FAMOUS INVENTOR

Roller

John Joseph Merlin

Skates

By: Marina Monreal

John Joseph Merlin was born in 1735. He was

from Belgia, and during his youth, he worked in Paris as a mathematical-instrument maker. He was a musician that played the violin and the harpsichord. He “invented a barrel organ and better stringed instruments”, and he also patented a compound harpsichord. “Merlin was soon running with Johann Christian Bach, Thomas Gainsborough, Samuel Johnson, and Horace Walpole”.

Merlin he enjoyed making new friends, and he was well known for his good sense of humor. Even the Spanish Ambassador to England knew of him and was impressed by his creations. The Ambassador wanted to meet Merlin, and invited him to London in 1760.

Besides being an instrument maker, Merlin also enjoyed inventing a variety of other

items. He liked making clocks and watches. He built a "perpetual motion machine" that

ran on atmospheric-pressure changes, and he also built wheelchairs, weighing machines,

and robots. He was also accredited for the invention of the roller skates in 1760.

Merlin was so proud of all of his inventions, and he wanted to exhibit his machines. As a result, he founded the Merlin's Mechanical Museum which was pretty popular for a long time. He had many visitors, but a special guest was Charles Babbage who invented “the forerunner for the modern computer”. Babbage visited Merlin’s museum when he was a child. He told Merlin how he really liked two robots formed as nude figurines. Apparently, Merlin made a great impact on the life of Babbage, since after a long time, Babbage did what he could to buy the robots for himself.

All information from this page was gathered from: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi630.htm

Evolution of the Roller Skate

Roller skates have been around for more than two hundred years. There is a possibility that roller skates existed before that, but people have accredited the Belgian, Jean Joseph Merlin as the first inventor of the roller skates. People from the European continent had the first glance of Merlin’s innovative creation when around the year of 1760, Jean Joseph Merlin decided to attend a masquerade party in London wearing his skates. Apparently, this was not the best idea for marketing or showing off his invention, since he went through an embarrassing situation when he crashed into a very expensive mirror at the party while he was skating.

The roller skate concept spread out all around Europe, and in the 1800’s, the Dutch upgraded their in-line ice skates by adding wooden wheels to their skates, so they could roller skate in the summer. Even though the roller skates of this time had an in-line structure and could only be used to slide in a straight direction, people were fascinated by them and started using them in some of the streets of Paris. Roller-skating in the streets became known as ranking. Roller skates were even used as a way of entertainment in 1818 when they were used at an interesting ballet performance in Berlin.

In 1819, M. Petibled was the first to request a roller skate patent. The design was not much different from the prior in-line models that were already out. His design had three wheels in a row, and the early in-line designs consisted of two to six wheels attached to the center of a wood or metal plate. They were similar to what we now today as roller blades.

M. Petibled was the first to have a patent, but James Leonard Plimpton from Massachusetts was the first to transform the roller skate model. In 1863, Plimpton changed the old in-line design of roller skates and added two sets of wheels to the front and the back of the roller skate plate which made it look “like the chassis of a car”(everything2net). With the new quad skate design, from been able to travel only in a straight line, roller skaters had more control and had the ability to turn into curves by shifting their weight to the side and turn to that direction. The new design revolutionized the world of skating, and due to the positive reaction of the public, Plimpton opened a skating club in New York. In 1866, Plimpton also supported the opening of the first public skating rink in Newport, Rhode Island. (rollersports)

Because of the opening of skate rinks, roller skating develop from being a simple pastime to a more competitive activity. In many places, gentlemen were playing roller polo (hockey), and others were entertained by figure skating and dance contests.

Due to Plimpton’s new design, the popularity of the roller skates increased, and some people thought that Plimpton’s model had to be improved. Roller skates used to be attached to shoes with leather straps. E.H. Barney contributed to the improvement of the roller skate by inventing a clamp on method, which consisted of a combination of clamps on the toes and leather straps on the heel.(rollersports) Toe stops were seen for the first time in 1876. However, they were not successfully commercialized until the 1940’s. Toe stops gave skaters the ability to stop when they tip the skate onto the toe. Micajah C. Henley from Richmond, Indiana produced the “first skate with adjustable tension via screw”(wikipedia). Levant M. Richardson added steel ball bearings in 1884. This upgraded led to the increase of speed by reducing friction. Another improvement done to skates, was the permanent attachment of the plate with the wheels to the shoe. These types of skates were called shoe skates, and were first used in the beginning of the 1900’s. However, they were only used by professional skaters. The general public continued to use clamp skates because the shoe skates were perceived as unsanitary (rollersports). Shoe skates became popular to the general public until the 1950’s.

Today, not many changes have been done to the basic design of the quad skate; However, in earlier times, due to the changes that were made to Plimpton’s quad design, skaters were not limited to skate in a passive way, but they were also given the opportunity to make their skating more diverse by elevating in air, or doing elaborated turns. This activity began to develop into different types of skating, and in the late 1930’s skating rink owners came together to form an association in order to promote roller skating. The association was also responsible for establishing the business practices of rink owners. The Roller Skating Association (RSA) was born.(rollersports)

Quad skates did not entirely replaced inline roller skates. In 1900, the Peck & Snyder Company elaborated an inline skate that had two wheels. John Jay Young created and adjustable clamp on inline skate in 1905, and the Roller Skate Company fabricated a three wheel inline skate attached to a leather shoe in 1910 (rollerskatingmuseum). Later, in 1979, two brothers who were hockey players, Scott and Brenan Olson made a great effort to promote a design they came up with that consisted of attaching rolling blades to hockey boots. In their desire to promote their product, they started a company called Rollerblade, Inc. Their products became well known, and as a result, other companies began producing similar roller blade skates. This was the revival of the original in-line skate and by the late 1980’s roller blades became more popular than the quad skates.

Roller Skate Time Line

1760 Roller skates were first invented in Europe. Joseph Merlin invented an inline skate that had small wooden wheels.

1819 M. Petible from France was the first to request a roller skate patent.

1863 J.L. Plimpton, from Massachusetts invented the quad skate

E.H. Barney invented this clamp-on system. Before, skates had been attached to boots with leather straps.

1852 Rubber wheels were introduced on the English "Woodward" skate.

1866 First public skating rink was open in Newport, Rhode Island.

1876 The first recorded toe stop was a rubber "pad" added to the front of the skate.

1884 the addition of steel ball bearings to the wheels of roller skates. This increased speed and reduced friction.

The 1880's and 1890's saw key improvements in roller skate construction. M.C. Henley patented a truck in which the tension of the cushions could be adjusted by a screw, like the modern day kingbolt.

The introduction of ball bearings to roller skates caused such an increase in popularity of the sport, that the "Federation Internationale de Patinage a Roulettes" was formed in 1884 as the World Governing Body for all roller skating activities.

1905 John Jay Young creates an inline adjustable roller skate.

1924 The international Federation which controls roller skating "Federation Internationale De Roller Skating" (FIRS) was founded.

1930’s 1930’s skating rink owners came together to form an association in order to promote roller skating. The association was also responsible for establishing the business practices of rink owners. The Roller Skating Association (RSA) was born.

1966 Chicago Roller Skate Company manufactures their inline boot skate.

1980 Scott and Brennan Olson found Rollerblade, Inc.

1986 Rollerblade, Inc., begins to market skates as fitness equipment, and inline skates dominate the preference over quad skates.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skating

http://www.rollersports.org/datas.asp?load=288056681A003

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa050997.htm

http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/serv02.htm

http://www.skateland.com/rshis.html

http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/new_page_2.htm

http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?Mkey=mw39608

Roller skate@everything2.com

Picture sources:

http://www.victorianstation.com/leisureroller.htm

http://www.landroller.com/history-of-roller-skates.htm

http://www.conniesskateplace.com/qurosk2.html

http://onewheelskate.tripod.com/

http://www.planetonwheels.com/history-of-roller-skates.html

http://www.inlineplanet.com/History/shalerparlorskate.html

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi630.htm

Activity for Inventor

Science Area: Physics Concept: Friction

Materials:

Piece of cardboard

Ruler (or any measuring device)

Eraser, car, wood block

Safety Considerations: None.

Procedure:

Place the cardboard in a desk.

Place one item on the edge of the piece of cardboard.

Lift the cardboard slowly until the item you put on it slides to the opposite side, and at the same time,

measure how high you lifted the cardboard before the item moved.

Questions:

What item has less friction?

What item has more friction?

Explanation:

Different objects have more friction than others. In this case the object with the most friction will be the eraser because it’s rubbery and it grips the board. The object with the least friction will be the car because it has wheels that make it roll.

Source (information and picture):

http://www.onekama.k12.mi.us/e2002/g5/science/friction.htm