Abstract:
This invention discloses an adjusting device used to adjust the size of a sliding sports shoe, which is composed of an adjusting member for shoe size and a driving spring. With this adjusting device the size of a sliding sports shoe can be adjusted in a step manner by pressing directly a button on its side and can be automatically locked by itself.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to Chinese Application No. 200410077763.2, filed Dec. 31, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety including drawings.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to an adjusting device for the size of a shoe, especially to an adjusting device for the size of a sliding sports shoe.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     The sliding sports shoes in the prior art, such as ice skates, roller skates and ski boots, are worn by slipping directly into the shoe-case of the sports shoes without taking off the original shoes or boots. The shoe-case is composed mainly of a shoe head with a container groove in cylinder shape and a shoe body fixed to the shoe head with bolts. When needed to adjust the size of the shoe-case the bolts can be loosened and moved inside the container groove to the required size. This kind of sizing manner usually needs an auxiliary tool and is quite troublesome.  
         [0004]     Chinese patent ZL02200433.5 discloses an improved sliding plate shoe which is mainly composed of a front section and a rear section, which are equipped with rollers in their sides respectively, as well as a snap-in mechanism that connects the front section and the rear section. The snap-in mechanism therein is composed of a disc bottom cover which is firmly fixed to the middle of the front section, a snap-in member which is locked above the bottom cover with bolts, and a dentiform structure which is integrated at the bottom of the rear section and snaps with the sides of the snap-in member. In addition, there are inward occluding teeth protruded underneath the snap-in member, and a spring is fixed closely against the front section at the end of the snap-in component which passes through the bottom cover. Although this kind of sizing structure has shown somewhat improvement, it is still inconvenient in adjusting. It completely depends on tactile sensation to adjust the length rather than to approach the accurate size stepwise, and the snap-in member has to be released when adjusting the length. Therefore, the existing adjusting device for shoe size needs to be further improved.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     According to one aspect of the present invention, an adjusting device used to adjust the size of a sliding sports shoe is provided, which can adjust the size in a step manner by pressing directly a button on its side and can automatically lock itself.  
         [0006]     In accordance with the present invention the adjusting device used to adjust the size of a sliding sports shoe, which includes a shoe head and a shoe body, is composed of an adjusting member for shoe size and a driving spring, in which the shoe head and the shoe body are connected to the adjusting member correspondingly and contact against the driving spring.  
         [0007]     The adjusting member for shoe size includes a slide block placed at the bottom of the shoe head and a sliding groove built at the bottom of the shoe body. The slide block is placed inside the sliding groove. In the middle of the slide block there is a through groove. At one lateral side of the slide block locates an adjusting positioning structure for shoe size, while at the other lateral side of the slide block locates a corresponding locking groove. There are also a connection rod, a locking block, a locking spring and a button which matches with the adjusting positioning structure for shoe size. The button is installed in a bracket placed at one side of the sliding groove, while the locking block and locking spring are correspondingly installed in a bracket placed at the other side of the sliding groove. The two ends of the locking spring press against the locking block and shoe body respectively. The connection rod passes through the through groove in the middle of the slide block and connects firmly with the button and the locking block.  
         [0008]     A pin is built on one of the ends of the slide block, especially on the front end of the slide block, and the driving spring is housed on that pin.  
         [0009]     The adjusting positioning structure placed at one lateral side of the slide block can be, for example, snapping teeth for adjusting shoe size.  
         [0010]     The button includes a primary button body, a lockpin, and a lockpin spring. The working part of the lockpin is a wedge-shaped part with its slope facing against the skewed tooth surface of the snapping teeth. The connection part of the lockpin presses against the lockpin spring installed inside the button.  
         [0011]     The lateral sides of the locking groove include a sliding surface for adjusting shoe size and a locking surface, where the sliding surface for adjusting shoe size is a bevel surface with its inclining direction matching with the skewed tooth surface of the snapping teeth, and where the locking surface is a surface which is approximately perpendicular to the sliding direction of the slide block.  
         [0012]     The locking surface of the locking groove is staggered with the straight tooth surface of the snapping teeth for adjusting shoe size.  
         [0013]     The tooth pitch of the snapping teeth is in the range of 5-15 mm.  
         [0014]     The obliquity of the sliding surface of the locking groove is 0°-60°, preferably 10°-60°, while the depth of the locking groove is in the range of 3-16 mm.  
         [0015]     The cross section of the button can be in a drum shape.  
         [0016]     This device in accordance with the present invention can be also equipped with a locking block for the button with its cross section same as that of the button. The locking block for the button can be rotatablely mounted on the outside of the button itself.  
         [0017]     According to another aspect of the present invention, a sliding sports shoe is provided, in which it is equipped with the above described adjusting device.  
         [0018]     One advantage of the adjusting device for shoe size in this invention is that the shoe size can be adjusted in a direct and stepwise manner by pressing the side of this adjusting device with automatic locking. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]      FIG. 1  is the schematic view of a sliding sports shoe with an adjusting device of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is the perspective view of the structure of an adjusting device in one embodiment in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is the perspective explosion view of the structure of the adjusting device in  FIG. 2  (viewing at angle  1 ).  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is the perspective explosion view of the structure of the adjusting device in  FIG. 2  (viewing at angle  2 ).  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is the front view of a slide block in one embodiment in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is the A-A section view of the slide block in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0025]      FIG. 7  is the section view of a button in one embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0026]     The present invention is further described in details with the attached drawings and specific examples.  
         [0027]      FIGS. 1-7  depict an adjusting device used to adjust the size of a sliding sports shoe in accordance with the present invention. The sliding sports shoe includes a shoe head  1  and a shoe body  2 . The adjusting device for shoe size includes an adjusting member and a driving spring  3 , where the shoe head  1  and shoe body  2  are connected correspondingly to the adjusting member and touch against the driving spring  3 .  
         [0028]     The adjusting member includes a slide block  10  placed at the bottom of the shoe head  1  and a sliding groove  20  built at the bottom of the shoe body  2 . The slide block  10  is placed inside the sliding groove  20 . In the middle of the slide block  10  there is a through groove  100 . At one lateral side of the slide block  10  locates an adjusting positioning structure, while at the other lateral side of the slide block  10  locates a corresponding locking groove  102 . The adjusting member also includes a connection rod  5 , a locking block  6 , a locking spring  7 , and a button  4  which matches with the above adjusting positioning structure. The button  4  is installed in a bracket  21  placed at one side of the sliding groove  20 , while the locking block  6  and the locking spring  7  are correspondingly installed in another bracket  22  at the other side of the sliding groove  20 . The two ends of the locking spring  7  press against the locking block  6  and the shoe body  2  respectively. The connection rod  5  passes through the through groove  100  in the middle of the slide block  10  and is fixed to the button  4  and the locking block  6 .  
         [0029]     A pin  103  is built on the front end of the slide block  10 , and the driving spring  3  is housed on the pin  103 .  
         [0030]     The adjusting positioning structure placed at one lateral side of the slide block  10  can be snapping teeth  101  for adjusting shoe size.  
         [0031]     The button  4  includes a primary button body  40 , a lockpin  41  and a lockpin spring  42 . The working part of the lockpin  41  presents a wedge-shaped part with its slope  410  facing against the skewed tooth surface  1010  of the snapping teeth  101 . The connection part of the lockpin  41  presses against the lockpin spring  42  which is installed inside the primary button body  40 .  
         [0032]     The lateral sides of the locking groove  102  include a sliding surface  1020  for adjusting shoe size and a locking surface  1021 , where the sliding surface  1020  is a bevel surface with its inclining direction matching with the skewed tooth surface  1010  of the snapping teeth  101 , and where the locking surface  1021  is a surface which is approximately perpendicular to the sliding direction of the slide block  10 .  
         [0033]     The locking surface  1021  of the locking groove  102  is staggered with the straight tooth surface  1011  of the snapping teeth  101 .  
         [0034]     The tooth pitch of the snapping teeth  101  can be in the range of 5-15 mm. The obliquity of the sliding surface  1020  of the locking groove  102  can preferably be in the range of 10°-60°, more preferably 15°-50°. The depth of the locking groove  102  can be in the range of 3-16 mm. The cross section of the button  4  can be in a drum shape.  
         [0035]     The above adjusting device is also equipped with a locking block  8  for the button with its cross section same as that of the button  4 . The locking block  8  for the button is rotatablely mounted on the outside of the button  4  itself.  
         [0036]     As described above, the present invention provides an adjusting device with the driving spring  3  to adjust the size of a sliding sports shoe rather than by manual pushing and pulling. By pushing the button  4  automatic adjusting and locking of shoe size can be realized in an easy and convenient way.  
         [0037]     From the forgoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the present invention have been described herein for purpose of illustration, but that various modifications maybe made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.