EP1310181A1

EP1310181A1 - Sports shoe

Info

Publication number: EP1310181A1
Application number: EP02020858A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giorgio Baggio; Franco Trevisi
Original assignee: HTM Sport SpA
Current assignee: HTM Sport SpA
Priority date: 2001-11-12
Filing date: 2002-09-18
Publication date: 2003-05-14
Also published as: ITMI20012380A1

Abstract

A sports shoe having an inner shoe made of fabric that has a first hydrophobic side (8), arranged in contact with the user's foot. The fabric has a second absorbent hydrophilic side (9), connected to one or more channels (11). The channels have at least one opening (15) in the region adjacent to the upper perimetric edge of the inner shoe.

Description

The present invention relates to a sports shoe of the type composed of at least one quarter articulated to a shell, such as, for example, a ski boot, an ice boot, or a roller skate or ice skate.
Currently, the shells and quarters of those sports shoes are usually made of plastics or other materials that do not allow transpiration, and the problem is strongly felt of achieving good ventilation of the foot in order to avoid the undesirable effects of the intense perspiration that affects the foot during sports practice.
The foot is in fact seated within a soft inner shoe that is essentially used to increase the comfort of the foot. The inner shoe, in addition to allowing soft resting for the foot, is also adapted to retain heat inside it, so as to maintain an adequate temperature for the foot during the sports practice.
However, the heat also causes the foot to perspire, even excessively.
As a partial solution to those drawbacks, there are roller skates having a shell provided with holes; during skating, the flow of air strikes the shell and, at the holes, also the underlying surface of the inner shoe, so as to allow better heat dissipation.
However, that solution is insufficient, and the problem of perspiration persists.
Moreover, that solution cannot be applied directly to ski boots or ice boots, because snow or ice would accumulate at the holes formed in the surface of the shell, lowering the temperature of the inner shoe and possibly allowing the penetration of water.
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above described problems, by providing a sports shoe, such as a ski boot, an ice boot or a skate, that allows to achieve optimum ventilation of the foot during sports practice.
Another object is to provide a sports shoe that combines optimum ventilation with optimum comfort for the user's foot.
Another object is to provide a ventilated sports shoe that has low manufacturing costs.
This aim, these objects and others that will become better apparent from the description that follows are achieved by a sports shoe as claimed in the appended claims.
Other objects will become better apparent in the description that follows, which must be considered together with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate merely by way of non-limitative example a particular embodiment, wherein:
Figure 1 is a side view of a ski boot;
Figure 2 is a side view of the inner shoe;
Figure 3 is a sectional view of the inner shoe, taken along the line III-III of Figure 2.
With reference to the above cited figures, and bearing in mind that they are examples of a particular embodiment and are in variable scale and in that individual reference numerals designate therein identical or equivalent parts, the reference numeral 1 designates a sports shoe such as a ski boot.
The ski boot is constituted by a shell 2 made of plastics to which a quarter 4 is articulated by means of studs 3.
Closure levers 5 are provided at the quarter 4 and at the shell 2.
Inside the shell and the quarter there is an inner shoe 6, which is provided internally with a two-part fabric 7 formed by a fiber of material, known by the trade-name Nylon, which is hydrophobic and woven to form two sides: a first side 8 is composed of a hydrophobic fiber which makes contact with the user's foot.
There is a second side 9, which is directed toward the outside of the inner shoe 6 and is composed of absorbent hydrophilic Nylon.
A padding 10 is associated and in contact with the second side 9 of the fabric 7 and is preferably constituted by a terry.
A plurality of channels 11 are associated with the outside of the padding 10 and are shaped like a letter L, in which a shorter arm 12 is arranged preferably laterally to the user's foot in a region that is adjacent to the malleolar region and/or lies above it.
Each channel 11 also has a longer arm 13 that reaches toward an upper perimetric edge 14 of the inner shoe 6, preferably with an arc-like shape.
A plurality of openings 15 are provided externally at the longer arm 13 and are therefore connected to the outside.
At the longer arm 13 of each channel 11 there is a layer of a transpiring material 16 that is interposed with respect to the padding 10 and can optionally affect the entire surface of the inner shoe 6 in the region that lies above the malleolar region.
The sports shoe thus provided therefore has an inner shoe that can be put on by the user and the inner part of which remains drier, because the moisture generated inside the inner shoe in contact with the foot is removed and drawn toward the second side 9 at the channels 11.
The inner part of the inner shoe is therefore drier, because the second side 9 of the fabric 7 widens the moist area, facilitating its rapid evaporation through the channels 11 and therefore through the venting openings 15 formed in the channels 11.
The motion of the foot while flexing the leg is substantially a back-and-forth movement and entails a compression and subsequent expansion of the transpiring padding 10, thus producing a pump effect that facilitates the expulsion of the moisture through the channels and the openings.
It has been found that the shoe thus provided has achieved the intended aim and objects, allowing the perspiration generated inside the inner shoe during sports practice to flow from the inside outwards.
The number of channels, as well as their arrangement and their possible interconnection or lack thereof, may of course be the most pertinent according to specific requirements.
The openings 15 can be of the type that can be throttled fully or partially by using suitable sliders and/or plugs that can be activated by the user.
The materials and the shape and dimensions of the individual components of the sports shoe may of course be the most pertinent and disparate according to specific requirements.

Claims

A sports shoe, characterized in that it comprises an inner shoe made of fabric that has a first hydrophobic side, arranged in contact with the user's foot, and a second absorbent hydrophilic side, connected to one or more channels that have at least one opening in the region adjacent to the upper perimetric edge of said inner shoe.
The sports shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that said inner shoe is internally provided with a two-part fabric.
The sports shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that said inner shoe is provided internally with a fabric formed by a fiber made of hydrophobic material coupled to absorbent hydrophilic material.
The sports shoe according to claim 3, characterized in that said fabric has a first side composed of a hydrophobic fiber, which makes contact with the user's foot.
The sports shoe according to claim 4, characterized in that said fabric has a second side that is directed toward the outside of said inner shoe and is composed of an absorbent hydrophilic fiber.
The sports shoe according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that a padding, constituted by a terry, is associated and in contact with said second side of said fabric.
The sports shoe according to claim 6, characterized in that a plurality of channels are provided outside said padding.
The sports shoe according to claim 7, characterized in that said channels are shaped like a letter L, in which the shorter arm is arranged laterally to the foot of the user in a region that is adjacent to the malleolar region.
The sports shoe according to claim 8, characterized in that one or more of said channels have a longer arm that reaches toward the upper perimetric edge of said inner shoe, with an arc-like shape.
The sports shoe according to claim 9, characterized in that a plurality of openings are formed externally at said longer arm and are connected to the outside.
The sports shoe according to claim 10, characterized in that a layer of transpiring material is interposed, with respect to said padding, at said longer arm of one or more of said channels.
The sports shoe according to claim 11, characterized in that said layer of transpiring material affects the entire surface of said inner shoe in the region above the malleolar region.
The sports shoe according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said fabric and said channels allow to keep the inner part of said inner shoe dry, because the moisture produced inside said inner shoe in contact with the foot is removed and drawn toward said second side at said channels, said second side expanding the moist region, facilitating its rapid evaporation through said channels and through said venting openings.
The sports shoe according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the motion of the foot during flexing, which is substantially a back-and-forth movement, entails a compression and a subsequent expansion of said transpiring padding, producing a pump effect that facilitates the expulsion of said moisture through said channels and openings.