Adjustable skate truck assembly

An adjustable skate truck assembly is described that is mountable to an elongated skate boot. The assembly includes an upper attachment member with heel and toe pieces for mounting to the sole of the skate boot. A skate truck member is mounted to the upper member, for adjustment to vary the relationship of the upper member and boot to a surface support member on the truck. A drive operatively interconnects the upper attachment member and the skate truck member to move the skate truck member and surface support member laterally, elevationally, or both, relative to the upper attachment member. This enables the skater to adjust lateral positioning of the surface support member relative to the upper attachment member. The drive includes a first drive portion that is situated to laterally adjust a toe portion of the truck member relative to the upper attachment member and boot. A second drive operatively interconnects heel piece and truck to enable lateral adjustment of the heel piece relative to the truck. A third drive at the heel end of the truck is operable to elevationally adjust the height of the heel section of the skate boot relative to the surface support member.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates to adjustable skates, particularly in-line roller 
skates and ice skates. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Almost every skater has a different leg structure in which the skater's 
legs are bowed in or bowed out, applying different pressures to the inside 
and outside of their feet. Furthermore it is not unusual for a skater to 
have one leg that is slightly shorter than the other. Natural toe-in or 
toe-out foot orientations also differ. 
Such variances between skaters frequently makes skating painful and 
invariably more fatiguing, since mass-produced skates cannot take 
individual differences into consideration. Skating (in-line roller skating 
and ice skating) are particularly stressful on a skaters legs and back 
because the weight of the skater is transferred through the legs and feet 
to a thin line of contact with the skating surface. This is in contrast to 
walking and running in which the runner's weight is distributed over more 
than a thin line contact with the ground. In skating the side to side 
stress is generally much more concentrated and exacerbated. 
One of the principal objects and advantages of this invention is to provide 
a very precise and easy technique for adjusting skates to provide accurate 
lateral adjustment to fit the individual desires and leg structure. 
A further object and advantage of this invention is to provide a very 
precise and easy to adjust mechanism for moving the toe and/or heel of the 
skate boot inward or outward to accommodate for the foot pronation of the 
skater. 
Another object and advantage of this invention is to provide a very precise 
and easy to adjust mechanism for adjusting the heel height of the skate to 
accommodate different length legs of the skater. 
These and other advantages and objectives of this invention will become 
apparent upon reading the following detailed description of a preferred 
embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
This disclosure of the invention is submitted in furherance of the 
constitutional purpose of the U.S. Patent Laws "to promote the progress of 
science and useful arts" (Article 1, Section 8). 
Turning in detail to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an 
adjusting skate truck assembly generally desingated with the numeral 10 
for mounting to a skate boot 12 having a bottom sole 14. The boot sole 14 
extends from a heel section 16 through an instep section 18 to a toe 
section 19. 
The truck assembly 10 includes an upper attaching member generally 
designates with the numeral 20 for attaching the assembly to the sole 14. 
The truck assembly 10 also includes a skate truck member generally 
designates with the numeral 22 and a surface engaging member 24. 
In the preferred embodiments, the surface engaging member 24 includes a 
plurality of in-line skate wheels 26a-d. Alternatively, the surface 
engaging member 24 could be an ice skate runner. The skate truck assembly 
10 is equally appliacable to an in-line skate or to an ice skate. 
The upper attaching member 20, as more specifially illustrated in FIGS. 2, 
4 and 5, has a toe piece 30, a heel piece 32 and an instep piece 34. In an 
alternate embodiment, the upper attaching member 20 may include separate 
toe and heel pieces 30 and 32 without the interconnecting instep piece 34. 
The instep piece 34 increases the rigidity of the skate truck assembly 10. 
The upper attaching member 20 is preferably composed of high-strength 
plastic material such as polyurethane containing high-strength embedded 
fibers. It could also be constructed of other strong light-weight 
materials such as aluminum. The upper attaching member 20 includes a top 
surface 36 and a bottom surface 38. The bottom surface 38 is illustrated 
in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. The top surface 36 is illustrated in FIG. 2. 
The upper attaching member 20 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4 includes a 
plurality of rivet holes 40 that extend upward from the bottom surface 38 
to the top surface 36 for receiving rivets, screws or bolts (not shown) 
that extend from the bottom surface 38 through the upper attaching member 
20 and into the sole 14 for affixing the assembly 10 to the skate boot 12. 
Alternatively the upper attaching member could be made integral with the 
boot or be attached thereto by appropriate adhesives. Additionally, the 
upper attaching member 20 includes a plurality of bolt holes 42 that 
extend downward to receive a lock (in the form of lock bolts 80) for 
attaching the upper attaching member to the skate truck member 22. 
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the bottom surface 38 has a recess 44 formed 
therein to provide clearance for the wheel 26c so that the elevation of 
the boot from the ground is minimized. 
A drive 25 is provided to operatively interconnect the upper attaching 
member 20 and truck member 22. The drive 25 functions generally to move 
the truck member 22 and support member 24 laterally relative to the upper 
attachment member. In one preferred form, the drive is provided in three 
portions, a first drive portion relates to lateral positioning of the toe, 
a second drive portion relates to lateral positioning of the heel, and a 
third drive portion relates to elevational positioning of the heel. The 
drive 25 thus affords the skater significant adjustability of his or her 
foot position relative to the surface support member 24. 
The upper attaching member 20 includes part of the first drive portion, a 
toe piece lead screw rack section 46 that projects downwardly as 
illustrated in FIG. 5 for engaging a lead screw that will be discussed 
further below. The section 46 includes a curved half-nut lead screw thread 
portion 48 (FIGS. 4 and 5). 
The heel piece 32 also includes part of the second drive portion, a slotted 
heel lead screw section 50 that projects downwardly providing flat lead 
screw threads 52 for engaging a lead screw which will also be discussed 
below. 
The third drive portion includes a lift 94 used to elevationally move the 
heel piece 32. 
The skate truck member 22 includes a general frame 60 that includes 
longitudinal sides or rails 62. In the preferred embodiment, the in-lines 
wheels 26a-d are mounted between the side rails 62 by axle bolts 63 (FIG. 
1). The frame 60 includes a toe section 64 and a heel section 66. 
The toe section 64 includes an upper flange 68 (FIG. 3) that has a central 
portion 70 and wing portions 72 and 74. The wing portions 72 and 74 have 
transverse elongated bolt slots 76 formed therein for facilitating 
mounting and lateral relative sliding movement of the skate truck member 
22 to the upper attaching member 20. Additionally, the rails 62 along the 
toe section 64 include opposed apertures 78 (FIGS. 6 and 7) for receiving 
a lead screw shaft 82. The shaft 82 has reduced end bearing studs 84 and 
86 that are rotatably mounted in respective apertures 78 in the sides 62. 
The bearing stud 86 has a bolt head 88 formed thereon to receive a hex 
tool 92 (FIG. 7) that is utilized for manually rotating the lead screw 
shaft 82. As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lead screw shaft 82 with 
its threads engage the curved half-nut end screw threads 48 of the toe 
piece 30 to drive the skate truck member 22 laterally with respect to the 
toe piece 30. 
Thus to laterally adjust the toe end of the skate truck member 22 in 
relation to the toe section of the sole 14, one merely needs to loosen the 
lock bolts 80 that extend through the apertures 42 and 76, and then 
operate the drive 25 by rotating the lead screw 82, utilizing a hex tool 
92 as illustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 6 illustrates the toe section 64 of the 
skate truck member 22 being essentially centered under the toe piece 30. 
FIG. 7 illustrates the movement of the toe section 64 laterally with 
respect to the toe piece 30. This enables the skater to readily adjust the 
skate according to his or her leg structure, to minimize and reduce 
stress, and to further enable the skate truck member 22 to be pivoted 
slightly to adjust for the individual pronation of the skater's feet. It 
should be specifically noted that the toe section 64 may be adjusted 
laterally by drive 25 independently of lateral movement of the heel 
section 66, which will be discussed below. Once the proper lateral toe 
adjustment has been made, the operator merely adjusts the locking bolts 80 
that extend through the apertures 42 and 76 to clamp the lead screw 
against the truck. This prevents further rotation of the lead screw shaft 
82. 
The third portion of the drive 25 includes a lift 94. The lift 94 
advantageously includes a portion of the heel section 66 for enabling the 
skater to raise or lower the heel 16 of the boot 12 relative to the 
surface engaging members 24 to accommodate his or her needs. This feature 
is particularly useful to a skater with legs of different lengths. 
The skate truck member 22 includes the lift 94 as an element of the frame 
60. The lift 94 includes a wedge 95 supported on a lift support 96 for 
enabling the skater to adjust the height of the heel piece 32 relative to 
the surface engaging member 24 to adjust to the height desires of the 
individual, particularly should the individual have different length legs. 
The lift support 96 is generally illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. The lift 
support 96 includes side flanges 98 and 100 that extend laterally outward 
from the sides or rails 62, forming an inclined surface 101. The side 
flanges 98 and 100 include elongated transverse bolt holes 102 (FIGS. 3, 
9) that receive a lock in the form of locking bolts 148 (FIGS. 8, 9). The 
locking bolts 148 operate similar to the bolts 80 in the elongated 
apertures 76 of the toe piece 30. 
The lift support 96 also includes longitudinal ribs 104 that form inclined 
ramps having slide bearing surfaces 108. Extending through each of the 
inclined ribs 104 is an elongated inclined recess 110 for receiving and 
supporting bearing studs 140 and 142 of a lead screw shaft 138 (described 
below) to enable the lead screw shaft 138 to move longitudinally as the 
wedge 95 is raised and lowered. 
Additionally, each of the inclined ramps or ribs 104 include similarly 
inclined elongated slots 114 for threadably receiving bearing and locking 
bolts 118 and 120 that centrally support a barrel nut 116. Headed ends of 
the bolts 118 and 120 (FIGS. 1, 11) overlap the wedge 95 and side edges of 
the lift support 96, so that when the bolts 118, 120 are tightened, the 
wedge and lift support are clamped securely between the bolt heads. The 
wedge thus becomes substantially locked against longitudinal movement 
unless the bolts are loosened. 
An aperture 122 is formed in the frame at the rear of the skate truck 
member 22 as illustrated in FIG. 10 for receiving an adjustment screw 123 
and a ball washer 124 of the third drive. The adjustment screw 123 has an 
end that extends into the barrel nut 116. The adjustment screw 124 has a 
screw head 126 that may be rotated by use of a hex tool (after the bolts 
118, 120 are loosened) to move the barrel nut 116 and the lift 94 
longitudinally along the lift support 96, particularly the inclined ramps 
104. 
The wedge 95 of lift 94 is preferably slidable on the lift support 96 in an 
inclined upward and downward movement utilizing the rotation of the screw 
123. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the wedge 95 includes a central portion 130 
with side portions 132 and 134 extending laterally outward from the 
central portion 130. The side portions 132 and 134 extend out similarly to 
the wing portions 72 and 74 of the toe section 64. Includes internal ramp 
surfaces 150 on the wedge slide along the inclined bearing surfaces 108 
(FIGS. 10 and 11 ). 
The wedge 95 includes a central aperture 136 for receiving the lead screw 
138 of the second drive portion, that engages the flat threads 52 
illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 14. It should be noted that the flat threads 
52 of the upper attaching member 20 are longitudinally elongated to 
accommodate the longitudinal movement of the lead screw 138 as the wedge 
95 is moved in inclined motion to elevationally adjust the heel piece 32. 
The heel piece 32 may also be moved laterally, not only independently of 
the lateral movement of the toe piece 30, but also independent of the 
location of the lift 94. 
The lead screw 138, as briefly described above, is supported on the lift 94 
by stud shafts 140 and 142 which are similar to the bearing stud shafts 84 
and 86. Additionally, the stud shaft 142 has a bolt head 144 similar to 
the head 88 for enabling a hex tool to rotate the lead screw 138 to move 
the heel section 66 laterally with respect to the heel piece 32. Lead 
screw 138 includes a central recess 139 (FIGS. 3, 14) to provide clearance 
for the adjustment screw 123. 
If the skater desires to move the skate truck member 22 in a parallel 
fashion, then the skater will loosen the locking bolts 148 and 80, and 
then operate the drive 25 by rotating the lead screws 82 and 138 the same 
number of turns in the same direction to obtain a straight line lateral 
shift of the upper attaching member 20 (and boot 12) relative to the truck 
frame 60 and support 24. 
It is also possible to adjust the heel independently of the toe. In an 
accented pronation problem, it may be desirable for the skater to use the 
drive 25 to move the heel in one lateral direction and the toe in the 
other lateral direction. 
As illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, the wedge 95 includes enlarged vertical 
apertures 146 that receive locking bolts 148. The bolts 148 extend 
downwardly from the upper attaching member 20 through the wedge apertures 
146, and through the transverse bolt holes 102 in the lift support 96. 
Nuts on the bottom ends of the bolts 148 can be tightened against the lift 
support to clamp the lift support 96 and wedge 95 securely to the upper 
attaching member 20, thereby locking them against lateral or longitudinal 
movement. To adjust the wedge, the skater simply loosens the bolts 148 and 
the lateral barrel nuts 118, 120. 
It can be seen that the skater may not only move the heel section laterally 
relative to the sole of the boot, but may move the sole upward relative to 
the surface engaging member 24 to provide not only vertical adjustment, 
but also lateral adjustment. Since each of the adjustments is independent, 
each one can be accomplished separately. To provide the lift or vertical 
movement, one merely releases the lock bolts 148, and the bolts 118, 120 
and rotates the adjustment screw 123 to move the wedge 95 upward or 
downward as desired depending upon the direction and number of rotations 
of the screw 123. At the same time if the skater desires to move the heel 
laterally, the skater merely utilizes a hex tool to rotate the lead screw 
shaft 138 to shift the heel laterally. Once the adjustments are properly 
made, the skater merely tightens the lock bolts 148 and bolts 118, 120 to 
lock the skate truck member 22 firmly to the upper attaching member 20. 
In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in 
language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features. 
It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the 
specific features shown and described, since the means herein disclosed 
comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The 
invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications 
within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted 
in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.