WO2004110574A1 - In-line skate with wheels arranged in three rows - Google Patents

Disclosed is an in-line skate with wheels arranged in three rows, which can allow a beginner or skilled person to conveniently and safely learn and use it, allow rapid turning at a rapid speed, and reduce load to the user's ankle. Moreover, the in-line skate has the auxiliary wheels having the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels, thereby reducing a rolling resistance due to unnecessary rolling of the auxiliary wheels. The in-line skate includes: a frame fixed on the bottom surface of a general shoe by means of bolts; a number of main wheels arranged on the center of the lower end portion of the frame in the longitudinal direction in a row; wheel shafts for fixing the plural main wheels onto the frame; and a number of auxiliary wheels fit on the wheel shafts and mounted at right and left sides of the main wheels, which are arranged in a row, the auxiliary wheels having the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels.

IN-LINE SKATE WITH WHEELS ARRANGED IN THREE ROWS

Technical Field .

The present invention relates to an in-line skate with wheels arranged in three rows, and more particularly, to an in-line skate with wheels arrange in three rows, which can allow a beginner or skilled person to conveniently and safely use it, allow rapid turning at a rapid speed, and reduce load to a user' s ankle by mounting auxiliary wheels at right and left sides of main wheels of a conventional skate having several problems in that the user may be damaged at the ankle or frequently fall and cannot be on one foot as a distance between the bottom surface of a skating boot of the conventional in-line skate and the ground is too long and the wheels are arranged in a single row, and in that the conventional roller skate is too slow as a contact area between the wheels and the ground is wide and is disadvantageous in rapid turning as the user who must use it in a state where four wheels are in contact with the ground cannot inclined the user's feet much.

Background Art:

In general, a conventional in-line skate has a number of wheels arranged in a single row, and so is fast and allows a dynamic exercise and rapid turning. However, the conventional in-line skate has several problems in that the user may be damaged at the ankle or frequently fall and cannot be on one foot as a distance between the bottom surface of a skating boot and the ground is too long and the wheels are arranged in a single row. Furthermore, the conventional in-line skate has another problem in that it cannot prevent the user from falling on the user's front and a beginner cannot learn in-line skating easily as a stopper for reducing speed is mounted only to the back of the skate.

Meanwhile, a conventional roller skate has four wheels arranged in two rows like car wheels, and has advantages in that the beginner can learn roller skating easily and the roller skate is safer than the in-line skate as the user can be on one foot. However, the conventional roller skate has several problems in that it is slow due to strong frictional force as a contact area between the wheels and the ground is wide, and in that the user cannot inclined the user's feet much and is disadvantageous in rapid turning as the user who must use it in a state where the four wheels are in contact with the ground.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an in-line skate, which has auxiliary wheels mounted at right and left sides of main wheels of a conventional skate, thereby allowing a beginner or skilled person to conveniently and safely use it, allowing rapid turning at a rapid speed, and reducing load to the user's ankle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an in-line skate, which has auxiliary wheels having the outer diameter smaller than that of main wheels, arranged in a central row and being in contact with the ground when the in-line skate is moved, thereby reducing a rolling resistance due to unnecessary rolling of the auxiliary wheels .

A further other object of the present invention is to provide an in-line skate, which has stoppers mounted on at least one more portions of the front and rear parts of a frame, thereby preventing sliding.

To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an in-line skate according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprising: a frame fixed on the bottom surface of a general shoe by means of bolts; a number of main wheels arranged on the center of the lower end portion of the frame in the longitudinal direction in a row; wheel shafts for fixing the plural main wheels onto the frame; and a number of auxiliary wheels fit on the wheel shafts and mounted at right and left sides of the main wheels, which are arranged in a row, the auxiliary wheels having the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels.

It is preferable that stoppers are mounted on at least one or more portions of the front and rear parts of the frame .

It is preferable that the number of the auxiliary wheels is different from that of the main wheels.

It is preferable that the auxiliary wheels have the same outer diameters as the main wheels, and wheel shafts of the auxiliary wheels are located above the wheel shafts of the main wheels.

Brief Description of Drawings

Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a top view of an in-line skate having wheels arranged in three rows according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the in-line skate;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the in-line skate; FIG. 4 is a rear view of the in-line skate;

FIG. 5 is a left view of the in-41ine skate;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the in-line skate;

FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of the in-line skate; FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the in-line skate;

FIG. 9 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the in-line skate; and

FIG. 10 is a bottom perspective view of the in-line skate.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

The present . invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view of an in-line skate having wheels arranged in three rows according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the in-line skate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a number of main wheels 30 are arranged at the central portion of a frame 20 in the longitudinal direction in a row, and auxiliary wheels 31 are arranged at both sides of the main wheels 30 and have the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels 30. The auxiliary wheels 31 are arranged in the left row and in the right row, and so, the present invention has a structure where the wheels are arranged in the longitudinal direction in three rows. The main wheels 30 and the auxiliary wheels 31 are mounted on the frame 20 by means of wheel shafts 32 and nuts 33, and at this time, one main wheel 30 and two auxiliary wheels 31 are mounted on the frame 20 through one wheel shaft 32. It is preferable that stoppers 40 are mounted on the front or rear part of the frame 20, but may be mounted at both of the front and rear parts of the frame 20. The stoppers 40 are to reduce speed and prevent- a user from suddenly sliding and falling.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the in-line skate according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a rear view of the in-line skate.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, since the auxiliary wheels 31 arranged at both sides of the main wheels in two rows have the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels 30 arranged at the center of the in-line skate in a row, only the main wheels 30 are rotated when the user runs in the in-line skate. Therefore, the present invention can reduce unnecessary rolling resistance of the auxiliary wheel 31. In addition, when the user stands on the ground, the present invention provides the user with a stable posture as the user can stand in a state where the main wheels 30 and the auxiliary wheels 31 are all in contact with the ground. As the in-line skate according to the present invention can reduce load to the user's ankle, general sports shoes can be used as the skating boots 10. The auxiliary wheels 31 are used not only when the user stands on the ground but also when the user skates on the ground or rounds a curve during running.

FIG. 5 is a left view of the in-line skate according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable that the stoppers 40 are mounted at the front or the rear of the frame 20 for supporting the main wheels 30 and the auxiliary wheels 31, but it is possible that the stoppers 40 are mounted at both front and rear parts of the frame 20. The stoppers 40 are to reduce speed and prevent the user from suddenly sliding and falling. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the in-line skate according to the present invention, FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of the in-line skate, FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the in-line skate, and FIG. 9 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the in-line skate.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, it is preferable that the stoppers 40 are fixed on the front or rear part of the frame 20 by means of bolts 41, but it is possible that the stoppers 40 are fixed at both front and rear parts of the frame 20 by means of the bolts 41. The general sports shoes can be used as the skating boots 10, and the frame 20 is fixed on the skating boot 10 by means of the bolts.

FIG. 10 is a bottom perspective view showing the frame of the in-line skate according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, the frame 20 used in the present invention has a structure similar to the frame of the conventional in-line skate where wheels arranged in a single row are mounted. In FIG. 10, the frame 20 has female screws formed on portions of the front and rear parts thereof for mounting the stoppers 40.

As described above, the present invention is characterized in that the plural auxiliary wheels 31 are mounted at the right and left sides of the plural main wheels 30 arranged at the central portion of the frame 20, the auxiliary wheels 31 have the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels 30, and it is not necessary that the auxiliary wheels 31 have the same number as the main wheels 30. Moreover, it is not necessary that the auxiliary wheels 31 use the same shafts as the main wheels 30. In addition, the reason that the auxiliary wheels 31 have the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels 30 is to make mainly the main wheels 30 touch the ground. However, even though the auxiliary wheels 31 have the same outer diameter as the main wheels 30, if the main wheels 30 are arranged lower than the auxiliary wheels 31 mounted on a shaft different from the shaft where the main wheels 30 are mounted, the present invention can provide the same effect as the above structure.

Therefore, it would be appreciated to skilled persons in the art that the structure where the main wheels 30 are arranged lower than the auxiliary wheels 31 mounted on the different shaft without regard to the difference between the outer diameter of the main wheels 30 and the outer diameter of the auxiliary wheels 31 belongs to the scope of the present invention.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the in-line skate according to the prevent invention has auxiliary wheels mounted at right and left sides of main wheels of the typical conventional inline skate, thereby allowing a beginner or skilled person to conveniently and safely use it, allowing rapid turning at a rapid speed, and reducing load to the user's ankle.

Furthermore, the in-line skate has the auxiliary wheels having the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels, which are arranged in the central row and are mainly in contact with the ground when the in-line skate is moved, thereby reducing a rolling resistance due to unnecessary rolling of the auxiliary wheels.

Moreover, the in-line skate has the stoppers mounted on at least one more portions of the front and rear parts of the frame, thereby preventing sliding.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention

What is claimed is :

1. An in-line skate with wheels arranged in three rows, comprising: a frame fixed on the bottom surface of a general shoe by means of bolts; a number of main wheels arranged on the center of the lower end portion of the frame in the longitudinal direction in a row; wheel shafts for fixing the plural main wheels onto the frame; and a number of auxiliary wheels fit on the wheel shafts and mounted at right and left sides of the main wheels, which are arranged in a row, the auxiliary wheels having the outer diameter smaller than that of the main wheels.

2. The in-line skate according to claim 1, wherein stoppers are mounted on at least one or more portions of the front and rear parts of the frame.

3. The in-line skate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the number of the auxiliary wheels is different from that of the main wheels.

4. The in-line skate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the auxiliary wheels have the same outer diameters as the main wheels, and wheel shafts of the auxiliary wheels are located above the wheel shafts of the main wheels.