Patent Publication Number: US-2004046339-A1

Title: Adjustable device for a roller skate

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to an adjustable device for a roller skate, and more particularly to an adjustable device enabling adjustment of the length of the roller skate so that the user is able to adjust the length of the roller skate to the most suitable foot size.  
       [0003] 2. Description of Related Art  
       [0004] Roller skating has long been a popular sport throughout the world. Adults, teens and children alike are fascinated by this sport, and accordingly are willing to pay for a pair of roller skates of their own. A conventional structure of a roller skate is provided with a plurality of rollers rotatably and linearly arranged under a seat. A shoe having a front portion and a rear portion is securely attached on top of the seat, such that a user&#39;s feet are able to be snugly received in the shoes. Because at least one first retainer is mounted onto the front portion and at least one second retainer is mounted onto the rear portion, a user is able to tighten the shoe to withstand the stresses involved in skating. However, due to the front portion and the rear portion being molded integrally, an adjustment of the shoe size is limited. Users will have to search for the exact size matching their feet to have the best performance while using the skates and young users will need to replace the skate altogether each time their foot grows beyond the size of skate.  
       [0005] To solve the above mentioned fault, manufactures may need to utilize an excessive quantity of molds to produce a wide variety of shoes sizes to fulfill the needs of the customers, which is not cost effective. From the previous description, the roller skate available in the market is not able to fulfill the needs of users and improvements or alterations thereof are thus required.  
       [0006] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved adjustable device for a roller skate to mitigate and obviate the aforementioned problems.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an adjustable device to adjust the length of a roller skate so that the same roller skate is able to fit with the different individual foot sizes.  
       [0008] In order to accomplish the foregoing objective, An adjustable device for a roller skate having a heel portion and a sole portion slidable relative to the heel portion is provided. The adjustable device comprises:  
       [0009] a base securely engaged with a bottom face of the sole portion and having a recess defined in a top face of the base, a central through hole centrally defined in a bottom face defining the recess and multiple clamping recesses defined in opposite sides of the bottom face defining the recess,  
       [0010] a positioning plate received in the recess and having multiple extensions formed on opposite sides of the positioning plate to correspond to the clamping recesses arranged on opposite sides in the recess, a hole corresponding to the central through hole of the base and a connection block integrally formed on the positioning plate,  
       [0011] a clamping plate pivotally connected to the positioning plate and having an extension boss formed on a bottom face of the clamping plate for engagement with the heel portion,  
       [0012] a through hole adapted to be defined in a bottom face of the heel portion;  
       [0013] an elongated hole adapted to be defined in a bottom face of the sole portion to correspond to the through hole of the heel portion and the central through hole in the base, and  
       [0014] a retainer extending through the elongated hole of the sole portion, the through hole of the heel portion, the hole of the positioning plate and the central through hole of the base to secure connection in the heel portion, the sole portion, the positioning plate and the base.  
       [0015] A pivotal movement of the clamping plate toward the heel portion enables the extension boss of the clamping plate to adapt to be received in a receiving hole in the heel portion and the extensions of the positioning plate to be received in the clamping recesses in the base so that relative position of the heel portion to the sole portion is fixed.  
       [0016] A pivotal movement of the clamping plate away from the heel portion enables the extensions of the positioning plate to be detached from the clamping recesses and thus relative position of the heel portion to the sole portion is slidable.  
       [0017] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0018]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the adjustable device of the present invention;  
     [0019]FIG. 2 is a schematic side plan view showing the assembly of the adjustable device with the roller skate;  
     [0020]FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic side plan view showing a status while the clamping plate is in engagement with the heel of the roller skate;  
     [0021]FIG. 4 is a schematic side plan view showing the clamping plate is detached from the heel;  
     [0022]FIG. 5 is a schematic side plan view showing the clamping plate is detached from the clamping recess in the base; and  
     [0023]FIG. 6 is a schematic side plan view showing the adjustment of the heel portion relative to the sole portion of the roller skate by means of the adjustment device of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0024] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the adjustable device in accordance with the present invention includes a base ( 10 ), a clamping assembly ( 20 ), an elongated hole ( 31 ) in a sole portion ( 30 ), a through hole ( 41 ) in a heel portion ( 40 ) and a retainer ( 50 ).  
     [0025] The base ( 10 ) is adapted to be removably attached to a bottom of the heel portion ( 40 ) and securely connected to a bottom of the sole portion ( 30 ). The base ( 10 ) has a recess ( 11 ) defined in a top face of the base ( 10 ), multiple bosses ( 12 ) formed on two sides of a bottom face defining the recess ( 11 ), multiple clamping recesses ( 121 ) defined between two adjacent bosses ( 12 ) and a central through hole ( 13 ) defined in the bottom face of the recess ( 11 ).  
     [0026] The clamping assembly ( 20 ) includes a clamping plate ( 21 ), a positioning plate ( 22 ) and a resilient plate ( 27 ). The clamping plate ( 21 ) is adapted to be mounted on an outside face of the heel portion ( 40 ) and has two arms ( 213 ) horizontally extending out therefrom, a rivet hole ( 210 ) defined in each of the two arms ( 213 ) to align with one another, a positioning hole ( 211 ) defined in a distal end of each of the two arms ( 213 ) so as to align with one another and a retaining boss ( 212 ) formed on a bottom face of the clamping plate ( 21 ). The positioning plate ( 22 ) has a hole ( 220 ) corresponding to the through hole ( 41 ) of the heel portion ( 40 ), multiple extensions ( 23 ) formed on two opposite sides of the positioning plate ( 22 ) and a connection block ( 24 ) integrally formed on a distal end of the positioning plate ( 22 ) and provided with a riveting hole ( 240 ) corresponding to the rivet hole ( 210 ) and an arcuate hole ( 241 ) corresponding to the positioning hole ( 211 ) of the clamping plate ( 21 ).  
     [0027] The resilient plate ( 27 ) is partially and securely attached to a portion of the positioning plate ( 22 ) and has an extension hole ( 270 ) defined to correspond to the hole ( 220 ) of the positioning plate ( 22 ) and the through hole ( 41 ) of the heel portion ( 40 ).  
     [0028] The retainer ( 50 ) includes a bolt ( 51 ) with an outer threading (not numbered) and a sleeve ( 52 ) with an inner threading (not numbered) to correspond to the outer threading of the bolt ( 51 ).  
     [0029] During assembly of the adjustable device to the heel portion ( 40 ) as well as the sole portion ( 30 ), the connection block ( 24 ) is inserted into a gap between the two arms ( 213 ) with the riveting hole ( 240 ) and the arcuate hole ( 241 ) respectively aligned with the rivet hole ( 210 ) and the positioning hole ( 211 ). Then a first pin ( 25 ) and a second pin ( 26 ) are respectively extended through the aligned rivet hole ( 210 ) and the riveting hole ( 240 ) and the positioning hole ( 211 ) and the arcuate hole ( 241 ) so as to secure the connection between the clamping plate ( 21 ) and the positioning plate ( 22 ). The resilient plate ( 27 ) is securely attached to a portion on the positioning plate ( 22 ) in a conventional manner and the extension hole ( 270 ) aligns with the hole ( 220 ) of the positioning plate ( 22 ). Thereafter, the bolt ( 51 ) extends through the through hole ( 41 ) of the heel portion ( 40 ), the elongated hole ( 31 ) of the sole portion ( 30 ), the extension hole ( 270 ) of the resilient plate ( 27 ), the hole ( 220 ) of the positioning plate ( 22 ) and the central through hole ( 13 ) of the base ( 10 ) to be threadingly connected to the sleeve ( 52 ).  
     [0030] With reference to FIG. 3, after the bolt ( 51 ) extends to threadingly connect to the sleeve ( 52 ), the extensions ( 23 ) are respectively received in the clamping recesses ( 121 ) and the resilient plate ( 27 ) provides a downward force to the positioning plate ( 22 ) to maintain the extensions ( 23 ) to be received in the clamping recesses ( 121 ). After the connection between the clamping plate ( 21 ) and the positioning plate ( 22 ) and the connection between the positioning plate ( 22 ) and the base ( 10 ) are completed, the clamping plate ( 21 ) is able to pivot relative to the positioning plate ( 22 ) by using the first pin ( 25 ) as the pivotal axis. Therefore, the pivotal movement of the clamping plate ( 21 ) enables the extension boss ( 212 ) to be inserted in a receiving hole ( 42 ) in the heel portion ( 40 ) so that the assembly of the adjustable device of the present invention to the heel portion ( 40 ) as well as the sole portion ( 30 ) is finished.  
     [0031] When an adjustment of the length of the roller skate is required, with reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and  6 , the user first loosens the bolt ( 51 ) and then detaches the extension boss ( 212 ) from the receiving hole ( 42 ). Referring to FIG. 3, it is noted that when the adjustment of the length of the roller skate is not required, the second pin ( 26 ) is located at the lowest position in the arcuate hole ( 241 ). However, when the clamping plate ( 21 ) is detached from engagement with the heel portion ( 40 ), the second pin ( 26 ) is moved to the topmost position in the arcuate hole ( 241 ). Continuing pivotal movement of the clamping plate ( 21 ) allows the positioning plate ( 22 ) to be moved in the recess ( 11 ). Eventually, the extensions ( 23 ) move away from the clamping recesses ( 121 ) and the resilient plate ( 27 ) is compressed by the positioning plate ( 22 ), as shown in FIG. 5. After the extensions ( 23 ) are detached from the clamping recesses ( 121 ), the user is able to move the heel portion ( 40 ) as well as the adjustable device relative to the sole portion ( 30 ) in a range defined by the elongated hole ( 31 ) and the central through hole ( 13 ).  
     [0032] When the length adjustment of the roller skate is finished, the user is able to pivot the clamping plate ( 21 ) toward the heel portion ( 40 ). As the pivotal movement of the clamping plate ( 21 ) continues, the positioning plate ( 22 ) is thus driven downward to the base ( 10 ) to have the extensions ( 23 ) received in the clamping recesses ( 121 ) again such that the relative position of the heel portion ( 40 ) to the sole portion ( 30 ) is fixed.  
     [0033] With such an arrangement, the user is able to adjust the length of the roller skate so that the user&#39;s foot is able to snugly fit into the roller skate. Accordingly, the adjustable device of the present invention provides a cost effective manner in roller skate production yet fulfilling every requirement of the users&#39; needs to the manufacturers.  
     [0034] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.