Portable shoe shine apparatus

A portable and compact shoe shine apparatus with a replaceable roller set which contains a brush, a shoe cream spreader and a buffer, and a casing for housing the said roller set and the shoe cream container. Functions of removing the dirt and clean the shoe surface, applying shoe cream, and buffing the shoe surface to create a luster thereon can be performed and achieved with one unit with easy and simple operation.

FIELD OF INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to a device for cleaning and shining the 
shoes, and more particularly to such a portable device which can perform 
dusting, spreading shoe cream and polishing shoe surface through using of 
the same unit. 
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
The conventional approach of cleaning and shining the shoes are generally 
to use a brush to remove the dust and dirt from the shoes surface, then to 
spread the shoe cream on the shoe surface by using the brush or sponge 
spreader, and finally to buff the shoes to luster by using some sort of 
soft substance such as a piece of cloth. Throughout the process, a number 
of different kinds of appliances and materials have to be used. It is not 
a neat and clean chore for people to do. It is particularly bothersome to 
bring those things around during traveling which become very popular to 
many people nowadays. 
In order to save time and effort on shoe cleaning and polishing, some kind 
of devices have been produced and marketed. However they are far from 
perfect as yet. On the simple handy devices, mostly they can only apply 
shoe cream and/or provide a means to polish the shoe, but cannot perform 
all the functions required through one unit. Different and separate 
appliances and materials are still needed to clean and polish one pair of 
shoes. On the more complicate devices, such as some with electric motor as 
driving power, they may perform more functions, but they become more bulky 
and more expensive, and sometime even not so flexible and convenient as 
the conventional manual method. 
Therefore to use different and separate appliances at different stages to 
clean and polish the shoes is still the most widely used method, even 
though it is a chore not very neat and clean. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The shoe shine apparatus of this invention includes, within a single 
casing, all the substances needed to clean and to shine the shoes. And the 
said substances have been pre-arranged to make them ready to perform 
different kinds of functions at different time during the shoe cleaning 
and polishing process, thus substantial time and efforts can be saved as 
compare to conventional shoe shining approach. 
A feature of this invention is the provision of a replaceable roller set. 
The roller set provides, at its peripheral surface, a brush, a shoe cream 
spreader, and a buffer. The brush is to remove the dirt from the shoe 
surface. The shoe cream spreader is to apply the shoe cream on the shoe 
surface. The buffer is to polish the shoe surface to create a luster 
thereon. 
Another feature of this invention is the provision of roller set 
positioning device. By means of turning the positioning knob, which can be 
pushed to mesh with the roller set, either one of the brush, the shoe 
cream spreader, or the buffer can be placed at the front end position of 
the casing to perform the required function respectively. 
The said positioning knob also provides a locking arm, which when being set 
at the locking position, can hold the positioning knob stationary and 
prevent it from rotating, and consequently hold the roller set from 
rotating when there is force applying to the roller set during the shoe 
shine operations. 
A further feature of this invention is the provision of a roller set snap 
locking device which is hinged on the side wall of the casing. The said 
snap locking device provides a hooked arm at the front end to retain the 
roller set within the casing. By depressing the rear end of the said snap 
locking device, the roller set can be released from the casing when 
changing of the roller set is required. 
A still another feature of this invention is the provision of the 
replaceable brush, shoe cream spreader and buffer from the roller set. A 
meshing lug is provided underneath the base of the brush, and can be 
retained on the roller set or be released from it. The same arrangement 
also apply to the shoe cream spreader and buffer. By means of such 
provision, the worn out brush, or shoe cream spreader, or buffer can be 
removed and replaced individually without imperiling the function of the 
roller set. 
One more feature of this invention is the provision of roller set cartridge 
which consists of a receiving casing and an inserting casing. The said 
roller set cartridge serves as the container of a spare roller set. The 
receiving casing can house the roller set which has been released from the 
shoe shine apparatus. While the said inserting casing which can hold a 
roller set on its arms can be used to insert the roller set into the shoe 
shine apparatus. Such arrangement will keep the user's hands from direct 
contact with the brush, or shoe cream spreader, or buffer. Therefore when 
it is necessary to change or replace the roller set for polishing 
different color of shoes, the user's hands can be free from taint or dirt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
General Description 
As shown in FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of a shoe shine apparatus 
provides a casing 1 which houses a roller set 2. On the roller set, there 
is a brush 21 which is preferably made of bristle, a shoe cream spreader 
22 which is preferably made of sponge and a buffer 23 which is preferably 
made of felt with a sponge padding filled inside. A cover 3 is provided to 
keep the outside environment from being tainted by the roller set and for 
easy of storage of the whole unit. 
The handle 11 is an integrated portion of the casing 1. Inside of said 
handle 11 is provided a compartment for housing the shoe cream container 
4. The said shoe cream container 4 is preferably made of collapsible tube 
and with a snap opening cap 41 for simple operation. Handle cap 5 provides 
a holding support for the shoe cream container and also serves as a cover 
for the handle 11 which will be detailed later. 
The Roller Set 
As shown in FIG. 2 and 3, a brush 21 is made of a base 211, bristle 213 and 
a key lug 212 underneath. There is a corresponding key way 26 on the 
roller set base 2 (as shown in FIG. 4, 5) to enable the said key lug 212 
to mesh and slide inwardly on the roller set base 2. A locking piece 27 
(FIG. 6) has one end 271 to be fixed within the roller set base 2 and with 
its stud end 272 positioning at the key way opening 261; thus when the 
brush 21 is inside of the key way 26, the locking piece 27 will prevent it 
from sliding out of the roller set base. When the brush 21 has been worn 
out and a replacement is needed, depressing the free stud end 272 of the 
locking piece 27, the worn out brush can be moved out of the roller set 
base 2 and a new brush can be slided in on the roller set base. There are 
three key ways on the roller set base to hold the brush 21, shoe cream 
spreader 22 and buffer 23 respectively. And each one is 120.degree. 
apart from each other. The foregoing replacement method is also applicable 
to the shoe cream spreader 22 and buffer 23. 
As also shown in FIG. 4 and 5, the roller set has a shaft 24 extending on 
on side, and has another shaft 25 extending on the other side. The shafts 
24 and 25 enable the roller set to rest on the casing 1 (as shown in FIG. 
8, 9). There is an internal spline within the shaft 25 for roller set 
positioning function which will be described in the following. 
Roller Set Positioning Device 
When the brush 21 is to be used to remove the dirt from the shoe surface, 
it should be placed at the front position of the casing 1 as depicted in 
FIG. 7. This can be achieved through the roller set positioning device as 
shown in FIG. 7, 8, 9. On the casing 1 there is a circular opening 152 
(FIG. 10, 11) to receive a spline shaft 61 which is attached to a 
positioning knob 6 at one of its ends. The spline shaft 61 is matched with 
the internal spline of the roller set shaft 25. Therefore by turning the 
positioning knob 6, the whole roller set can be turned accordingly. Thus 
either one of the brush 21, or shoe cream spreader 22 or buffer 23 can be 
turned and placed at the front position of the casing 1 respectively 
whenever needed. 
During utilization, there is outside force applied to the roller set 
through the brush or shoe cream spreader or buffer. The roller set has to 
absorb the force and remain stationary. This can also be achieved by means 
of the roller set positioning device. 
As shown in FIG. 10, 11, there is a circular knob seat 15 outside of the 
casing 1. And around the knob seat 15 there are a plurality of locking 
concavities 151 which are preferably six in number and disposed 30.degree. 
apart with each other. On the position knob 6, there is holding arm 62 (as 
shown in FIG. 12, 13, 14). The holding arm 62 is kept in position within 
the knob by the spline shaft 61 and circular knob flange 63, but can be 
moved to slide one way or another when there is pressure apply to either 
end 621 or 622. The end 621 is a locking stud which can be meshed with the 
locking concavity 151. 
At locking position (as shown in FIG. 8), the spline shaft 61 meshed with 
the internal spline of the roller set shaft 25; the spline shaft 61 also 
has one end firmly fixed with the positioning knob 6, and the holding arm 
62 has its locking stud 621 meshed with the locking concavity 151. 
The outside force applied to the roller set during usage is transmitted 
through roller set shaft 25, spline shaft 61, positioning knob 6, circular 
knob flange 63, locking stud 621 and is finally absorbed by the locking 
concavity 151 and the knob seat 15 which is an integrated portion of the 
casing 1. Therefore the whole roller set can be held stationary when it is 
used. 
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 there is a circular metal cap 153 covering the 
knob seat 15, so that the locking stud 621 will remain at the locking 
concavity 151 and not loosen away during usage. 
When it is required to turn the roller set to place either the shoe cream 
spreader or buffer at the front position, pressing the end 622 of the 
holding arm 62 will free locking stud 621 from the locking concavity 151, 
consequently the positioning knob 6 can be turned, while the spline shaft 
61 is still meshed with the roller set shaft 25, the roller set can be 
turned accordingly. 
As shown in FIG. 12, 14, the slotted and resilient holding arm 62 has an 
internal groove 623 which receives the knob shaft 64. The said groove 623 
has been shaped to perform a switch function. Therefore the holding arm 62 
can normally be moved to slide under pressure from either of its ends, and 
will remain stationary when the outside pressure is absent. 
Roller Set Snap Locking Device 
As shown in FIG. 15, 16, on the other side wall of the casing 1, there is 
an opening to accommodate the roller set snap locking arm 14 having a hook 
141 at one end and a snap flange 143 at other end. The snap locking arm 14 
is hinged on the casing 1 by a pin 145 which passes through the center 
hole 142 on the locking arm and hole 162 provided on the casing wall (as 
shown in FIG. 8, 9). A pressed spring 144 will push the snap locking arm 
14 in locking position. 
When a roller set 2 is inserted into the casing 1, the roller set shaft 24 
slides on the shaft guide 12 (while the other end of shaft 25 slides on 
the shaft guide 13, as shown in FIG. 8, 9), and will press the snap 
locking arm 14 to open to keep the shaft 24 in position (while the other 
end 25 will be kept in position by means of inserting the spline shaft 61 
into the internal spline of the shaft 25). 
On pulling the positioning knob 6 outward to disengage the spline shaft 61 
from the roller set shaft 25, and to depress the snap locking arm flange 
143, both ends of the roller set shafts 24 and 25 will be freed from the 
casing 1, thus the roller set 2 can be moved out of the casing for 
replacement of another roller set for applying different color of shoe 
cream. 
Roller Set Cartridge 
As there are always more than one color of shoes to be cleaned and 
polished, the replaceable roller set will enable one unit of shoe shine 
apparatus to meet this requirement. A roller set cartridge is provided to 
store the spare roller set, and also to make the changing and replacement 
of the roller set more easily and neatly. 
As shown in FIG. 18, 19, the roller set cartridge consists of a receiving 
casing 81 and an inserting casing 82. The receiving casing 81 has shaft 
seats 811 and 812 on its sides, and can house a roller set which has been 
released from the casing 1. 
As shown in FIG. 21, the replacing roller set 2' is held in the holding 
arms 83 of the inserting casing 82. The holding arms 83 being fixed to the 
inside walls of the inserting casing 82 through fixing means 821, 822. At 
the end of each holding arm 83, there is a slot opening 832 to enable the 
roller set shaft 24 (or 25) to pass through. 
A small stud 831 is provided at each side of the opening 832 to the holding 
arm 83. The stud 831 will enable the roller set 2' to be held and retained 
on the holding arm 83; but also can allow the roller set 2' to be pulled 
out and free from the inserting casing when bigger force is applied to it. 
The empty inserting casing 82 will serve as a cover of the receiving casing 
81. When there is another roller set in the receiving casing 81, the empty 
holding arm 83 will grip the roller set 2' by the shaft 24 and 25, and 
make it ready for replacement purposes. 
Shoe Cream Container and Compartment 
As shown in FIG. 1, the handle 11 forms a compartment to house the shoe 
cream container 4. The shoe cream container 4 is preferably made of a 
collapsable tube and with a snap opening cap 41 for simple usage. 
The shoe cream container 4 is gripped and held by a clip 52 which is 
attached to the support 51 of the handle cap 5.