US20090058021A1

US20090058021A1 - Sliding apparatus for roller skate shoe

Info

Publication number: US20090058021A1
Application number: US11/892,986
Authority: US
Inventors: Su-Tsai Lin
Original assignee: E Dich International Co Ltd
Current assignee: E-DICH INTERNATIONAL Co Ltd; E Dich International Co Ltd
Priority date: 2007-08-29
Filing date: 2007-08-29
Publication date: 2009-03-05

Abstract

A sliding apparatus for a roller skate shoe includes a roller seat fixed to a rear section of a sole of a shoe body. The roller seat is formed with an accommodating slot, which is combined with a roller assembly through assembling elements. The roller assembly includes a pivoting frame having a center formed with a long slot. Each of two sides of the long slot is formed with a shaft hole seat for supporting and positioning a rotating shaft. The rotating shaft passes through several rollers that may be rotated freely to move the roller skate shoe. Thus, the roller assembly can be replaced with a new one so that the lifetime of the roller skate shoe is lengthened and the environment protection effect can be achieved.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a roller skate shoe, and more particularly to a sliding apparatus for a roller skate shoe, wherein a worn-out roller may be replaced with a new roller so that a lifetime of the roller skate shoe is extended.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 8, a conventional roller skate shoe structure has a shoe body 1 having a sole 2. A heel portion of the sole 2 is formed with a concave and arced slot 3. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, two arced slots 3 a and 3 b are formed and arranged on a left side and a right side, respectively. As shown in FIG. 10, two arced slots 3 c and 3 d are respectively formed on two lateral sides of the sole 2. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 11, two arced slots 3 e and 3 f are aligned and arranged in a straight line. A roller 4 is pivotally mounted to each of the arced slots 3 a to 3 f. The rollers 4 may be rotated so that the user who wears the shoe bodies 1 may choose to walk, run or slide on the ground. In the conventional roller skate shoe structures, the roller 4 is directly pivotally mounted to the arced slot 3 of the sole 2. So, once the roller 4 is worn out, the whole shoe body also cannot be used again, and the user has to purchase new roller skate shoes, thereby causing the nonessential waste and unknowingly causing the environment protection problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a sliding apparatus for a roller skate shoe. The sliding apparatus is disposed on a rear section of a sole of a shoe body so that the shoe body may slide. The sliding apparatus mainly includes: a roller seat, which is fixed to the rear section of the sole of the shoe body and has an accommodating slot; and a roller assembly, which is removably assembled in the accommodating slot of the roller seat through assembling elements. The roller assembly has a pivoting frame having a center formed with a long slot. Each of two sides of the long slot is formed with a shaft hole seat. A center of each of the shaft hole seats is formed with a shaft hole, through which a rotating shaft passes so that the rotating shaft may be rotated relative to the shaft hole. A bearing is inserted into a center of each of rollers of the roller assembly so that the rotating shaft after passing through the rollers and the bearings can be freely rotated relative to the pivoting frame. Thus, the roller assembly can be replaced with a new one so that the lifetime of the roller skate shoe is lengthened and the environment protection effect can be achieved.
Further aspects, objects, and desirable features of the invention will be better understood from the detailed description and drawings that follow in which various embodiments of the disclosed invention are illustrated by way of examples.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration showing a sliding apparatus for a roller skate shoe according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration showing a bottom surface of a sole 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a pictorially assembled view showing the sliding apparatus for the roller skate shoe according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a pictorially exploded view showing the sliding apparatus for the roller skate shoe according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein a roller assembly can be disassembled and replaced with a new one.

FIG. 5 is a pictorially exploded view showing the roller assembly of the sliding apparatus for the roller skate shoe according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a pictorially cross-sectional view showing a portion of the sliding apparatus for the roller skate shoe according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a plane view showing the cross-section of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 8 to 11 are schematic illustrations showing various conventional roller skate shoe structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sliding apparatus 10 for a roller skate shoe according to the invention is disposed on a rear section 92 of a sole 91 of a shoe body 90 so that the shoe body 90 can slide forward. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sliding apparatus 10 mainly includes a roller seat 12 and two roller assemblies 14 and 16.
The roller seat 12 has been embedded into the rear section 92 of the sole 91 when the sole 91 is being formed by way of injection molding. The roller seat 12 according to this embodiment of the invention has two accommodating slots 21 and 22, which have different sizes in diameters and concave circular shapes and are respectively arranged at a front portion and a rear portion. Two lateral sidewalls of the accommodating slot 21 (22) are formed with concave and semi-circular sockets 23 (24). A sidewall of the socket 23 (24) is additionally formed with a socket hole 25 a (25 b) with a reduced diameter. In addition, several cut corners 26 are formed at external corners of the roller seat 12. Several through holes 28 are formed at the peripheral portion, a recessed embedding portion 27 below the cut corner 26 and a connection portion between the accommodating slots 21 and 22, and a material forming the sole may fill into the through holes 28 so that the connection between the roller seat and the sole is enhanced when the roller seat 12 and the sole 91 are combined together. Several assembling holes 29 are also formed on the roller seat 12.
The roller assemblies 14 and 16 are correspondingly and removably assembled and positioned with the accommodating slots 21 and 22 of the roller seat 12. The roller assemblies 14 and 16 have similar structures except for the different roller diameters of the rollers. Referring to FIG. 5, the roller assembly 14 (16) includes the following members.
A pivoting frame 41 (61) is formed with a long slot 42 (62) at a center thereof. Two sides of the long slot 42 (62) are formed with a shaft hole seat 43 (63), which may be correspondingly disposed in and positioned with the socket 23 (24) of the roller seat 12. A shaft hole 44 (64) penetrates through the center of the shaft hole seat 43 (63) so that a rotating shaft 45 (65) may be pivotally mounted thereon. The rotating shaft 45 (65) has a bigger head 451 (651). Referring also to FIGS. 6 and 7, a groove 452 (652) is formed near a tail end of the rotating shaft 45 (65) so that the rotating shaft 45 (65) passing through the shaft hole seat 43 (63) of the pivoting frame 41 (61) has the groove 452 (652) to be engaged with a C-ring 13, and may be placed on and positioned with the socket hole 25 a (25 b) of the roller seat 12. Also, flanges 46 (66) extending inwards are formed on opposite sides of the shaft hole seat 43 (63) on two sides of the long slot 42 (62). Also, several assembling holes 40 (60) are also formed on a peripheral portion of the pivoting frame 41 (61) corresponding to the assembling holes 29 of the roller seat 12. Several assembling elements 11 may pass through the assembling holes 40, 60 and 29 to achieve the combination effect. Several rollers 47 (67) are paired. The tail end of the rotating shaft 45 (65) passing through the shaft hole seat 43 (63) on one side of the pivoting frame 41 (61) may pass through the paired rollers 47 (67). A center hole 471 (671) is formed on one side of the center of the roller 47 (67) so that a bearing 48 (68) may be inserted into the center hole 471 (671). The other side of the bearing 48 (68) is supported by a flange 46 (66) on the shaft hole seat 43 (63). A countersink hole 472 (672) is formed on the other side of the center of the roller 47 (67), and a positioning ring 49 (69) is embedded into the opposite countersink holes 472 (672) of the rollers 47 (67) to fix the relative position between the rollers 47 (67). Then, the C-ring 13 is engaged with the groove 452 (652) so that the rollers 47 (67) pivotally mounted on the rotating shaft 45 (65) and may be freely rotated. The roller 47 has the smaller diameter corresponding to the accommodating slot 21. Thus, the sliding apparatus 10 for the roller skate shoe of the invention can be obtained. When the sliding apparatus 10 is being used, the rollers 47 (67) of the roller assembly 14 (16) contact the ground and are rotated to move the shoe body 90. Because the roller 67 has the larger roller diameter and is disposed at the rear section 92 of the sole 91 and the roller 47 has the smaller roller diameter and is disposed in front of the roller 67, the shoe body tilts down forward to meet the human engineering requirement and provide the braking function. As shown in FIG. 1, this structure makes the user stop when the front section 93 of the sole 91 contacts the ground. So, it is very convenient and safe to the user who wears the shoe body 90 with the sliding apparatus 10 of the invention. When the rollers 47 (67) are worn out, the assembling elements 11 can be loosen to take out the roller assembly 14 (16) and replace the roller assembly 14 (16) with a new one, or the C-ring 13 can be removed and the rotating shaft 45 (65) may be pulled out to replace the worn-out element only. This is because the other members of the sliding apparatus 10 for the roller skate shoe still can be continuously used. Unlike the prior art, in which the whole shoe body has to be treated as a waste material if any element is damaged because all roller members are fixedly mounted on the shoe body, the invention can provide the environment protection effect and lengthen the lifetime of the roller skate shoe because the roller assembly can be disassembled and only the damaged element has to be replaced.
New characteristics and advantages of the invention covered by this document have been set forth in the foregoing description. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Changes in methods, shapes, structures or devices may be made in details without exceeding the scope of the invention by those who are skilled in the art. The scope of the invention is, of course, defined in the language in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A sliding apparatus for a roller skate shoe, the sliding apparatus being disposed on a rear section of a sole of a shoe body so that the shoe body may slide, the sliding apparatus mainly comprising:

a roller seat, which is fixed to the rear section of the sole of the shoe body and has a first accommodating slot; and

a first roller assembly, which is removably assembled in the first accommodating slot of the roller seat through assembling elements, wherein the first roller assembly has a pivoting frame having a center formed with a long slot, each of two sides of the long slot is formed with a shaft hole seat, a center of each of the shaft hole seats is formed with a shaft hole, through which a rotating shaft passes so that the rotating shaft may be rotated relative to the shaft hole, and a bearing is inserted into a center of each of rollers of the first roller assembly so that the rotating shaft after passing through the rollers and the bearings can be freely rotated relative to the pivoting frame.

2. The sliding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second roller assembly, wherein the first and second roller assemblies respectively have a smaller size and a larger size, the roller seat further has a second accommodating slot, the first and second accommodating slots are respectively disposed on a front portion and a rear portion of the roller seat, the first accommodating slot has a smaller size to accommodate the first roller assembly with the smaller size, the second accommodating slot has a larger size to accommodate the second roller assembly with the larger size so that the shoe body slightly tilts down to meet a human engineering requirement and to provide a braking function.

3. The sliding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller seat further has a second accommodating slot, the first and second accommodating slots are respectively disposed on a front portion and a rear portion of the roller seat, cut corners are formed at external corners of the roller seat, a recessed embedding portion is formed below each of the cut corners, through holes are formed at a peripheral portion of the roller seat and a connection portion between the first and second accommodating slots, and a material forming the sole may fill into the through holes so that a connection between the roller seat and the sole is enhanced.

4. The sliding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller seat further has a second accommodating slot, the first and second accommodating slots are respectively disposed on a front portion and a rear portion of the roller seat, each of two lateral sidewalls of each of the accommodating slots is formed with a concave and semi-circular socket for positioning the shaft hole seat of the pivoting frame.

5. The sliding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a sidewall of each of the sockets is additionally formed with a socket hole with a reduced diameter so that the socket hole supports one end of the rotating shaft passing through the shaft hole seat.

6. The sliding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating shaft has a bigger head and is formed with a groove near a tail end of the rotating shaft, and the groove may be engaged with a C-ring.

7. The sliding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein flanges extending inwards are formed on opposite sides of each of the shaft hole seats on two sides of the long slot of the pivoting frame, and the flanges support the bearings through which the rotating shaft passes.

8. The sliding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a center hole for accommodating the bearing is formed on one side of the center of each of the rollers, a countersink hole is formed on the other side of the center of each of the rollers, and a positioning ring is embedded into the opposite countersink holes of the rollers to fix a relative position between the rollers on the same rotating shaft.

9. The sliding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second roller assembly, wherein the first and second roller assemblies respectively have a smaller size and a larger size, and a plurality of assembling holes is correspondingly disposed on the roller seat and the pivoting frame of the first roller assembly and a pivoting frame of the second roller assembly so that the assembling elements respectively pass through the assembling holes to achieve a combination effect.