Wheel for in-line skates

Claim 2

The wheel of claim 1 wherein said plurality of layers comprise an inner core disposed concentrically about said hub means and made of a material having a first durometric hardness and an outer core disposed concentrically about said inner core and made of a material having a second durometric hardness, said outer core being adapted for rolling over a surface.

Claim 3

The wheel of claim 2 wherein the durometric hardness of said outer core exceeds the durometric hardness of said inner core.

Claim 4

The wheel of claims 2 or 3 including ring means annularly disposed in said outer core, said ring means having an outer ground engaging peripheral surface, the diameter of said ring means exceeding the diameter of said outer core such that ground engaging surface of said ring means protrudes radially outwardly from said outer surface of said outer core.

Claim 5

The wheel of claim 4 wherein the coefficient of friction of said material comprising said ring means is less than the coefficient of friction of said material comprising said outermost layer whereby said ring means facilitates sliding motion of said wheel relative to a surface.

Claim 6

The wheel of claims 4 or 5 wherein said ring means are pliant for flexion thereof.

Claim 7

The wheel of any preceding claim including stiffening means disposed in said inner core to prevent excessive flexure thereof due to torsional loading of said wheel.

Claim 8

The wheel of any preceding claim wherein the durometric hardness of said inner core falls in the range of Shore 40A to 80A, and the durometric hardness of said outer core falls within the range of Shore 72A to 96A.

Claim 9

A wheel for an in-line skate, comprising: hub means for rotation about an axis; circular ring means disposed concentrically about said hub means, said ring means having an outer ground engaging peripheral surface; and core means disposed concentrically about said hub means for at least partially supporting said ring means in a ground engaging position thereof, said core means having an outer ground engaging peripheral surface and being made of a material having a higher coefficient of friction compared to said ring means; wherein the diameter of said ring means exceeds the diameter of said core means to provide a discrete radial transition from said ground engaging surface of said core means to said ground engaging surface of said ring means.

Claim 10

The wheel of claim 9 wherein said core means comprise at least one inner core and an annular outer core, each of said inner and outer cores being made of a material having a predetermined durometric hardness.

Claim 11

The wheel of claim 10 wherein the durometric hardness of said outer core exceeds the durometric hardness of said at least one inner core.

Claim 12

The wheel of any preceding claim wherein a line tangentially intersecting said ground engaging surfaces of both said ring means and said core means defines an angle to said wheel's axis in the range of 15° to 35°.