Patent Publication Number: US-6334621-B1

Title: Easy-to-install/detach skate base for a roller skate

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a skate base for a roller skate, and more particularly to a skate base that can be easily attached to or detached from an underside of a shoe sole. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/325,379 filed on Jun. 4, 1999 discloses a roller skate with two compartments in an underside of a base thereof and two wheel assemblies mounted in the compartments, respectively. Each wheel assembly includes a pivotal seat having a first end secured to the base of the roller skate, a wheel seat having a first end pivotally connected to a second end of the pivotal seat, and a wheel rotatably mounted to a second end of the wheel seat. The wheel of the wheel assembly is extended out of the associated compartment for skating when in use. The wheel assembly is in a folded status and received in an associated compartment when not skating. Nevertheless, the wheels are still attached to the shoes when not in use and thus burdens the user during walking. The intended comfort provided by resiliency of the shoe soles cannot be obtained. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a roller skate, wherein the skate base and the shoe have an engaging means provided therebetween. This allows easy detachment of the skate base from the shoe when not skating, thereby reducing the overall weight for the shoe. 
     It is the secondary object of the present invention to provide a roller skate, wherein the skate base and the shoe have an engaging means provided therebetween. This allows easy detachment of the skate base from the shoe when not skating, thereby providing comfort wearing of the shoe by resiliency provided by the shoe sole. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a skate base for a roller skate is attached to a shoe sole having at least two engaging sections on an underside thereof. The engaging portions are located corresponding to front and rear ends of an arch of a foot. The skate base has engaging members formed on a top thereof for releasably engaging with the engaging sections on the shoe sole. The skate base includes several axles to which wheels are rotatably mounted. 
     Other objects, specific advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and preferable embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a roller skate in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded side view, partly sectioned, of the roller skate in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a side view, partly sectioned, of the roller skate in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the roller skate in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a side view, partly sectioned, of the roller skate in FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a third embodiment of the roller skate in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an engaging means used in the third embodiment of the roller skate in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a side view, partly sectioned, of the roller skate in FIG.  6 . 
     FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line  9 — 9  in FIG.  8 . 
     FIG. 10 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 9, illustrating disengaging of the skate base from the shoe. 
     FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the roller skate in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of a roller skate in accordance with the present invention generally includes a shoe I (one of a pair of shoes) and a skate base  2 . The shoe  1  includes at least two engaging sections  11  and  12  in an underside of a sole la thereof The engaging sections  11  and  12  are preferably located corresponding to front and rear ends of an arch of a wearer&#39;s foot. In this embodiment, each of two engaging sections  11  and  12  has two inserts  13  embedded in the sole la, each insert  13  having a screw hole (not labeled). 
     The skate base  2  includes a top side  20  for engaging with the shoe sole la. The skate base  2  further includes a plurality of axles  21  each for rotatably mounting a wheel  22 . Engaging members  23  are provided on the top side  20  of the skate base  2 . In this embodiment, the top side  20  includes two positioning holes  24  in each of front and rear ends thereof Each engaging member  23  is in the form of a bolt extended through an associated positioning hole  24 . Each engaging member  23  further includes an enlarged lower end  231  that is located to an underside of the skate base  2  (FIG. 2) for preventing disengagement of the engaging member  23 . In addition, each engaging member  23  includes a non-circular drive section  232  to facilitate rotation of the engaging member  23 , thereby engaging the skate base  2  with the shoe  1  by the engaging member  23 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, when the user intends to skate, the engaging members  23  on the skate base  2  are engaged with the screw holes of the inserts  13  in the shoe sole la to form a roller skate. When the user does not want to skate, the engaging members  23  allow easy detachment of the skate base  2  from the shoe sole la, thereby reducing the weight and providing comfort wearing. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a second embodiment of the roller skate in accordance with the present invention. The roller skate includes a shoe  3  and a skate base  4 . The shoe  3  includes at least two engaging sections  31  and  32  in an underside of a sole  3   a  thereof The engaging sections  31  and  32  are preferably located corresponding to front and rear ends of an arch of a wearer&#39;s foot. In this embodiment, the rear engaging section  32  has two inserts  33  embedded in the sole  3   a , each insert  33  having a screw hole (not labeled). The front engaging section  31  includes an engaging hole  33  or slot. 
     The skate base  4  includes a top side  40  for engaging with the shoe sole  3   a . The skate base  4  further includes a plurality of axles  41  each for rotatably mounting a wheel  42 . An engaging piece  45  is provided on a front end of the top side  40  of the skate base  4  for engaging with the engaging hole  31  of the shoe  3 . Two engaging members  43  are provided on a rear end of the top side  40  of the skate base  4 . The top side  40  includes two positioning holes  44  in the rear end thereof. Each engaging member  43  is in the form of a bolt extended through an associated positioning hole  44 . Each engaging member  43  further includes an enlarged lower end  431  that is located to an underside of the skate base  4  (FIG. 5) for preventing disengagement of the engaging member  43 . In addition, each engaging member  43  includes a non-circular drive section  432  to facilitate rotation of the engaging member  43 , thereby engaging the skate base  4  with the shoe  3  by the engaging member  43 . 
     Referring to FIG. 5, when the user intends to skate, the engaging piece  45  of the skate is base  4  is engaged with the engaging hole  31  of the shoe  3  and the engaging members  43  on the skate base  4  are engaged with the screw holes of the inserts  33  in the shoe sole  3   a  to form a roller skate. When the user does not want to skate, the engaging members  43  allow easy detachment of the skate base  4  from the shoe sole  3   a , thereby reducing the weight and providing comfort wearing. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates a third embodiment of the roller skate in accordance with the present invention. The roller skate includes a shoe  5  and a skate base  6 . The shoe  5  includes at least two engaging sections  51  and  52  in an underside of a sole  5   a  thereof. The engaging sections  51  and  52  are preferably located corresponding to front and rear ends of an arch of a wearer&#39;s foot. In this embodiment, each of two engaging sections  51  and  52  has at least one rod  53  extended therefrom, each rod  53  including an annular groove  54  in an outer periphery thereof The skate base  6  includes a top side  60  for engaging with the shoe sole  5   a . The skate base  6  further includes a plurality of axles  61  each for rotatably mounting a wheel  62 . Engaging members  63  are provided on the top side  60  of the skate base  6 . In this embodiment, the top side  60  includes three engaging members  63  in each of front and rear ends thereof. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, each engaging member  63  includes a tube  631  for receiving an associated rod  53 . The tube  631  includes at least one radial conic hole  632  that converges inward. Each radial conic hole  632  includes a ball  633  that may partially protrude into an interior of the tube  632  without the risk of disengagement from the tube  632 , thereby engaging with the annular groove  54  of the associated rod  53 . A sleeve  64  is mounted around the tube  631  and slidable relative to the tube  631  along a longitudinal direction. The sleeve  64  includes an inner flange  641  for biasing the balls  632  inward so as to be engaged with the annular groove  54  of the associated rod  53  when required. As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, when several engaging members  63  are provided, the sleeves  64  respectively around the tubes  631  are connected by a common plate  67 , which is connected to and thus actuatable by a control plate  67 . By such arrangement, the sleeves  64  are simultaneously moved downward by a single control plate  67  (FIGS. 9 and 10) such that the balls  633  of each engaging member  63  are disengaged from the annular groove  54  of the associated rod  53 , thereby allowing disengagement of the skate base  6  from the shoe sole  5   a . An elastic element  65  is provided around each tube  631  for biasing the associated sleeve  64  to its initial position in which the inner flange  641  of the sleeve  64  is aligned with the conic holes  632  in the tube  631 . 
     Referring to FIG. 8, when the user intends to skate, the rods  53  on the shoe  5  are engaged with the engaging members  63  on the skate base  6  to form a roller skate. When the user does not want to skate, the control plate  67  is actuated to move the sleeves  64 , thereby disengaging the engaging members  63  from the rods  53 . Thus, the skate base  6  can be easily detached from the shoe sole  5   a , thereby reducing the weight and providing comfort wearing. 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the roller skate in accordance with the present invention. The roller skate includes a shoe  7  and a skate base  8 . The shoe  7  includes at least two engaging sections  71  and  72  in an underside of a sole  7   a  thereof The engaging sections  71  and  72  are preferably located corresponding to front and rear ends of an arch of a wearer&#39;s foot. In this embodiment, each of two engaging sections  71  and  72  has a rod  73  extended therefrom and two positioning holes  75 . Each positioning hole  75  may be a hole in an insert embedded in the shoe sole  7   a  to avoid enlargement. 
     The skate base  8  includes a top side  80  for engaging with the shoe sole  7   a . The skate base  8  further includes a plurality of axles  81  each for rotatably mounting a wheel  82 . Engaging members  83  and engaging pegs  86  are provided on the top side  80  of the skate base  8 . In this embodiment, the top side  80  includes an engaging member  83  and two engaging pegs  86  in each of front and rear ends thereof As disclosed in the third embodiment, the engaging member  83  in the fourth embodiment includes a tube for receiving an associated rod  73 . The tube includes at least one radial conic hole that converges inward. Each radial conic hole includes a ball that may partially protrude into an interior of the tube without the risk of disengagement from the tube, thereby engaging with the annular groove  74  of the associated rod  73 . A sleeve  84  is mounted around the tube and slidable relative to the tube along a longitudinal direction. The sleeve  84  includes an inner flange for biasing the balls inward go as to be engaged with the annular groove  74  of the associated rod  73  when required. By such arrangement, the sleeve  84  is moved downward by a control plate  87  such that the balls of the engaging member are disengaged from the annular groove  74  of the associated rod  73 , thereby allowing disengagement of the skate base  8  from the shoe sole  7   a.    
     When the user intends to skate, the rods  73  on the shoe  7  are engaged with the engaging members  83  on the skate base  8  and the engaging pegs  86  are engaged in the positioning holes  75  of the shoe  7  to form a roller skate. When the user does not want to skate, the control plate  87  is actuated to move the sleeve  84 , thereby disengaging the engaging member  83  from the rod  73 . Thus, the skate base  8  can be easily detached from the shoe sole  7   a , thereby reducing the weight and providing comfort wearing. 
     Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.