BACKGROUND Whether referring to ice skates or inline roller skates, skates in general are bulky and awkward to transport and store, as are ski boots and other types of seasonal or athletic footwear. Known devices for carrying skates generally comprise a bag for storing the skates therein or a series of straps which require awkward manipulation to attach to the skates. Bags are not able to accommodate various size skates and can quickly become worn due to repeated use of fasteners and zippers and the like which are required for closing the bag.

Straps alone however do not adequately protect the skates, nor do they provide a comfortable method of carrying the skates.

Various clamping devices are known for coupling a pair of ski boots on a single carrier body, however the configuration in these known devices is generally only suited for limited use with a common type of ski boot coupling.

Furthermore, known carriers generally require that the boots be positioned with the bottom soles confronting one another so that the resulting carrier is bulky and awkward for storage.

SUMMARY According to the present invention there is provided a footwear holder for holding articles of footwear, each article of footwear having a boot portion and a foot opening for receiving a foot of a person therethrough, the footwear holder comprising: a handle ; a base suspended from the handle for supporting the respective boot portions of the footwear thereon; and clamping means movable relative to the base and being arranged to be received within the foot opening of the footwear to clamp the footwear onto the base.

The use of clamping means which are received within the foot opening of footwear permits numerous sizes and varieties of footwear to be selective clamped onto a base which is suspended from a convenient handle.

The footwear holder thus permits skates or ski boots and the like to be readily supported thereon without the awkward manipulation of straps, while protecting the footwear and permitting the footwear to be comfortably suspended from the handle.

The clamping means preferably comprises a pair of spaced apart clamping members which are both spaced from the base and project downward towards the base. The downward configuration of the clamping members permits the footwear to be compactly stored on the base in an upright configuration.

The clamping members are preferably formed of a stiff material permitting some limited flexing movement relative to one another.

The clamping members may extend downward towards the base at an inward inclination towards one another in a relaxed and unflexed position to ensure a snug fit with respective inner confronting sides of the footwear. The respective lower free ends of the clamping members in this instance are preferably curved outwardly away from one another for ease of insertion of the clamping members into the respective foot openings of the footwear.

The handle and clamping means may be moveable together relative to the base between a released position and a clamping position nearer to the base than the released position.

The clamping means is preferably supported for sliding movement relative to the base between the released position and the clamping position.

There may be provided a latching mechanism arranged to selectively restrict sliding movement of the clamping means relative to the base in the clamped position or both the released and clamped positions.

The base may comprise a pair of channels which are suitably sized for receiving the boot portions of the articles of footwear respectively therein, the channels preferably being supported parallel and spaced apart from one another.

The channels may be adjustable in width for accommodating various size footwear therein by providing a movable side wall portion which is biased inwardly on each channel. The channels may further be lined with resilient material for accommodating various sizes of footwear therebetween.

The handle preferably includes a hook portion for suspending the footwear holder from the hook portion on a suitable rod. There may provided a rod supported on the base member arranged to suspend the hook portion of an additional footwear holder having a similar configuration therefrom to permit vertical suspension of plural holders one above the other.

When used for a pair of inline skates in which the boot portion of each skate includes a wheel assembly for supporting the boot portion for rolling movement along the ground, the base preferably includes respective channels for receiving the wheel assemblies therein. Likewise, when used for a pair of ice skates in which the boot portion of each skate includes a skate blade for supporting the boot portion for sliding movement on ice, the base preferably includes respective channels for receiving the skate blades.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention: Figures 1 and 2 are respective rear and side elevational views of the footwear holder in the clamped position; Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the holder ; Figures 4 and 5 are respective side and front elevational views of the footwear holder in the released position; and Figure 6 is a front elevational view of the footwear holder in a clamped position with a second holder shown suspended therefrom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a footwear holder generally indicated by reference numeral 10. The footwear holder is intended to support a pair of articles of footwear 12 thereon, for example ice skates, inline roller skates, ski boots, snow boarding boots or other similar seasonal or athletic footwear.

In either instance, the articles of footwear 12 each have a boot portion 14 and a foot opening 16 for receiving the foot of a person therein. In the instance of an ice skate, a blade portion 17 is provided comprising an ice skate blade arranged to support the boot portion for sliding movement on ice. When the skates comprise inline roller skates, the blade portion 17 generally comprises a series of wheels aligned along a common longitudinal path to support the boot portion for rolling movement across the ground.

Regardless of the application, the holder 10 includes a base 20 having a pair of channels 22 which each act as a trough for receiving the sole of the boot portion 14 or the blade portion 17 of a respective one of the articles of footwear 12 therein. Each channel 22 includes a base member 24, an inner side wall 26 and an outer side wall 28. The channels 22 are parallel and spaced apart from one another for receiving the outer sole of the boot portion or the blade portions of skates therein when the articles of footwear are supported one adjacent the other in an upright configuration.

When used for skates, the inner side wall 26 is shorter in height than the blade portion 17 of an average skate 12 to permit the boot portion to be positioned over and above the inner side walls 26 with the blade portion being clamped within the respective channel. The outer side walls 28 are longer than the respective inner side walls for extending upwardly beyond the blade portion for engaging the boot portion 14 of the respective footwear. The outer side walls 28 preferably extend upwardly from the base member at an outward incline away from each other when footwear is received therein.

The base further includes a bridge 30 which connects between the inner side walls 26 of the respective channels for mounting the channels at a fixed spacing from one another. A central partition member 32 extends upwardly from the bridge 30, at a location evenly spaced between the channels 22 for receiving one of the articles of footwear 12 on each side thereof.

A clamping unit 34 is provided for selectively clamping the footwear 12 to the base 20 of the holder, directly adjacent opposing sides of the central partition member 32. The clamping unit 34 generally comprises a pair of parallel and spaced apart tongues 36 arranged to be received within the foot openings 14 of the respective footwear 12. The tongues 36 are joined at a top end by a mounting plate 38 spanning therebetween so that each tongue 36 extends downwardly from the mounting plate 38 to a free end 39 which is slidably received within the foot receiving opening of the respective boot portion in use.

The tongues 36, which form clamping members of the clamping unit, extend downward toward the base from a position spaced thereabove at an inward incline towards one another. The free ends 39 subsequently curve outwardly for engaging over the confronting inner sides of the footwear at the foot opening to flex the tongues, formed of stiff plastic material, outwardly by camming action at the free ends 39 as the tongues are pushed downward into the foot openings toward a clamping position.

Accordingly, the clamping unit 34 is arranged to be movable relative to the base 20 between the clamping position as shown in Figures 1 and 2 in which the tongues 36 are received within the boots and the boots are clamped between the clamping unit 34 and the base 20, and a released position as shown in Figures 4 and 5 in which the clamping unit 34 is raised upwardly from the clamping position relative to the base 20 so that the articles of footwear 12 are released from the respective channels 22 of the base.

A handle 40 is mounted on the mounting plate 38 of the clamping unit so as to be movable with the clamping unit between the clamped and released positions. The handle 40 includes a hook portion 42 which is arranged to suspend the holder from a suitable rod, for example a rod for clothing hangers in a closet for storage. The handle 40 also includes a gripping portion 44 extending from a free end of the hook portion 42 which is suitably shaped for gripping with a person's hand.

A stacking rod 46 is mounted to extend between the channels 22 spaced below the bridge 30 so as to provide clearance for the handle 40 to be received between the stacking rod 46 and the bridge 30. In this arrangement the hook portion 42 of an additional holder having a similar configuration can be suspended from the stacking rod 46 so as to permit a series of footwear holders to be suspended from one another.

A resilient foam lining 48 lines an inner side wall 26 of each channel as well as opposing sides of the central partition member 32 so that an inner dimension of each channel varies as the foam lining 48 is depressed by footwear received therein. Some limited foam lining may also be providing adjacent confronting sides of the outer side walls.

In the illustrated embodiment of the footwear holder, the outer side walls 28 are pivotally coupled to the respective base members 24 by respective hinges 60 which extend along an intersection of each outer side wall and the respective base members. The hinges 60 permit gripping members 62 at the free ends of each outer side wall 28 to be selectively displaced inwardly and outwardly towards the central partition member 32 for clamping the boot portion of a respective article of footwear 12 between each gripping member 62 and the central partition member 32. The gripping members 62 extend transversely to the outer side walls at an inclination to project inwardly towards the footwear when the outer side walls are generally upright. A spring is coupled to each hinge 60 which is oriented to bias the outer side walls 28 to pivot inwardly for clamping the boot portions of the footwear as described above.

The central partition member 32 of the illustrated embodiment includes a vertical tube 64 which is arranged to slidably receive a post 66 therein.

The post 66 mounts the clamping unit 34 on a top end thereof so that a position of the clamping unit 34 relative to the base 20 is adjusted by sliding the post 66 within the tube 64. The clamping unit 34 and handle 40 supported thereon are thus slidable with the post 66 between the clamped and released positions as described above.

A latching mechanism 67 is preferably coupled between the post 66 and the tube 64 for selectively latching a position of the post and clamping unit 34 supported thereon relative to the base 20, for example in either the clamped or released positions. The latching mechanism would preferably include a release actuator 68 located adjacent the base for releasing the latching mechanism as desired. The element being released would preferably comprise a stop selectively coupled between the post and tube 64 at one of several positions.

While one embodiment of the present invention has been described and illustrated in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.