FR3052959A1 - PROTECTIVE ARTICLE FOR TIBIA AND / OR LEG FOOT HAVING AT LEAST ONE SHOCK ABSORBING CUSHION - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an article for protecting the tibia and / or foot of the leg consisting of a sock (1) comprising at least one pocket (2) and at least one pad (3) removably positioned in said pocket (2); said article is remarkable in that the pocket (2) is fixed on the sock (1) inside the latter and in that the pad (3) consists of a flexible and flat piece having a layer (3a ) obtained in a viscoelastic material and at least one layer (3b) of fabric integral with at least one of the faces of the layer (3a) of viscoelastic material.

Description

'Shin and / or foot protection article with at least one shock absorbing pad'

The present invention relates to an article for protecting the tibia and / or foot of the leg comprising at least one shock-absorbing pad. More particularly, the invention relates to a knitted sock having at least one inner pocket positioned in line with the tibial crest and removably receiving an absorbent pad constituted by a silicone layer, at least one of the faces of which is covered, and preferably both sides, by a layer of fabric.

In the field of sports equipment, it is well known to use textile devices having a knitted elastic structure or not, such as socks for example, with which is secured a flexible pad for absorbing shocks to protect certain parts of the body. foot of the wearer socks.

Such socks are described in particular in documents FR 2 897 756, FR 2 912 879 and US 2011/0000006.

The documents FR 2 897 756 and US 2011/0000006 describe a foot protection article comprising a sock provided with a buffer piece and at least one pocket for containing said buffer piece which is obtained in a viscoelastic material such as silicone for example. Said pocket is attached to the sock, outside the latter, or between two layers of extensible textile forming the sock and extends to the right of the Achilles heel and the posterior portion of the Achilles heel.

This type of protective article although effectively protecting the Achilles heel has the disadvantage of not guaranteeing good stability over time insofar as the buffer piece gradually delaminates over time due to friction that it undergoes when the sock is worn on the one hand and successive washings of the sock.

FR 2 912 879 discloses a body protection device comprising a knitted elastic structure, in the form of a sock, comprising several meshes formed of at least one wire and a pad of elastic material, such as silicone, said pad being assembled with the knitted structure and a portion of the pad being disposed outside of the knitted structure. The assembly of said pad that extends along one of the faces of the knitted structure is achieved by means of some mesh of said knitted structure which pass inside said pad and are trapped by the elastic material of the pad forming thus a composite assembly.

This type of device has, besides the fact that it is expensive to manufacture since it requires a step of molding the pads on a sock returned, the disadvantage of having a poor behavior in time. Indeed, the friction of the skin on the pads and the successive cleaning of the socks provide a delamination of the pad so that said socks quickly lose their impact protection properties.

There is therefore a need for socks with one or more shock protection pads of simple design and inexpensive and having good durability, in addition to a good comfort for the wearer socks. One of the aims of the invention is therefore to overcome these disadvantages by proposing. For this purpose and in accordance with the invention, it is proposed an article of protection of the tibia and / or the foot of the leg consisting of a sock comprising at least one pocket and at least one pad removably positioned in said poached; said article is remarkable in that the bag is fixed on the sock inside the latter and in that the pad consists of a flexible and flat piece comprising a layer obtained in a viscoelastic material and at least one layer in a fabric integral with at least one of the faces of a layer of viscoelastic material.

It is well understood that the layer of fabric of the pad that allows the pad to slide inside the pocket limits stress on the layer obtained in a viscoelastic silicone material. In addition, said layer of fabric provides a better cohesion of the layer obtained in a viscoelastic silicone material over time thus avoiding unwanted unreeling.

Preferably, the pad consists of a flexible and flat piece comprising a layer obtained in a viscoelastic material and two fabric layers integral with the respective faces of the layer of viscoelastic material.

In addition, the layer of fabric of the pad has a coefficient of static friction of between 0.1 and 0.5 and the viscoelastic material has a Shore hardness of between 20 and 80.

According to a preferred embodiment, the viscoelastic material consists of a thermoplastic elastomer.

Said thermoplastic elastomer consists of an unvulcanized thermoplastic olefinic elastomer called TPO, a TPV vulcanized olefin thermoplastic elastomer, a thermoplastic TPU-type thermoplastic elastomer, a TPS-styrene thermoptastic elastomer, and a thermoptastic copolymer (ether-ester block copolymer or COPE). said TPE or TPEE, in a thermoplastic copolyamide (block copolymer ether-amide or PEBA) said TPA, or a combination of these thermoplastic elastomers.

Preferably, said thermoplastic elastomer consists of a styrenic thermoptastic elastomer called TPS comprising polystyrene-b-polybutadiene-b-polystyrene called SBS, polystyrene-b-polyisoprene-b-polystyrene called SIS, polystyrene-b-poly {ethylene- butylene) -b-po! ystyrene said SEBS, polystyrene-b-poly (ethylene-propylene) -b-polystyrene said SEPS, polystyrene-b ~ poiy (ethylene-ethylene / propylene) -b-polystyrene said SEEPS or a composite of these.

In addition, his pocket is fixed on the inner wall of the sock by sewing.

In addition, your pocket extends to the right of the tibial crest.

Said pocket has a substantially rectangular shape and is open in its upper part and the pad has a substantially parallelepiped shape.

Preferably, said pad has a width substantially equal to the width of the bag and a length greater than the length of the bag so that said pad projects from said bag. Other advantages and features will become more apparent from the description which follows, of a single variant embodiment, given by way of non-limiting example, of the protection article of the tibia and / or the foot of the next leg. the invention, from the attached drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a perspective view of the protective article of the tibia and / or the foot of the. 2 is a sagittal sectional view of the tibia and / or foot leg protection article according to the invention; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the tibia and / or foot pad of the leg according to the invention; the article of protection of the tibia and / or foot of the leg according to the invention, - Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the pad of the foot protection article and / or leg tibia according to the invention.

An article of protection of the tibial crest of a ski practitioner will be described below, the shock absorbing pad making it possible to absorb the shocks and thus avoid the pains on the tibial ridges which are caused by the flexion of the leg on the hull. rigid ski boots; However, it is quite obvious that the shin and / or leg protection article can easily be adapted to other sports or activities, by choosing a suitable position of the pocket (s) receiving the pad (s). without departing from the scope of the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the article of protection of the tibia and / or foot of the leg according to the invention consists of a sock 1 having an inner pocket 2, positioned at the right of the tibial crest, and an absorbent pad 3 providing a damper function between the tibial crest and the ski boot of the person who puts on the socks.

It should be noted that "sock" is understood to mean any article of clothing wrapping the feet going up above the ankle or higher, as is the case in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 which consists of The sock may comprise reinforcement zones and / or aeration zones and / or contention zones in particular, not shown in the figures.

Said pocket 2 is made by a knitted or woven piece, preferably in a piece knitted in the same thread as the rest of the sock 1, of substantially rectangular shape and which is sewn on the inner face of the sock 1 to the right of the tibial crest.

It is obvious that the pocket 2 may have any shape, such as a trapezoidal shape, triangular, round or oblong, for example, depending on the zone or zones of the foot and / or the leg to be protected.

Thus, the article of protection according to the invention may comprise several pockets 2, each pocket 2 receiving a pad 3 of shape adapted to said pocket 2 corresponding to protect the kick, the hallux or the Achilles heel for example.

Moreover, it goes without saying that the bag 2 can be fixed on the inner face of the sock by any other suitable means well known to those skilled in the art such as by welding, gluing or knitting without departing from the scope of the invention.

Said pouch 2 which is open at its upper end receives a pad 3 of parallelepiped shape having a width substantially equal to the width of the bag 2 and a length greater than the length of the bag 2 so that said pad 3 protrudes from said pocket. In this way, the pad 3 can easily be slid into its pocket and removed from said bag 2, the portion of the pad 3 protruding from the bag 2 acting as a gripping means.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the pad 3 consists of a flexible and flat piece comprising a layer 3a obtained in a viscoelastic material and at least one fabric layer 3b integral with at least one of the faces of the layer 3a in viscoelastic material. In this particular embodiment, the pad 3 comprises a single layer 3b of fabric.

According to a preferred embodiment, with reference to FIG. 4, said pad 3 advantageously comprises two layers 3b of fabric joined together on either side of the layer 3a made of viscoelastic material.

Moreover, in order to allow easy introduction and removal of the pad 3 in the bag 2, and in order to limit its shear stresses on the layer 3a of viscoelastic material when the socks are worn, the fabric layer of the pad has a coefficient of static friction between 0.1 and 0.5.

Preferably, the layer 3a of viscoelastic material is obtained in a thermoplastic elastomer having a Shore hardness of between 20 and 80. In this particular embodiment, the layer 3a of viscoelastic material has a constant thickness and is between 2 and 6 mm. .

It goes without saying that the layer 3a of viscoelastic material may have a variable thickness depending on the rate of damping sought on the different parts of the foot and / or the leg.

Said thermoplastic elastomer consists of an unvulcanized olefinic thermoplastic elastomer called TPO, a TPV vulcanized olefin thermoplastic elastomer, a TPU-type thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer, a TPS styrene thermoplastic elastomer, and a thermoplastic copolyester (ether-ester block copolymer or COPE). said TPE or TPEE, a thermoplastic copolyamide (block copolymer ether-amide or PEBA) said TPA, or a combination of these thermoplastic elastomers.

Preferably, said thermoplastic elastomer consists of a thermoplastic styrene elastomer known as TPS comprising polystyrene-b-polybutadiene-b-polystyrene SBS, polystyrene-b-polyisoprene-b-polystyrene SIS, polystyrene-b-poy (ethylene butylene) -b-polystyrene said SEBS, polystyrene-b-po! y (ethylene-propylene) -b-polystyrene said SEPS, polystyrene-b-poly (ethylene-ethylene / propylene) -b-polystyrene said SEEPS or a composite of these.

It is obvious that the thermoplastic elastomer may be substituted by any other natural or synthetic viscoelastic material well known to those skilled in the art having equivalent mechanical and / or chemical properties.

In addition, it is obvious that the viscoelastic material may consist in particular in any synthetic elastomer and / or nature! well known to those skilled in the art. I! It is understood that the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described above and that many modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (12)

"CLAIMS" 1. An article of protection for the tibia and / or foot of the leg consisting of a sock (1) having at least one pocket (2) and at least one pad (3) removably positioned in said pocket (2). ), characterized in that the bag (2) is fixed on the sock (1) inside the latter and in that the pad (3) consists of a flexible and flat piece having a layer (3a) obtained in a viscoelastic material and at least one layer (3b) of fabric integral with at least one of the faces of the layer (3a) of viscoelastic material. 2. Protection article according to claim 1 characterized in that the pad (3) consists of a flexible and flat part comprising a layer obtained (3a) in a viscoelastic material and two layers (3b) of fabric integral with respective faces the layer (3a) of viscoelastic material. 3. Protection article according to any one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the layer (3a) of the fabric of the pad (3) has a coefficient of static friction between 0.1 and 0.5. 4. Protection article according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that the viscoelastic material has a Shore hardness of between 20 and 80. 5. Protection article according to claim 4 characterized in that the viscoelastic material consists of a thermoplastic elastomer. 6. Protection article according to claim 5 characterized in that said thermoplastic elastomer consists of a TPO non-vulcanized olefinic thermoplastic elastomer, a TPV vulcanized olefin thermoplastic elastomer, a TPU polyurethane thermoplastic elastomer, a TPS styrene thermoplastic elastomer, a thermoplastic copolyester (copolymer ether block ester or COPE) said TPE or TPEE, a thermoplastic copolyamide (block copolymer ether-amide or PEBA) said TPA, or a combination of these thermoplastic elastomers. 7. Protection article according to claim 6 characterized in that said thermoplastic elastomer consists of a styrene thermoplastic elastomer said TPS comprising polystyrene-b-polybutadiene-b-polystyrene said SBS, polystyrene-b-polyisoprene-b-polystyrene said SIS , polystyrene-b-poly (ethylene-butylene) -b-polystyrene said SEBS, polystyrene-b-po! (ethylene-propylene) -b-polystyrene called SEPS, polystyrene-b-poly (ethylene-ethylene / propylene) -b-polystyrene refers to SEEPS or a composite of these, 8. Protection article according to any one of claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the pocket (2) is fixed on the inner wall of the sock (1) by sewing. 9. Protection article according to any one of claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the pocket (2) extends to the right of the tibial crest. 10. Protection article according to claim 9 characterized in that the pocket (2) has a substantially rectangular shape and is open in its upper part. 11. Protection article according to claim 10 characterized in that the pad (3) has a substantially parallelepiped shape. 12. Protection article according to claim 11 characterized in that the pad (3) has a width substantially equal to the width of the bag (2) and a length greater than the length of the bag (2) so that said pad (3) protruding from said pocket (2).