US20020060434A1

US20020060434A1 - Two-purpose roller skate

Info

Publication number: US20020060434A1
Application number: US09/813,201
Authority: US
Inventors: Zhicheng Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-11-22
Filing date: 2001-03-20
Publication date: 2002-05-23
Also published as: JP3081229U; CN2442716Y; DE20105000U1; HK1033529A2

Abstract

A two-purpose roller skate, includes a shoe body (1) and a pair of wheel assemblies (2,2′), each of the wheel assemblies includes a base (21), the base (21) having an installation plate (211) and two parallel side walls (212,212′) extending downwards from the installation plate (211), a swing arm (22) being mounted in a hinging way on a pivot (23), and on at least one side of the said swing arm (22) there are formed the first protruding shoulders (222,222′) and the second protruding shoulders (223,223′) which can be engaged with the lower end face (214) and the back end face (215) of the base (21) respectively. A stopping mechanism locks said swing arm (22) on the first position and the second position being at an angle α to each other. The swing arm can provide a firm support for the lower end face of the base to improve the overall rigidity of the wheel assembly.

Description

The invention relates to a two-purpose roller skate, more particularly relates to a two-purpose roller skate that can be used both as a roller skate and as a sports shoe.

The above-described kind of the roller skate usually includes: a shoe body and a pair of wheel assemblies, each of the wheel assemblies consists of a pair of wheels which are secured in a cavity on the sole of the shoe body. For example, Chinese patent description of invention CN97233570 disclosed a “foldaway sole of a roller skate”, wherein the wheel assemblies are folded in a traverse way along the shoe, therefore it is not possible to ensure the vertical state of the wheel to the ground for a long time. Also for example, Chinese patent description of invention CN98228419 disclosed a “multi-purpose roller skate”, which is composed of a fore wheel and a back wheel, and the axial support plate of the wheel can be pulled by a spring, so as to make the support plate be locked on the side upright plate of the bottom plate, or be buried in the cavity of the bottom plate. However, its operation is complex, and the overall rigidity is poor, and easy to result in shaking.

The object of the invention is to overcome the defects of the conventional art mentioned above, and to provide a modified two-purpose roller skate, whose wheel assemblies are easy to adjust, and whose overall rigidity increases.

The two-purpose roller skate according to the invention includes a shoe body ( 1), and a pair of wheel assemblies (2,2′), each of the wheel assemblies is mounted with a pair of wheels (24,24′), which are secured on the inward cavity of the sole of the shoe body (1), each of the wheel assemblies (2) includes a base (21), the base (21) has a installation plate (211) and two parallel side walls (212,212′) extending downwards from the installation plate (211), at the two parallel sides walls (212,212′) there is formed a coaxial through holes (213,213′); a swing arm (22), formed a through hole (221) on its upper end, being mounted with a hinged way on a pivot (23) passing through the through holes (213′,221,213) mentioned above, the said pair of wheels (24,24′) is mounted on the free end of the swing arm (22), in at least one side of the said swing arm (22) there are formed the first protruding shoulders (222,222′) and the second protruding shoulders (223,223′) which can engage with the lower end face (214) and the back end face (215) of the base (21) respectively, making the swing arm (22) rotate between the first position parallel to the installation plate (211) and the second position being at an angle of a to the installation plate (211), a ranges from 110 to 150 degree; a stopping mechanism locks the said swing arm (22) on the first position and the second position.

Compared with the roller skate of conventional art, the two-purpose roller skate according to the invention has advantages as follows: at the swing arm there are formed a first protruding shoulder and a second protruding shoulder engaged with the lower end face and the back end face of the base, whose position-limiting function is helpful for the stopping mechanism to lock the swing arm at the first position (the retracting position) and the second position (the open position), and more specially, when the swing arm is located at the second position being an angle of a to the installation plate, a firm support to the lower end face of the base can be formed, and thus the overall rigidity of the wheel assemblies can be improved.

Hereinafter, the invention will be explained in detail with conjunction of the embodiment accompanied by drawings, in which: [0006]
FIG. 1 is a front view of the two-purpose roller skate according to the invention; [0007]
FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; [0008]
FIG. 3 is a front view of the wheel assemblies of the embodiment of the two-purpose roller skate shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in which the swing arm is locked at the first locked position; [0009]
FIG. 4 is another front view of the wheel assemblies of the embodiment of the two-purpose roller skate shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in which the swing arm is locked at the second locked position; [0010]
FIG. 5 is a top view of the wheel assemblies shown in FIG. 4; [0011]
FIG. 6 is a sectional view along the line B-B in FIG. 4; [0012]
FIG. 7 is another front view of the wheel assemblies shown in FIG. 4, in which the wheel is omitted; [0013]
FIG. 8 is a front view of the swing arm shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6; [0014]
FIG. 9 is a sectional view along the line E-E in FIG. 8; [0015]
FIG. 10 is another front view of the swing arm shown in FIG. 9, which shows a torsion spring fitted on the swing arm; [0016]
FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of the position-limiting claw shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6.[0017]
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, which show a front view and a bottom view of an embodiment of the two-purpose roller skate according to the invention respectively, the roller skate is composed of a [0018] shoe body 1 and a pair of wheel assemblies 2 and 2′, each of the wheel assemblies is mounted with a pair of wheels. FIG. 2 shows clearly that the two- wheel assemblies 2 and 2′ are secured on two inward cavities of the sole of the shoe, and the two- wheel assemblies 2 and 2′ have a symmetrical structure. Therefore, in the following explanation, only the structure of the wheel assembly in the fore cavity is described.
Referring to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are front views of the [0019] wheel assembly 2 located in the fore end cavity according to the embodiment of the two-purpose roller skate shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, the wheel assembly 2 is in a state of being retracted, and so it is obvious that the two-purpose roller skate can be used as a common sports shoe; but in FIG. 4, the wheel assembly 2 is in a state of being open, the two-purpose roller skate may be used as a roller skate. FIG. 5 is a top view of the wheels assembly 2 shown in FIG. 4. As shown in drawings, each of the wheel assembly 2 includes a base 21, the base 21 has a installation plate 211 generally parallel to the sole of the shoe and two parallel side walls 212 and 212′ (only the side wall 212 on the front can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4) extending downward from the two side edges of the installation plate 211.
Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a sectional view along the line BB in FIG. 4. As shown in drawings, at the two [0020] parallel side walls 212 and 212′ the are formed coaxial through holes 213, 213′.
As shown in the drawings mentioned above, the [0021] wheel assembly 2 also has a swing arm 22, on the upper end of which a through hole 221 is formed, and the swing arm 22 is secured on a pivot 23 through the respective through holes mentioned above 213′, 221 and 213. A pair of wheels 24 and 24′ are mounted on the free end of the swing arm 22. No further explanation is needed here, since there are many mature installation methods in the prior art to be used.
Referring to FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, FIG. 7 is another front view of the wheel assembly shown in FIG. 4, and the [0022] wheels 24 and 24′ are omitted so that the assemble relation between the base 21 and the swing arm can be indicated clearly. As shown in drawings, at the lower two sides of the swing arm 22 there are formed the first protruding shoulders 222,222′ and the second protruding shoulders 223,223′ (shown as the black sold line) engaged respectively with lower end faces 214,214′ and the back end faces 215,215′ (the lower end face 214′ and the back end face 215′ on the back side wall 212′ in the drawing are not shown) of the two parallel side walls 212 and 212′ of the base 21, so as to make the swing arm 22 rotate between the first position (retracting position) parallel to the installation plate and the second position (opening position) being at an angle α to the installation plate 211, the angle α ranging from 110 to 150 degree (see FIG. 7). As what will be explained in detail as follows, a stopping mechanism locks the swing arm 22 at the first position and the second position.
Referring to FIG. 6, the stopping mechanism mentioned above includes a [0023] tension spring 25 disposed around one end of the pivot 23, and a position-limiting claw 26 and a locking screw nut 27 disposed around another end of the pivot. One end of the pivot 23 has a protruding shoulder 231, and the tension spring 25 is disposed between the protruding shoulder 231 and the side wall 212′ of the base 1 thus to create a biasing pressure to the pivot 23 (in FIG. 6, it is a biasing pressure downward). Referring to FIG. 11, there is shown clearly the structure of the position-limiting claw 26 shown in FIGS. 3-6. The claw 26 has an inner hole 261, and at the surface of the hole there is formed a pair of tenons 262,262′ protruding in a radial inward way, the pair of tenons be fitting with a pair of mortises 232,232′ disposed on the pivot 23(the mortise on the back is not shown in FIG. 6), so as to limit the rotation of the pivot, but allow the pivot 23 move along the axial direction. The nut 27 locks the position-limiting claw 26 on one of the shaft shoulder 233 of the pivot 23. The two ends of the position-limiting claw 26 has a pair of curve claws 263,263′ extending inward, which fit to a pair of cavities 218,218′ disposed on the side wall 212, the longer curve claw 263 of which engages selectively with the corresponding cavities 225,226 disposed on the swing arm 22 (see FIG. 8). Thus, under the function of the tension of the tension spring 25, the swing arm 22 can be locked at the first position and the second position. As shown in FIG. 8, there is a phase difference of a angle between the two cavities 225 and 226, and the angle α in the given embodiment may preferably be 135 degree.
Referring to [0024] 7 and FIG. 8, in the given embodiment, the first protruding shoulders 222,222′ also includes an auxiliary protruding shoulders 229,229′ (only the fore protruding shoulder is shown in the drawing), and when the swing arm 22 is locked at the second locked position (the open position), the auxiliary protruding shoulders are fitted to the sloping end faces 219 and 219′ (the sloping end face 219′ on the back side wall 212′ is not shown) formed on the lower end faces of the two parallel side walls 212 and 212′ of the base 1 to improve the stability of the wheel assembly.
Referring to FIGS. 6, 8, [0025] 9 and 10, in the given embodiment, at one of the two side faces facing the two parallel side walls 212,212′ of the swing arm 22 there is disposed a spring groove 224, a torsion spring 29 is disposed in the groove 224, one end of the torsion spring 29 is secured on the swing arm 22 by the concave 227 in the swing arm 22 (see FIG. 10), and the other end is secured on the pivot 23 by such as the hole disposed on the pivot 23. The rotating direction of the spring may be selected so that the spring creates enough pre-tightening force when the swing arm 22 is locked at the first position (retracting position), to ensure the swing arm 22 to return rapidly to the second position (open position) under the action of the spring force after the swing arm 22 is released from the first position (retracting position). Alternatively, it is also possible to dispose a spring groove (not shown in the drawing) on another 212′ of the two side faces of the two parallel side walls 212,212′, to dispose a torsion spring also in the groove, and to secure the two ends of the torsion spring on the swing arm and the pivot 23 in a same way.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, for convenience of operation, in the given embodiment, there is also disposed an adjusting [0026] shaft 3 through edge of the sole of the shoe (indicated by two dash dot line in FIG. 6), the inner end of the adjusting shaft being secured on the end of the pivot 23 in a screwing manner. Further, in order to fix the wheel assembly 2 on the sole of the shoe body 1, at the installation plate 211 there is formed a multiplicity of installation holes to secure closely the installation plate 211 by such securing elements such as screw bolts and screw caps.
The operation process of the wheel assembly mentioned above is explained as follows: referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, when press the adjusting [0027] shaft 3 inward by finger, the tension force of the tension spring 25 is overcome, the pivot 23 is driven to move upward along the axial direction (see FIG. 6), and the position claw 26 clutched between the screw nut 27 and the shaft shoulder 233 is moved upward following the pivot 23, so as to make the swing arm 22 be in a releasing state, allowing the operator to rotate the swing arm 22 to the retracting position by hand, making the wheel be hiding in the cavity of the sole of the shoe filly, and because of the position-limiting function of the second protruding shoulders 223,223′, it is possible to ensure that the curve claw 263 of the position-limiting claw 26 is aligned with the position-limiting concave groove 225 of the swing arm 22; further, under the action of the tension force, the curve claw 263 engages with the position-limiting concave 225, making the swing arm 22 be locked in retracting state, in the meantime, the two-purpose roller skate being used as a common sports shoe; and the swing arm can also be adjusted conveniently from the retracting state to the open state with the similar operation, but that the swing arm 22 can be returned to and locked in the open state automatically under the action of the torsion spring 29,29′.
The embodiments mentioned above are only used to explain the invention, but not to limit to the invention, and the skilled in the art can perform various changes and modifications within the sprits and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention should be limited by the claims. [0028]

Claims

1. A two-purpose roller skate, includes a shoe body (1), and a pair of wheel assemblies (2,2′), at each of the wheel assemblies there is mounted a pair of wheels (24,24′) being secured on the inward cavity of the sole of the shoe body, characterized in that: each of the wheel assembly (2) includes a base (21), the base (21) having a installation plate (211) and two parallel side walls (212,212′) extending downwards from the installation plate (211), at the two parallel side walls (212,212′) there are formed coaxial through holes (213,213′); a swing arm (22), formed a through hole (221) on its upper end, being mounted in a hinged way on a pivot (23) passing through the through hole (213′,221,213) mentioned above, the said pair of wheels (24,24′) being mounted on the free end of the swing arm (22), in at least one side of the said swing arm (22) there being formed the first protruding shoulders (222,222′) and the second protruding shoulders (223,223′) which can be engaged with the lower end face and the back end face of the base respectively, to make the swing arm (22) rotate between the first position parallel to the installation plate (211) and the second position being at an angle of a to the installation plate (211), the angle α ranging from 110 to 150 degree; a stopping mechanism locking the said swing arm (22) on the first position and the second position.

2. The two-purpose roller skate according to claim 1, characterized in that: the said stopping mechanism includes a tension spring (25) disposed on one end of the pivot 23, a position-limiting claw (26) and a locking nut (27); one end of the pivot (23) having a protruding shoulder (231), and the tension spring (25) being disposed between the protruding shoulder (231) and a side wall (212′) of the base (1), the inner hole (261) of the claw (26) having a pair of the tenons (262,262′), the pair of the tenons (262,262′) being fitted to a pair of mortises (232,232′) disposed on the pivot (23), the said nut (27) locking the position-limiting claw (26) on one of the shaft shoulders (233) of the pivot (23), the two ends of the position-limiting claw (26) having a pair of curve claw (263,263′) extending inwardly, the pair of curve claw (263,263′) being fitted to a pair of cavities (218,218′) disposed on the side wall (212), the longer curve claw (263) of the claws being engaged selectively with the corresponding cavities (225,226) disposed on the swing arm (22).

3. The two-purpose roller skate according to claim 1, characterized in that: said angle α is 135 degree.

4. The two-purpose roller skate according to claim 1, characterized in that: said first protruding shoulders (222,222′) also include auxiliary protruding shoulders (229,229′); when the swing arm (22) is locked at the second locked position, the auxiliary protruding shoulders are fitted with the sloping end face (219) formed on the lower end face of the two parallel side walls (212, 212′) of the base (1).

5. The two-purpose roller skate according to claim 1, characterized in that: in at least one of the two side faces facing the two parallel side walls (212,212′) of the swing arm (22) there is disposed a spring groove (224) in which receives a torsion spring (29), one end of the torsion spring (29) being secured on the swing arm (22), and the other end being secured on the pivot (23).

6. The two-purpose roller skate according to claim 2, characterized in that: an adjusting shaft (3) passing through the edge of the sole of the shoe is secured on the end of the pivot (23) in screwing manner.

7. The two-purpose roller skate according to claim 1, characterized in that: at said installation plate (211) there is formed a multiplicity of installation holes,