Safety brake using bearings for in-line skates

A roller skate comprising:

• a boot with a toe section at a front thereof and a heel section at a rear thereof;
• a frame attached to the boot;
• a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted to the frame and forming a single skating plane;
• a front wheel located proximate the toe section of the skate;
• a brake member disposed proximate the front wheel and mounted on the skate frame;
• means for mounting the front wheel to the frame for normally biasing the front wheel rearward and downward away from the brake member to reduce the force of the wheel on the brake member tending to disengage the brake, the means for mounting being responsive to at least one of a rearward thrust and downward force on the skate to force the front wheel against the brake member;
• wherein the brake member comprises at least one one-way bearing, the bearing being freely rotatable in a clockwise direction when viewed from the left, and being nonrotatable in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from the left, and
• wherein the front wheel is elevated with respect to the skating plane, and thereby is elevated with respect to a skating surface corresponding to the skating plane, and whereby the brake will be activated when skating or pushing rearward and moving the skater's foot to cause the front wheel to engage the skating surface, causing the front wheel to tend to rotate clockwise when viewed from the left, thereby causing the at least one bearing to tend to rotate counterclockwise, when viewed from the left, thereby locking against rotation, whereby friction between the at least one bearing and the front wheel acts as a brake and provides a braking force on the front wheel, and when skating forward and moving the skater's foot to cause the front wheel to engage the skating surface, the front wheel will be rotating counterclockwise freely in spite of any contact with the at least one one-way bearing, which would rotate clockwise freely when viewed from the left.