Polyurethane skate wheel with shaped foam core

Claim 1

An in-line roller skate wheel comprising: relatively rigid cylindrical urethane hub formed about an axial center and configured with an annular radially outwardly facing rim surface and radial stand off ribs disposed in annular spaced relation about said surface and projecting radially outwardly to terminate in radially outwardly facing nesting surfaces; an annular foam mandrel concentric about said axial center and having a predetermined enlarged diameter, said mandrel contacted on its radially inner side with the respective said nesting surfaces, said mandrel being triangular in the axial transverse cross section to form an isosceles triangle having opposite side walls converging radially outwardly and axially inwardly toward one another at a predetermined angle; and a relatively soft urethane tire body substantially surrounding said mandrel and being bonded to said rim surface, said body being formed with side walls disposed on the opposite axial sides of said mandrel and, for a portion of the radial extent, converging radially outwardly and axially inwardly toward one another at said predetermined angle to complement the angle at which said opposite side walls of said mandrel converge toward one another, said body being formed at its radially outer extent with a tread surface rounded in the axial transverse plane.