Patent ID: 6402162
Filing Date: 2002-06-11
Classification: A63C

Abstract:
A dual-purpose roller skate comprising a sole that is provided near a front and a rear end with a front and a rear open-bottomed cavity, respectively, and two wheel units that are separately fixedly mounted in said front and said rear cavities and adapted to shift between a lowered position, in which said wheel units are exposed from said cavities for said dual-purpose roller skate to function like a normal roller skate for skating, and a lifted position, in which said wheel units are retracted into said cavities for said dual-purpose roller skate to function like an ordinary shoe for walking; each of said two wheel units comprising a base, a wheel support, a wheel, and a stop arm;each said base including a horizontal portion, two vertical side plates downward extended from two opposite sides of said horizontal portion, and a vertical stop plate downward extended from an outer end of said horizontal portion, said side plates being correspondingly provided at predetermined positions with a shaft hole and a slot above said shaft hole, and each said base being screwed at said horizontal portion to a locating plate fixedly mounted at a top of each said cavity; each said wheel support being a substantially U-shaped frame having two spaced arm portions that are correspondingly provided near a lower end with an axle hole, near an upper end with a shaft hole, and at a top and a lateral side of said upper end with a top notch and a lateral notch, respectively; said wheel support being pivotally connected to said base by extending a shaft through said shaft holes of said base and said wheel support; and a first torsion spring being put around said shaft to locate between said two arm portions of said wheel support so as to normally push said wheel support downward; each said wheel being rotatably connected to said wheel support by extending an axle through said wheel and said axle holes of said wheel support; and said stop arm being a long plate having a flat end and a downward bent end opposite to said flat end, said stop arm being pivotally connected at said flat end to an inner corner of said horizontal portion of said base with a rivet, a second torsion spring being put on said rivet to locate between said rivet and said stop arm so as to normally push a laterally projected outer edge of said bent end into one of said slots that is provided on one of said side plates of said base that is adjacent to said stop arm, and said bent end of said stop arm projected into said slot being adapted to engage with either said top or said lateral notch on said wheel support; whereby when said bent end of said stop arm is caused to disengage from said slot on said base and said top or said lateral notch on said wheel support, said wheel support could be pivotally turned about said shaft into either said lifted or said lowered position; and when said bent end of said stop arm is engaged with said lateral or said top notch on said wheel support and said slot on said base, said wheel unit and accordingly said wheel are securely held in said lifted or said lowered position for said dual-purpose roller skate to function like an ordinary shoe or a normal roller skate, respectively.