Patent Publication Number: US-11376485-B2

Title: Size-adjustable sport shoe

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a non-provisional application that claims priority to international application number PCT/CN2012/085012, international filing date Nov. 22, 2012, the entire contents of each of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. 
     NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a shoe, and more particular to a size-adjustable shoe, wherein the wearer is able to quickly and simply adjust the size of the shoe by sliding the shoe head with respect to the shoe insole. 
     Description of Related Arts 
     Due to raise awareness of environmental issues, most people have changed their lifestyles especially for the consumption concept. Wearers nowadays look for a pair of sport shoes which can adjust the size thereof via an adjustment means to be suitable for different sizes of feet. Accordingly, our feet fluctuate in size. For example, the feet would be slightly bigger in hot weather and would be slightly smaller in cold weather. The sizes of the feet are different at different stages of the wearer such as different body sizes (fat or slim) of the wearer. Sometimes, two different wearers may share a pair of shoes. However, the conventional shoe cannot adjust its size. Therefore, the size-adjustable shoes, especially for the expensive sport shoes, are highly demanded. 
     Accordingly, the conventional size-adjustable shoe in the existing market can change its size by moving the heel back and forth to adjust the length of the shoe. However, it is not ergonomic that two lateral portions of the shoe are not connected properly, such that the function and the useful of the shoe will be significantly reduced. The movement of the heel is guided by a heel adjustment mechanism provided at a heel portion of the shoe insole at the bottom side thereof. Therefore, the heel adjustment mechanism can be easily damaged by any external force and/or the weight force of the wearer directly applied to the heel of the shoe. In other words, the size of the shoe should not be adjusted via the heel through the heel adjustment mechanism. Another type of size-adjustable shoe incorporates with a movable head portion to slidably couple with the shoe insole. However, the major drawback of such size-adjustable shoe is that the head portion must be affixed to the shoe insole via fastener, such as screws and nuts. Therefore, the wearer must use a tool to unscrew the fastener to adjust the size of the shoe and to screw the fastener back to retain the size of the shoe. It is inconvenient for the wearer to change the size during outdoor activities. When missing the fastener, the shoe cannot be changed its size. More seriously, the shoe cannot be worn any more. 
     China utility model Patent No. CN 201403584 disclosed a size-adjustable shoe to solve the above mentioned problems. The shoe comprises a shoe insole, a shoe head, and sliding mechanism to enable the shoe head to slidably couple with the shoe insole via a holding spring force in order to adjust a length of the shoe. Accordingly, the sliding mechanism comprises a rectangular shaped slot formed at a bottom side of the shoe head to define two lateral gear racks, two gear holes formed at the shoe insole, and two gears coupled at the gear holes to engage with the gear racks respectively. Therefore, the gears are moved along the gear racks to move the shoe head from the shoe insole so as to adjust the length of the shoe. However, the shoe has three major drawbacks. Firstly, it needs great effort for the wearer to put down a handle to overcome the holding spring force for unlocking the sliding mechanism so as to adjust the length of the shoe. In other words, the wearer, such as a child or a person who has a smaller hand, is hard to hold and pull the handle at the same time to adjust the length of the shoe. Secondly, there is no toe cover formed at the shoe head, such that the wearer may easily get tripped by the extension of the upper layer of the shoe insole when the length of the shoe is shortened. Lastly, the sliding mechanism is not designed for a smaller shoe since the extension of the upper layer of the shoe insole will affect the use of the shoe and will affect the aesthetic appearance of the shoe. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The invention is advantageous in that it provides a size-adjustable shoe, wherein the shoe structure can be selectively adjusted its size according to the foot-size of the wearer. Therefore, the size-adjustable shoe provides a quick adjusting access, a safe sport equipment, and an aesthetic appearance of the shoe. 
     Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims. 
     According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a size-adjustable sport shoe, comprising a shoe head, a shoe insole, and an adjusting telescopic device for enabling the shoe head to slide back and forth along the shoe insole. The adjusting telescope device comprises a gear, a shaft gear, a first gear rack, a second gear rack, handle, a resilient device, and a sleeve. The first gear rack and the second gear rack are parallelly provided along two lateral sides of an elongated adjustment groove at the bottom of the shoe head, wherein an upper surface of the second gear rack is higher than an upper surface of the first gear rack. One end of the gear shaft is coupled at the gear and an opposed end of the gear shaft is coupled at the handle. The elastic device sheathes on the gear shaft between the gear and the handle, and the sleeve sheathes outside the gear shaft. When the handle is folded to be perpendicular to an axis direction of the gear shaft, the gear meshes with the first gear rack. When the handle is folded to coincide with the axis direction of the gear shaft, the gear meshes with the second gear rack. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a size-adjustable shoe, wherein the shoe cover will cover the extension of the shoe insole when the length of the shoe is selectively reduced. 
     Accordingly, the adjustment slot is formed at an inner bottom side of the shoe head to communicate with a bottom of thereof. 
     Preferably, the handle has a U-shaped configuration. 
     Accordingly, an ice skating assembly or a roller blade assembly can be affixed to the bottom of the shoe to form a sport shoe. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, a retention panel is embedded into the shoe head to form a one piece integrated shoe structure, wherein the adjustment slot is formed at the retention panel. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the adjustment slot can be a rectangular shape with curved front and rear ends or a rectangular shape with flat front and rear ends. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the handle has a positioning slot, and the shoe insole further has two or more positioning members, wherein the positioning slot is selectively engaged with one of the positioning members. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the shoe head has a dovetail shaped wedged member and the shoe insole has a dovetail shaped wedged slot, wherein the wedged member is slidably engaged with the wedged slot. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the shoe insole has a guiding channel and the shoe head has a sliding guider slidably engaged with the guiding channel. The shoe head further has at least an elongated retention slot and the shoe insole further comprises at least a retention member slidably engaged with the retention slot. 
     Through the adjusting telescopic device of present invention, the handle can be lifted without any great effect, the adjusting telescopic device can bounce back automatically so as to achieve the quick size adjustment of the shoe. Also, the shoe cover will cover the extension of the shoe insole for preventing the wearer from being tripped and for enhancing the aesthetic appearance of the shoe. 
     Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings. 
     These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is perspective view of a size-adjustable shoe according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the size-adjusting shoe with a shoe cover. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the size-adjusting shoe without a shoe cover. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view of the adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom view of the adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the gear mechanism of the adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the gear mechanism of the adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a partially perspective view of the adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of the adjusting telescopic device of the size-adjustable shoe according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the sliding mechanism of the adjusting telescopic device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 and 7-9  of the drawings, a size-adjustable shoe according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the size-adjustable shoe comprises a shoe head  10 , a shoe insole  20 , and an adjusting telescope device for slidably coupling the shoe head  10  with the shoe insole  20  to enable the shoe head  10  to slide back and forth with respect to the shoe insole  20 . Accordingly, the adjusting telescope device comprises a gear  51 , a shaft gear  52 , a first gear rack  15  at the shoe head  10 , a second gear rack  16 , and handle  55 , a resilient device  58 , and a sleeve  21 . The shoe head  10  has an elongated adjustment slot  12  formed at an inner bottom side of the shoe head  10 , wherein the first gear rack  15  and the second gear rack  16  are located at the adjustment slot  12  at two lateral sides thereof respectively, such that the first gear rack  15  and the second gear rack  16  are parallel with each other at the lateral sides of the adjustment slot  12 . Accordingly, the first gear rack  15  and the second gear rack  16  are supported at different horizontal levels. In particular, an upper surface of the second gear rack  16  is lower than an upper surface of the first gear rack  15 . Preferably, the first gear rack  15  is integrated with one of the lateral side of the adjustment slot  12  while the second gear rack  16  is located under the opposed lateral side of the adjustment slot  12 . One end of the gear shaft  52  is meshed with the gear  51  and an opposed end of the gear shaft  52  is pivotally connected and hinged with the handle  55 , wherein the handle  55  at the bottom of the shoe head  10  is actuated to selectively engage the gear  51  with one of the first gear rack  15  and the second gear rack  16 . The resilient device  58 , such as a compression spring, is coaxially sheathed on the gear shaft  52  at a position between the gear  51  and the handle  55  for applying a resilient force therebetween. The sleeve  21  sheathes outside the gear shaft  52 . Accordingly, when the handle  55  is pivotally folded to perpendicular to an axis direction of the gear shaft  52 , as shown in  FIG. 7 , the gear  51  meshes with the first gear rack  15  only to prevent the sliding movement of the shoe head  10  from the shoe insole  20 . At the same time, the handle  55  is spacedly located with respect to the sleeve  21  with a predetermined distance, such that the resilient device  58  is maintained in an uncompressed condition. When the handle  55  is pivotally folded to coincide and align with the axis direction of the gear shaft  52 , as shown in  FIG. 8 , the handle  55  is moved to bias against the sleeve  21  to compress the resilient device  58 . Through the resilient force of the resilient device  58 , the gear  51  is driven downwardly by the handle  55  to mesh with the second gear rack  16  and to disengage with the first gear rack  15  to allow the shoe head  10  to be slid from the shoe insole  20 . In other words, the wearer is able to selectively adjust the size of the shoe via the actuation of the handle  55 . 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the shoe head  10  further comprises an upper shoe cover  30  to cover an extension of the shoe insole  20 . When the length of the shoe is selectively reduced, the extra extension of the shoe insole  20  will protrude from the shoe, such that the wearer is easily get tripped. The shoe cover  30  will cover the extension of the shoe insole  20  when the length of the shoe is selectively reduced for safety purpose and for maintaining the aesthetic appearance of the shoe. 
     Accordingly, the shoe of the present invention can serve as an ice skating shoe or a roller blade shoe. The ice skate assembly can be mounted at the bottom side of the shoe. Likewise, an inline skate assembly or a roller blade assembly can be mounted at the bottom of the shoe. Therefore, the shoe of the present invention forms a sport shoe, especially for the expensive shoe, to allow the wearer to selectively adjust the size of the shoe, such that the shoe of the present invention serves as an environmentally friendly product. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the shoe head  10  of the present invention, which is an embedded type shoe head, comprises a retention panel embedded into the shoe head  10 , wherein the adjustment slot  12  is a through slot formed on the retention plane. Accordingly, the shoe head  10  is made of soft and comfort material, such as plastic, wherein the retention panel is made of rigid material to configure the adjustment slot  12  thereon. In other words, the adjustment slot  12  is formed at the retention panel to retain the shape of the adjustment slot  12  to ensure the size-adjustment of the shoe. 
     Preferably, the adjustment slot  12  can be a rectangular shape with curved front and rear ends or a rectangular shape with flat front and rear ends. During the sliding movement of the shoe head  10 , the gear  51  is located within the adjustment slot  12 . In particular, the two lateral sides of the adjustment slot  12  will restrict any unwanted lateral movement of the gear  51 , such that the shoe head  10  can only slide along the length direction of the adjustment slot  12 . 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the handle  55  has a positioning slot  56 , wherein the shoe insole  20  further has two or more positioning members  56  spacedly formed at the bottom of the shoe insole  20 . The handle  55  is folded flat on the bottom of the shoe insole  20 , such that the positioning slot  56  is selectively engaged with one of the positioning members  56  to lock up the shoe head  10  with the shoe insole  20  so as to prevent the shoe head  10  being slid from the shoe insole  20 . 
     Preferably, there are four positioning members  56  spacedly formed at the shoe insole  20  to provide four different sizes of the shoe. In other words, when the positioning slot  56  is engaged with the first positioning member  56 , the shoe is adjusted and locked up at the smallest size thereof. When the positioning slot  56  is engaged with the fourth positioning member  56 , the shoe is adjusted and locked up at the largest size thereof. Therefore, the shoe of the present invention is suitable for different foot sizes of the wearer, especially for a child&#39;s foot that grows faster. 
     Accordingly, the shoe head  10  has a dovetail shaped wedged member and the shoe insole  20  has a dovetail shaped wedged slot, wherein the wedged member is slidably engaged with the wedged slot to guide the shoe head  10  to slide at the shoe insole  20 , so as to adjust the size of the shoe. Accordingly, the wedged member and the wedged slot has the corresponding dovetail shaped cross section. 
     In particular, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 10 , the shoe insole  20  has a guiding channel  29  formed at the inner bottom side of the shoe head  10  at a mid-portion thereof and adjacent to the adjustment slot  12 , wherein the shoe head  10  has a sliding guider  19  downwardly protruded from the bottom side to slidably engage with the guiding channel  29  so as to guide the shoe head  10  to slide at the shoe insole  20 . The shoe head  10  further has at least an elongated retention slot  92  formed at the bottom side thereof and the shoe insole further comprises at least a retention member  90  upwardly extended therefrom and having an enlarged head portion slidably engage with the retention slot  92 . Through the engagement between the sliding guider  19  and the guiding channel.  29  and the engagement between the retention member  90  and the retention slot  92 , the sliding movement of the shoe head  10  will be restricted along the length direction of the shoe, so as to prevent any unwanted lateral movement of the shoe head  10  with respect to the shoe insole  20 . In particular, through the engagement between the retention member  90  and the retention slot  92 , the shoe head  10  cannot be entirely detached from the shoe insole  20 , and the head portion of the shoe head  10  cannot be bent upwardly. As a result, the shoe head  10  can only slide along the guiding channel  29  by the rotational movement of the gear shaft  52  to adjust the size of the shoe. For enhancing the stable movement of the shoe to prevent the lateral movement of the shoe head  10 , two retention slots  92  can be spacedly and parallelly formed at the shoe head  10  to slidably engage with two retention members  90  at the shoe insole  20 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , in order to selectively adjust the size of the shoe of the present invention, the wearer is able to pivotally fold the handle  55  to disengage the positioning slot  56  from the corresponding positioning member  65 , such that the shoe head  10  can be selectively slid with respect to the shoe insole  20 . It is worth mentioning that the wearer does not need to rotate the handle  55  or detach any fastener for size adjustment of the shoe. Therefore, the wearer is able to adjust the size of the shoe any where especially during outdoor activities. Once the size of the shoe is adjusted, the wearer is able to pivotally fold the handle  55  back to engage the positioning slot  56  with another positioning member  65 . It is worth mentioning that the adjusting telescope device is embedded into the shoe to minimize the manufacturing cost of the shoe and to enhance the quality of the shoe. 
     One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.