Means for Converting Unfinished Products of Lace-Type Skates Into Buckle-Type Skates

The present invention relates to a converting means which can be applied to an unfinished product of skates of lace type and thus converts the latter into buckle type.

FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings respectively show a lace-type skate 5 which has a plurality of lace holes 51 therein and a buckle-type skate 6 which has a plurality of flanges 61 thereon for installation of buckles 62. However, skate manufacturers have to build two different kinds of molds to proceed with various processing to finish the two different kinds of products. Consequently, the cost for the molds increases, not to mention difficulties in subsequent arrangements and managements of two respective processing procedures for two different kinds of unfinished products. Furthermore, another problem arises in the storage of unfinished-products of skates.

The problems encountered in manufacturing and management of unfinished products of skates are avoided by the present invention.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a converting means which can be applied to an unfinished product of a lace-type skate and thus converts the latter into a buckle-type skate. The converting means has an underside with a contour complimentary to that of an upper surface of the unfinished product of the lace-type skate. The converting means also has an upper side with a plurality of pairs of flanges in which each pair of flanges defines a space for installation of buckles.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a converting means by which a lace-type skate can be converted into a buckle-type skate, thereby eliminating the cost for manufacturing the mold for buckle-type skates and subsequent storage and management problems therefor.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an upper side of a converting means according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an underside of the converting means of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a roller skate of buckle type converted from a lace-type skate by means of the converting means of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the roller skate in FIG. 3, wherein the rollers are omitted for clarity;

FIG. 5 shows a conventional lace-type skate; and

FIG. 6 shows a conventional buckle-type skate.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4 of the drawings and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a converting means 1 according to the present invention includes an upper side 12 and an underside 11 with a contour complimentary to that of an upper surface of a lace-type skate 2 (see FIG. 4). A plurality of protrusions 16 are formed on the underside 11 of the converting means 1, corresponding to eyelets 21 of the lace-type skate 2. A plurality of pairs of flanges 17 (in this embodiment there are four flanges) are formed on the upper side 12 of the converting means 1, defining a space 13 between each pair of flanges for installing a buckle means 3. A plurality of mounting holes 14 are formed on the converting means 1 for securely mounting the buckle means 3 on the converting means 1. A plurality of attaching holes 15 are formed on the converting means 1 by which the converting means 1 is securely attached to the upper surface of the lace-type skate 2. The lace-type skate 2 has a corresponding number of attaching holes 156 thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in this embodiment, the converting means 1 for converting an unfinished product of the lace-type skate 2 into an unfinished product of a buckle-type skate consists of two mirror-imaged converting plates respectively complimentary to left and right portions of the upper surface of the lace-type skate 2. The two converting plates are placed on the upper surface of the lace-type skate 2, with the protrusions 16 passing through the eyelets 21. Then, the converting plates are securely mounted on the skate 2 by using rivets 19 passing through the attaching holes 15 and 156. Thereafter, the buckle means 3 are mounted in the spaces 13 between the flanges 17 on the converting plates by passing rivets (not labeled) through the mounting holes 14. Consequently, the unfinished product of the lace-type skate 2 is successfully converted into a unfinished product of a buckle-type skate.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the converting means 1 can be securely mounted on the lace-type skate by other means, such as glue. Similarly, there are many other feasible means to mount the buckle means on the converting means. In addition, the converting means can be an integral plate instead of two separate plates. The scope of the invention can be defined by the annexed claims.