WO2002000313A1

WO2002000313A1 - A skate for attachment onto a piece of footwear

Info

Publication number: WO2002000313A1
Application number: PCT/DK2001/000349
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lars Dithmer
Original assignee: Lindberg A/S
Priority date: 2000-06-23
Filing date: 2001-05-21
Publication date: 2002-01-03
Also published as: AU2001260084A1

Abstract

The present invention concerns a skate for attachment onto a piece of footwear, said skate comprising first and second attachment means for foot support and fastening of the skate onto the foot of a wearer, skate module means, and common assembly means onto which the attachment means and the skate module means are mounted, wherein at least one of the first and second attachment means comprises a left and a right foot support member with means for adjusting the width, and wherein the distance between the first and second attachment means is longitudinally adjustable along the common assembly means. By providing a skate, such as an in-line roller skate which is adjustable both longitudinally and in width, the wearer can adjust the attachment points in accordance with his or her needs. Thus, a skate according to the invention is more comfortable in use since the centres of impact on the foot may be adjusted according to the wearer's specific orthopaedic profile.

Description

A SKATE FOR ATTACHMENT ONTO A PIECE OF FOOTWEAR

The present invention relates to a skate for attachment onto a piece of footwear as mentioned in the preamble of claim 1.

A skate of this kind is known from e.g. US patent No. 3,993,318. The roller skate disclosed therein may be adjusted in length and is secured onto the foot of the wearer by buckled straps at the front of the foot and around the ankle. By this type of roller skate, it is difficult to strap it firmly onto the foot of the wearer. This results in a loosely-fitted roller skate, in particular in the sideways direction. Moreover, loose fitting and resulting inadequate ankle support involves a considerable risk of ligament injuries or other injuries to the ankles and/or knees of the wearer.

From US-2,137,330, a similar type of roller skate design is known, where the front attachment points may be individually adjusted, just as the skate may be adjusted in length. This results in a complicated adjustment system that is sensitive to wear and tear and complicated to adjust. Similar to the type of roller skate mentioned in US patent No. 3,993,318, it is difficult to strap the roller skate firmly onto the foot of the wearer. This results in a loosely-fitted roller skate, in particular in the sideways direction and inadequate ankle support increasing the risk of ligament injuries or other injuries to the ankles and/or knees of the wearer.

Though, the advantages of these known types of roller skate are that they may be used together with many kinds of footwear and foot sizes due to the longitudinally adjustable skate, these advantages do not outweigh the disadvantages mentioned earlier.

In order to avoid the disadvantages, a skate integrated in a boot is provided. An example of a particular integrated skate-shoe design is known from US patent No. 5,331,752. This patent discloses a skate with a detachable shoe. The shoe or boot is provided with locking means underneath the sole and the skate module is provided with corresponding locking means for locking of the skate module onto the shoe. By having a rigid or semi-rigid boot, firm ankle support is provided and since the skate member is directly fixed onto the boot, problems in relation to loose fitting are avoided.

This concept is widespread in use for both ice skates and roller skates, including both quad-skates and in-liners. Today, roller skates of this type are widely used for leisure and exercising purposes.

However, skates with integrated boots must be produced in a particular boot size. This often makes it impossible to share or borrow a pair of roller skates. It becomes particular expensive to supply children with roller skates or ice skates since the foot size increases with age and a larger pair of skates must be purchased at regular intervals.

On this basis, an object of the present invention is to provide a skate of the initially mentioned kind which is inexpensive to manufacture and which may easily be adjusted to the foot, i.e. footwear of the wearer. Another object of the invention is to provide a skate which offers adequate ankle support in order to provide good control of the skate and to reduce the risk of causing injuries to the wearer.

These objects are achieved by a skate of the initially mentioned kind, including the features of the characterising part of claim 1.

A skate according to the invention may easily be adjusted in not only length but also in the width of the foot of the wearer by sliding the left and right foot side support members around the boot onto which the skate is to be attached. The first attachment means may be clamped around the nose section of the footwear by the first foot side support and the second attachment means may be clamped around the heel section of the footwear. Since the skate is clamped around the outside of the footwear, the wearer may easily take off the skate. By attaching the skate onto a boot, adequate ankle support is provided. By providing a skate, such as an in-line roller skate adjustable both longitudinally and in width, the wearer can adjust the attachment points in accordance with his or her needs. Thus, a skate according to the invention is more comfortable in use since the centres of impact on the foot may be adjusted according to the wearer's specific orthopaedic profile.

The second attachment means of a skate according to the invention may be provided with firm ankle support. By this design, it is ensured that the ankle support retains the same position in relation to the rear skate module, e.g. the rear wheel or wheels. By the provision of ankle support, the requirements to footwear may be reduced as the required stability or ankle support is provided by the skate itself. This means that boots as well as shoes may be used in a skate according to the invention.

The left and right foot support members include a side support portion and a base support portion, and the base support portion is preferably provided with sliding and fastening means. Hereby, a sideways adjustment may be carried out and the side support members may be firmly secured in a simple manner. The support members may also be adapted to allowing for asymmetrical adjustment of the width. This makes it possible to adapt the skate to the particular orthopaedic characteristics of the foot of the wearer.

Preferably, the first and second attachment means are provided with adjustable straps between the left and right foot support members. Hereby, the skate may be firmly secured onto the footwear. The straps may be provided with adhesive textile material, i.e. Velcro® strips whereby the straps may be adjusted to any length.

The second attachment means is preferably provided with a rigid ankle support with an open tubular support member which essentially encompasses the lower leg of the wearer and which may be fixed in a suitable position relative to the second attachment means. This ankle support provides adequate ankle support and may be adjusted to individual requirements which makes it comfortable to step into the skate. The inside of the tubular structure may be provided with a padding to increase the comfort of the skate.

The ankle support may be provided with tightening means such as a strap for securing the skate onto the foot of the wearer. Since the tubular section is open, it may be tightened around the leg above the ankle, whereby stable support of the ankle is provided.

Preferably, the common assembly means is an elongated assembly rail oriented in a direction generally corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the skate. Moreover, the assembly rail is formed with a U-shaped cross-section. By using a common assembly rail, a light weight and stiff skate is provided.

The adjustable first and second attachment means and the skate module means are fixed onto the assembly rail by fastening means comprising first and second tightening means. Hereby, the adjustment of each of the attachment means may be fixed in a desired position by the same tightening means, e.g. a bolt and a nut or a screw used for fastening the attachment means onto the assembly rail in a predetermined position in the longitudinal direction.

In a first preferred embodiment of the invention, the skate module means comprise first and second roller means where each roller means preferably comprises a holder for one or two wheels and fastening means, said holder preferably being provided with a U-shape for receiving the assembly rail and a recess for receiving and guiding the base portions of the attachment means. By two wheels, either a quad-skate configuration or an in-line configuration is obtainable. By the invention, it is realized that a skate - in particular in an in-liner roller skate configuration - may be provided with either two, three or four wheels in line.

In an alternative embodiment, the skate module means comprises an ice skate blade. By being able to change skate modules according to these embodiments, a skate according to the invention may be converted not only in size but also in accordance with the kind of skating desired by the wearer.

Preferably, the first attachment means and the first roller means are fastened onto the common assembly means by the first tightening means and the second attachment means and the second roller means are fastened onto the common assembly by means of the second tightening means. Hereby, a particularly simple fastening procedure is provided. Moreover, it is possible to provide a roller skate with an adjustable distance between the wheels.

In another aspect, the invention consists of a skate module for use in a roller skate, wherein said module comprises one or more wheels pivotally mounted in a wheel holder provided with means for fastening the wheel holder onto the skate. This skate module may further include means for mounting a breaking block behind the wheel.

The invention is also directed towards a skate module for use in an ice skate, wherein said module comprises an ice skate blade mounted between a first and second blade holder, said holders being provided with means for fastening the holder onto the skate.

In the following, the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a skate according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, fig. 2 is a side view of a skate according to the invention in a first roller skate configuration, fig. 3 is a side view of a skate according to the invention in a second roller skate configuration, fig. 4 is a side view of a skate according to the invention in an ice skate configuration, figs. 5 and 6 are top views illustrating the adjustability of a skate according to the invention, fig. 7 is a perspective view of a roller skate according to a second preferred embodiment according to the invention, fig. 8 is a top view of the skate in fig. 7, fig. 9 is a side view of the same, and fig. 10 is a section view of the skate of fig. 8.

In figure 1, a skate according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The skate comprises first attachment means 1 at the front and second attachment means 2 at the rear part of the skate. Each of the attachment means 1, 2 comprises a left and a right support member 11, 12; 21, 22. These are designed in such a way that they may slide relatively to each other whereby the skate may be adjusted to suit the width of a foot. In figs. 5 and 6, the design of the adjustable attachment means 1, 2 is shown in detail.

Referring to figs. 1 to 4, the left and right support members 11, 12; 21, 22 are fastened onto the upper side of an assembly rail 6 in a desired position by a nut bolt assembly 13, 23. The assembly rail 6 and the skate modules 3, 4 are designed with corresponding support surfaces/cross-section shapes. The assembly rail is provided with a U-like cross-section in order to provide good bending resistance. Underneath, a first and a second skate module 3, 4 are fixed onto the assembly rail 6 by the same threaded fastening connection 13, 23.

The foot support members 11, 12; 21, 22 are formed with a generally horizontally profiled portion and a vertical outer portion. The ends of these vertical outer portions are provided with securing straps 14, 24.

The rear attachment means 2 are provided with an ankle support 8. As it can be seen in fig. 1, the ankle support 8 is substantially tubular with an opening towards the front allowing for adjustment or tightening of the tubular support around the leg of the wearer of the skate. Inside the tubular support 8, a protective padding 83 is provided. In the upper section of the tubular support 8, a securing strap 82 is provided for firmly securing the ankle support 8 to the leg. The ankle support 8 is adjustably secured by rotary fastening means 81 onto the vertical outer portions of the left and right foot support members 21, 22 of the second attachment means 2. By rotary fastening of the ankle support 8 to the second attachment member 2, the ankle support is moveable in the longitudinal direction but is prevented from moving sideways. The ankle support 8 may be folded into a position essentially parallel to that of the assembly rail 6 to obtain a compact transport position.

In the preferred embodiment, at least a major part of the various components are made of aluminium in order to keep the weight of the skate as low as possible.

The different designs of the skate module 3, 4, 5 are shown in figs. 2 to 4. A first skate module 3 is positioned at the front end of the assembly rail 6. This first skate module 3 comprises a holder 31 formed in a "reversed" U-shape in which the assembly rail 6 is received in a close fitting. Similarly, the second skate module 4 is also provided with a holder 32 in a similar shape. The holders 31, 32 may be used for holding either wheels 7 or an ice blade 5.

In fig. 2, an in-line configured roller skate is shown with two wheels 7. The second holder 32 may be provided with a breaking block 33, such as shown in fig. 2. It is, of course, understood that the position of the breaking block 33 may alternatively be placed at the front of the skate, just as it can also be fitted to or a quad skate configuration (not shown).

In figure 3, a four-wheel in-line configuration is shown. Each of the holders 31, 32 is provided with wheel adapting holders 34 onto which a front and rear wheel 7, 7' are fitted. The wheel adapting holders 34 are mounted so that a minor angular movement is allowed. For this reason, the wheel mounting holders 34 are preferably mounted in the holders 31, 32 with a spring-loading 35, such as indicated in fig. 3. It is realised that this skate module may be combined with a skate module as shown in fig. 2 for the provision of a three-wheeled configuration. The distance between the two skate modules may be altered and the two skate modules may be fixed at predetermined positions along the assembly rail, whereby the user is provided with a unique opportunity to obtain a comfortable skating configuration by adjusting the distance between the wheels in accordance with the individual feet characteristics of the user.

In fig. 4, another embodiment of a skate module according to the invention is shown, onto which an ice blade 5 is fitted. This conversion may be performed in a simple manner by unfitting the wheels in the holders and replacing them with the ice skate blade 5.

In figures 5 and 6, adjustments according to the width and the length of the foot of the wearer of the skate are shown. In fig. 5, the minimum position is shown while fig. 6 shows the maximum position. The left foot support members 11 and 21 are formed as a fork with a guidance cut-away 17, 27 in the horizontal portion. In shape, this guidance 17, 27 corresponds to a recess 18, 28 embossed in the corresponding horizontal part of the right foot support members 12, 22 in such a way that the left support members 11, 21 may slide into the right support member 12, 22. This recess 18, 28 is provided with an elongated hole 15 parallel with the guiding means 17, 18 of the support members 11, 12; 21, 22. Through this elongated hole 15, the fastening means 13 are provided. This elongated hole 15 extends across the assembly rail 6 in such a way that the extreme ends correspond to the maximum and minimum positions.

The assembly rail 6 is provided with a first and a second elongated hole 61, 62, both extending in a longitudinal direction. Hereby, the attachment means 1, 2 (11, 12; 21, 22) and the holders 31, 32 of the skate modules may also be shifted backwards and forwards along the assembly rail 6. When the holders 31, 32 and the attachment means 1, 2 are positioned in the desired traverse and longitudinal positions, they are fastened onto the assembly rail 6 by two bolt/nut connections 13, one at the front and one at the rear. In figures 7 to 10, a preferred second embodiment of the invention is shown. In this embodiment, a particularly advantageous closure system is provided. In this embodiment, the support members 11, 12 are provided with an upper surface with serrated portions 116, 118 (see fig. 10) and are held in position by a locking plate 113 that is provided with a lower surface with correspondingly shaped serrated portions 117, 119.

The support members 11, 12; 21, 22 are slidably arranged in a front and rear support and guide plate 111 and 121, respectively, as shown in figs. 7 and 8. As shown in fig. 8, the support members 11, 12 and 21, 22 are arranged in a traverse orientated dovetailed guideway on the guide front and rear plates, respectively. In addition, cooperating slide grooves and notches may be provided on the upper surface of the guide plates 111, 121 and on the support members 11, 12, 21, 22, respectively.

The support members 11, 12 of e.g. the front attachment means are locked to the guide plate 111 by a locking plate 113. For securing the locking plate 113 to the guide plate 11, the locking plate 113 is provided with a hook-shaped tongue 135 that is inserted in an aperture 125 in the guide plate 111, whereby the locking plate 113 is withheld by these hooking means 115. At the other end of the locking plate 113, a second gripping hook 114 is provided. This hook 114 is penetrating through a hole 124 in the guide plate, a hole 130 in the skate module 3, i.e. holder for the wheels 31, 32 and a hole in the assembly rail 6, whereby these parts are hooked together behind the hole in the assembly rail 6 and retained in this position due to their mutually interlocking shapes. The pin-shaped hook 114 is releasable by bending it to a side and pushing it out through the hole(s) again for readjustment. The assembly rail 6 is in this embodiment provided with a row of holes allowing for different positions of the skate modules and the attachment means.

When the locking plate 113 is clicked in position and the individual parts hereby are clamped together, the support members 11, 12 may still be pressed inwards due to the orientation of the teeth in the serrated portions of the support members 11, 12 and the locking plates 113, see fig. 10. This means that the user may lock the support members 11, 12; 21, 22 in a position that is too wide and the press the support members inwards around the boot in order to ensure a tight and precise fitting of the skate to the boot for the user.

By the locking system according to this preferred second embodiment, no tools are needed in order to adjust the skate. The user of the skate can adjust the skate both lengthways and in width by clicking the locking plate 113 onto the assembly rail 6 after first having secured it by hooking it up on the guide plate 111 or 121. Preferably, the locking plates of the front and rear attachment means are identical in shape, so that they may be exchanged without jeopardising the locking function at any of the two points.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the one or more of the parts of the skate are produced in a fibre-reinforced material, such as a glass-fibre or carbon-fibre reinforced plastic material, hereby, a skate with high strength and light weight may be achieved by this advantageous choice of material, just as the parts are more wear resistant compared to e.g. metal parts.

By the invention, it is realised that other embodiments of a modular skate assembly according to the invention may be provided without departing from the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A skate for attachment onto a piece of footwear, said skate comprising front and rear attachment means for foot support and fastening the skate onto the foot of a wearer, skate module means, and common assembly means onto which the attachment means and the skate module means are mounted, wherein at least one of the attachment means comprises a left and a right foot support member with means for adjusting the width, and in that the distance between the first and second attachment means is longitudinally adjustable along the common assembly means, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n t h a t each attachment means includes a locking member securing both the left and right support members and the associated skate module means to the common assembly means.

2. A skate according to claim 1, wherein the rear attachment means is provided with a rigid ankle support for supporting the lower leg of the wearer.

3. A skate according to claim 2, wherein the ankle support an open tubular support member that is provided with tightening means, such as a strap for securing the skate onto the foot of the wearer.

4. A skate according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the left and right foot support members include a side support portion and a base support portion, the locking member is a locking plate which has a tongue at the first end that is retained in an aperture of the assembly means and a locking pin at the second end of the plate that secures the locking plate and a skate module to the assembly means, and each of the base support portions are provided with a serrated upper surface that engages with a corresponding serrated surface areas on the lower side of the locking plate.

5. A skate according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the left and right foot support members include a side support portion and a base support portion, and wherein the two base support portions are provided with intermeshing sliding and a common locking means, such as a bolt and a nut.

6. A skate according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the common assembly means is an elongated assembly rail oriented in a direction generally corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the skate.

7. A skate according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the skate module means comprises a holder for carrying roller means or ice skate means, said holder having a shape corresponding to that of the assembly rail for receiving the assembly rail and for locking the holder to the assembly rail by the locking member of one of the attachment means.

8. A skate according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the skate module means comprises first and second roller means, wherein each roller means comprises a holder for one or two wheels and fastening means.

9. A skate according to claim 8, wherein the two wheels in a roller means are positioned in an in-line configuration generally parallel with the longitudinal direction of the skate or side by side in a quad skate configuration.

10. A skate module for use in a roller skate according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein said module comprises one or more wheels rotatably mounted in a wheel holder provided with means for fastening the wheel holder onto the skate.

11. A skate module according to claim 10, including means for mounting of a breaking block behind the wheel.

12. A skate module for use in an ice skate according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein said module comprises an ice skate blade mounted between a first and second blade holder, said holders being provided with means for fastening of the holder onto the skate.