Skate with in-line wheels

A skate with in-line wheels, including a shoe that is associated with a frame supporting a plurality of aligned wheels connected to the frame by means of pivot members. A pair of brackets are rigidly coupled to respective lateral sides of the shoe and are associated with front and rear pivot members.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a skate with in-line wheels. 
It is known that skates with in-line wheels are constituted by a frame that 
supports a plurality of aligned wheels connected to the frame by means of 
a respective rotation pivot. 
The frame is shaped so as to form seats, generally in the upper part and 
above the region affected by the wheels, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. 
No. 5,046,746. The seats have holes for receiving the pins protruding from 
the lower part of the shoe in order to connect the shoe to the frame. 
This solution, in addition to being extremely complicated from a structural 
point of view, since it requires the execution of a specially shaped 
frame, is also disadvantageous from a mechanical point of view, since the 
stresses between the shoe and the frame are transmitted exclusively at two 
pins having a vertical axis and arranged in the median portion of the shoe 
and accordingly can cause deformations in the shoe. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above described problem by 
providing a skate with in-line wheels that improves the connection between 
the shoe and the frame, so as to obtain optimum stress distribution in 
addition to constructive simplification for the frame. 
Within the scope of this aim, a particular object of the invention is to 
provide a skate which, while being equally strong, considerably lightens 
the frame, since the forces applied by the shoe are not discharged 
directly onto the frame. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a skate wherein the 
simplified structure of the frame considerably reduce costs. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a skate that, by 
virtue of a new type of coupling to the frame, has a particular and 
aesthetically pleasant aspect. 
This aim, these objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter 
are achieved by a skate with in-line wheels, comprising a shoe associated 
with a frame supporting a plurality of aligned wheels connected to the 
frame by means of a respective rotation pivot, characterized in that it 
comprises means for connecting the shoe and the frame that are constituted 
by tabs rigidly coupled to the shoe, each tab being associated with one of 
the pivots.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
With reference to the above figures, the skate with in-line wheels, 
according to the invention, comprises a shoe that is generally designated 
by the reference numeral 1 and is associated with a frame 2 supporting a 
plurality of aligned wheels 3 connected to said frame by means of 
respective pivots designated by the reference numeral 4. 
The particularity of the invention resides in that there are means for 
connecting the shoe and the frame that are constituted by pairs of tabs 
rigidly coupled to the shoe, each pair being associated with one of the 
pivots 4. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tabs, generally designated by the reference 
numeral 10, comprise front tabs 10a formed monolithically with the shoe, 
extending downwardly, and blended with rear tabs 10b which are also formed 
monolithically with the shoe. 
The tabs 10a and 10b are coupled, at their free ends, to the supporting 
pivots of the wheels 3 arranged at the ends of the frame. 
The tabs are arranged laterally and externally with respect to the frame 
and thus provide direct connection of the shoe to the frame by using an 
element that is normally provided, such as the wheel rotation pivot. 
The tabs, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, can also be constituted by brackets 20 
fixed to the sides of the shoe 101 and ending with a front arm 20a and 
with a rear arm 20b that connect to the pivots of the wheels 3 arranged at 
the front and at the rear respectively. 
In this embodiment, too, the shoe in practice is connected directly on the 
pivot of the wheel, that is to say, on the element normally provided in 
the manufacture of the skate, so that it is not necessary to give the 
frame particular shapes or profiles in order to connect the shoe. 
The frame, which is in practice not subjected to the stresses arising from 
its connection to the shoe, can be advantageously made of an aluminum 
extruded element which, as more clearly shown in FIG. 5, is constituted by 
two side walls 30 joined by cross-members 31, formed monolithically with 
said side walls. 
Advantageously, the frame can be obtained by extruding a body along a 
direction substantially at right angles to the longitudinal extension of 
said frame. 
In practice, it is possible to extrude a part that monolithically includes 
the side walls 30 and the cross-members 31 and then, with extremely quick 
machining operations, the frame portions are easily separated, in practice 
by cutting the side walls to the desired height and performing simple 
final finishing operations, such as chamfering at the free ends of the 
side walls and drilling of the holes 40 for the connection of the wheel 
supporting pivots. 
From the above description it is thus evident that the invention achieves 
the intended aim and objects, and in particular the fact is stressed that 
a skate is provided which, having a new form of connection between the 
skate and the frame, considerably simplifies the mechanical coupling, 
since it uses a component normally present, such as the wheel rotation 
pivot, and it furthermore significantly lightens the frame, which no 
longer has to directly withstand the forces for connection to the shoe. 
The skate according to the invention is susceptible of numerous 
modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the 
inventive concept. 
All the details may be replaced with other technically equivalent elements. 
In practice, the materials employed, as well as the contingent shapes and 
dimensions, may be any according to the requirements.