Abstract:
An adjustable fit in-line skate is disclosed having a rigid frame carrying a plurality of skate wheels. A boot is secured to the frame with the boot having a toe portion and a heel portion. The heel portion has a sole plate which is carried over the length of the frame. The toe portion receives the sole plate and is slidably attached to the heel portion.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention pertains to skates such as in-line skates and the like. More particularly, this invention pertains to such a skate which may accommodate a variety of shoe sizes.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    In recent years, the sport of in-line skating has enjoyed a tremendous growth in popularity. In addition to being enjoyable exercise for adults, children have participated in in-line skating.  
           [0005]    High quality in-line skates can be expensive. The expense is particularly frustrating for parents of young children. As the children grow, their foot sizes expand necessitating frequent replacement of footwear of any type including recreational footwear such as in-line skates.  
           [0006]    In the past, in-line skate manufacturers have accommodated growth in foot size by having an oversized molded boot containing a replaceable liner. Liners of various wall thicknesses could be provided such that the liners could be replaced to accommodate different foot sizes. Alternatively, various techniques have been provided for permitting the boot of the skate to adjust to accommodate growth in foot size. However, such techniques have commonly been lacking in providing for a construction which is secure after adjustment and without impairing performance of the skate.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an adjustable fit in-line skate is provided having a rigid frame with a plurality of in-line skate wheels secured to the frame. A boot is secured to the frame with the boot having a toe portion and a heel portion. The heel portion includes a sole and the heel portion is fixed to the frame. The toe portion has a base and is fastened to the heel portion by means which releasably secure each of the base and the sole to at least a portion of the frame. The toe portion is slidable relative to the heel portion along a line of travel which is generally parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the skate. The toe portion may be fixed at any one of a plurality of fixed positions along the line of travel. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a front, right and top perspective view of the skate of the present invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a liner for use with the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a right side elevation view of the skate of FIG. 1 shown adjusted to a minimum foot size adjustment;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a left side elevation view of the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 is a rear elevation view of the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 9 is the view of FIG. 3 separately shown to compare with FIG. 10;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 10 is the view of FIG. 9 with the skate adjusted to a maximum foot size adjustment;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the skate of FIG. 1 (without showing a liner);  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 12 is a side sectional view of a toe portion of the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of a heel portion of the skate of FIG. 1 (with a cuff shown in phantom and without showing a frame); and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 14 is a view taken along line  14 - 14  of FIG. 13. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0022]    With reference now to the various drawing figures in which identical elements are numbered identically throughout, a description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be provided.  
         [0023]    In the various figures, an in-line skate  10  is illustrated having a skate boot  12  secured to a frame  14  and containing a liner  110 . The frame  14  carries a plurality of wheels  16  which, in an in-line skate, are arranged in a line. Also, the frame carries a resilient brake pad  18  as is conventional.  
         [0024]    Shown best in FIG. 11, the frame  14  includes two halves  14   a ,  14   b . The frame halves  14   a ,  14   b  are slidably joined at offset and overlapping front tongues  20   a ,  20   b  (having holes  23 ) and rear tongues  22   a ,  22   b  (having holes  24 ). Holes  23  are in alignment when the halves  14   a ,  14   b  are joined. Holes  24  are similarly aligned when the halves  14   a ,  14   b  are joined. When the halves  14   a ,  14   b  are joined together, flat rear upper surfaces  26  of the halves  14   a ,  14   b  are in generally planar alignment to define a rear support platform. Upper surface  27  in the toe area of the frame defines a front support platform when the halves  14   a ,  14   b  are joined. As shown in FIG. 12, surfaces  27  are arcuate to mate with a base  76  to toe portion  34  as will be described.  
         [0025]    Referring back to FIG. 11, the boot  12  includes a heel portion  30 , cuff  32 , toe portion  34  and tongue  36 . The heel portion  30  includes a sole  40  and a raised heel wall  42  having sidewalls  44 ,  46  each with holes  48 ,  50 . The heel wall  42  surrounds the heel and lower ankle of the wearer with wall  46  being raised on the inside of the foot to provide additional support  41  for the arch of the user.  
         [0026]    The sole  40  includes a hole  52  formed in a recess  54  at a heel end of sole  40 . Similarly, at a toe end of the sole  40 , a hole  56  is provided between two ramped surfaces  58 . The base or sole  40  is sized to rest on the rear support platform  26  and the front support platform  28  with hole  52  aligned with holes  24  and with hole  56  aligned with holes  23 . A bolt  60  is sized to be passed through hole  52  with the head end of the bolt received within the recess  54  and with the bolt  60  further passing through holes  24  and secured by a nut  62 . Similarly, a bolt  64  having a head  66  sized to be received between ramped surfaces  58  is provided with the bolt  64  passing through hole  56  and aligned holes  23  and received within an elongated nut  68 . As can be seen, since holes  52 ,  56  are approximately equal to the diameter of bolts  60 ,  64 , once the heel portion  30  is secured to the frame  14 , the heel portion  30  is restricted from movement relative to the frame  14 .  
         [0027]    The toe portion  34  includes a toe box having sidewalls  70 ,  72  and a top wall  74 . Further, as shown in FIG. 12, toe portion  34  has a bottom wall  76 . The bottom wall  76  is provided with an elongated slot  78  extending in a longitudinal dimension of the skate to pass the bolt  64 . When assembled with the heel portion  30 , the toe portion  34  is provided with the base  76  in underlying relation relative to the sole  40  of the heel portion  30 . Further, the sidewalls  70 ,  72  are positioned in overlying relation to the exterior surfaces of the sidewalls  44 ,  46  of the heel portion  30 . The sidewalls  70 ,  72  are provided with elongated slots  75 ,  77  aligned with holes  48 ,  50 , respectively. With the construction thus described, upon loosening of elongated nut  68  (by use of an Allen wrench received in hole  69 —see FIG. 12), the toe portion  34  may move along a line of travel which is generally parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the skate. The slots  75 ,  77  are aligned such that throughout the path of travel, the slots  75 ,  77  remain aligned with holes  48 ,  50 .  
         [0028]    The cuff  32  is provided to surround an upper ankle area of the wearer and surrounding the heel portion  42  as well as the rearward ends of the sidewall  70 ,  72 . The cuff  32  has at its lower end pivot locations  80 ,  82  having holes  84 ,  86  aligned with holes  48 ,  50 . A recessed area  88  surrounds hole  84 . Although not shown, an identical recessed area surrounds hole  86 .  
         [0029]    The attachment of the ends  80 ,  82  at holes  48 ,  50  is identical for both sides of the skate and a description with respect to end  80  will suffice as a description of end  82 . The attachment is best shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 where a plug  90  (shown partially in phantom) is provided sized to be received within the recess  88  and with a sleeve  91  having an internal thread passed through hole  84 , slot  76  and hole  48 . A threaded bolt  92  is threaded into the interior of the sleeve  91 . This method of attachment permits pivoting movement of the cuff  32  relative to the heel  30  and toe  34 . Further, the connection permits relative sliding movement of the toe  34  relative to the heel portion  30  upon the loosening of nut  68 .  
         [0030]    A conventional buckle arrangement having a release fastener  96  secured to one side of cuff  32  and a tensioning buckle and strap  98  secured to the opposite side of cuff  32  is provided to permit the cuff  32  to be securely fastened to the leg of a wearer. Similarly, a like buckle arrangement having a tension strap and buckle  97  and a release fastener  102  are provided on opposite sides  70 ,  72  of the toe portion  34  to securely fasten the instep of the wearer&#39;s foot to the boot  12 . Finally, a tongue  36  is provided as is conventional.  
         [0031]    With the construction thus described, a wide variety of foot sizes can be accommodated by simply loosening nut  68  such that the toe portion  34  is moved relative to the heel portion  30 . About four different foot sizes can be achieved by permitting a stroke of movement equal to about one inch. Accordingly, the slots  76 ,  78  will have a length of about one inch. Since a sliding adjustment is provided, unique adjustment is possible to accommodate unique foot sizes within a range between a minimum foot size (FIG. 9) and a maximum foot size (FIG. 10). Further, the foregoing design permits the use of a pivoting cuff  32  which has numerous advantages in the performance of in-line skating. Also, throughout the adjustment of the length, the positioning of the user&#39;s heel relative to the frame  14  and wheels  16  remains unchanged which presents a significant advantage in the performance of in-line skating since heel positioning is important to the performance of the skate.  
         [0032]    The present invention also utilizes a novel construction of a liner  110  (FIG. 2) to accommodate increases in shoe size. The use of resilient liners in in-line skates is well known. The present liner  110  includes a toe portion  112  joined to the main body portion  114  by an expandable resilient section  116  positioned surrounding the instep area of the foot. Accordingly, the toe portion  112  may move relative to the main body portion  114 . A lug  117  is provided on the toe portion  112 . The lug  117  is secured to the upper wall  74  of the boot toe  34  by passing the lug  117  through a hole  118  formed in the upper surface  74  and securing the lug  117  in said position by a bolt or screw  120  (FIG. 12). The area surrounding the hole  118  is provided with a recess  121  to receive a decorative cap  122 . Accordingly, as a user adjusts the size of the boot by expanding the toe portion  34  of the boot, the toe  112  of the skate liner  110  follows the toe  34  of the boot  12 .  
         [0033]    From the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, it has been shown how the objects of the invention have been attained in the preferred manner. However, modifications and equivalents of the disclosed concepts such as those which readily occur to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the claims which are appended hereto.