steel axles are machined and welded to the springs and use standard inline skate wheels up to 90mm.
The suspension removes most of the foot numbing buzz, especially the higher frequencies, while skating on paved surfaces. We have one person in his late 70's who up until his second hip replacement, has been skating marathon events on the skates, has commented more than once that he could not have gone the distance on rigid skates. Great low impact aerobic workout, for all those boomers with bad joints.

www.springskate.com

The video is simple display showing the movement of the suspension. The first four bumps are 0.375 (9.53mm) the last bump is 0.500" (12.7mm) This does not illustrate the actual travel while skating. We attached data acquisition instruments on the skates and put a on a few miles, the results were the front and rear wheels deflected up to 0.400 (4mm) and the center wheels deflected up to 0.280" (7mm) This was an around town skate course with a 210lb skater, not at a skate park or doing any stunts.

The skates have also been entered in a contest by SolidWorks and NASA Tech Briefs:

http://www.createthefuturecontest.com/pages/view/entriesdetail.html?entryID=823

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• springskate
• sk8
• springsk8
• inline
• skate
• suspension
• recreation
• rec
• cool
• innovative
• fitness
• spring
• blade
• health
• arthritis

[mwtakeru312]

this maybe ok for slow speed, not good for speedskating. the dynamics are very different at low speed vs high speed.

also speedskating skates is all about stiffness, we need the most stiff dynamics that provide just enough grab to keep us up:-)

[SpringBlade]

You are correct!

SpringSkates were developed with the Recreational/Fitness skater in mind, to smooth out the bumps and buzz of trail/urban skating. They are not a speed, hockey or aggressive skate, although they have been used in those areas. =)

[littlestworkshop]

I'll get a pair next time I want to ride over a milling machine :)

[SpringBlade]

Dude, just don't use them to ride on a lathe..

[0carnifex0]

its sick , but would break easy

[SpringBlade]

We have beat the #@$% out of the G5, our current version, with no failures whatsoever. The heaviest skater weighs in at around 230lbs.

We have a lighter spring for skaters in the 100-170lb range

All outdoor testing has been done on paved trails and sidewalks.

Thanks!

[GoldenSim27]

humm i see no stopper to prevent wheel bite :S epic fail!

[12TreaL11]

are these skates good enough for jumping?

[ntravers1488]

Maybe now that their feet aren't so numb, all those roller bladers won't spend so much time on their knees.

[bloobbloob1]

@SpringBlade i doubt that. agressive skates are used for grinding and such and hocky skates require you to go at a high rate of speed and stop and such so this dosent work. speed i have bont speed 3 point skates with an aluminum s frame which is one of the stiffest settups for sakting and stiffer is better thats wat she said

[Freedom9638]

getting close to Air Trek for the Air Gear Manga

[khk0510]

this was just shown in slow mo.

[quutamo87]

good question...

[xNinja73x]

but when you skating with them, don't the skates 'go down' then already?