U.S. patent number 3,884,485 [Application Number 05/389,536] was granted by the patent office on 1975-05-20 for collapsible roller skate.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Frespa AG. Invention is credited to Josua Walle.
United States Patent |
3,884,485 |
Walle |
May 20, 1975 |
Collapsible roller skate
Abstract
A thick-platformed roller skate in which the rollers are
retractably mounted on levers horizontally pivoted on the platform,
the levers having their free ends in generally proximate relation
and engaged by common releasable detent to hold the levers at least
in position with the rollers in projected operable position, and
preferably in both projected and retracted positions.
Inventors: |
Walle; Josua (Zuchwil,
CH) |
Assignee: |
Frespa AG (Herzogenbuchsee,
CH)
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Family
ID: |
4383112 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/389,536 |
Filed: |
August 20, 1973 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Aug 21, 1972 [CH] |
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12448/72 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
280/841 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B
5/1633 (20130101); A63C 17/008 (20130101); A63C
17/20 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A43B
5/16 (20060101); A63C 17/00 (20060101); A63C
17/20 (20060101); A63c 017/20 () |
Field of
Search: |
;280/11.1R,11.1BR,11.19,47,43.13,43,9 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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488,743 |
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1928 |
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DD |
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464,879 |
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1914 |
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FR |
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Primary Examiner: Schonberg; David
Assistant Examiner: Mitchell; David M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Daniel; William J.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. In a convertable roller skate comprising a thick platform having
recesses in its undersurface at least adjacent its opposite ends,
roller means adjacent each of said platform ends, and means
supporting such rollers for movement from a retracted position
fully within said recess to an operative position at least
partially protruding from said recess, the improvement wherein said
roller supporting means comprises a rigid lever for each such
roller means, said lever carrying at one end thereof said roller
means for rotation about the roller axis and being pivoted
intermediate its ends to said platform on a fixed horizontal axis
intermediate the platform top and bottom, whereby pivotal movement
of said lever from a generally horizontal position to an inclined
position moves the corresponding roller means from said retracted
to said operative position and vice versa, each said lever
extending in the direction of said opposite roller means and
terminating at its free end in proximate spaced relation to the
free end of the other lever, and a common detent means supported by
said platform for engaging the mutually adjacent ends of said
levers to positively hold said levers in their respective inclined
positions and thereby said roller means in their respective
operative protruding positions, said detent means being releasable
to free said lever ends.
2. The skate of claim 1 wherein said detent means is movable to
disengage from the free lever ends.
3. The skate of claim 1 wherein said detent means engages said
lever ends in both said horizontal and inclined positions to
maintain the levers in both said positions.
4. The skate of claim 1 wherein said platform has separate recesses
therein for the separate roller means and a generally connecting
channel therebetween for receiving said levers.
5. The skate of claim 1 wherein said detent means comprises a solid
body having surfaces intercepting the pivotal paths of said lever
ends.
6. The skate of claim 5 wherein said solid body is movable bodily
out of the paths of the lever ends.
7. The skate of claim 5 wherein each lever has at its free end an
inclined face extending downwardly and away from said end and said
detent body is adapted to wedgingly engage the mutually facing
inclined faces to hold said levers in their inclined position.
8. The skate of claim 7 wherein each lever end also has an inclined
face extending upwardly and away from said end, and said detent
body is adapted to also wedgingly engage the latter faces to hold
the levers in their respective horizontal positions.
9. The skate of claim 8 wherein said detent body is generally
cylindrical in shape, being arranged in said platform on axis
parallel to the lever pivotal axes, and is movable bodily axially
along said axis.
Description
The present invention relates to a collapsible roller-skate.
Roller-skates are already known which consist of a platform on
rollers fitted with a means of attachment under the sole of an
ordinary shoe.
Furthermore, roller-skates already exist in which the
roller-mechanism and the shoe are all in one piece.
The drawback to these known roller-skates is that it is necessary
to have a roller-mechanism designed to be attached to a shoe and
another shoe for walking.
Roller-skates are known in which it is possible to lock the rollers
in order to walk, but even when the rollers are locked, difficulty
is experienced in walking.
An object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible
roller-skate which can be used for walking or for skating.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided
a collapsible roller-skate comprising a body adapted for attachment
to a shoe, a plurality of rollers rotatably carried on retraction
means, housed in the body, the retraction means being operable to
move said rollers to one of two distinct positions, the rollers in
one distinct position being totally housed in the body and in the
other distinct position protruding at least in part from the
body.
Preferably, the retraction means includes at least two levers each
pivotally housed in said body and rotatably carrying at one end a
number of rollers.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is particularly
described below, with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which:
FIG. 1 shows the underside of the sole of a roller-skate of the
present invention,
FIG. 2 is a side-view of the skate of FIG. 1 showing the rollers in
the lower position,
FIG. 3 is a side-view of the skate in FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the
rollers in the upper position inside the sole.
Referring to the drawings an embodiment of the present invention
includes a sole 10 in which a roller-mechanism is housed. The sole
10 is preferably made of wood or a suitable plastics material.
However it could also be made of leather, hard rubber or a light
metal such as aluminium. The sole is joined to the upper part of
the shoe in the usual way.
There are two recesses 11, 12 in the sole 10 in which the rollers
are housed. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the
recess 11 situated in the front of the sole houses two rollers 13,
14 whereas the recess 12 at the back houses only one roller 15. The
two front rollers 13, 14 rotate round an axle 16 which passes
through the extremity of a lever 17. The lever 17 pivots about a
fixed axle 18 mounted in the sole. The other extremity of the lever
17 which is remote from said rollers, is provided with two inclined
surfaces 19, 20 (which come in contact with a locking device 21).
The back roller 15 is rotatably received on an axle 22 which is
supported in a bifurcated portion 23 of a lever 24. The lever 24
pivots about an axle 25 mounted in the sole 10. The other end of
the lever 24 remote from roller 15 also provided with inclined
surfaces 19, 20. The inclined surfaces 19, 20 of levers 17 and 22
co-operate with a locking device 21. The locking device includes a
cylindrical portion 30 which is slidably received in a bore formed
in the sole 10 and which extends transversely to the lingitudinal
axis of the skate.
A helical spring 27 bears against the cylindrical portion 30 to
bias the latter towards the centre of the sole. In the biased
position the inclined surfaces 19 or 20 of the respective levers
17, 24 bear against the cylindrical portion 30. Connected to one
end of the cylindrical portion 30 is an axle 28 formed at the free
end of axle 28 is a manual control knob 29 which exceeds the
dimensions of the sole laterally. The manual control know 29
enables the cylindrical portion 30 to be axially moved against the
bias of spring 27 into a position which it is no longer in contact
with the inclined surfaces 19, 20 of the levers.
FIG. 3 illustrates a position of the rollers in which the inclined
surfaces 19 are in contact with the cylindrical portion 30 thus
preventing the levers from pivoting around their fixes axles. In
order to allow the rollers to come down from the sole into a
skating position, the manual control knob and the cylinder 30 are
pulled out of the sole, against the force of the spring 27, until
the cylinder is no longer in contact with the inclined surfaces 19.
Thus the levers are freed and the rollers fall down into the
position indicated in FIG. 2 in which they protrude below the sole
and ready for skating. When the manual control knob 29 is released,
the spring 27 pushes the cylindrical portion 30 back into the
locking position in which the inclined surfaces 20 are in contact
with the cylindrical portion 30. Thus, an accidental retraction of
the rollers due to the levers pivoting is prevented.
After use, the rollers can be retracted and locked inside the sole
by means of the same knob.
One advantage of the skate of the present invention is that it can
be used as a conventional shoe when the rollers are retracted
inside the sole or as a roller skate when they are locked outside
the sole. Furthermore the skate of the present invention is not
much more complicated than skates designed solely for skating;
therefore the present skate is highly competitive commercially.
The thickness of the sole is of necessity determined so that the
rollers can be housed in the recesses of the sole. The thickness of
the sole is directly dependent on the diameter chosen for the
rollers.
Although the form of realization described has three rollers, it is
evident that a skate as in this invention could have two or even
four rollers mounted on the front and back axles.
* * * * *