Innerboot particularly for sports shoes

Abstract

 An innerboot (1), particularly usable for sports shoes such as ski boots, roller skates, ice skates, or ice shoes, including, within its structure, at least one insert (7) made of impact-cushioning material.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an innerboot particularly usable for sports shoes such as ski boots, roller skates, ice skates or ice boots.

[0002] Conventional sports shoes, such as for example ski boots, roller skates, ice skates or ice boots, are substantially constituted by a shell and by at least one quarter, which are both rigid because they are manufactured by injecting thermoplastic material. A soft innerboot is placed inside the shell to improve user comfort.

[0003] Many innerboots are currently known for application inside sports shoes: some are usually sewn and fitted on a last by means of an assembly operation which entails, sequentially, perimetrically sewing an insole, inserting the last, spreading an adhesive, reactivating said adhesive by heating, gluing an inner sole by pressing and then extracting it from the last.

[0004] It is also known to manufacture innerboots which have Strobel stitches on the perimetric edge of the sole for fixing the upper.

[0005] Innerboots are also known which have, at the foot instep region, a tongue or two overlapping flaps: those innerboots are used exclusively for shoes, such as ski boots, of the front-entry type and therefore to facilitate foot insertion.

[0006] For ski boots of the rear-entry type, to facilitate foot insertion, innerboots are used in which a rear opening is provided over which a tongue can be partially superimposed.

[0007] All these conventional innerboots entail drawbacks, which are mainly caused by the fact that they must meet several and contrasting requirements, such as comfort of the foot, which requires the use of soft materials; sufficient rigidity to transmit forces to the sports implement or to support the foot, which requires sufficiently rigid materials; a good internal temperature for the foot, which requires the use of materials that trap heat; good securing for the foot, which requires the innerboot to be very thick to avoid creating localized pressure points which decrease comfort.

[0008] Another problem is linked to the fact that the impacts and vibrations which the ground, for example, transmits to the foot during sports practice are cushioned to an almost negligible extent by the soft material, maintaining the sense of discomfort and of limited safety for the user while skiing besides limiting the control of the sports implement.

[0009] As a partial solution to some of these drawbacks, insoles have been proposed, with impact-cushioning characteristics, to be inserted between the foot and the innerboot or between the boot and the innerboot: this has however led to additional problems, because the addition of a new element increases the total cost of the boot; moreover, impact and vibration cushioning is limited only to the sole region, leaving unchanged the control problems of all the other points of the foot.

[0010] Also as a partial solution to this drawback, it is known to form, between the outer lateral surface of the innerboot and the inner lateral surface of the boot, spaces which are occupied by suitable flow-fit materials which are for example injected therein: this allows to optimally adapt the innerboot to the configuration of the foot, allowing for example to secure it perfectly after fixing the boot, but it still entails drawbacks, because the flow-fit material that is used must have good locking and rigidity capabilities after assuming its final configuration and therefore is again a substantially rigid element for transmitting impacts and vibrations.

[0011] Again in an attempt to solve the above problems, it is known to insert impact-cushioning materials directly at the rigid structure of the boot by using springs or elastic inserts of suitable material located at the sole of said boot; these arrangements, however, are expensive and complicated, because they require the provision of suitable seats for the springs and the inserts at the sole and therefore the provision of particular molds and production processes which again increase the overall cost of the boot.

[0012] An aim of the present invention is to solve the described problems, eliminating the drawbacks of the cited prior art, by providing an innerboot for sports shoes featuring at the same time good user comfort and optimum impact and vibration cushioning during sports practice.

[0013] An important object of the present invention is to provide an innerboot which allows optimum cushioning of impacts and vibrations in all the regions of the foot that are subjected thereto yet maintains a low-thickness structure and allows to keep the overall cost of the sports shoe substantially unchanged.

[0014] A further important object of the present invention is to provide an innerboot for sports shoes which allows the user to maintain optimum sensitivity during control of the sports implement, thus allowing optimum transmission of forces thereto.

[0015] A further important object of the present invention is to provide an innerboot for sports shoes which has a very small number of components.

[0016] This aim, these objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by an innerboot, particularly for sports shoes, comprising an upper provided with a quarter of the overlapping-flap type or of the front- or rear-entry type with a closure tongue, characterized in that it comprises, within its structure, at least one insert made of impact-cushioning material.

[0017] Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a particular but not exclusive embodiment thereof, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side perspective view of the innerboot, illustrating the insert;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the innerboot, taken transversely to the malleolar region;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the region of the sole of the innerboot in a second embodiment.

[0018] With reference to the above figures, the reference numeral 1 designates an innerboot for sports shoes, such as for example ski boots, roller skates or ice skates and ice boots.

[0019] The innerboot is constituted substantially by an upper 2 which surrounds the foot and with which a quarter 3 is associated. The quarter is of the type provided with mutually overlapping flaps 4a, 4b or on which there is provided a front or rear opening which can be closed by means of a suitable closure tongue.

[0020] The innerboot 1 has a sandwich structure and comprises an outer wall 5 and an inner wall 6 which are mutually associated and between which it is possible to interpose at least one insert 7 made of impact-cushioning material, such as for example polyvinyl chloride with a thickness of 2 mm, whose purpose is to decrease the impacts and vibrations transmitted from the ground to the foot during sports practice.

[0021] The insert 7 is arranged at one or more regions where the foot rests and/or which are subjected to localized pressures during sports practice.

[0022] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the insert 7 affects the entire sole 8 of the innerboot 1 and has a wing 9 which affects the lateral regions of the foot starting from the heel region 10 up to the vicinity of the toe region 11 of said foot. The height of wing 9 does not exceed the level of the malleoli 12.

[0023] The insert 7 can affect, at the sole 8, only some regions of the sole of the foot and particularly, as shown in Fig. 3, a region that lies below the heel 13 or the toe region 11, which constitute the foot resting region.

[0024] It has thus been observed that the present invention has achieved the intended aim and objects, an innerboot having been provided which is structurally very simple and allows to achieve effective damping of vibrations and impacts while maintaining a limited thickness and a good sensitivity in controlling the sports implement.

[0025] The innerboot also has low manufacturing costs for the shoe, since said shoe does not require particular interventions on the rigid parts of the shell or of the sole.

[0026] Application of the insert in the regions subjected to the strongest vibrations or impacts, or where pressures are localized during sports practice, allows a specific intervention and a containment of the thickness of said innerboot, and this preserves high comfort for said innerboot.

[0027] The innerboot thus conceived is also usable with any kind of sports shoe without said shoe having to be specifically preset for its use.

[0028] The innerboot according to the present invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, within the scope of the appended claims.

[0029] Likewise, the materials and the dimensions of the individual components of the invention, such as for example the arrangement of the insert and/or its dimensions, may also be the most pertinent according to specific requirements.

[0030] 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.

Claims

1. An innerboot, particularly for sports shoes, comprising an upper (2) provided with a quarter (3) of the overlapping-flap type or of the front- or rear-entry type with a closure tongue, characterized in that it contains, within its structure, at least one insert (7) made of impact-cushioning material.

2. An innerboot according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert (7) is located in the foot resting regions, such as the heel and/or metatarsal regions.

3. An innerboot according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert (7) is located at the regions where the foot is affected by localized pressure.

4. An innerboot according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert (7) affects the entire region of the sole of the foot.

5. An innerboot according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert (7) affects the regions of the foot where pressure is applied during sports practice.

6. An innerboot according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert (7) surrounds the lateral region of the foot, from the heel region (10) approximately to the toe region (11).

7. An innerboot according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has a sandwich-like structure which forms an outer wall (5) and an inner wall (6) which are mutually associated and between which said at least one insert (7) can be interposed.

8. An innerboot according to claim 7, characterized in that said at least one insert (7) is made of polyvinyl chloride with a thickness of approximately 2 mm.

9. An innerboot according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said at least one insert (7) affects the entire region of the sole of said sports shoe.

10. An innerboot according to claim 9, characterized in that said at least one insert has a wing (9) which protrudes at the lateral regions of the foot, starting from the heel region (10) up to the vicinity of the toe region (11), and is not higher than the level of the malleoli (12).

Drawing