Structure for supporting wheel of roller skate

Abstract

A structure for supporting a wheel of a roller skate which enables a wheel coupled to an outsole of a roller skate to be supported and retracted simply and reliably is disclosed. The structure includes a frame attached to an outsole of the roller skate, which has at its bottom wall recesses and protrusions; a swing plate pivotally coupled to the frame, which has a central hole; and a bracket for rotatably supporting a wheel, which has a throughhole and a top portion to be releasably fitted in the pair of fitting recesses of the frame, and which is rotatably coupled to the swing plate by a bolt threaded in the hole of the swing plate through the throughhole of the bracket. The bracket has a pair of arms extending downward which rotatably support the wheel therebetween, and a protrusion formed at the top portion thereof which is releasably fitted in the fitting recesses of the frame. The throughhole of the bracket is formed with a concentric counterbored portion receiving a coil spring therein.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A structure for supporting a wheel of a roller skate comprising: 
 a frame attached to an outsole of the roller skate, having an upper wall, a pair of side walls, and at least one of a front and rear wall being opened, and a bottom wall having a “T”-shaped cut opening thereby forming a pair of fitting recesses, and protrusions formed at side edges of the bottom wall;    a swing plate pivotally coupled to the side walls of the frame and positioned in contact with an upper surface of the bottom wall, the swing plate having a central threaded hole; and    a bracket for rotatably supporting a wheel, having a throughhole aligned with the central threaded hole of the swing plate, and a top protrusion releasably fitted in the pair of fitting recesses of the frame, the bracket being rotatably coupled to the swing plate by a bolt threaded in the central threaded hole of the swing plate through the throughhole of the bracket with a coil spring disposed between the bolt and the bracket, whereby the bracket can be retracted into the frame through the opened front or rear wall after the top protrusion of the bracket is pulled out of the fitting recesses of the frame and then rotated by an angle of 90°   
     
     
         2 . The structure as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the bracket has a pair of arms extending downward which rotatably support the wheel therebetween, and the throughhole of the bracket is formed with a concentric counterbored portion receiving the coil spring therein.  
     
     
         3 . The structure as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the swing plate and the bracket are pivotably are turned upward or downward about a hinge pin.  
     
     
         4 . The structure as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the protrusions of the frame consist of a rear protrusion and two front facing protrusions which are slightly extended inwardly to face each other.  
     
     
         5 . A retractable wheel structure for a roller skate, the roller skate having a boot including a sole and at least two recesses in the sole for accommodating wheels, comprising: 
 a frame fixedly secured to the sole of the boot within each recess; the frame having at least two side walls, a bottom wall, an open front wall, the bottom wall having a first recess from one side wall to the other side wall and second recess from the open front wall to the first recess, at least the second recess being filled by a swing plate pivotabley secured to the side walls and movable from a horizontal position in a plane with the bottom wall to a substantially vertical position in a plane perpendicular to the side walls, and a plane perpendicular to the bottom wall; and,    a wheel bracket having a pair of arms for rotatably supporting a wheel, the bracket having a detent corresponding in shape and size to the first recess of the frame when in a first position, the bracket being rotatably secured to the swing plate by a spring biased post, and having a corresponding size to the second recess of the frame when in a second position;    wherein the wheel bracket is pivotable from the first position in which the wheel is extended for use of the roller skate, to the second position in which the wheel is substantially rotated 90° from the first position and the wheel bracket and swing plate are movable from the horizontal position, and the wheel bracket and swing plate are movable from the horizontal position to the vertical position in which the wheel is retracted in the recess of the sole.