Braking system for in-line skates

A braking system for an in-line skate for a skater, where said skate comprises a boot/chassis assembly including a chassis carrying a plurality of in-line wheels to run on the ground, and a boot mounted above the chassis, said boot/chassis assembly including a plastic cuff securable around the skater's ankle and pivotally connected to said boot/chassis assembly at pivot points generally in the area of the skater's malleoli, said braking system comprising a linkage assembly connected at an upper end thereof to a rear portion of said cuff, and at a lower end thereof to a rotatable brake assembly, which brake assembly pivots about a pivot point mounted on said chassis and carries a replaceable brake pad, said brake assembly pivoting between a retracted position where said brake pad is above the ground, and a braking position where said brake pad is in contact with the ground, said linkage assembly comprising a drive arm, a transfer bracket and a short connector link;

• said drive arm having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being secured to the back of the cuff, to move upwardly and downwardly with rotation of the cuff;
• said transfer bracket having three pivot points B, C, and D, where B is a pivotal connection between the lower end of said drive arm and an upper portion of said transfer bracket, C is a pivotal connection between a forward portion of said transfer bracket and support means rigidly positioned with respect to said boot/chassis assembly and extending rearwardly therefrom, and D is a pivotal connection between a rearward portion of said transfer bracket and an upper end of said short connector link;
• said short connector link having an upper end and a lower end, said lower end being pivotally connected at a pivot point E to said brake assembly;
• said pivot points B, C and D being arranged such that the mechanical advantage provided by said transfer bracket in translating downward movement of said drive arm to downward movement of said connector link and brake assembly is less than one in said retracted position, and increases as said cuff is rotated rearwardly to move said drive arm downwardly and said brake assembly towards the ground.