EP0697826B1 - Shoe closure - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/DE93/01250 Sec. 371 Date Nov. 15, 1995 Sec. 102(e) Date Nov. 15, 1995 PCT Filed Dec. 27, 1993 PCT Pub. No. WO94/26138 PCT Pub. Date Nov. 24, 1994A shoe fastener with a rotary actuating element (35) that has a pulley (3) coupled thereto via a self-locking reduction gear which is in the form of an eccentric drive (10, 12). An unwinding gear is pivotally mounted in a housing (1) of the fastener and is formed of a disk (24) having a grooved outer catch rim (26). The unwinding gear can be fixed in any of several angular positions via a catch element (42) which can be released via a tension element (47) which, at the same time, can be used to pull open the shoe by lifting of a tongue or instep cover (55) of the shoe upon which the fastener is mounted.

Description

The present invention relates to a shoe closure according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a shoe closure with an eccentric gear is described in the older patent DE 42 40 916 C1. The outer rolling gear is rotatably mounted there in the housing and can be fixed in position by means of one or more circumferential grooves.

Other shoe closures are also known, for example, from EP 255 869 A2, in which the rope sheave is rotatably mounted in a housing on a stationary axle bolt and is driven in the manner of a Maltese cross gear or a planetary gear. The top of the housing cover is provided with a toothed ring which, together with a pawl which can be actuated by the rotary member, forms a pawl device which latches in the closing direction. The rotating member has a driver pin which engages in a sector-shaped recess in an intermediate disk. The recess extends over a small angular range, so that the rotary member is freely movable relative to the intermediate disk by a small angle of rotation of, for example, 30 °.

The pawl is resiliently prestressed on the intermediate disk in such a way that a projecting tooth in the toothed ring and another projecting tooth located on the opposite side in another ring segment Control recess of the rotary member engages. The control recess is cut free at one end in such a way that when the rotating member is rotated in the closing direction, the engaging projection tooth remains freely movable. When the rotary member rotates in the closing direction, the intermediate disk is moved within an assigned recess after the driving pin has stopped. The pawl is moved over the toothed ring and snaps from one tooth to the next via inclined flanks.

When rotating the rotating member in the opening direction, it rotates in accordance with the free angle defined by the cutout relative to the intermediate disk. In this case, a control surface which rises in a ramp-like manner at the other end of the control recess presses over the associated projecting tooth of the locking blade, which is thereby moved out of the effective range of the toothed ring. This eliminates the possibility of locking and the rotary knob can be turned in the opening direction and the cable pulley can be turned in a relaxing direction via the gearbox. A quick opening of the shoe closure is therefore not possible despite the relatively complex construction of the shoe closure.

Shoe closures with a rotating member are also known, which have a planetary gear. With these, a quick release is possible in that the gear can be uncoupled from the cable wheel by pressing the center of the rotary knob in the direction of the central axis, so that the cable wheel is freely rotatable.

In contrast, the present invention is intended to achieve the object of designing a shoe closure of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that the shoe closure is released quickly and the opening of the shoe can be done practically simultaneously with a single actuator.

This object is achieved by the features of claim 1.

In contrast to the known quick release devices by pressure on a central part of the rotary member, in the inventive design of the quick release device the shoe fastener can be pulled over the pulling element in the direction of the shoe opening at the same time as its base to which it is attached.

EP 0 297 342 A2 discloses a shoe closure which can be actuated by means of a rotary member and in which a latching element is mounted such that it can be deflected transversely to the central axis. The latching element can be pivoted in the unlocking direction by means of a lever which is pivotably mounted on the closure via a pushbutton provided thereon and projecting laterally from the closure. There, however, a spur gear is provided as the drive for the rope sheaves, which is not self-locking in the gear ratio used there. The locking element is therefore necessary in order to be able to maintain a tensioned state when the shoe is closed. For this purpose, the locking element interacts with a ratchet toothing provided on the underside of the sheave, so that the sheave can be rotated in the tensioning direction, but not in the relaxation direction. The locking lever can be used for quick release be pivoted out of the area of the ratchet toothing by means of the pushbutton, as a result of which the spur gear is freely rotatable. To open the shoe, therefore, both the push button must be pressed and the shoe must be opened at the same time, for example by pulling on the tongue or on the upper. If this known ratchet lock is used on a rope pulley driven by an eccentric drive, the unlocking of the latching element would have no effect, since the eccentric gear is already self-locking even with a small transmission ratio. A quick release must therefore be carried out in a different way when using an eccentric drive. An advantageous solution to this problem is achieved by the present invention.

Fig. 1

einen Querschnitt durch einen Schuhverschluß mit einem Exzentergetriebe als Untersetzungsgetriebe im eingerasteten Zustand;

Fig. 2

den gleichen Schuhverschluß im entrasteten Zustand,

Fig. 3 und 4

zwei unterschiedliche Ausführungsformen des Rastelements,

Fig. 5

den Endabschnitt eines Zugbandes,

Fig. 6

die Einzelansicht einer Federanordnung,

Fig. 7

einen Querschnitt, wie in Fig. 1, jedoch mit einer anderen Ausführung einer Rasteinrichtung,

Fig. 8

eine vergrößerte Ansicht des in dem Kreis befindlichen Abschnitts des Schuhverschlusses der Fig. 7,

Fig. 9

einen Querschnitt durch einen Schuhverschluß mit einem Exzentergetriebe im eingerasteten Zustand und mit einer anderen Möglichkeit der Zugbandanordnung,

Fig. 10

eine Draufsicht auf den Schuhverschluß gemäß Fig. 9 im Schnitt im eingerasteten Zustand, wobei unter Weglassung von Getriebeteilen die Rastung sichtbar ist,

Fig. 11

einen Querschnitt durch und

Fig. 12

eine Draufsicht auf den Schuhverschluß gemäß den Fig. 9 und 10 in jeweils entrastetem Zustand.

Further advantageous details of the invention are specified in the subclaims and are described in more detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing. Show it:

Fig. 1

a cross section through a shoe closure with an eccentric gear as a reduction gear in the engaged state;

Fig. 2

the same shoe lock in the unlocked state,

3 and 4

two different embodiments of the locking element,

Fig. 5

the end section of a drawstring,

Fig. 6

the individual view of a spring arrangement,

Fig. 7

2 shows a cross section as in FIG. 1, but with a different design of a latching device,

Fig. 8

7 shows an enlarged view of the section of the shoe closure of FIG. 7 located in the circle,

Fig. 9

2 shows a cross section through a shoe closure with an eccentric gear in the locked state and with another possibility of the drawstring arrangement,

Fig. 10

9 shows a plan view of the shoe closure according to FIG. 9 in section in the engaged state, the catch being visible with the omission of gear parts,

Fig. 11

a cross section through and

Fig. 12

a plan view of the shoe closure according to FIGS. 9 and 10 in each unlocked state.

1 and 2, the shoe closure according to the invention has a housing part 1 which has a circular recess 2 for receiving a rope sheave 3 and the rope-like tensioning element (s) 3a. The introduction of the rope-like tensioning element (s) 3a into the rope sheave 3 takes place via known feeds in the housing part 1. The rope sheave 3 has a central bore 4, through which a bearing pin 5 of an axle unit 6 extends and into a bearing bore 7 of the bottom 8 of the housing part 1 ends. The axis of the journal 5 also forms the central axis 9 of the shoe closure.

An eccentric drive pulley 10 lies on the rope pulley 3. This has a central bearing bore 11, with which it is rotatably mounted on an eccentric drive journal 12 of the axle unit 6 arranged eccentrically to the central axis 9. On a circle concentric with the center axis 13 of the eccentric drive pin 12 is the center point 15 of several, here as an exemplary embodiment six, circular sections 16, in each of which a coupling pin 17 of the rope pulley 3 engages. The angular position of the circular sections 16 corresponds to that of the coupling bolt 17. Preferably, the circular sections 16 are each offset by the same angle, in the exemplary embodiment by 60 °. A single circular section 16, which is in operative connection with only one coupling bolt 17, would in principle also be sufficient.

By rotating the axis unit 6 about the central axis 9, the central axis 13 of the eccentric drive pin 12 describes a circular path concentric with the central axis 9. The center points 19 of the coupling bolts 17 lie on a center circle concentric with the central axis 9.

The outer contour of the eccentric drive disk 10 has a toothing 21 which can roll with an inner contour formed as counter toothing 22 of a collar 23 projecting downward on one side of a disk 24 which covers the eccentric drive disk 10 and is designed as a rolling gear wheel. The disc 24 has a central bore 25 with which it is rotatably mounted on the axis unit 6 to the central axis 9 concentrically. The disc 24 also has an outer ring gear 26 which is designed as an external ring gear and in which a latching member 40 in the form of a latching finger of a latching element 42 pivotably mounted on a pivot axis 41, for example a latching bolt or another suitable latching element, engages. A spring designed as a spiral spring 43 with two, preferably tangentially projecting spring parts 44, 45 is preferably attached to the same pivot axis 41. One protruding spring part 45 presses against the latching element 40 under prestress and presses it into a groove in the outer latching ring 26 and can thus latch the rolling gear wheel or the disk 24 in all angular positions specified by the teeth.

An externally operable pulling element 47 is fastened to a freely protruding unlocking arm 46, via which the locking element 42 can be pulled into the unlocking position against the spring force of the spring 43.

The tension element 47 can be fastened to the locking element 42 via a bore 48 provided in the unlocking arm 46, into which the tension element 47, which is made of spring steel wire, for example, is hooked in with a bent hook or is fastened in any other suitable manner.

2, 4 and 5, the tension element 47 can be designed at least at the inner end 49 as a tension band. For its attachment to the locking element 42, it has a recess or opening 50 with which it is hooked into a hook or at least into a holding finger 51 or into two holding fingers 51, 52 of the unlocking arm 46. The opening 50 is advantageously designed as a slit running transversely to the pulling direction in the ready state. Its length and width is dimensioned such that the tension element 47 is inserted in a direction transverse to the direction of tension over the holding finger or fingers 51, 52 and after swiveling in the direction of tension a position is fixed.

The disc 24 has on the side opposite the collar 23 a further, protruding collar. Due to its contour, this forms a locking ring 28 against which a locking spring 30 rests resiliently and latching. The detent spring 30 is in turn suitably attached to a rotary member 33 covering the disk 24. The rotary member 33 is connected to the armpit 6 or forms a structural unit with it. The rotary member 33 is also provided with a preferably elastic cover cap 35, which is preferably as Actuator of the present shoe closure is used. The elastic cover cap 35 is rotatably fixed in position on the disk 24 via a snap connection 53 and is rigidly coupled, for example, via connecting webs 54 to the rotary member 33.

The shoe fastener can be fastened to an instep cover 55, for example to an inner tongue of a shoe or to a tongue covering the shoe from the outside or to a holding part 56 for the shoe fastener fastened thereon.

The action of the shoe closure is as follows:
The shoe closure is in the locked position shown in FIG. 1, in which the tensioning element 3a can be tensioned even further.

When the cover cap 35 is rotated, the rotary member 33 and with it the axis unit 6 are rotated in the tensioning direction, for example clockwise, via the connecting webs 54.

Since the disc 24 is secured against rotation by the locking member 40, it remains in the fixed position. The eccentric drive pulley 10 is moved along via the eccentric drive pin 12 and rolls with its toothing 21 on the counter toothing 22 at a reduced number of revolutions.

When the eccentric drive pulley 10 is rotated, the cable pulley 3 is taken along via the coupling bolts 17, the circular sections 16 moving in a circle around the coupling bolts 17. The tensioning element 3a is wound onto the pulley 3.

For quick release, when pulling the pulling element 47, the locking element 42 is pivoted into the unlocking position. The locking member 40 comes out of engagement with the outer locking ring 26. As a result, the disk 24 is freely rotatable in the housing part 1 and with it the rope pulley 3. The eccentric gear remains in the blocking position, so that all drive parts rotate with it.

At the same time, when pulling on the pulling element 47, the entire shoe fastener and with it its base to which it is fastened, that is to say the tongue or instep cover 55 of the shoe, are raised in the direction of arrow 57 and the shoe is thus opened at the same time.

The unlocking position of the latching member 40 is shown in FIG. 2, with the latching element 42 being one with holding fingers 51 and 52 according to FIG. 4, while a latching element 42 with a bore 48 according to FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 1.

After releasing the tension element 47, the locking member 40 engages in a tooth groove of the outer locking ring 26. The disk 24 is thus secured against rotation again and the closing process can be carried out again.

In the further exemplary embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the latching element is designed as a latching spring 60, for example made of a resilient wire or strip material made of steel, stainless steel, spring bronze, resiliently resilient plastic or the like. The detent spring 60 is clamped on one side, for example below the bottom 8 of the shoe fastener, or fastened there in some other way. The detent spring 60 engages with its end section 61, which is designed as a hook-shaped latching member 40 ', from below around the edge 62 of the outer latching ring 26 and snaps into the groove of the toothing of the same under self-prestressing from above.

The tension element 47 fastened on the shoe, for example on the tongue, on the base 8, or on the catch spring 60 runs at least in the end section 61 below the catch spring 60. When the pull element 47 is pulled in the direction of arrow 63, the catch spring 60 or its end section 61 due to the game 64 present there, raised upward and in the process disengaging the locking member 40 'from the outer locking ring 26. This enables quick release of the shoe closure and the opening of the shoe with a short pull on the tension element 47.

After releasing the tension element 47, the locking member 40 'automatically engages in one of the grooves of the outer locking ring 26 and the shoe can be closed again.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, the pulling band 47, which can be actuated from the outside, also acts on the freely protruding releasing arm 46 of the latching element 42. Here, the locking element 42 can be deflected transversely to the central axis 9 in that its pivot axis 41 is arranged parallel to the central axis 9. This enables a flat construction of the central rotary lock. The tension element 47 is here on the shoe closure on the side facing away from the toe out of the shoe closure upwards and is formed there for example as a grip loop. From there, the drawstring 47 runs directly under the housing 1 or in a special guide or in a guide channel thereof towards the front of the shoe and is there looped about 180 ° around the unlocking arm 46 and then attached to the closure or to a shoe part. After the unlatching arm 46 is wrapped around the fastening part or around a shoe part, the drawstring 47 can be looped forward by about 180 ° and fastened to the shoe, tongue or instep part in the area of the toe or the base of the tongue, as in FIG. 11 is indicated by dashed lines.

The operation of this shoe fastener is essentially the same as has already been explained with reference to the previously described embodiment.

Claims (13)

1. A closure for footwear, able to be actuated via a rotary member (35)
      and having a pulley (3) supported centrally about the centreline (9) of the rotary member (35) in a bearing member (5) so as to be able to turn and wind up at least one cordlike tension member (3a), with a reduction gear between the rotary member (35) and the pulley (3) in the form of an eccentric drive (10, 12), whilst an outer rolling gearwheel (24) is supported to be able to turn in the casing (1, 2) of the closure and to be located in a number of angular positions, the closure also having the following further features:

   - the outer rolling gearwheel formed as a disc (24) exhibits an outer toothed rim (26);

   - outside the range of action of the disc (24) a catch element (42) is supported deflectably transversely to the centreline (9);

   - the catch element (42) is prestressed springily in such a way that a catch member (40) of it directed at the outer catch rim (26) snaps springily into a groove in the outer catch rim (26);

   - the catch element (42) has at least one release arm (46);

   - the release arm (46) is coupled to a pull-element (47) which may be actuated from outside and by which the catch element (42) may be brought out of engagement with the outer catch rim (26);

   - the footwear closure is provided on a part of the footwear able to move in the opening direction upon opening the footwear;

   - the footwear closure together with the aforesaid part of the footwear is able to be moved by the pull-element (47) in the direction to open the footwear.
2. A closure for footwear as in Claim 1, characterized in that
      the catch element (42) is supported on a pivot (41) and that the pivot (41) is arranged transversely to the centreline (9).
3. A closure for footwear as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that
      the pivot (41) is arranged perpendicular to the centreline (9), in particular tangentially to a circle in a plane perpendicular to the centreline (9).
4. A closure for footwear as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that
      the pivot (41) is arranged in parallel with the centreline (9).
5. A closure for footwear as in one of the Claims 1 to 4, characterized
      in that the catch element (42) is prestressed by a spring (43) in such a way that it can snap into the outer catch rim (26) and the pull-element (47) engages with a release arm (46) standing out freely.
6. A closure for footwear as in Claim 1, characterized in that
      the catch element (42) is made as a catch spring (60) provided with a catch member (40') and is fastened in such a way that by the tension of the catch spring (60) itself the catch member (40') snaps into the outer catch rim (26) and that the pull-element (47) is coupled to the catch spring (60) and may be moved into the release position by the said pull-element (47) against the prestress of the catch spring (60).
7. A closure for footwear as in Claim 6, characterized in that
      the catch spring (60) engages round the edge (62) of the outer catch rim (26) from below by a catch member (40') in the form of a hook bent upwards and the catch spring (60) is thereby prestressed, that the catch member (40') may be snapped from above into the outer catch rim (26) and may be moved upwards by the pull-element (47), in doing which the catch member (40') may be brought out of engagement with the teeth of the outer catch rim (26).
8. A closure for footwear as in one of the Claims 1 to 7, characterized
      in that the release arm (46) or respectively the catch spring (60) exhibits a recess or drilled hole in which the pull-element is suspended.
9. A closure for footwear as in one of the Claims 1 to 8, characterized
      in that the pull-element (47) exhibits a hollow or aperture (50) in which the release arm (46) or respectively the catch spring (60) engages.
10. A closure for footwear as in Claim 9, characterized in that
       the release arm (46) or respectively the catch spring (60) has one or two retainer fingers (51, 52) projecting to the side and in the pull-element (47) a slot is arranged running perpendicular to the direction of the retainer finger or fingers (51, 52) and of a length such that it is possible to push the pull-element (47) over the retainer finger or fingers (51, 52) in a direction running transversely to the direction of pull and the release arm (46) or respectively the catch spring (60) may subsequently be swung into the direction of pull and in doing so be located in position.
11. A closure for footwear as in one of the Claims 1 to 10, characterized
       in that the pull-strap (47) is led out of the closure (1) at the side remote from the toe of the footwear and runs forwards below the closure towards the toe and then is looped round the release arm (46) through about 180° towards the rear and fastened to the closure or to a part of the footwear.
12. A closure for footwear as in Claim 11, characterized in that
       after being looped round the release arm (46) the pull-strap (47) is looped forwards through about 180° round a part of the closure or a part of the footwear and in the region of the toe of the footwear or of the base of the tongue is fastened to the footwear, the tongue or a part of the instep.
13. A closure for footwear as in one of the Claims 1 to 12, characterized
       in that the said closure is arranged as an individual component on an instep covering (55) or on the tongue of the footwear and is movable with it in the direction of opening the footwear.

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