WO1993025107A1

WO1993025107A1 - Shoe with foot retaining device

Info

Publication number: WO1993025107A1
Application number: PCT/FR1993/000550
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick Mainguene
Original assignee: Patrick Mainguene
Priority date: 1992-06-10
Filing date: 1993-06-09
Publication date: 1993-12-23
Also published as: FR2692115B1; FR2692115A1

Abstract

Shoe fitted with a partially flexible upper, having a sole, and comprising a foot retaining device located in an area extending from the instep area to that of the wearer's heel, said shoe consisting of a front portion with a longitudinal opening in the instep area for inserting the foot, while the lacing stiffening pieces extend longitudinally on either side of said opening, a heel covering portion continuing said front portion to the rear and surrounding the heel area of the wearer's foot, said heel covering being reinforced in a lower area adjacent to the sole, by a stiffener. The shoe of the invention is characterized in that the foot retaining device is composed of a control member connected to the rear ends of the lacing stiffening pieces by a traction element.

Description

FOOTWEAR WITH FOOT HOLDING DEVICE

The present invention relates to shoes with flexible upper, provided with a foot holding device independent of the means for closing and tightening said upper on the wearer's foot.

Shoes are already known, and in particular sports shoes which comprise a flexible upper provided with closure and tightening means extending longitudinally in the area of the instep, generally constituted by lacing bars connected together by a lace or any other device. Some of these shoes also include, in the area of the heel casing which constitutes the rear of the shoe, a rear tightening strap surrounding the rear of the shoe in an area located above the calcaneus bone of the wearer's foot. The tightening of this flange into two parts, one of the ends of each of which is fixed by sewing on each of the sides of the walls of the upper, is then carried out by pulling one of the two other free ends to through a clip loop, for example, attached to the remaining free end. The clamp thus produced makes it possible to modify the closing perimeter of the rear of the shoe as soon as the lacing on the front of the shoe is itself finished.

Such a shoe therefore requires two distinct manipulations to achieve good hold thereof on the foot of the wearer, which is not always convenient for the user who would like to reliably find the initial conditions of a wear of foot which will have given him satisfaction for his sports practice.

Also known among sports shoes are certain tightening mechanisms more specifically adopted in the context of alpine ski boots. It is generally known that this type of shoe requires tightening means which are particularly suitable for the relatively rigid structure of the walls of these shoes. Also such clamping means they very often use cable tensioning levers, capable of exerting the efforts necessary to achieve a tightening effect on the skier's foot given the rigid walls of these types of boots.

Thus, French patent no. 2 394 265 claims such tightening means constituted by a traction lever placed above the heel of the rear part of the rigid upper of the ski boot and a strip placed transversely above the front part of the shell of this shoe and connected to the lever by traction cables returned to the latter by return elements located at the sole of said shoe. This constructive arrangement is particularly adapted to the rigid structure of alpine ski boots which allows the placing of return elements at the level of the sole which, for technical reasons of adaptation to ski bindings, itself constitutes an extremely rigid element. .

The present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of multiple tightening arrangements on the flexible sports shoes mentioned above. It also aims to memorize the settings and allow the user to find reliably, good footing for closure and tightening determined above the upper of the shoe, without it being necessary for the wearer to carry out multiple manipulations.

To this end, the present invention proposes to produce a shoe with an at least partially flexible upper provided with a foot-holding device acting simultaneously on the instep and on the heel of the wearer by means of unique controls, located at the back of said flexible shoe.

The shoe according to the invention is an shoe with an at least partially flexible upper comprising:

- a foot support device located in an area extending from the instep area to that of the heel of the wearer's foot, said shoe consisting of an upper provided with a boot opening in the area instep, while lacing reinforcements extend longitudinally on each side of said opening, - a heel case continuing said upper towards the rear and surrounding the heel area of the wearer's foot, said case being reinforced in its lower area adjacent to the sole, by a buttress, - said foot support device being made up of '' a control member for two traction elements respectively connected to at least one of the lateral ends of the lacing reinforcements and to at least one of the ends of a heel strap surrounding the upper zone of the heel casing .

According to an additional characteristic of the invention, the control member for the traction elements is arranged on the rear outer wall of the heel counter.

According to another characteristic of the invention, at least one of the side walls of the buttress is provided with a deflection element intended to direct the two traction elements constituted by cables or the like towards the control member advantageously located at middle of the outer wall of said buttress.

Also according to an additional characteristic of the shoe according to the invention, the two traction elements are driven approximately from the return element, by guide means arranged near the junction between the buttress and the sole of the shoe. , to lead into the lower zone of the outer wall of said buttress.

Note that in the case mentioned above, only one of the sides of the shoe according to the invention is subject to the effects of the control member on the two traction elements. Also, a shoe provided, on its two sides, with traction elements connected to a single control member, remains within the scope of the invention; such a foot holding device then providing symmetrical tightening.

According to other complementary characteristics of the invention, the area of the upper located between the lacing reinforcements and the front lateral edge of the buttress advantageously consists of a flexible material conformable to the morphology of the foot. It will be the same for the upper area of the heel case.

The shoe according to the invention offers the advantage of ensuring perfect hold both of the heel and of the instep of the wearer of this shoe, as a result of convergent lateral forces exerted from the end of the reinforcement. lacing and heel strap to the sole.

Thus the foot holding device makes it possible to modify the closure perimeter that constitutes the upper edge of the upper; in addition, the rear wall of this edge comes, under the effect of said heel strap, to closely match the morphology of the Achilles tendon of the wearer of the shoe. This therefore results in a tightening effect of the rear edge of the rod on the Achilles tendon. Furthermore, the lateral parts of the vamp where the lacing reinforcements at least partially extend, are also applied firmly to the sides of the foot, which improves both the general grip of the shoe on the foot and a reinforcement sealing.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below, by way of nonlimiting examples, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a shoe provided with a foot holding device according to the invention, shown in the tight position on the wearer's foot;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same shoe, but shown in the open, open position;

Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate in more detail the arrangement of the foot support device according to the invention located in the area of the rear of the shoe, respectively in the open position (Figure 3) and in the position closed (Figure 4), or with a traction element whose hooking loop is intended to cooperate with the control member (Figure 5), or even with an adjustable rear strap (Figure 6); Figures 7 and 8 illustrate two alternative embodiments;

Figures 9 and 10 are views similar to Figures 1 and 2 showing an alternative embodiment;

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 9 showing another variant.

The shoe shown in Figures 1 and 2 has a low upper (1) which is assembled at its lower part to a sole (2) suitable for the practice of a specific sport. The upper (1) of this shoe consists of a vamp (3) extending over the anterior zone of the shoe which is intended to cover the entire forefoot of the wearer; a heel casing (4) completes the side walls of the vamp (3) backwards to completely surround the foot. The upper (3) is advantageously provided with a longitudinal opening (5) of boot extending over the top of the instep. This boot opening (5) is bordered laterally by two lacing reinforcement (6) through which are drilled holes (7) for passage of a lace (8) for closing and tightening.

The lacing reinforcements (6) themselves extend longitudinally towards the rear and upwards of the vamp (3) as far as in an area of the lateral wall of the vamp situated in front of the release (9) of the malleoli (10) that the lateral border (11) of the vamp (3) draws at the foot of the wearer.

The lacing reinforcement (6) is preferably made of a material such as leather and is connected at the front to the rest of the shoe, by a zone of narrower width (60), thus defining a point of rotation (01).

The upper part (12) of the heel casing (4) defines the upper edge of the rear of the upper (1), while the lower part of said casing (4) is reinforced by a determining external buttress (13). a zone of good rigidity ensuring good stability of the shoe. The buttress (13) extends on each side of the heel of the shoe by a lateral wing (14) directed towards the front of the shoe as far as an area situated approximately in line with the malleolus. Furthermore, at the end of each lateral wing (14) there is a deflection element (15) materialized by a stud or the like, as a guide element, which can be either attached by assembly, or molded from a single piece, in the hypothesis of plastic buttress. The upper part (12) of the casing (4) without reinforced area is used to receive a rear strap (16) surrounding the rear periphery of said upper part (12) of casing (4) in the zone corresponding to the top of the calcaneus bone head. This rear strap (16) can be connected to the upper (1) of the shoe by various means known per se, capable of maintaining it in the position of use on the rear of the casing, such as passers-by, for example . The lateral end of the strap (16) is then provided with an adjustable attachment means (17) if necessary, to which one of the traction elements (18) is attached. The other traction element (19) is hooked on an attachment means (20) adjustable if necessary, arranged on the rear lateral end of the lacing reinforcement (6). Said adjustment can be carried out by a step-by-step system, such as a succession of anchoring points or a system of the micrometric type, such as a thumb wheel. The two traction elements (18, 19) then extend convergently towards the return element (15) located at the end of the lateral wing (14) of the buttress (13), for example approximately in the tibial axis of the foot of the shoe wearer. Each of the traction elements (18, 19) is wound at least partially around said return element (15) to be then directed in a single direction, towards the bottom of the shoe.

The foot support device according to the invention then comprises, in the lower zone of the shoe, namely in the zone corresponding to the plane of junction of the upper (1) with the sole (2), guide means (21 ) traversing the lower lateral periphery of the buttress (13), in which said traction elements (18, 19) are led as far as a control member (22) fixed in the middle of the outer wall of the rear buttress (13).

This control member (22) is constituted by a tensioning lever

(23) articulated by one of its ends on a yoke (24) serving as a base, fixed halfway up the external wall of the buttress (13). The traction elements (18, 19) are then hooked to the free end of said tensioning lever (23).

In the clamping position of the foot-holding device, the tensioning lever (23) is folded down from the bottom up, so as to come to rest against the wall of the buttress (13). The tension exerted on the two traction elements (18, 19) is transmitted in the direction imparted by the guide means (21) to the point of tangency of said traction elements (18, 19) on the return element ( 15). From this element (15), the direction of the tensile forces is transmitted in two different directions converging at said point of tangency, which means that the upper of the shoe, made in part by the lacing reinforcements (6), is applied down towards the sole (2), while the rear strap (16) is pulled down and forward.

In the loosening position of the foot support device, the tensioning lever is then lowered from top to bottom and releases a length of the traction elements equal to two lengths of lever. Consequently, the tension is relaxed and allows the spacing of both the strap (16) and the lacing reinforcements (6) of the wearer's foot (FIG. 2). The lacing reinforcement having pivoted upwards around the front point of rotation (01) thus releasing the entry of the shoe.

Advantageously, the foot holding device makes it possible to find an initial state of tightening of the foot in the shoe as soon as the lacing system of the vamp does not need to be modified. Indeed, by the operation of the tensioning lever (23) when closing, the wearer is in the situation of being able to instantly find the same tightening of his shoe as he had during a previous wear thereof.

As can be seen in Figure 3, where only the rear part of the shoe has been illustrated, the rear strap (16) is fixed to the wall of the upper (3) by one of its ends (16 '), while the other (16 ") is connected to the rear traction element (18). When operating the tensioning lever (23) (figure 4), the traction element (18) tightens and the rear strap (16) subjected to tension is pressed against the upper rear wall of the casing (4). It goes without saying that the rear strap (16) can also be connected to the rear traction element by two ends which have remained free (FIG. 5). In this case, the rear traction element (18) is constituted by a closed loop (18 ') traversing each side of the shoe to come and wind on a return element (15) located on either side of the shoe heel. After having been directed into the guide means (20) constituted by sheaths, the rear traction element (18) cooperates by said loop (18 ') with the tensioning lever (23) to which it can be hooked in an adjustable manner , in a manner known per se.

According to another alternative embodiment (Figure 6), one (16 ') of the ends of the rear strap (16) can be secured to the wall of the vamp (3) thanks to a lug (25) adjustable in length , while the other end (16 ") is connected to said traction element (18).

The embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 is such that the tensioning lever is pivoted upward to pass from the release position of the foot to the holding position. But it could be otherwise: thus, the passage from the release position to the holding position could be done by pivoting downwards, without however departing from the scope of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 8 .

Furthermore, it would not go beyond the scope of the invention if the shoe did not include a rear heel strap, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

It will be noted that the pivot center (01) located in front of the lacing reinforcement is, in the embodiment described above, disposed between the first and the second lacing eyelet, but it could be otherwise. It is even advantageous that it is disposed forward and beyond the first eyelet, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. In this embodiment, it has been worn on parts identical to the embodiment. previous, the same references as for the latter. Also, for all that is not expressly described, we will refer to the description of the embodiment of Figures 1 to 8. According to this embodiment, the lacing reinforcements (6) are for example made of plastic and are extended downward, beyond the pivot point (01) by a retaining part (30) integral with the front lateral parts of the shoe, in order to retain the lacing reinforcement (6). Furthermore, the buttress (13) comprises on each side, a retaining channel (31) extending forward and upward, intended to retain and guide the corresponding traction element (19).

Of course, the lever (23) which, in the illustrated embodiments, is articulated on the buttress, could just as easily be articulated on an independent part fixed to the buttress or other than the buttress.

Note also that the rear ends (32) of the lacing reinforcement, on which the traction elements (19) act, could extend as far as the zone of the buttress, as shown in FIG. 11. It goes without saying that the lacing (8) could be of any other type than that illustrated, and in particular of the type with self-gripping bands, or even with clipping, or the like.

Furthermore, the guide means (21) are constituted, for example, by a sheath in particular flexible, but it could be otherwise, and be constituted, for example, by a passage made in the buttress itself by molding or thermoforming.

The shoe according to the invention can be of any type. It can be a city shoe or a sports shoe.

The invention having been exposed and its interest justified on detailed examples of constructions, the plaintiff reserves the exclusivity without limitations other than those of the terms of the claims below.

Claims

1) Shoe with partially flexible upper, provided with a sole, and which comprises: - a foot support device located in an area extending from the instep area to that of the heel of the wearer's foot, said shoe consisting of an upper (3) provided with a longitudinal boot opening (5) in the region of said instep, while lacing reinforcements (6) extend longitudinally on each side of said opening, - a heel case (4) continuing said upper (3) rearward and surrounding the heel area of the wearer's foot, said case being reinforced in its lower area adjacent to the sole (2), by a buttress (13), characterized in that said foot holding device consists of a control member (22, 23) connected to the rear ends of the lacing reinforcements (6) by a traction element (19).

2) Shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the two traction elements (18, 19) are directed towards the control member (22) by means of guide means (21).

3) Shoe according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control member (22) consists of a tensioning lever (23) adjustable articulated on a yoke (24) fixed to the rear outer wall of buttress (13).

4) Shoe according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said shoe comprises traction elements (18, 19) on each side of the vamp (3), so as to provide a symmetrical tightening. 5) Shoe according to claim 4, characterized in that the traction elements (18, 19) are flexible members such as cables or the like.

6) Shoe according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said foot support device also comprises a traction element (18) connected to at least one of the ends of a rear strap (16) of heel surrounding the area upper (12) of the heel casing (4) and connected to the control member.

7) Shoe according to claim 6, characterized in that at least one of the side walls (14) of the buttress (13) is provided with a return element (15) on which the two elements are wound at least partially traction (18, 19) before being directed to the control member (22, 23).

8) Shoe according to claim 7, characterized in that the traction elements (18, 19) are directed between them convergently towards the return element (15).

9) Shoe according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the return element (15) is located on the lateral wing (14) of the buttress (13).

10) Shoe according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the ends (16 ', 16 ") of the rear strap (16) and the lacing reinforcement (6) is provided with points d '' adjustable hooks (17, 20, 25).