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(11) | EP 0 678 249 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
Innerboot, particularly for sports shoes Innenschuh, insbesondere für Sportschuhe Chausson, en particulier pour chaussures de sport |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
[0002] Conventional sports shoes, such as for example ski boots, roller skates, or ice skates, are constituted by a shell and by at least one quarter that are rigid as they are manufactured by injection-molding thermoplastic material. Therefore, a soft innerboot, adapted to improve the user's comfort, is placed inside the shell and the quarter.
[0003] Several kinds of innerboot to be applied inside sports shoes are known: some of them are stitched and fitted on the last by the following steps: the perimetric stitching of an insole, the insertion of the last, the spreading of glue, the reactivation of said glue by heating, the gluing of an inner sole by pressing, and finally the removal from the last.
[0004] It is also known to manufacture innerboots that have a Strobel stitch along the edge of the sole in order to fasten the upper.
[0005] Innerboots are also known which have a tongue or a pair of overlapping flaps at the foot instep region; said innerboots are used exclusively for shoes, such as ski boots, of the front-entry type and are therefore used to facilitate foot insertion.
[0006] If ski boots of the rear-entry type are used instead, again to facilitate foot insertion, innerboots are used which have a rear opening over which a tongue can be partially superimposed.
[0007] All these conventional innerboots have drawbacks which are due mainly to the fact that they can be used only for a particular type of shoe, either boots or skates, of the rear-entry or front-entry type, and therefore it is necessary to have a plurality of components in store, causing an increase in costs.
[0008] The aim of the present invention is therefore to solve the described technical problems, eliminating the drawbacks of the prior art, by providing an innerboot for sports shoes that can be used for various kinds of shoes, ensuring good fit for the user and easy foot insertion and extraction.
[0009] Within the scope of the above aim, an important object is to provide an innerboot that allows to reduce manufacturing costs and storage costs.
[0010] This aim, these objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by an innerboot, particularly for sports shoes such as ski boots or skates, characterized in that it comprises at least one pair of overlapping flaps at the front and, at the rear, at least one opening having at least one tongue member that can be folded away from said at least one pair of flaps.
[0011] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of a particular but not exclusive embodiment, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
figure 1 is a front perspective view of the innerboot;
figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the innerboot;
figure 3 is a top view of the innerboot.
[0012] With reference to the above figures, the reference numeral 1 designates the innerboot for sports shoes such as for example ski boots, ice skates, or roller skates.
[0013] A front region 2 affects at least the foot instep 4, partially affects the tibia 5, and optionally affects the metatarsal region 3. The innerboot 1 is made of soft material and, at the front region 2, has a pair of flaps 6a and 6b that are arranged so that they mutually partially overlap.
[0014] In the rear region 7, the innerboot 1 has a pair of slits 8a and 8b which are approximately parallel to each other and form a tongue member 9 that can be folded down away from said pair of flaps.
[0015] Advantageously, a means for fastening the tongue member 9 to said pair of flaps 6a and 6b can be associated proximate to the upper edge 10 of the tongue member. The fastening means is constituted by a strap 11 which is provided, at its ends, with temporary connection means such as strips of the material known by the trade-name "Velcro".
[0016] The strap 11 surrounds the outside of the tongue member and of the pair of flaps and passes inside the tongue member in a small region that is adjacent to the two edges 12a and 12b thereof, by means of two pairs of openings 13a and 13b formed on the tongue member. With this solution, the rear part of the strap 11 can constitute a means for engaging the rear part of the quarter, which is not shown.
[0017] As an alternative, the strap 11 can be composed of two portions which are respectively connected at one end, for example by sewing, at the openings 13a and 13b on the tongue member 9. Accordingly, the strap does not surround circumferentially the innerboot but instead affects only its front and lateral regions.
[0018] The invention is used as follows: after inserting the innerboot in the shell of the sports shoe, the user can rapidly and easily insert his foot, because regardless of the way the foot is inserted, depending on the particular structure of the shoe, for example a front-entry boot or a rear-entry boot or a central-entry boot, the pair of flaps and of the tongue member on the innerboot in any case allows the foot to enter the shoe in an optimum manner.
[0019] It has thus been observed that the invention has achieved the intended aim and objects, an innerboot for sports shoe having been provided that can be used for various kinds of shoe, ensuring a good fit for the user, also in terms of the possibility of inserting and removing the foot easily.
[0020] The innerboot is therefore of the universal type, as it can be used in the various kinds of sports shoes without any preliminary adaptation, so as to allow to contain storing costs.
[0021] The materials and the dimensions that constitute the individual components of the innerboot may also of course be the most pertinent according to the specific requirements.
[0022] Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.
1. Innerboot, particularly for sports shoes such as ski boots or skates, characterized
in that it comprises at least one pair of overlapping flaps (6a,6b) at the front (2)
and, at the rear (7), at least one opening having at least one tongue member (9) that
can be folded away from said at least one pair of flaps.
2. Innerboot according to claim 1, characterized in that said front region (2) affects
at least the foot instep (4) and partially affects the tibia (5), said at least one
pair of flaps (6a,6b) being arranged so that they partially overlap each other, said
opening comprising at least one pair of slits (8a,8b) approximately parallel to each
other and forming said tongue member (9).
3. Innerboot according to claim 2, characterized in that proximate to the upper edge
(10) of said tongue member (9) there is a means for fastening said tongue member to
said pair of flaps, said means being constituted by a strap (11) which has, at its
ends, temporary connection means such as straps of the material known by the trade-name
"Velcro", said strap surrounding externally and at least partially said tongue member
and said pair of flaps.
4. Innerboot according to claim 3, characterized in that said strap (10) passes inside
said tongue member, in a small region that is adjacent to the two edges (12a,12b)
of said tongue member (9), through at least two pairs of opening (13a,13b) formed
on said tongue member (9).
1. Innenschuh, insbesondere für Sportschuhe, wie Skischuhe oder Skater, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß er wenigstens ein Paar an überlappenden Laschen (6a, 6b) an der Vorderseite (2) und
an der Hinterseite (7) mindestens eine Öffnung mit mindestens einem Zungenelement
(9) aufweist, das von dem mindestens einem Paar an Laschen weggefaltet werden kann.
2. Innenschuh nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß der Vorderbereich (2) zumindest auf den Fußeinstieg (4) und teilweise auf das Schienbein
(5) einwirkt, wobei das zumindest eine Paar an Laschen (6a, 6b) so angeordnet ist,
daß sie sich einander teilweise überlappen, und die Öffnung zumindest ein Paar von
Schlitzen (8a, 8b) aufweist, die näherungsweise parallel zueinander sind und das Zungenelement
(9) bilden.
3. Innenschuh nach Anspruch 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß nahe an der oberen Kante (10) des Zungenelements (9) eine Einrichtung zum Befestigen
des Zungenelements an dem Paar von Laschen ist, wobei die Einrichtung durch ein Band
(11) gebildet ist, das an seinen Enden zeitweilige Verbindungsmittel, wie Bänder aus
dem unter dem Handelsnamen "Velcro" bekannten Material, hat und das Band außen und
zumindest teilweise das Zungenelement und das Paar von Laschen umgibt.
4. Innenschuh nach Anspruch 3, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das Band (10) in das Zungenelement in einem kleinen Bereich, der benachbart zu den
zwei Kanten (12a, 12b) des Zungenelements (9) ist, durch mindestens zwei Paare von
Öffnungen (13a, 13b), die an dem Zungenelement (9) geformt sind, eingeführt ist.
1. Chausson en particulier pour chaussures de sport telles que chaussures de ski ou patins,
caractérisé en ce qu'il comprend à l'avant (2) une paire de volets se recouvrant (6a,
6b) et, à l'arrière (7), au moins une ouverture possédant au moins un élément de languette
(9) qui peut être replié à l'écart de ladite au moins une paire de volets.
2. Chausson selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que ladite région avant (2) affecte
au moins le cou-de-pied (4) et affecte partiellement le tibia (5), ladite au moins
une paire de volets (6a, 6b) étant disposée de telle manière que les volets se recouvrent
partiellement l'un l'autre, ladite ouverture comprenant au moins une paire de fentes
(8a, 8b) approximativement parallèles l'une à l'autre et formant ledit élément de
languette (9).
3. Chausson selon la revendication 2, caractérisé en ce que, à proximité du bord supérieur
(10) dudit élément de languette (9), il est prévu un moyen pour fixer ledit élément
de languette à ladite paire de volets, ledit moyen étant constitué par une courroie
(11) qui possède à ses extrémités des moyens de connexion temporaire tels que des
bandes réalisées en matériau connu sous la marque 〈〈 Velcro 〉〉, ladite courroie entourant
extérieurement et au moins partiellement ledit élément de languette et ladite paire
de volets.
4. Chausson selon la revendication 3, caractérisé en ce que ladite courroie (10) passe
à l'intérieur dudit élément de languette, dans une petite région qui est adjacente
aux deux bords (12a, 12b)dudit élément de languette (9), au travers d'au moins deux
paires d'ouvertures (13a, 13b) formées dans ledit élément de languette (9).