A lot of people love to skate, but have trouble with stopping. This invention is a solenoid-actuated brake for roller skates, which you activate with a small remote control in the paired gloves it comes with. The botton is on the back of the hand for easy access. Need to stop? No problem, simply press the button and the brakes apply pressure to the wheels, like the brakes on a bicycle.

(edit: the brakes I have in mind are the same sort of friction clamps used on most bicycles)

( I suppose it could also be a direct mechanical linkage, like the ones a bike, but the wires might be a little more awkward to work with.)
-- 21 Quest, Oct 22 2006

Good idea, but you need to tell us what sort of brakes. I think disc or drum setups would be ridiculously fiddly and therefore probably not very robust. Perhaps some kind of friction clamp that pressed in on the sides of the wheels (you were referring to inline skates, no?) would give the most bang for your complexity buck.

I think you’d have some genuine difficulties with people face-planting while using the skates. The moment on a person skating along, who then applies a braking force at their feet is quite large. You’d have to lean backwards quite a bit. Not sure how well kids would do that.
-- Custardguts, Oct 22 2006


Just somehow have the skates jump forward a little bit, then slow down, then jump backward, ending up stopped and in a vertical position.
-- ihope127, Oct 22 2006


Custardguts, the brakes I had in mind were, indeed, the friction clamps. Sorry I didn't specify, I thought the bicycle reference was a dead giveaway.
-- 21 Quest, Oct 22 2006


This seemed like a exlant idea and The friction brakes could also work for roller blades
-- Troxin_420, Oct 23 2006


Precisely what I had in mind, Troxin. For the standard 4-wheelers, I think a type of disc brake would be needed because the wheels stick out beyond the edges of the skates, making it very difficult to set up friction clamps.
-- 21 Quest, Oct 23 2006


They still make roller skates?
-- Chefboyrbored, Oct 23 2006


Actually, the inline skates is what I had in mind when I posted this. The 4-wheelers didn't even cross my mind when I said "roller skates". Even with 4-wheelers, though, it could work with tiny disc brakes Kinda like this: ()]<-->[()
-- 21 Quest, Oct 23 2006


I still think you'd have a hard time staying on your feet. Overall, I think it's a great idea, I just have my doubts about whether you could stay on your feet.
-- Custardguts, Oct 23 2006


I think a slow friction applied to the wheels would make it easier to stay on your feet than using the heel brake, since you keep both feet flat, as opposed to tipping one foot forward, risking falling on your back.
-- 21 Quest, Oct 23 2006


How about dynamic braking with rotors in the hubs. You could generate electricity while you are braking.
-- phreed, Oct 25 2006


Definitely a possibility... would save the hassle of batteries.
-- 21 Quest, Oct 25 2006



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