Skate with length adjustment mechanism

Abstract

A skate comprises a sole plate including an elongate groove through either downward extended wall, and a boot assembly including a heel portion and a toe portion including a rear elongate slot on either side, two fasteners inserted through heel portion and slots for coupling toe and heel portions together and for permitting slots to slide about fasteners within a distance defined by a length of slot, two opposite elongate projections on a bottom each having a length equal to that of slot, a fastening member for securing toe portion and sole plate, and a lever hinged to fastening device. Lever is outwardly pivoted to unfasten fastening member prior to pulling toe portion, and in response slots slide the same about fasteners, thereby moving toe portion relative to sole plate for adjusting the skate length.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to skates and more particularly to an in line skate with length adjustment mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] A conventional skate (e.g., an in line skate shown in FIG. 1) comprises a plurality of tandem wheels 1 on the bottom, a boot 2, an insole 3, and a plurality of buckles 4 for fastening the skate. However, a drawback of the previous design is that there is no provision of length adjustment mechanism. Hence, a pair of suitable skates worn by one child may be unusable next year due to the growth (particularly the length) of feet of the child. This may necessitate parents to buy a pair of new skates. In view of above, it is disadvantageous due to the extra spending of buying skates. Further, it is not wise to either discard the old skates or store the same.

[0003] Thus, it is desirable to provide a skate with length adjustment mechanism in order to overcome the above drawback of prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a skate comprising a sole plate including two opposite walls downward extended from front sides and an elongate groove through either wall; and a boot assembly including a heel portion having a hole on either side and a toe portion including a rear elongate slot on either side, two fasteners inserted through the holes and the slots for coupling the toe portion and the heel portion together and for permitting the slots to slide about the fasteners within a distance defined by a length of the slot, two opposite elongate projections on a bottom each having a length equal to that of the slot, two transverse apertures through the projections, a fastening member driven through the apertures and the grooves and secured to one of the projections, and a lever hinged to the fastening device; wherein in an adjustment of a length of the skate, the lever is outwardly pivoted to unfasten the fastening member prior to pulling the toe portion either forward or rearward, in response the slots slide either forward or rearward about the fasteners, thereby moving the toe portion with respect to the sole plate, and fasten the fastening member by inwardly pivoting the lever until being stopped the other projection.

[0005] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing major components of a conventional skate;

[0007] FIG. 2 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of skate according to the invention;

[0008] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of FIG. 2;

[0009] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

[0010] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, there is shown a skate (e.g., an in line skate) constructed in accordance with the invention comprising a sole plate 11, a plurality of tandem wheels 15 on the bottom of sole plate 11, a boot consisting of a toe portion 12, a heel portion 13 releasably coupled to (or integral with) sole plate 11, and a tendon guard 31 having two lower side holes 32, an insole, a rear elongate slot 16 on either side of toe portion 12, a hole 14 on either side of heel portion 13, two pins 17 inserted through holes 14, slots 16, and holes 32 for coupling toe portion 12, a heel portion 13, and tendon guard 31 together and for permitting slots 16 to slide about pins 17, the sliding distance being defined by the length of slot 16, two opposite elongate projections 18 on the bottom of toe portion 12, a first toothed section 10 on either side of the front portion of sole plate 11, an elongate groove 19 through each first toothed section 10, the length of groove 19 equal to that of slot 16, two transverse apertures 20 through projections 18, a fastening device 21 driven through apertures 20 and grooves 19 to be secured by a nut-like member 23 (or a nut-like member 23 having a peripheral flange 24), a lever 25 coupled to fastening device 21 by a hinge 251, an open channel 26 on an outer side of the projection 18 having a stop 27 therein for fastening lever 25 when hinge 251 is urged against one projection 18, and a second toothed section 22 on each projection 18 meshed with the first toothed sections 10 for enhancing the engagement of toe portion 12 and sole plate 11.

[0012] Referring to FIG. 2 specifically, in the process of increasing the length of skate, firstly user has to unfasten the fastening device 21 by sequentially disengaging lever 25 from stop 27 and outwardly pivoting lever 25 about hinge 251. Then user may pull toe portion 12 forward. In response, slots 16 slide forward about pins 17 until the pulling is stopped. As a result, toe portion 12 moves with respect to sole plate 11 (i.e., the length of skate is increased). After a desired length of skate is obtained, user may fasten the fastening device 21 again by inwardly pivoting lever 25 about hinge 251 to urge hinge 251 against one projection 18 and snapping lever 25 to stop 27 sequentially.

[0013] While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A skate comprising:

a sole plate including two opposite walls downward extended from front sides and an elongate groove through either wall; and

a boot assembly including a heel portion having a hole on either side and a toe portion including a rear elongate slot on either side, two fasteners inserted through the holes and the slots for coupling the toe portion and the heel portion together and for permitting the slots to slide about the fasteners within a distance defined by a length of the slot, two opposite elongate projections on a bottom each having a length equal to that of the slot, two transverse apertures through the projections, a fastening member driven through the apertures and the grooves and secured to one of the projections, and a lever hinged to the fastening device;

wherein in an adjustment of a length of the skate, the lever is outwardly pivoted to unfasten the fastening member prior to pulling the toe portion either forward or rearward, in response the slots slide either forward or rearward about the fasteners, thereby moving the toe portion with respect to the sole plate, and fasten the fastening member by inwardly pivoting the lever until being stopped the other projection.

2. The skate of claim 1, wherein the skate is mounted with a plurality of wheels.

3. The skate of claim 2, wherein the wheels are tandem.

4. The skate of claim 1, further comprising a tendon guard having two lower side holes with the fasteners secured therein.

5. The skate of claim 1, further comprising an open channel on an outer side of the other projection and a stop in the channel for fastening the lever when the lever is urged against the other projection.

6. The skate of claim 1, further comprising a nut-like member having a peripheral flange for securing the fastening member to one projection.

7. The skate of claim 1, wherein the sole plate further comprises a first toothed section on either wall and the toe portion further comprises a second toothed section on either projection meshed with the first toothed section.