CN111514551A

CN111514551A - Heel-opening shoe type swimming flipper

Info

Publication number: CN111514551A
Application number: CN202010079805.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 塞尔吉奥·安杰利尼
Original assignee: Maris Public Ltd
Current assignee: Maris Public Ltd; Mares SpA
Priority date: 2019-02-04
Filing date: 2020-02-04
Publication date: 2020-08-11
Also published as: US20200246663A1; EP3689422A1; ZA202000423B; IT201900001555A1

Abstract

Open-heeled shoe swim fin comprising a fin plate portion (2) and a shoe portion (1), the shoe portion (1) comprising a sole portion (101; 301) made in one piece with the fin plate portion (2), a first coupling means (211, 221) of a strap (3) being arranged on a side (201) of the shoe portion (1) which is connected to a heel member (4; 5), the sole portion (101; 301) of the shoe being provided with a second coupling means (111, 121; 311, 321) of the strap (3) near an end opposite to the end facing the fin plate portion.

Description

Heel-opening shoe type swimming flipper

Technical Field

The present invention relates to swim flippers, and more particularly, to open-heel swim flippers.

Background

Swim flippers, made in a very wide variety of shapes and sizes, are particularly divided into two main families, namely full-footed flippers, in which the user's foot is fully inserted into a suitable housing up to the heel, and open-heeled flippers, in which only the user's forefoot enters a cavity suitably arranged in the flipper, while the heel is surrounded by a strap (strap) connected to the pocket side (foot-pocket side) and provided with a portion or element called heel element, just suitable for accommodating the user's heel.

Obviously, these two different types of flippers are directed to very different uses; full-footed flippers are typically aimed at users of snorkeling or underwater fishing, in which case it is important to control the motion of the flipper, and it is not important to be able to wear a diving boot to protect the foot from the cold. On the other hand, when scuba diving to a considerable depth, the necessity of the latter becomes very important, and it is desirable to reduce heat loss from the diver's body as much as possible. However, the use of a diving boot actually precludes the use of full-foot flippers, which are typically designed to best fit the bare foot, which tend to slip off when another insert material is present.

A problem with the use of open-heeled flippers lies in the fact that in such flippers, the sole of the flipper shoe is made of a relatively harder material and is made integral with the web plate portion of the flipper, which construction makes the same sole move away from and close to the diver's heel during the finning cycle, thus creating a strong sense of instability, thus losing functionality (thrust), while increasing the load exerted by the strap (i.e. the heel element) on the user's heel.

The straps used to retain the foot in open-heeled shoes are typically made of an elastomeric material and are prone to discomfort at the achilles tendon of the user due to the unique shape of the ankle portion. In this regard, initial attempts were made to provide straps with enlarged central portions to distribute the tensile load applied by the straps over a larger area, and then to insert a removable heel member over the straps made of elastomeric material. This solution is mainly concerned with the possibility of choosing a more comfortable material for the heel element, and at the same time with the possibility of allowing the two parts to be replaced in different ways.

In the prior art, a solution is known, such as that reported in document EP2433680, all of which are owned by the same applicant. However, the heel element described in this document is a body of flexible material which is substantially flat and which adapts to the heel of the user by deforming. This solution tends, on the one hand, to wear the element itself, which is subjected to considerable loads, and, on the other hand, to limit the comfort of the user considerably, since, in use, the heel element tends to naturally slide towards the achilles tendon, exerting its maximum load precisely in this region.

Furthermore, the open-heel flipper is currently dedicated for use in conjunction with diving boots, as the existing straps and heel elements are not adapted to allow comfortable and continuous use without the cushioning and cushioning effect of neoprene. Furthermore, open-heeled flippers have only been developed for use with diving boots, so the material of the shoe itself is rather stiff (in order to improve the transfer of force from the foot to the flipper), but this does not make it very comfortable without a diving boot. Therefore, either the diving boot or two different flippers must always be available.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an open-heeled swim fin, wherein the open-heeled swim fin is capable of connecting a heel element to the shoe of the fin in a more stable manner, in order to reduce and control the oscillation of the shoe bottom relative to the back of the user's foot, and in order to distribute the connected load more efficiently.

Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a heel member that is able to overcome the above-mentioned problems and to be coupled with a shoe formed of a sufficiently soft and comfortable material, thus ensuring greater fitting (fitting) comfort for the user and, at the same time, better stability and safety when coupled with a shoe of the flipper using straps, and thus allowing comfortable and continuous use both with and without a diving boot on the user's foot.

The object of the present invention is therefore an open-heeled shoe swim fin comprising a fin plate portion and a shoe portion, the shoe portion comprising a sole portion made in one piece with the fin plate portion, a first coupling means of a strap being arranged on the side of the shoe portion, the strap being connected to a heel member, the sole portion of the shoe being provided with a second coupling means of the strap near the end opposite to the end facing the fin plate portion.

In a first embodiment, said strap is connected at the end of said heel member and is returned to the heel member itself by coupling the strap of the flipper with said first and second coupling means. In a variant, the strap is connected with the heel member and returns to the heel member by coupling with the first coupling means and couples with the second coupling means.

Said first and second coupling means may comprise tabs projecting radially from said shoe portion, oriented substantially parallel to the plane of the sole of the shoe, and provided with at least one through slot for connection with a strap. In a preferred embodiment, the walls of the slot have an inclination to facilitate the connection with the strap.

Furthermore, another object of the present invention is a heel member for a heel-opening shoe flipper, comprising a ring-shaped body having a substantially parabolic profile, so as to form, inside the ring-shaped body, a cavity having a substantially parabolic profile, adapted to accommodate the ankle of a user, the ring-shaped body being provided, in its two arms, with at least one axial duct adapted to accommodate a strap, for coupling with the shoe of the flipper.

In an embodiment, at least one radial cavity communicating with said axial duct is provided on each of said arms, said cavity being suitable for coupling with an element for connection with an end of a strip. Advantageously, said arms are each provided with a further axial duct parallel to the first duct, said radial cavities communicating with one of the two ducts. The strip portion thus extends along the entire length of the heel member from the duct that returns through the coupling means with the side of the shoe of the flipper.

Advantageously, the heel member is made in one piece with a resiliently yielding material, preferably from a polymer foam, even more preferably from a closed cell polymer foam. Suitable polymer foams from which the heel member described above may be made include polyurethane and polystyrene.

Embodiment variants require that the heel element is made of thermoplastic rubber or natural rubber or a mixture thereof.

In another embodiment, the body of the member is provided with gripping means on the outer wall of its top corner (vertex); these gripping means comprise a through hole made close to the top corner of the heel member.

Drawings

Further advantages and features of the swim flipper according to the present invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example and not of limitation, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

fig. 1 is a bottom perspective view of a first embodiment of a fin according to the present invention;

fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view of a second embodiment of the flipper according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the heel member of FIG. 2, an

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the heel member shown in fig. 3.

Detailed Description

In fig. 1, a first embodiment of a fin according to the present invention is shown; 1 denotes a shoe portion of the flipper, which is provided with a web portion 2. A flap 211 projects outwards on the side 201 of the shoe, this flap 211 being provided with a slot 221 into which the strap 3 is inserted, the strap being connected to one end of the heel member 4, while the other end crosses the slot 121 of the flap 111 projecting from the shoe bottom 101 before also connecting the heel member 4. The heel member 4 provides two arms 104, with axial ducts 114 and radial openings 124 formed in the arms 104. As will become more apparent below, heel member 4 includes, between its two arms 104, a pointed cavity 304 adapted to receive the heel of a user. At the outward facing end, heel member 4 has a grip 204 to facilitate the wearing of the flipper.

In fig. 2, a second embodiment of the flipper according to the present invention is shown; like reference numerals correspond to like parts. In this case, strap 3 returns towards heel member 5 in slot 221 of tab 211 projecting backwards from lateral surface 201 of shoe 1, heel member 5 having two

coaxial ducts

115 and 125 on arm 105, and radial opening 135 with respect to the same arm, through which radial opening 135 the end of strap 3 is connected to slot 321 formed in tab 311 projecting from shoe bottom 301. As in the case described above, the heel member is provided with a peak 305 at the intersection of the two arm portions 105 and the handle 205.

In fig. 3, a plan view of the heel member of fig. 2 is shown; like reference numerals correspond to like parts. The positioning of the

axial ducts

115 and 125 formed in the two arms 105 parallel to each other is highlighted in the figures. As best seen in fig. 4, which shows the same components from a view opposite to that of fig. 3, duct 125 leads to a radial cavity 135 formed on the side wall of each arm 105, while duct 115 leads to a wall facing handle 205.

The operation of the flipper according to the present invention will become more apparent hereinafter. As mentioned in the introduction, in open-heeled flippers known in the art, the strip provided with the heel is connected to a single point on each side of the shoe. This therefore leads to the fact that the sole close to the heel of the diver is close to and removed from the heel itself during the fin stroke cycle, thus making the fin stroke less comfortable and less safe. As provided in both the embodiments of fig. 1 and 2, the flipper according to the invention is provided with another coupling device for coupling the straps, which is arranged in the vicinity of the heel of the user, thus making it possible to minimize the above-mentioned oscillations, thereby improving the fit of the flipper as a whole and its use.

In the embodiment of fig. 1, the two ends of the strap are connected to the heel member 4 and back through the slots of the

wings

211 and 111. The embodiment of figure 2, functionally equivalent to that of figure 1, provides the advantage of a more compact arrangement of the straps and thus more effectively prevents possible contact and tangling of the straps themselves. The heel member 5 used in this embodiment has two axial ducts that overlap inside the arms 105 and which allow the forward and backward travel of the strap 3 with respect to the slots 221 of the tabs 211.

The

wings

211, 111 and 311 protruding from the shoe of the flipper according to the present invention are preferably made integral with said shoe of the flipper, typically of thermoplastic material.

In order to achieve these solutions, a heel member is advantageously designed which allows to easily and stably connect the strap to two points on each side of the shoe. Such a member is designed to solve the problems encountered in the open-heeled flipper known in the art.

The shape of the body of the heel member according to the invention ensures a shell which better meets the comfort requirements regarding the anatomical parts provided in the prior art. Indeed, as shown in fig. 3, the substantially parabolic profile of the cavity comprised between the two arms 105 allows a better distribution of the load applied by the strip. The fact that the heel member body is then made of an elastically yielding material allows, on the one hand, the achilles tendon of the user to sit more "softly" at the top corner of the cavity, and on the other hand, the ends of the arms 105 to converge towards the heel of the user, thus enveloping the heel and thus evenly distributing the load applied by the straps.

In particular, the ogive 305, intended to receive the heel of the user, follows the contour of the anatomical part in question and is shaped so as to allow the positioning of the achilles tendon. This geometry makes the achilles tendon itself, in theory, unstressed, i.e., the heel member sits on the side adjacent to the achilles tendon.

Once properly connected to the shoe, according to one of the modes described above, the heel member can be simply used by the user, who will introduce his foot when wearing it, by using the handle provided at the end of the top end of the body of the above-mentioned member.

The device according to the invention thus provides an effective solution to the problems highlighted in the prior art, thus ensuring a comfortable fit and further contributing to the rationality and simplicity associated with the heel-opening shoe of the flipper.

The body of the heel member is made of an elastically yielding material, preferably a closed cell polymer foam, which is better suited to conditions of high environmental stress to which the device is subjected; preferably, the polymer foam is a polyurethane foam and a polystyrene foam.

Claims

1. A heel-opening shoe swim fin comprising a fin plate portion (2) and a shoe portion (1), the shoe portion (1) comprising a sole portion (101; 301) made integral with the fin plate portion (2), a first coupling means (211, 221) of a strap (3) being arranged on a side (201) of the shoe portion (1), the strap being connected to a heel member (4; 5), the sole portion (101; 301) of the shoe being provided with a second coupling means (111, 121; 311, 321) of the strap (3) near an end opposite to an end facing the fin plate portion.

2. A swim fin according to claim 1, wherein the strap (3) is connected at the end of the heel member (4) and is returned to the heel member (4) itself by coupling the strap (3) of the shoe (1) of the swim fin with the first coupling device (211, 221) and the second coupling device (111, 121).

3. A swim fin according to claim 1, wherein the strap (3) is connected to the heel member (5) and returns to the heel member (5) by being coupled with the first coupling means (211, 221), and the strap (3) is coupled to the second coupling means (311, 321).

4. A swim fin according to any one of preceding claims 1 to 3, the first (211, 221) and second (111, 121; 311, 321) coupling devices comprising tabs projecting radially from the shoe (1), the tabs being oriented substantially parallel to the sole plane (101; 301) of the shoe and being provided with at least one through slot (221, 121; 321) for connection with the strap.

5. A swim fin according to claim 4, wherein the walls of the slot (221, 121; 321) have an inclination to facilitate connection with the strap (3).

6. A heel member for open-heeled swim flippers, comprising a ring-shaped body (4; 5), said ring-shaped body (4; 5) having a substantially parabolic profile so as to form a cavity having a substantially parabolic profile inside said ring-shaped body (4; 5), said cavity being adapted to accommodate the ankle of a user, said ring-shaped body (4; 5) being provided in its two arms with at least one axial duct (114; 115, 125) adapted to accommodate a strap (3) for coupling with the shoe of said swim flipper.

7. The heel member according to claim 6, wherein each of the arms (104; 105) is provided with at least one radial cavity (124; 135) communicating with the at least one axial duct (114; 115; 125).

8. The heel member according to claim 7, wherein the arms (105) are each provided with a further axial duct (125) parallel to the first duct (115), the radial cavity (135) communicating with one of the two ducts.

9. The heel member according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the heel member is made in one piece from an elastically yielding material, preferably from an expanded polymer material, even more preferably from an expanded closed-cell polymer material.

10. The heel member according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the body of the member is made in one piece from thermoplastic rubber or natural rubber or a mixture thereof.

11. Heel member according to any of claims 6 to 10, wherein the body (4; 5) of the member is provided with gripping means (204; 205) on the outer wall of the top corner of the body.

12. Open-heeled shoe swim fin according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, wherein the heel member (4; 5) is made according to one or more of the preceding claims 6 to 11.