The present invention relates to skates such as in-line skates, and in particular to an in-line skate having a tool-less size adjustment mechanism for adjusting the shoe size of the skate.
In recent years, the sport of roller skating, and in particular in-line roller skating, has enjoyed a tremendous growth in popularity. Generally described, conventional in-line roller skates include an upper boot secured to or integrally formed with a rigid or semi rigid base. The base, in turn, is secured along its length, including at heel and toe ends, to a rigid frame. A plurality of wheels are journaled transversely along a longitudinal axis between the side walls of the frame.
One segment of the population that has enjoyed the sport of roller skating is children. The costs associated with the sport can be limiting for parents. With the new developments in features and the advancements in materials, high quality in-line skates can be expensive. This expense is compounded when buying in-line skates for children because as a child grows, their foot size expands necessitating frequent replacement of the in-line skates.
To address this problem, several skates have been proposed that are size adjustable to accommodate the feet of growing users. One such skate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,526. The in-line skate includes a skate boot secured to a frame and contains a liner. The frame carries a plurality of wheels. The skate boot includes a heel portion, a cuff, a tongue, and a toe portion. The toe portion is selectively connected to the frame via a bolt, which is received by a nut. The bottom wall of the toe portion includes an elongate slot extending in the longitudinal dimension of the skate through which the bolt passes. When assembled with the heel portion, the toe portion may move along a line of travel which is generally parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the skate by loosening the nut. This configuration requires a tool, inserted upwardly between the wheels, to adjust the size of the skate, which is inconvenient. Repeated adjustment may lead to stripping of the nut, thus limiting the skate's ability to adjust. During adjustment, the bolt and/or nut may be lost.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies in the prior art by providing a size-adjustable skate having at least one ground engaging member which comprises a base having a top surface for supporting a skater's foot. The base defines a plurality of detents. An upper for receiving a skater's foot is coupled to the base and includes a toe portion, a heel portion, and diametrically opposed side wall portions. The skate also includes a support structure for supporting the upper. The support structure includes a toe member having top and bottom surfaces and coupled to the toe portion of the upper and slideably coupled to the base. The toe member is slideably adjustable between a plurality of longitudinal positions on the base and has an actuator coupled thereto. The actuator is operable to move in a plane coplaner with the top surface of the base. The toe member is selectively slideable on the base to adjust the shoe size of the skate.
In an embodiment, the toe member is selectively slideably on the base to adjust the shoe size of the skate by operation of a size adjustment mechanism formed between the detents of the base and a portion of the actuator.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an size-adjustable skate having at least one ground engaging member is provided which comprises a base having a top surface for supporting a skater's foot, and a bottom surface. The base defines a plurality of detents. An upper for receiving a skater's foot is coupled to the base and includes a toe portion, a heel portion, and diametrically opposed side wall portions. The skate also includes a support structure for supporting the upper. The support structure includes a toe member coupled to the toe portion of the upper and slideably coupled to the base. The toe member is slideably adjustable between a plurality of longitudinal positions. The skate further includes an actuator that is coupled to the toe member and translatable with the toe cup. The actuator is operable to fix the toe cup to the base in a desired longitudinal position relative to the heel portion and is operable to adjust the toe member so that the toe member slides longitudinally to achieve a second desired longitudinal position relative to the heel portion.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a size-adjustable skate having at least one ground engaging member is provided which comprises a base having a top surface for supporting a skater's foot and a bottom surface. A frame is coupled to the bottom surface of the base and includes an aperture positioned between ground engaging members. An upper is coupled to the base for receiving a skater's foot and defines a toe portion, a heel portion, and diametrically opposed side wall portions. An elongate member is coupled to the bottom surface of the toe cup and translatable within the slot. The skate also includes a second elongate member cantilevered to the elongate member and extending through the aperture, the second elongate member including a first engagement member. A second engagement member having a plurality of detents is coupled to the base. The first engagement member engages the one of the plurality of detents to fix the toe cup to the base in a desired longitudinal position relative to the heel portion and the first engagement member disengaging with the one of the plurality of the detents to slideably adjust the toe cup in a longitudinal dimension relative to the heel portion.
In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention, an size-adjustable skate having at least one ground engaging member is provided which comprises a base having a top surface for supporting a skater's foot, and a bottom surface. The base defines a plurality of detents. An upper for receiving a skater's foot is coupled to the base and includes a toe portion, a heel portion, and diametrically opposed side wall portions. The skate also includes a support structure for supporting the upper. The support structure includes a toe member coupled to the toe portion of the upper and slideably coupled to the base. The toe member is selectively adjustable between a plurality of longitudinal positions. The skate further includes an actuator that is operably coupled in a horizontal plane to the toe member and slideable with the toe member. The actuator is selectively operable to engage with a portion of the base to fix the toe cup in a desired longitudinal position, and is operable to disengage with a portion of the base to allow the toe cup to slideably translate on the base to a second desired longitudinal position. The actuator is further operable to move in a plane substantially coplaner with the toe surface of the base.
In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention, an size adjustable skate having at least one ground engaging member is provided which comprises a base having a top surface for supporting a skater's foot, and a bottom surface. The base defines a plurality of detents. An upper for receiving a skater's foot is coupled to the base and includes a toe portion, a heel portion, and diametrically opposed side wall portions. The side wall portions defining a vamp opening extending upwardly from the toe portion of the upper. The upper further including a tongue disposed within the upper and having a lower end fastened to the toe portion of the upper and extending upwardly along the vamp opening, and an elastic web fastened to the upper on the diametrically opposed side wall portions and spanning across at least a portion of the vamp opening over the instep of the skater's foot, compressing the tongue under the vamp portion. The skate also includes a support structure for supporting the upper. The support structure includes a toe member coupled to the toe portion of the upper and slideably coupled to the base. The toe member is selectively adjustable between a plurality of longitudinal positions. The skate further includes an actuator that is operably coupled in a horizontal plane to the toe member and slideable with the toe member. The actuator is selectively operable to engage with a portion of the base to fix the toe cup in a desired longitudinal position, and is operable to disengage with a portion of the base to allow the toe cup to slideably translate on the base to a second desired longitudinal position. The actuator is further operable to move in a plane substantially coplaner with the toe surface of the base.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings where like numerals correspond to like elements. A suitable embodiment of a tool-less size-adjustable in-line skate 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The skate 10 includes a substantially non-rigid upper 12 that receives and surrounds a skater's foot and ankle. The upper 12 is mounted on and secured to the upper surface of a base 14. The upper 12 is supported by a substantially rigid external support, including a slideably adjustable toe cup 16 extending upwardly from the toe end 18 of the base 14, a heel cup 20 extending upwardly from the heel end 22 of the base 14, and an ankle cuff 24 pivotally secured to the base 14. The base 14 is mounted to or integrally formed with a frame 26, which extends longitudinally beneath the base 14. A plurality of ground engaging members such as wheels 28A, 28B, 28C, and 28D are journaled between first and second opposing longitudinal side walls 32A and 32B of the frame 26. The toe cup 16 includes an actuator 34 such as a push-button which can be depressed or translated so that the slideably adjustable toe cup 16 may slide along the longitudinal axis of the skate to adjust the shoe size of the skate 10.
Suitable materials and construction (except for adjustable aspects) for the non-rigid upper 12 and substantially rigid outer support are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. B1 5,437,466, hereby expressly incorporated by reference. Alternatively, an internal support structure can be used with the non-rigid upper, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,172, hereby expressly incorporated by reference. Further, various components of the non-rigid portions of the support can be modified for a higher degree of rigidity.
Referring to the illustrative embodiment of
As shown in FIG. 13 and briefly discussed above the upper 12 may be drawn closed by an alternative closure system to securely couple the upper to a rider's foot. In the alternative closure system, the vamp opening 42 of the upper 12 of skate 10 may be drawn closed by an elastic web 54 which extends across a lower portion of the vamp opening 42, overlying the tongue 44. The closure system of the skate may further includes an instep strap 56 secured across the upper 12, extending from a lateral side of the heel cup to a medial side of the heel cup, below the ankle. A more detailed description of the alternative closure system utilizing an elastic web, is found in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/847,959, entitled FAST ENTRY ELASTIC VAMP CLOSURE SKATE to Bennett, and filed May. 2, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Referring to
The heel end 38 of upper 12 is securely fastened to the base 14, such as by riveting, adhesion, stitching, bolts or the like, and is supported by a rigid heel cup 20. The rigid heel cup 20 may be integrally formed with the base 14, or secured to the base 14, and extends upwardly therefrom on the lateral and medial sides of the heel end 38 of the upper 12. The ankle cuff 24 is pivotally secured to the upper lateral and medial ends of the heel cup 20, to pivot forwardly and rearwardly at about the natural pivot axis of the ankle. The ankle cuff 24 wraps the rear, lateral and medial sides of the leg, above the ankle. The ankle cuff strap 48 includes a quick release ratcheting buckle assembly to selectively secure and tighten the cuff about the leg.
The upper 12 of the skate 10 extends continuously upward from the base to above the upper edge of the ankle cuff 24. However, it should be apparent that the present invention is also suitably used with skates having an upper that is discontinuous, having a separate cuff pad, or that terminates below the ankle.
Still referring to
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the skate 10 includes a size adjustment mechanism 64 having an actuator 34 for adjusting the shoe size of the skate 10, which was briefly discussed above and will now be described in greater detail with reference to
Positioned at the rear portion of the slot 82 and formed into the medial side thereof is a series of detent notches 88A, 88B, 88C, 88D, and 88E. In one embodiment, the detent notches form teeth that are frusto-conical in shape and protrude horizontally inward toward the centerline of the slot 82. While shown in
Referring now to
The boss 102 is provided with an elongated slot 104 open to the bottom surface and also extending in the longitudinal dimension of the skate for passing a fastener such as rivet 52 when the toe cup 16 is slideably translated with respect to the base. As best shown in
Still referring to
Referring now to
The operation of the size adjustment mechanism will now be described in detail with reference to
If the rider wishes to change the size of the skate so that the skate may fit a skater with a larger foot, the skater may translate the actuator 34 by depressing the actuator inward with her finger, which is depicted in FIG. 8. As shown in
As the toe cup 16 translates to a final or second desired longitudinal position shown in
An alternative embodiment of a tool-less size-adjustable in-line skate constructed in accordance with aspects of the present invention is illustrated in
The toe cup 212 further includes an elongate member 236 coupled to the bottom surface of the toe cup 212 and extending downward within the slot 230. Cantilevered to the end of the elongate member 236 by a fastener such as a screw 238 is a second elongate member 240 to form an actuator. The elongate member 240 is a resilient member, thus may be deformed and is inherently spring biased to return to its initial position. The other end of the elongate member 240 extends in a substantially horizontal plane through an aperture 242 in side wall 232A and terminates with a knob 246. The elongate member 240 further includes an engagement member 248 coupled to the elongate member 240 and extending in a substantially vertical plane. Mounted to the inner surface of side wall 232A, below the aperture 242, is a second engagement member 250 having a plurality of vertically arranged detent notches 252A-252D.
Another alternative embodiment of a tool-less size-adjustable in-line skate constructed in accordance with aspects of the present invention is illustrated in
As best shown in
Referring now to
While the exemplary embodiments of the size adjustment mechanism described above and illustrated herein has been shown to utilize teeth and detent notches selectively secure the toe cup to the base, it should be readily evident that the size adjustment mechanism may utilize other detent mechanisms, such as a biased plunger meshing with grooves, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Additionally, while the exemplary embodiments of the size adjustment mechanism described above and illustrated herein has been shown to adjust the toe cup in a longitudinal direction, it should be readily evident that the size adjustment mechanism may be utilize to adjust the toe cup in the lateral direction to accommodate a wider foot or to expand the volume of the upper without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The embodiments above have been illustrated and described in terms of an in-line roller skate. It should be understood that the size adjustment mechanism may also be utilized with other types of roller skates and with ice skates. Additionally, the size adjustment mechanism may be adapted for use with other types of athletic boots for sports.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20020171210 A1 | Nov 2002 | US |