US 12,330,044 B2Granted

Roller skate, associated kit, and system

AssigneeFunfeats LLC

InventorsPaul Woods, Brian Green, Wayne Walsh, Darrell Merino, You Ruijie

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Abstract

A modular, multi-part roller skate is provided. The multi-part roller skate includes a roller skate body, a front wheel assembly, a rear wheel assembly, a support surface for supporting a footwear of a user, and at least one securing element for securing the footwear to the support surface. The multi-part roller skate is configurable as a modular roller skate with a removable pair of rear wheels, an interchangeable modular roller skate and ice skate, and an interchangeable modular roller skate and cross-country ski/snowshoe. In some embodiments, the multi-part roller skate can also be configured as a length-adjustable skate with a length adjustable skate body that includes separate front and rear foot support structures.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A length-adjustable roller skate, comprising:

a front foot support structure including a front sole surface, a front wheel assembly and a first connector element;
a rear foot support structure including a rear sole surface, a rear wheel assembly, and a second connector element that is shaped to releasably connect to the first connector element for movably connecting the front foot support structure and the rear foot support structure, the first connector element and second connector element movably connecting the front and rear foot support structures such that a distance between the front sole surface and the rear sole surface can be increased by moving the front foot support structure in a first direction relative to the rear foot support structure and such that a distance between the front sole surface and the rear sole surface can be decreased by moving the front foot support structure in a second direction relative to the rear foot support structure, the second direction being opposite the first direction;
an adjustment actuator that is movably mounted to one of the front foot support structure and the rear foot support structure for moving between a disengaged position and an engaged position where the adjustment actuator releasably fixes a relative position of the front foot support structure and rear foot support structure;
at least one adjustable front securing element that is connected to the front foot support structure;
and
at least one rear securing element that is connected to the rear foot support structure and is separate from the front securing element, the at least one front and rear securing elements being formed for collectively, releasably holding a footwear of a user against a support surface that is at least in part defined by the front sole surface and the rear sole surface;
wherein one of the first connector element and the second connector element includes first and second parallel bars;
wherein the other of the first connector element and the second connector element includes first and second parallel channels that are shaped for receiving the first and second parallel bars;
wherein at least one of the first and second parallel bars includes a plurality of ratchet teeth formed along a length thereof;
and
wherein the adjustment actuator is structured for engaging at least one of the plurality of ratchet teeth.

8 more elements

A modular roller skate, comprising:

a skate body including a sole support surface and at least one of adjustable securing element for releasably holding a footwear of a user against the sole support surface;
a permanent front wheel assembly including a front wheel support formed on a front wheel support structure of the skate body, and a front wheel that is rotatably mounted to the front wheel support;
a removable rear wheel assembly including a rear wheel support, and a pair of rear wheels that are rotatably mounted to the rear wheel support, and which are laterally spaced apart rear wheel support for laterally stabilizing the skate body in a lateral-vertical plane;
and
an engagement structure that is formed for releasably mounting the removable rear wheel assembly to the skate body such that a rotational axis of the pair of rear wheels is parallel to the rotational axis of the at least one front wheel, wherein the engagement structure includes:
a receiving cavity that is formed in one of the skate body and the removable rear wheel assembly and that extends inwards from a first outer surface of the one of the skate body and the removable rear wheel assembly;
a through-aperture that extends between the receiving cavity and a second outer surface of the one of the skate body and the removable rear wheel assembly;
and
an engagement projection that is formed in the other of the skate body and the removable rear wheel assembly and that extends out from the other of the skate body and removable rear wheel assembly is sized to be releasably received in the receiving cavity.

6 more elements

A modular skate system for selectably providing both a rolling and non- rolling manner of travel, the modular skate system comprising:

a skate body including a sole support surface, a plurality of securing elements for releasably attaching the footwear of a user to the sole support surface, a front wheel assembly that is formed on a front wheel support structure of the skate body and includes at least one front wheel, and a first mounting element, the first mounting element being formed to interchangeably connect to one of a rear wheel assembly and a rear support member, the rear wheel assembly including a rear support body, a pair of rear wheels that are rotatably mounted on the rear support body, and a second mounting element that is formed to be releasably connected to the first mounting element for releasably mounting the rear wheel support to the skate body such that a rotational axis of the pair of rear wheels is parallel to a rotational axis of the at least one front wheel, and the rear support member including a first end and a second end that includes a third mounting element, the third mounting element being formed to be releasably connected to the first connector element for releasably mounting the rear support member to the skate body, so as to form a rolling manner of travel;
and
a secondary travel assembly that is structured for supporting the skate body and providing a non-rolling manner of travel to the multi-functional skate, the secondary travel assembly including:
a front connector that is releasably connectable to the at least one front wheel of the skate body for pivotably mounting the skate body on the secondary travel assembly;
and
a rear connector that includes at least one engagement surface for separably supporting the rear support member, the at least one engagement surface being formed to inhibit lateral movement of the rear support member when the second end of the rear support member is supported on the at least one engagement surface, so as to form a non- rolling manner of travel.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.