Shoe with detachable sporting device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6460864
  • Patent Number
    6,460,864
  • Date Filed
    Friday, May 18, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 8, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Johnson; Brian L.
    • Campbell; Kelly E.
    Agents
    • Bacon & Thomas, PLLC
Abstract
A shoe device. The device includes a shoe body such as a sports shoe and a coupling plate removably mounted on the shoe body. The coupling plate has a lower side mounted with a sporting device suitably used for various sports, such as a skate, an in-line skate, a roller skate or the like. The shoe body has a coupling hole and an engaging groove formed on a base portion of the shoe body, whereas the coupling plate has an upper side formed with a coupling protrusion and an engaging groove. The shoe body and the coupling plate are strongly coupled by engaging the coupling protrusion of the coupling plate with the coupling hole of the shoe body, and by inserting a fixing member between the engaging groove of the shoe body and the engaging groove of the coupling plate.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to shoe devices, and more particularly, to a shoe device, which provides various uses, and has economical and convenient properties.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Shoes are one of the necessities for doing sports. Wearing a pair of shoes specially designed for a particular sport helps a person do the sport more smoothly, for example, roller skates or skates are required for skating. As such, however, problems are generated, for example, it is quite troubling to purchase, store and carry quite a few pairs of shoes required for doing various sports. In addition, people normally can not afford to buy all of the shoes for different uses.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a shoe device with a coupling plate and a fixing member being removably mounted thereon, such that different uses of the shoe device can be alternated only by removing or mounting the binding plate and the fixing member, so as to provide economical purchase and convenience for usage, carriage and storage thereof.




In order to achieve the foregoing and other objectives, the invention proposes a shoe device comprising:




a shoe body having at least a coupling hole formed on a base portion of the shoe body, and an engaging groove formed in a middle portion thereof, which has an opening connecting a side surface of the shoe body and extends along a crosswise direction of the shoe body;




a coupling plate having an upper side attached to the base portion of the shoe body and formed with at least a coupling protrusion being removably coupled to the corresponding coupling hole in the base portion of the shoe body, a middle portion formed with an engaging groove being removably engaged with the engaging groove in the base portion of the shoe body, and a lower side mounted with a sporting device suitably used for various sports; and




a fixing member with a length no longer than the width of the base portion of the shoe body, having an upper side formed with an engaging strip being removably engaged with the engaging groove in the base portion of the shoe body, and a lower side formed with an engaging strip being removably engaged with the engaging groove of the coupling plate.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, however, the invention is not limited to said embodiments and drawings.





FIG. 1

is a front view of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 2

is an oblique view of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 3

is a bottom view of a coupling plate used in the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 4

is a front view of a coupling plate used in the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 5

is a perspective view of a fixing member used in the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 6

is a schematic diagram showing an assembled form of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 7

is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 8

is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 9

is a schematic diagram showing still another embodiment of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 10

is a schematic diagram showing a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 11

is a schematic diagram showing a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention;





FIG. 12

is a schematic diagram showing a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention; and





FIG. 13

is a schematic diagram showing a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to FIG.


1


and

FIG. 2

, a shoe body


1


has one or more than one coupling holes


11




a


,


11




b


(two are shown in the drawing) formed on a base portion of the shoe body


1


. The coupling holes


11




a


,


11




b


consist of inserting holes


12




a


,


12




b


and coupling grooves


13




a


,


13




b


, which are connected to and shorter in width than the inserting holes


12




a


,


12




b


; the inserting holes


12




a


,


12




b


and the coupling grooves


13




a


,


13




b


have openings at the bottom of the shoe body smaller than those at the interior of the shoe body. Moreover, the shoe body


1


has a middle portion formed with a wedge-shaped engaging groove


10


having an opening connecting a side surface of the shoe body and extending along a crosswise direction of the shoe body. Referring to FIG.


3


and

FIG. 4

, a coupling plate


2


has an upper side attached to the base portion of the shoe body


1


and formed with one or more than one coupling protrusions


20




a


,


20




b


(two are shown in the drawing) thereon. The coupling protrusions


20




a


,


20




b


consist of short pillars


23




a


,


23




b


fixed on the coupling plate


2


and heads


22




a


,


22




b


larger in size than the short pillars


23




a


,


23




b


and fixed on ends of the short pillars


23




a


,


23




b


; the heads


22




a


,


22




b


are smaller in size than the openings of the inserting hole


12




a


,


12




b


at the bottom of the shoe body, but larger than the openings of the coupling grooves


13




a


,


13




b


at the bottom of the shoe body. Moreover, the coupling plate


2


has a middle portion formed with an engaging groove


21


used to removably engage with an engaging strip


31


of a fixing member


3


described later. In addition, the coupling plate


2


has a lower side mounted with a sporting device suitably used for various sports (a skate is shown in the drawing).




Referring to

FIG. 5

, the fixing member


3


with a length no longer than the width of the shoe body


1


has an upper side formed with an engaging strip


30


being removably engaged with the engaging groove


10


in the base portion of the shoe body


1


, and a lower side formed with the engaging strip


31


being removably engaged with the engaging groove


21


of the coupling plate


2


. Additionally, the fixing member


3


is formed with a hollow deformable auxiliary groove


32


approximately in the central portion along a lengthwise direction of the fixing member


3


.




Referring to

FIG. 6

, illustrating an assembled form of the shoe device of the invention (a skate is shown in the drawing), coupling and engagement are assured between the engaging groove


10


in the base portion of the shoe body


1


and the engaging strip


30


of the fixing member


3


and between the engaging groove


21


of the coupling plate


2


and the engaging strip


31


of the fixing member


3


, due to the wedge-shaped structures of the grooves


10


,


21


and the strips


30


,


31


, so as to prevent the decoupling of those structures from occurrence when using the shoes.




As such, when exercising or walking, due to the coordinating arrangement of the coupling plate


2


and the shoe body


1


, the counter force generated against the force produced by the body weight applied to the ground can be eliminated by the deformable auxiliary groove


32


of the fixing member


3


, so as to achieve a shock-resistant effect.





FIG. 7

illustrates one embodiment of the shoe device of the invention, wherein the shoe is a roller skate for skating.





FIG. 8

illustrates another embodiment of the shoe device of the invention, wherein the shoes are in-line skates for skating.





FIG. 9

illustrates still another embodiment of the shoe device of the invention, wherein the shoe is a spike for track and field.





FIG. 10

illustrates a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention, wherein the shoe is an anti-slippery shoe used for resisting the slippage thereof.





FIG. 11

illustrates a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention, wherein the shoe is a spring-heeled shoe used for decorating the appearance thereof.





FIG. 12

illustrates a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention, wherein the shoe is a platform shoe used for increasing the height thereof.





FIG. 13

illustrates a further embodiment of the shoe device of the invention, wherein the shoe is directly used as a sports shoe without the coupling plate


2


and the fixing member


3


mounted thereof.




In conclusion, the shoe device of the invention provides various uses, which are alternated only by exchanging the coupling plates


2


for doing different sports, such that it is not necessary to buy quite a few pairs of shoes, and it can save the expense for purchasing the shoes and space for storing the shoes, and thus higher economical and convenient properties are provided. In addition, the shoe device of the invention can reduce the risk for the occurrence of injuries to ankles when wearing the shoes, due to the shock-resistant effect of the deformable auxiliary groove


32


of the fixing member


3


. Meanwhile, the shoe device of the invention can satisfy people who prefer to have a higher height, due to an additional height provided by the coupling plate


2


mounted thereon.




The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modification and similar arrangements.



Claims
  • 1. A shoe with a detachable sporting device comprising:an operable shoe body having a coupling means formed on a base portion of the shoe body, wherein the coupling means is recess-shaped to be free of interference with operational interaction between the shoe body and the ground, and wherein the coupling means includes at least one coupling hole and a first engaging groove that traverses across a middle part of the base portion of the shoe body; a fixing member formed with an upper engaging strip and a lower engaging strip opposed to the upper engaging strip allowing the upper engaging strip to be detachably engaged with the first engaging groove of the shoe body; and a detachable sporting device adapted to be detachably connected to the base portion of the shoe body and the fixing member, wherein the detachable sporting device is formed at an upper side thereof with at least one coupling protrusion and a second engaging groove respectively corresponding in position to the coupling hole of the shoe body and the lower engaging strip of the fixing member, whereby the coupling protrusion is engaged with the coupling hole of the shoe body, and the second engaging groove is engaged with the lower engaging strip of the fixing member; wherein the fixing member is formed with a deformable auxiliary groove approximately in a central portion along a lengthwise direction of the fixing member, for enhancing deformation of the fixing member.
  • 2. The shoe device of claim 1, wherein the coupling hole of the shoe body comprises an inserting hole and a coupling groove connected to and smaller in width than the inserting hole, and the inserting hole and coupling groove have openings at the bottom of the shoe body smaller than those at the interior of the shoe body; the coupling protrusion, formed on the coupling plate and coupled to the coupling hole, comprises a short pillar fixed on the coupling plate and a head being larger in size than the short pillar and fixed on one end of the short pillar; and the head is smaller in size than the opening of the inserting hole at the bottom of the shoe body, but larger than the opening of the coupling groove at the bottom of the shoe body.
  • 3. The shoe device of claim 1 or 2, wherein a set of the coupling holes in the base portion of the shoe body and the coupling protrusion of the coupling plate are provided in the front portion and the rear portion of the shoe respectively.
  • 4. The shoe device of claim 1, wherein the first engaging device in the base portion of the shoe body and the third engaging device of the fixing member, and the second engaging device of the coupling plate and the fourth engaging device of the fixing member are all wedge-shaped structures.
  • 5. The shoe device of claim 1, wherein the sporting device consists of the group selected from a roller skate, a skate, an in-line skate, a spike, an anti-slippery shoe, a spring-healed shoe and a platform shoe.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Number Name Date Kind
2950118 Sharpe Aug 1960 A
2998260 Meyer Aug 1961 A
3915466 Matsuda Oct 1975 A
3963251 Miano Jun 1976 A
4290213 Salomon Sep 1981 A
4932675 Olson et al. Jun 1990 A
5123664 DeMars Jun 1992 A
5193827 Olson Mar 1993 A
6015156 Pratt Jan 2000 A
6145854 Cheng Nov 2000 A
6217035 Steinhauser, Jr. Apr 2001 B1
6270089 Marechal Aug 2001 B1
6334621 Chang Jan 2002 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
WO9111232 Aug 1991 FR