AU597812B2

AU597812B2 - Shoe heel counter

Info

Publication number: AU597812B2
Application number: AU13949/88A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Anderie Wolf
Original assignee: Adidas AG
Current assignee: Adidas AG
Priority date: 1987-05-06
Filing date: 1988-03-17
Publication date: 1990-06-07
Anticipated expiration: 2008-03-17
Also published as: KR890700324A; EP0348424A1; AU1394988A; AR243745A1; ATE72506T1; BR6802853U; DE3868405D1; DE8707691U1; WO1988008678A1; KR950003250B1; JPH02503271A; EP0348424B1

Description

59781 2 2 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION NAME ADDRESS OF APPLICANT: Adidas Sportschuhfabriken Adi Dassler Stiftung Co. KG Adi-Dassler-Strasse 1-2 D-8522 Herzogenaurach Federal Republic of Germany NAME(S) OF INVENTOR(S): Anderie WOLF ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLLISON Patent Attorneys 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: Sports shoe with resilient heel counter The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 4 la The invention relates to a sports shoe and in particular a running shoe comprising a resiliently yielding heel counter arranged on the outside of the upper portion of the shoe.

It has long been recognised that the heel counters which usually ccmprise a hard material which is relatively resistant to bending, and which may be arranged on the inside or the outside of the upper portion of the shoe may admittedly provide that the heel is firmly held in the shoe, in the desired fashion, but they also give rise to various disadvantages. Those disadvantages are that, in the case of shapes of foot which do not precisely correspond to the last shaping of the shoe, the hard heel counters cause painful pressure points on the foot whI.ch, when used over a prolonged period of time, for example in a longdistance race, result in blisters. Irrespective of the foot be'ing a precise fit in the shoe, such phenomena may also occur when running on an uneven surface, for example when training, jogging, or doing crosscountry running, because in that case continuous tipping of the heel which is compensated for by the ankle joint is inevitable. For, the non-yielding heel counter takes up a position which is predetermined by the orientation of the sole, and consequently does not follow the compensating movements of the foot. Therefore, sports shoes of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification (see US patent specification No 4 255 877) have already been designed, which have a resiliently yielding heel counter on the outside of the upper portion of the shoe, wherein the heel counter comprises an elastomeric material, for example rubber, and is secured to the outside of the upper portion of the shoe by glueing over the full surface thereof.

It has been found however that that known construction can achieve the desired aim, only if other disadvantages are accepted. More specifically, if a sufficient support and holding effect is to be achieved in spite of the resiliently yielding nature of the rubber heel counter, then the heel counter must be of considerable wall thickness L F 2 and thereby markedly increases the weight of the sports shoe. If however for reasons of weight the wall thickness of the heel counter is small, then the heel counter no longer perfo.rms its essential function as a heel support because, by virtue of its resiliency, when subjected to a lateral loading, it experiences local stretching so that it only bears against the foot at one side for exanple when the heel is laterally displaced by virtue of uneven ground.

Sports shoes with a hard heel counter are also already known (see German laid-open application (DE-OS) No 28 30 398) in which the heel counter has a recess in the region of the Achilles tendon and the attachment thereof to the heel bone in order thereby to protect that sensitive area of the foot from the effect of pressure due to the heel counter.

Taking the sports shoe of the general kind set forth in the opening part of this specification, the object of this invention is to provide it with a heel counter which is resiliently yielding in order to avoid the above-indicated disadvantages of hard heel counters, but which, in spite of its resilient deformability, provides an adequate supporting effect.

In accordance with the invention that is achieved in that the heel counter is frId by a frame or lattice irk comprising a hard flexurally resilient, material.

The invention is therefore based on the consideration that the resiliently yielding nature of the heel counter is not to be achieved by the use of a material such as rubber which is resiliently yielding when subjected to a tensile force, because that arrangement means that, in the parts in which a tensile stress occurs under a lateral loading, the heel counter stretches locally and as a result loses shape. The invention avoids that phenomenon by virtue of the fact that the heel counter ccmprises a hard material which is therefore resistant to a tensile stress, that is to say which is practically non-stretchable under tension, but which has an adequate degree of bendability, while A A% e~n

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the heel counter being in the form. of a frame or lattice work provides sufficient lateral bendability. In the event of a lateral loading therefore, when of a suitable configuration the heel counter can deform to a certain degree in the direction of the loading, but by virtue of the use of the tension-resistant material it does not suffer from local stretching so that the side of the heel counter which is not subjected to the lateral loading is at least partially entrained.

Suitable tension-resistant and flexurally resilient material for the heel counter is that material which has previously also already been used for the known hard heel counters, for example hard-set polyamide, polyurethane or the like. As, to provide an adequate support effect, the heel counter according to the invention may be of smaller wall thickness than the above-discussed rubber heel counters, the weight of the sports shoe generally can be reduced.

The frame or lattice construction which essentially represents the load-carrying support structure of the heel Counter according to the invention may be in a very wide range of different forms. Generally speaking, the larger the areas of the apertures provided in the frame or lattice work, the more yielding is the heel counter according to the invention, that is to say the lower is the support effect thereof. For that reason it is advantageous for the openings to be filled with a tension-resistant, flexurally soft material, for example a mesh or a woven web material, which is fixedly. joined to the edge of the openings. A tension-resistant but flexurally soft material of that kind interlinks the bar or limb portions which are to be found between the openings, without providing for an overall increase in the resistance to bending of the heel counter. One embodiment for example provides that the heel counter has a frame with at least one closed-edged opening which extends forwardly on both sides beyond the apex line of the heel counter. In other words, in that embodiment, of a conventional hard heel counter, all that remains is a certain edge region, the resistance to bending of which is comparatively low, in both sideways ii 4 directions. Because the opening in the heel coun:_er however is filled by a tension-resistant woven material or mesh, the threads of which are desirably arranged at an acute angle with respect to the heel apex line, laterally acting bending forces are also transmitted to the side of the heel counter, which is remote from the direction in which the force is acting, so that that side also experiences deformation and remains in contact with the other side of the foot.

Further advantageous constructions are set forth in the following description of specific embodiments arn further subsidiary claims. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of a sports shoe with a first embodiment of a heel counter according to the invention, Figures 2 to 4 are a view in longitudinal section, a rear view I and a plan view of the heel counter on the shoe shown in Figure i, on a somewhat larger scale, Figures 5 and 6 are a side view and a rear view of a second embodiment of the heel counter according to the invention, and Figures 7 and 8 are a side view and a rear view of a third embodiment of the heel counter according to the inr.ention.

'The running shoe according to the invention as shown in Figure 1 has a shock-absorbing outsole 1 of yielding plastic material, an upper portion 2 and a heel counter 3 which is fixed on the outside of the upper portion 2 in the heel region. The heel couifter 3 is fixed to the upper portion 2 of the shoe by adhesive extending over the surface thereof, and engages from below over the tuck-in nip of the upper portion 2, between the outsole 1 and the upper portion 2. In the apex region of the heel it covers over the upper portion 2 approximately over a height of two thirds of the upper portion and extends forwardly on both sides of the upper portion, in a tapering configuration, to approximately the shank region of the outsole 1 ad at any event to a position below the ankle bone of the person wearinc the shoe.

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_i As can be seen in particular from Figures 2 to 4, the heel counter 3 comprises a frame 10 of hard, tension-resistant but flexurally resistant plastic material, for example hard-set polyamide, which forms a closed-edge opening 11 or an aperture. The opening 11 approximately follows the outside contour of the heel counter 3, as can be seen from Figure 1, and it extends beyond the heel apex line on both sides of the heel counter 3. The opening 11 is filled by means of an insert 12 consisting of a comparatively flexurally soft plastic material, for example polyurethane, which may be of smaller wall thickness than the frame 10, and into which is embedded a mesh 13 of tension-resistant yarn. As can be seen in particular from Figure 3, the yarns of the mesh 13 extend at an angle of about 450 with respect to the apex line of the heel. The plastic material embedding the mesh 13 is considerably softer or is of smaller thickness than' the plastic material forming the frame 10 and serves primarily to impart a certain degree of rigidity in respect of shape to the mesh 13 so that it retains the outside contour of the heel counter 3. Along its lower edge the heel counter 3 has an inwardly directed flange 14 which, as mentioned above, in the fitted condition of the heel counter, engages under the tuck-in part of the upper portion 2 of the shoe. The flange 14 has a series of notches 15 which permit bending of the heel counter in the plane of the drawing in Figure 4 so that the heel counter can be better handled by virtue of that arrangement and can adapt to the heel shape of the last. In a deviation from that configuration however it is possible for the overall stability of the heel counter 3 to be increased from below by virtue of providing a bottom which is solid throughout, instead of the inwardly projecting flange 14. Moreover, the flexural stiffness of the heel counter may be controlled by the choice of the size of the opening 11.

The width a (see Figure 3) of the frame 10 is normally from 8 to mm, preferably 10 rnm; the wall thickness of the frame is normally 4 4 i -~IC Lfrom 1 to 1.5 mm, preferably 1.5 rrm.

Figures 5 to 8 show modified embodiments of the heel counter which also rely on the principle according to the invention of ensuring that the heel counter is resiliently yielding by virtue of the fact that the substantially load-carrying portion thereof is a 'openwork structure' or a support structure which can admittedly experience flexurally resilient deformation but which does not undergo stretching at any point when subjected to tensile stresses. Thus the embodiment shown in Figures 5 and 6 ccmprises a frame 20 which determines the outside contour of the heel counter and whose upper part is connected to the lower part by a form of latticework structure consisting of a plurality of bar portions 21, 22 and 23, 24 respectively which are vertical or extend inclinedly with respect to the vertical. The substantially vertically extending bar portions 21 and 22 which are each provided in pairs are formed by an opening 25 disposed in the region of the attachment of the Archilles tendon, and by three smaller openings 26 which are arranged beneath the opening 25. Openings 27 and 28 in the side walls of the heel counter form the inclinedly forwar-dly and upwardly extending bar portion 23 and, together with the two outer openings 26 in the heel region, the inclinedly rearwardly and upwardly extending bar portion 24, in each side wall.

In this embodiment also the lower portion of the frame 20 may have an inwardly projecting flange (not shown) which engages under the tuck-in part of the sports shoe. However, in this case it has been found that it is more advantageous to provide a continuous bottom which, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, is curved in a cup-like configuration at the transition to the back of the heel counter. In this embodiment also the openings 25 to 28 may be filled with a woven material or mesh of tension-resistant material, as described above in connection with the first embodiment, which is fixedly connected to the edges of the openings. That connection is advantageously produced by 7 framework structure which forms the heel counter.

The enbodiment shown in Figures 7 and 8 also has a frame which however in this case essentially determines only the shape of the side walls of the heel counter. Unlike the embodiment shown in Figures and 6, the side walls in this construction are not connected together at their rearwardly upper ends but are separated from each other by an open-edge opening 31 which leaves free the Archilles tendon and its attachment. However the side wall3 of the heel counter are connected together by a heel cup 32 which is approximately of a quarter-spherical configuration and in which horizontal bar or curved limb portions 34 are formed by transversely extending slots 33. In this embodiment the upper end of each side wall may initially be deformed, that is to say, bent, to a certain extent, without a reaction being applied to the respective opposite side wall. If however the deformation becomes more pronounced, for example in the event of the foot being tilted over to a greater degree, then the transverse limb portions 34 act as coupling members which entrain the oppositely disposed side wall in the same respective direction of deformation.

With this embodiinent also it is possible to influence the resiliency of the framework described by the openings provided being filled with a mesh or woven material. That also applies in regard to the open-edge opening 31, wherein the mesh provided therein then eliminates the individual bendability of the upper ends of the side walls.

The reference numerals in the following claims do not in any way limit the scope of the respective claims.

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Claims

1. A sports shoe, in particular a running shoe, comprising a resiliently yielding heel counter which is arranged on the outside of the upper portion of the shoe, characterised in that the heel counter is f rmed by a frame or latticework comprising a hard flexurally resei-ienty material.

2. A sports shoe according to claim 1 characterised in that the heel counter comprises a frame (10, 20, 30) with at least one closed-edge opening and the opening is filled with a tension-resistant flexurally soft material (13) which is fixedly connected to the frame.

3. A sports shoe according to claim 2 characterised in that the tension-resistant flexurally soft material is a mesh or woven material (13).

4. A sports shoe according to claim 3 characterised in that the mesh or woven material is embedded in a shaping plastic layer which is flexurally soft in comparison with the frame (10, 20, A sports shoe accoding to one of claims 2 to 4 characterised in that there is a single closed-edge opening (11) which extends forwardly on both sides beyond the apex line of the heel.

6. A sports shoe according to one of claims 1 to 5 characterised 4 in that provided in the region of the apex line of the heel is an upwardly open opening (31) forming lateral support wings on the heel counter. Dated this 28th day of June 1989 ADIDAS SPORTSCHUHFABRIKEN ADI DASSLER STIFTUNG CO. KG By its Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON 3C 4 f