US20020153678A1

US20020153678A1 - Position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate

Info

Publication number: US20020153678A1
Application number: US09/840,620
Authority: US
Inventors: Chun-Pao Chiang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-04-24
Filing date: 2001-04-24
Publication date: 2002-10-24

Abstract

A position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate mainly includes a base fixedly mounted to a top of an open-bottomed cavity provided at a sole of the roller skate, a brake support pivotally connected to the base and being normally pushed downward by a first torsion spring, a brake block connected to a lower end of the brake support to move along with the same, and a stop lever pivotally connected to one side of the base and having a top portion normally pulled by a second torsion spring into engagement with either a top or a lateral notch provided on the brake support. When the roller skate functions like a roller skate, the stop lever is caused to engage with the top notch of the brake support, so that the latter is held in a lowered position and the brake block downward projects from the cavity. And when the roller skate functions like an ordinary shoe, the stop lever is caused to engage with the lateral notch, so that the brake support is held in a lifted position and the brake block is completely retracted into the cavity.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate. When the dual-purpose roller skate is used as a roller skate, the brake unit may be conveniently shifted into a lowered position to expose a brake block from the sole of the roller skate, and when the roller skate is used as an ordinary shoe, the brake unit may be shifted into a lifted position to retract the brake block into a cavity provided at the sole.

In-line roller skates are very popular among people who love skating. The currently commercially available in-line roller skates are designed only for skating and could not be used as ordinary shoes for walking. A skater must take off the in-line roller skates to wear a pair of ordinary shoes when he or she is not in a skating rink or place suitable for skating. Thus, the skater always has to wear a pair of ordinary shoes and carry the in-line roller skates along with him or her to the skating rink. This is very inconvenient for the skater to do so.

There is developed a type of dual-purpose roller skates to eliminate the drawback of the conventional in-line roller skates. Such dual-purpose roller skates include wheel units that could be shifted to a lowered position for the roller skates to function like general roller skates and to a lifted position for the roller skates to function like ordinary shoes. A drawback of such dual-purpose roller skates is that they do not have a brake like that provided on the in-line roller skates and are not safe for use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate, so that the dual-purpose roller skate is safer for use without affecting its function as an ordinary shoe.

To achieve the above and other objects, the position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate according to the present invention mainly includes a base fixedly mounted to a top of an open-bottomed cavity provided at a sole of the roller skate, a brake support pivotally connected to the base and being normally pushed downward by a first torsion spring, a brake block connected to a lower end of the brake support to move along with the same, and a stop lever pivotally connected to one side of the base and having a top portion normally pulled by a second torsion spring into engagement with either a top or a lateral notch provided on the brake support. When the dual-purpose roller skate functions like a roller skate, the stop lever is caused to engage with the top notch of the brake support, so that the latter is held in a lowered position and the brake block downward projects from the cavity. And when the roller skate functions like an ordinary shoe, the stop lever is caused to engage with the lateral notch, so that the brake support is held in a lifted position and the brake block is completely retracted into the cavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein [0006]
FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate according to the present invention; [0007]
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1; [0008]
FIG. 3 is a partially sectioned side view showing a mounting position of the position-adjustable brake unit of the present invention at a bottom of a roller skate; [0009]
FIG. 4 is a front view of the position-adjustable brake unit of the present invention in a lowered position; [0010]
FIG. 5 is a front view of the position-adjustable brake unit of the present invention in a lifted position; and [0011]
FIG. 6 shows in more details the use of the position-adjustable brake unit of the present invention on a dual-purpose roller skate.[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 that are assembled and exploded perspective views, respectively, of a position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate according to the present invention. A dual-purpose roller skate, namely, a roller skate that selectively functions like a roller skate or a regular shoe, includes a sole [0013] 1 (see FIG. 3) having one or more open-bottomed cavities 11 provided thereat for accommodating a brake unit 2 and multiple wheel units 3. The brake unit 2 may be mounted in one of such cavities 11 independently or along with one of the wheel units 3. For the roll skate to also function like an ordinary shoe, both the brake unit 2 and the wheel units 3 must be position-adjustable to shift between a lifted and a lowered position. The present invention concerns a position-adjustable brake unit 2 that can be conveniently and securely shifted between the lifted and the lowered position. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the brake unit 2 of the present invention mainly includes a base 21, a brake support 22, a brake block 23, and a stop lever 24.
The [0014] base 21 is an n-shaped member including a horizontal portion and two vertical plates 211. The base 21 is screwed at the horizontal portion to a locating plate 111 fixedly mounted at a top of the cavity 11. One of the two vertical plates 211 that is closer to a front end of the roller skate is referred to as the front vertical plate 211 while the other one is referred to as the rear vertical plate 211. The front and the rear vertical plates 211 are correspondingly provided at a predetermined position with a shaft hole 212 each. The rear vertical plate 211 is provided at a lower part of two lateral sides with two rearward extended lugs 213 and the front vertical plate 211 is provided at a lower part of one lateral side with a rearward extension 215. An opening 214 is provided on the base 21 at an area connecting the horizontal portion and the rear vertical plate 211.
The [0015] brake support 22 is a substantially rectangular frame having two upward extended vertical wall portions opposite to each other, namely, a front and a rear wall portion. The front and the rear wall portions of the brake support 22 are correspondingly provided at a predetermined position with a shaft hole 221 each, and at a top edge and one lateral edge with a top and a lateral notch 222, respectively. The brake support 22 is pivotally connected to the base 21 to locate between the two vertical plates 211 by extending a shaft 223 through the two shaft holes 212 on the two vertical plates 211 of the base 21 and the two shaft holes 221 on the two vertical wall portions of the brake support 22. A first torsion spring 224 is put around the shaft 223 to locate between the two wall portions of the brake support 22, so as to normally elastically push the brake support 22 downward.
The [0016] brake block 23 is connected to a lower end of the brake support 22 to move along with the brake support 22.
The [0017] stop lever 24 is in the shape of an inverted letter L and includes a horizontal top portion 242 and a vertical portion downward extended from a rear edge of the top portion 242. The vertical portion of the stop lever 23 is provided at an upper part of two lateral sides with two forward extended lugs 241. The stop lever 24 is connected to the base 21 to locate between the two lugs 213 by extending a pin 243 through the two lugs 213 of the base 21 and the two lugs 241 of the stop lever 24, such that the top portion 242 forward extends into the opening 214 near the top of the base 21. A second torsion spring 244 is put around the pin 243 to locate between the two lugs 241 so as to normally elastically pull the top portion 242 of the stop lever 24 into the opening 214 to selectively engage with one of the two notches 222 on the rear vertical wall of the brake support 22.
As can be seen in FIG. 3, the [0018] entire brake unit 2 assembled from the above-mentioned components 21, 22, 23 and 24 in the above-described manner is securely connected to a bottom of a dual-purpose roller skate by screwing the base 21 to the locating plate 111 that is fixedly mounted to the top of the cavity 11 formed at a lower side of the sole 1.
Please refer to FIG. 4. When the [0019] horizontal top portion 242 of the stop lever 24 is engaged with the top notch 222 at the rear wall portion of the brake support 22, the brake support 22 faces downward to expose the brake block 23 from the lower side of the sole 1. At this point, the brake support 22 and the brake block 23 are in the lowered position. And, when the horizontal top portion 242 of the stop lever 24 is engaged with the lateral notch 222 at the rear wall portion of the brake support 22, the brake support 22 faces sideward to bring the brake block 23 into the cavity 11, as shown in FIG. 5. At this point, the brake support 22 and the brake block 23 are in the lifted position. A user wearing the dual-purpose roller skates may adjust the brake blocks 23 thereof to either the lowered or the lifted position depending on actual need.
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary bottom perspective view of a dual-purpose roller skate having a position-[0020] adjustable brake unit 2 of the present invention mounted adjacent to a wheel unit 3 of the roller skate. The wearer may adjust the wheel units 3 and the brake units 2 of a pair of dual-purpose roller skates to the same lifted or lowered position for the roller skates to function like ordinary shoes or roller skates. To change the brake unit 2 from one position to another position, simply depress the vertical portion of the stop lever 24 to disengage the horizontal top portion 242 from the notch 222 of the brake support 22, so that the brake support 22 could be pivotally turned about the shaft 223 to the desired position.
When the [0021] brake support 22 is in the lifted position for the roller skate to function like an ordinary shoe, the engagement of the top portion 242 of the stop lever 24 with the lateral notch 222 of the brake support 22 safely prevents the brake support 22 and accordingly the brake block 23 from unexpected lowering down to hinder the wearer's walking movement. When the vertical portion of the stop lever 24 is depressed to disengage the horizontal top portion 242 from the lateral notch 222, the first torsion spring 224 immediately pushes the brake support 22 downward to expose the brake block 23 from the cavity 11. A lateral side of the brake support 22 opposite to the lateral notch 222 presses against the rearward extension 215 at the lower part of the front vertical plate 211 of the base 21 (see FIG. 4) when the brake support 22 is in the lowered position. The rearward extension 215 and the engagement of the top portion 242 with the top notch 222 together prevent the brake support 22 in the lowered position from unexpectedly retracting into the cavity 11 due to an upward force applied on the brake block 23 during skating.
Similarly, to change the dual-purpose roller skate into an ordinary shoe, simply depress and hold the vertical portion of the [0022] stop lever 24, so that the stop lever 24 pivotally turns about the pin 243 to disengage the horizontal top portion 242 from the top notch 222 of the brake support 22. At this point, the wearer may use one hand to push the brake block 23 into the cavity 11 and then release the stop lever 24, and the second torsion spring 244 would immediately pull the top portion 242 into engagement with the lateral notch 222 and thereby securely holds the brake support 22 and the brake block 23 in the lifted position.
It is to be noted that the top and the [0023] lateral notches 222 on the brake support 22 are so located and so spaced from each other that they always correspond to and engage with the top portion 242 of the stop lever 24 when the brake support 22 is pivotally turned about the shaft 223 to its lowered or lifted position.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A position-adjustable brake unit for a dual-purpose roller skate, said brake unit being fixedly mounted to a top of an open-bottomed cavity provided at a lower side of a sole of said roller skate, either independently or along with position-adjustable wheel units of said roller skate, said dual-purpose roller skate functioning like a roller skate when said brake unit and said wheel units are in a lowered position, and like an ordinary shoe when said brake unit and said wheel units are in a lifted position; said position-adjustable brake unit comprising a base, a brake support, a brake block, and a stop lever;

said base including a horizontal portion that is screwed to the top of said cavity on said sole, and two opposite downward extended vertical plates, namely, a front and a rear vertical plate; said front and said rear vertical plates being correspondingly provided at a predetermined position with a shaft hole each, said rear vertical plate being provided at a lower part of two lateral sides with two rearward extended first lugs and said front vertical plate being provided at a lower part of one lateral side with a rearward extension, and an opening being provided on said base at an area connecting said horizontal portion and said rear vertical plate;

said brake support being a substantially rectangular frame having two upward extended vertical wall portions opposite to each other, namely, a front and a rear wall portion, said front and said rear wall portions being correspondingly provided at a predetermined position with a shaft hole each, and at a top edge and one lateral edge with a top and a lateral notch, respectively; said brake support being pivotally connected to said base to locate between said two vertical plates by extending a shaft through said shaft holes on said two vertical plates and said two vertical wall portions; a first torsion spring being put around said shaft to locate between said two wall portions so as to normally elastically push said brake support downward;

said brake block being connected to a lower end of said brake support to forward project therefrom and move along with said brake support; and

said stop lever including a horizontal top portion and a vertical portion downward extended from a rear edge of said top portion, said vertical portion being provided at an upper part of two lateral sides with two forward extended second lugs, said stop lever being connected to said base to locate between said two first lugs by extending a pin through said first and said second lugs, such that said top portion forward extends into said opening near the top of said base, a second torsion spring being put around said pin to locate between said two second lugs so as to normally elastically pull said top portion into said opening of said base to selectively engage with either said top or said lateral notch on said brake support;

whereby by depressing said vertical portion of said stop lever to pivotally turn said stop lever about said pin, said top portion of said stop lever is caused to disengage from said top or said lateral notch on said brake support, allowing said brake support to be shifted between a lowered position, in which said top portion of said stop lever engages with said top notch of said brake support and said brake block is exposed from said cavity, and a lifted position, in which said top portion of said stop lever engages with said lateral notch of said brake support and said brake block is retracted into said cavity.