Ball Skating Device

Abstract

A ball-skating device is an apparatus allowing two degrees of freedom between a user's foot and multiple contact points on the ground. The apparatus includes a piece of footwear, a plurality of ball-roller assemblies, and a plurality of assembly cavities. The piece of footwear is worn on a user's foot and is used to enclose the user's foot. The assembly cavities traverse into a sole of the piece of footwear and are used to situate the ball-roller assemblies on the bottom of the sole. The ball-roller assemblies receive the applied weight of a user's foot and makes contact at multiple points with the ground, all of which allows the ball-roller assemblies to roll the user's foot across the ground.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A ball-skating device comprising:
 a piece of footwear;   a plurality of ball-roller assemblies;   a plurality of assembly cavities;   the piece of footwear comprising a footwear upper and a footwear sole;   the footwear sole comprising a top sole surface and a bottom sole surface;   the footwear upper being mounted onto the top sole surface;   the plurality of assembly cavities traversing into the footwear sole from the bottom sole surface;   the plurality of assembly cavities being distributed across the bottom sole surface;   each of the plurality of assembly cavities being positioned offset from a perimeter of the bottom sole surface; and   each of the plurality of ball-roller assemblies being mounted into a corresponding assembly cavity from the plurality of assembly cavities.   
     
     
         2 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 1  comprising:
 the plurality of ball-roller assemblies being a front ball-roller assembly and a rear ball-roller assembly; 
 the footwear sole further comprising a forefoot-supporting sole portion and a hindfoot-supporting sole portion; 
 the front ball-roller assembly being positioned adjacent to the forefoot-supporting sole portion; and 
 the rear ball-roller assembly being positioned adjacent to the hindfoot-supporting sole portion. 
 
     
     
         3 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 2  comprising:
 a grip brake; 
 the grip brake being peripherally mounted onto the bottom sole surface, adjacent to the forefoot-supporting sole portion; and 
 the grip brake being positioned offset from the front ball-roller assembly, opposite the rear ball-roller assembly. 
 
     
     
         4 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 1  comprising:
 each of the plurality of ball-roller assemblies comprising a greater-than-half-spherical shell, a plurality of bearing balls, a retention ring, and a ground-contacting ball; 
 the greater-than-half-spherical shell comprising a single shell opening, an outer shell surface, and an inner shell surface; 
 the outer shell surface of each of plurality ball-roller of assemblies being coextensively connected within the corresponding assembly cavity; 
 the retention ring being connected around the single shell opening; 
 the plurality of bearing balls being rollably positioned against the inner shell surface; 
 the plurality of bearing balls being distributed across the inner shell surface; 
 the ground-contacting ball being rollably positioned against the plurality of bearing balls; 
 the ground-contacting ball being positioned concentric with the greater-than-half-spherical shell; and 
 the ground-contacting ball traversing through the retention ring and out of the greater-than-half-spherical shell. 
 
     
     
         5 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 4  comprising:
 the single shell opening of each of plurality of ball-roller assemblies being positioned coincident to the bottom sole surface; and 
 the outer shell surface of each of plurality of ball-roller assemblies being positioned offset from the top sole surface. 
 
     
     
         6 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 4  comprising:
 each of the plurality of ball-roller assemblies further comprising a quantity of lubricant; and 
 the quantity of lubricant being distributed amongst the retention ring, the inner shell surface, the plurality of bearing balls, and the ground-contacting ball. 
 
     
     
         7 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the greater-than-half-spherical shell, the plurality of bearing balls, and the retention ring are made of steel. 
     
     
         8 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the ground-contacting ball is made of a rigid plastic material. 
     
     
         9 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the piece of footwear is a shoe. 
     
     
         10 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footwear sole is made of a rubber material. 
     
     
         11 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the bottom sole surface is a flat surface. 
     
     
         12 . A ball-skating device comprising:
 a piece of footwear;   a plurality of ball-roller assemblies;   a plurality of assembly cavities;   the piece of footwear comprising a footwear upper and a footwear sole;   the footwear sole comprising a top sole surface, a bottom sole surface, a forefoot-supporting sole portion and a hindfoot-supporting sole portion;   the footwear upper being mounted onto the top sole surface;   the plurality of assembly cavities traversing into the footwear sole from the bottom sole surface;   the plurality of assembly cavities being distributed across the bottom sole surface;   each of the plurality of assembly cavities being positioned offset from a perimeter of the bottom sole surface;   each of the plurality of ball-roller assemblies being mounted into a corresponding assembly cavity from the plurality of assembly cavities;   the plurality of ball-roller assemblies being a front ball-roller assembly and a rear ball-roller assembly;   the front ball-roller assembly being positioned adjacent to the forefoot-supporting sole portion;   the rear ball-roller assembly being positioned adjacent to the hindfoot-supporting sole portion; and   the piece of footwear being a shoe.   
     
     
         13 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 11  comprising:
 a grip brake; 
 the grip brake being peripherally mounted onto the bottom sole surface, adjacent to the forefoot-supporting sole portion; and 
 the grip brake being positioned offset from the front ball-roller assembly, opposite the rear ball-roller assembly. 
 
     
     
         14 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 11  comprising:
 each of the plurality of ball-roller assemblies comprising a greater-than-half-spherical shell, a plurality of bearing balls, a retention ring, and a ground-contacting ball; 
 the greater-than-half-spherical shell comprising a single shell opening, an outer shell surface, and an inner shell surface; 
 the outer shell surface of each of plurality ball-roller of assemblies being coextensively connected within the corresponding assembly cavity; 
 the retention ring being connected around the single shell opening; 
 the plurality of bearing balls being rollably positioned against the inner shell surface; 
 the plurality of bearing balls being distributed across the inner shell surface; 
 the ground-contacting ball being rollably positioned against the plurality of bearing balls; 
 the ground-contacting ball being positioned concentric with the greater-than-half-spherical shell; and 
 the ground-contacting ball traversing through the retention ring and out of the greater-than-half-spherical shell. 
 
     
     
         15 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 14  comprising:
 the single shell opening of each of plurality of ball-roller assemblies being positioned coincident to the bottom sole surface; and 
 the outer shell surface of each of plurality of ball-roller assemblies being positioned offset from the top sole surface. 
 
     
     
         16 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 14  comprising:
 each of the plurality of ball-roller assemblies further comprising a quantity of lubricant; and 
 the quantity of lubricant being distributed amongst the retention ring, the inner shell surface, the plurality of bearing balls, and the ground-contacting ball. 
 
     
     
         17 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein the greater-than-half-spherical shell, the plurality of bearing balls, and the retention ring are made of steel. 
     
     
         18 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein the ground-contacting ball is made of a rigid plastic material. 
     
     
         19 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the footwear sole is made of a rubber material. 
     
     
         20 . The ball-skating device as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the bottom sole surface is a flat surface.