Patent ID: 6916046
Filing Date: 2005-07-12
Classification: A63C

Abstract:
1. An expandable shoe capable of being secured to an inline roller skate having a series of wheels rotatably mounted in an inline configuration and maintaining said skate in a generally upright position for comfortable walking or easy storage comprising: a front shoe portion comprising a horizontally disposed elongated base member having outside walls, ground-contacting bottom surface and substantially rigid opposed left and right side walls extending upwardly therefrom so as to define a front wheel-receiving channel shaped and sized to receive the foremost wheels of an inline skate and blocking means disposed at the front of said front channel to engage the front wheel, said blocking means extending upwardly from said front channel at least 27.5 degrees above the horizontal plane of the axes of the foremost skate wheels when inserted in said front channel and concavely curved to generally conform to the curvature of the front wheel; a rear shoe portion comprising a horizontally disposed elongated base member having outside walls, ground-contacting bottom surface and substantially rigid opposed left and right side walls extending upwardly therefrom so as to define a rear wheel-receiving channel shaped and sized to receive the rearmost wheels of an inline skate and blocking means disposed at the rear of said rear channel to engage the rear wheel, said blocking means extending upwardly from said rear channel at least 27.5 degrees above the horizontal plane of the axes of the rearmost skate wheels when inserted in said rear channel and concavely curved to generally conform to the curvature of the rear wheel; said front and rear shoe portions having a gap therebetween and connected and maintained in substantially horizontal alignment by a flexible bridge consisting of extensible substantially parallel elongate connecting rail members extending longitudinally across said gap and outside the vertical planes of the left and right side walls of the front and rear wheel-receiving channels; and said extensible connecting rail members having sufficient elasticity so that, under tension, the front and rear shoe portions are pulled toward each other and the blocking means disposed at the front and rear of the respective wheel-receiving channels engage and bear respectively against the front and rear wheels of an in-line skate inserted therein with sufficient force so as to provide secure attachment of the shoe to the in-line skate.