Skate attachable to an athletic shoe

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6382638
  • Patent Number
    6,382,638
  • Date Filed
    Monday, October 16, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 7, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Johnson; Brian L.
    • Fishmann; Brian
Abstract
Skates attachable to sneakers. The device includes a sneaker body and a lower functional unit (such as an ice-skate unit, a roller skate unit, etc.), assembled with or disassembled from each other. The sneaker body has a sole and a large sole under the sole, and the sole has recesses and a tenon formed in each recess, and one of the tenons has an insert hole in its sidewall. The lower functional unit has plural connect members with mortises engaging the tenons. Each connect member has a stop plate in front of the mortise, with an aperture formed between them for a safety pin and a spring fitted around the pin to fit therein. The safety pin passes through the hole of the stop plate and a lateral hole of the inner wall of the mortise, with its outer end inserting in the insert hole of the tenon. A curved rod is combined with the safety rod, forcing the safety pin to move back and forth to permit the sneaker body assembled with or disassembled from the lower function unit to become ice-skates, roller skates, etc.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a pair of skates changeable to a pair of common sneakers, particularly to one having a sneaker body and an ice skating unit combinable with or separable from the sneaker body to be used for two objects.




2. Description of the Prior Art




Sneakers have a wide variety for different designs and uses, such as for basketball, jogging, mountaineering, and special sports (such as ice-skating, roller-skating in-line skating, etc.). Special sports shoes have special and different functions for special sports, impossible to be widely used as common sneakers, limited in usable time and places.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The objective of the invention is to offer skates changeable to common sneakers for walking or jogging having an ice skating unit combinable with or separable from the sneaker body.




One feature of the invention is that the sneaker body includes recesses formed in a first sole and a second sole under the first sole, a tenon formed in each recess, an insert hole formed in one side of one tenon, and an ice skating unit combined with the first sole of the sneaker body and having plural connect members respectively having a mortise and fitting in the recesses of the first sole, with the each mortise engaging with the tenon in each recess of the first sole, and a safety pin and a coil spring fitting around the safety pin fitted in an aperture defined between a stop plate and an inner wall of each mortise and passing a center hole of the stop plate and a lateral hole in the inner wall of the mortise and in the insert hole of a side wall of the tenon. A curved rod is combined with an inner end of the safety pin, pressed or released to move the safety pin back and forth to assemble or disassemble the sneaker body with or from the lower functional unit to form an ice skate or a roller skate or an in-line skate.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS




This invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is an exploded perspective view of an in-line skate attachable with an athletic shoe in the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a partial cross-sectional view of the skates attachable with an athletic shoe in the present invention, showing a safety pin and its related components;





FIG. 3

is a cross-sectional view of the safety pin pulled to function in the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a side view of the ice-skaters changeable to common sneakers in the present invention.





FIG. 5

is an exploded perspective view of an ice-skate attachable with an athletic shoe in the present invention; and





FIG. 6

is an exploded perspective view of a roller skate attachable to an athletic shoe in the present invention.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




A preferred embodiment of skates changeable to common sneakers in the present invention, as shown In

FIGS. 1 and 2

, includes a sneaker body


1


, and a lower functional unit


2


(an in-line skate unit illustrated in Figures, but, an ice skate unit or a roller-skate unit also possible to be used) combined together separably.




The sneaker body


1


includes a first sole


10


and a large separate sole or a second


11


under the first sole


10


, and the first sole


10


has plural recesses


100


spaced apart properly. Each recess


100


has a tenon


101


, and one of the tenons


101


has a sidewise insert hole


102


in a sidewall. Further, a circumferential projecting edge


103


is formed around each recess


100


. The large separate sole


11


surrounds and adheres with the sole


10


, having through holes


110


aligned to the recesses


100


and the circumferential projecting edges


103


just fit tightly in an inner wall of each through hole


110


, as shown in FIG.


2


.




The lower functional unit


2


may be assembled with or disassembled from the sneaker body


1


. The lower functional unit


2


may have an exclusive function for in-line skating but can be adapted as an ice skate unit, or a roller skate unit. The lower functional unit


2


has plural connect members


20


formed on a rear portion thereof and on a front portion of an upper surface and is provided with mortises


200


to engage with the tenon


101


of each recess


100


.




The sneaker body


1


includes the sole


10


(first sole) and the large separate sole


11


(second sole) which is fastened under the sole


10


. The sneaker body


1


is detachably combined with the lower functional unit


2


(the in-line skating unit, the ice skate unit or the roller skate unit).




Further the mortise


200


of each connect member


20


has a lateral hole


201


in an inner wall defining each mortise


200


, and a stop plate


203


vertically provided in front of each mortise


200


on each connect member


20


and having a center hole


204


in line to the lateral hole


201


. An aperture


202


is formed between the inner wall of each mortise


200


and each stop plate


203


for receiving a safety pin


22


and a coil spring


21


fitting around the safety pin


22


therein. Further, the safety pin


22


passes through the center hole


204


of the stop plate


203


, the coil spring


21


and the lateral hole


201


of the mortise


200


, with its front end inserted in the sidewise insert hole


102


of the tenon


102


of the first sole


10


, and an intermediate portion of the safety pin is fitted with a stop ring


220


that is adapted to rest against the outer wall of the lateral hole


201


of the mortise


200


. Further, a curved rod


23


is provided to have its rear end connected firmly to the inner end of the safety pin


22


, an intermediate point resting against an inner end side of the connect member


20


, and a free end


230


forming a slight curve outwards. Thus each curved rod


23


can be pulled back and forth for each safety pin


22


by with the intermediate point as used a fulcrum, and the coil spring


21


can force the safety pin


22


to move automatically back to its original position with its resilience, as shown in FIGS.


2


and


3


.




During assembly and use, referring to

FIGS. 1

,


2


,


3


and


4


, the large sole or the second sole


11


is positioned to surround the first sole


10


and the soles are adhered together, with the through holes


111


respectively aligned to the relative recesses


100


and the circumferential edges


103


, completing assembly of the sneaker body


1


. Next, the assembled sneaker body


1


is assembled with the lower functional unit


2


, the tenons


101


are aligned and inserted in the mortises


200


of the connect members


20


of the lower functional unit


2


, and the end


230


of the curved rod


23


is pressed to force the stop ring


220


of the safety pin


22


to compress the coil spring


21


which in turn forces the front end of the safety pin


22


to insert in the insert hole


102


of the tenon


101


and become stabilized therein, as shown in FIG.


2


. Then the sneaker body


1


is stably assembled with the lower roller-skating unit


2


, and the unit is usable as in-line skates as shown in FIG.


4


.





FIGS. 5 and 6

illustrate the use of the inventive device with ice-skates and roller skates.




The invention has the following advantages, as understood from the aforesaid description.




1. The inventive device has a few components, and can be quickly and conveniently assembles and disassembled.




2. The inventive device can be used as common leisure sneakers.




3. The inventive device is cost effective and utilizes minimal storing space.




While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications that may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. A sneaker body in combination with a lower functional unit, wherein;the lower functional unit is selected from the group consisting of an ice skate unit, a roller skate unit and an in-line skate unit; the sneaker body and the lower functional unit are assembled together; the sneaker body comprising a first sole and a second sole that are combined together with the second sole partially covering the first sole, the first sole provided with plural recesses that are spaced apart, each of the recesses having a tenon extending therein from the first sole, one of the tenons having an insert hole in one side wall of the respective one of the recesses; the lower functional unit comprising plural connect members on an upper surface thereof and adapted to correspond with respective ones of the recesses of the first sole, each of the connect members having a mortise adapted to engage with a respective one of the tenons, the connect members each having a stop plate and an aperture defined by the stop plate and an inner wall of each of the mortises, a safety pin and a coil spring fitting around the safety pin positioned in the aperture, the safety pin passing through the coil spring and a center hole of the stop plate, a lateral hole of the mortise and the insert hole of the tenon; and a curved rod connected firmly with an outer end of the safety pin to move the safety pin back and forth, so that the sneaker body is assembled with the functional unit.
  • 2. The sneaker body in combination with a lower functional unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first sole has a projecting circumferential edge around each of the recesses, the second sole has through holes corresponding to the recesses of the first sole, and the circumferential edges fit around respective ones of the recesses of the first sole and rests against an inner wall of the recesses of the first sole.
  • 3. The sneaker body in combination with a lower functional unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stop plate on the lower functional unit has a center hole aligned to the lateral hole of each of the mortises.
  • 4. The sneaker body in combination with a lower functional unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the safety pin of the lower functional unit passes through the center hole of the stop plate, the coil spring, and the lateral hole of the mortise, with its end inserted in the insert hole of the tenon of the hole, and the safety pin has an intermediate portion fitted with a stop ring that rests against an outer wall of the lateral hole.
  • 5. The sneaker body in combination with a lower functional unit as claimed in claim 4, wherein the curved rod is connected with the safety pin, the curved rod has an outer end that is curved downwards and protruding out of the lower functional unit, and when the curved rod is pressed, the safety pin engages or releases the sneaker body from the functional unit.
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