GB2444475A - Waterproof and breathable sock - Google Patents

Abstract

A sock, especially a sports sock, has a foot portion, a shin portion, and an elasticated cuff portion wherein foot portion only is of a waterproof and breathable construction. Other features provide for differential elasticity between the various portions of the sock and a water repellant finish on the shin portion.

Description

A SOCK

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to socks or stockings. and especially to those destined for use by players of sports such as association football (soccer). rugby and hockey where the use of shin protectors is customary.

Background

Sports socks are. of course, known in themselves. In many sports, such as football and hockey, shin protectors are won by the players to protect their shinsfrom injury resulting from impact by balls, hockey slicks; or other players. As technology has entered into the sports arena over the years, the nature of the various elements of the games and associated equipment has evolved. Some of these changes will be discussed with reference to football as just one example.

One such development is the nature of football boots. In past years, football boots were robustly built, usually from leather, and provided a high degree of protection for the player's feet, not only against mechanical damage, but also from the wet conditions often encountered on a football pitch. in recent limes, however, football boots have become much lighter items with the design emphasis being on technical features to aid ball control and grip: lightness is a key consideration, and waterprooling is often minimal. As a resuh, players' feet often tend to get wet during play, leading to discomfort and a reduction in ball control.

A further development concerns the nature of shin protectors. lii early years. ilihey were worn at all, then they had the form of generally rectangular pads. often stitched to allow the pads to be curved in one direction only so as to wrap around the shin area of the leg.

The pads were simply tucked into the front of a long knitted sock. which held them in place. Today's shin protectors are of a far more technological nature.

Figure 1 illustrates a typical modern shin protector, generally indicated by I. on the leg 2 of a user. The shin protector often comprises a rigid curved plate 3 shaped to sit around the shin area of a user's leg 2. The plate may typically be backed by a layer of compressible, impact-absorbing material located between the plate and the User's shin.

The shin protector extends from just above the ankle region 4 to just below the knee 5 of the user's leg 2. Attached to the bottom of the plate is an elasticated portion 6 that encircles the user's ankle region. This portion may also be equipped with an elasticated foot strap 7 that passes below the user's foot 8. The plate 3 may also be provided with a releasable elaslicated calf strap 9 to encircle the user's call and secure the shin protector in place.

These modern shin protectors are altogether more bulky than those of former years. Their use in football is also now mandatory. Both FIFA and the UK Football Association rules slate that wearing of shinguards is compulsory, and that they must be covered entirely by the stockings; made of a suitable material (rubber, plastic, or similar substances); and provide a reasonable degree of protection.

Fabric technology has also developed in recent years, especially in relation to waterproof but breathable fabric composites. However, although advances have been made in such composites to allow a certain degree of stretch and elasticity, they have never been used in the context of sports socks for sports such as those described above as their limited stretch could never accommodate shin protectors.

I

It is an object of the present invention to attempt a solution to some of these problems.

Summary of the Invention

Accordingl'. the invention provides a sock comprising sequentially: a foot porlion.

conhigured to cover, in use. a user's foot. toes and ankle region: a shin portion. conhigured to cover, in use. a user's shin and substantially all of a user's calf: and an elasticated cuff portion: and wherein the foot portion. only. is of a waterproof but breathable construction.

In this way. by omitting the waterproof. breathable portion (with its inherent reduced elasticity) from the shin portion, a shin protector can be accommodated within the sock whilst the waterproof foot portion provides protection to the user's foot region. The inventors have found that it is more important to protect a player's feet from getting wet during play than other areas, as any moisture in this area tends to be trapped within the boot rather than being able to evaporate as might happen from e.g. the shin area.

Furthermore, confidential trials by the inventors have shown that a fully waterproof sock, long enough to cover a shin pad, does not provide sufficient comfort or flexibility to be effective.

Preferably, the shin portion is elasticated and configured to accommodate, in use, a shin protector located on a user's shin.

By using an elasticated shin portion, the sock will act to further secure the shin protector in position on a player's leg, in addition to the straps 7,9 that might be provided.

In either aspect of the invention it is preferable that the foot portion is elasticated so as to conform generally, in use, to the shape of a user's foot region.

In this case, it is further preferred that the effective elastic modulus of the foot portion is greater than that of the shin portion.

By using an elasticated structure for the foot portion, creasing of the foot portion is avoided in use, thus preventing pressure points and ensuing damage to the foot. By tailoring the effective elastic modulus of the shin portion be less than that of the ibot portion, the shin portion can readily expand to accommodate a shin protector without putting undue pressure on a users call.

In any aspect of the invention, it is also preferable that the effective elastic modulus of the cuff portion is greater than that of the shin portion.

In any aspect of the invention, it is also preferable that the shin portion, at least, is provided with a water-repellent finish.

Included within the scope of the invention is a sports sock substantially as described herein, with reference to and as illustrated by any appropriate combination of Figures 2 to 4.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a sports shin protector on a user's leg; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a sock according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a sock of the present invention; and Figure 4 is a series of cross-sectional views of the waterproof, breathable portion of a sock of the present invention, showing one method of construction.

Description of the preferred embodiments

Figure 2 illustrates a sock according to the present invention comprising a foot portion 10, to cover a user's foot, toes and ankle region; a shin portion II to cover a user's shin and substantially all of a user's calf, and an elasticated cuff portion 12 to grip a user's leg, typically around a user's knee region. The sock has a turned heel portion 13.

The foot portion 10 is constructed from a composite fabric that is waterproof, but breathable. Structures that provide this functionality are known in the art, e.g. in US Palent 5.244.716. A particularly preferred embodiment of a sock, and details of the construction of the waerproof. breathable. section will be described by reference to Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3a shows a cross-section through a sock of the present invention, having a foot portion 10. a shin portion Ii, and a cuff portion 12. The shin portion II in this figure is shown reduced in length. for clarity, and would in practice be long enough to cover, in use. a user's shin and substantially all of a user's calf The outer layer of the sock 14, that forms the cult shin and outer layer of the foot portion is constructed from a knitted fibre, such as woven acrylic. Knitting patterns and/or choice of fibres are selected to provide a differential effective elastic modulus between the three portions. The effective elastic modulus of the material is. as is known in the art, the force required to stretch the fabric from its "at rest" configuration. in the context of the present invention the appropriate effective elastic modulus may be measured by determining the slope of the stress-strain relationship of a portion of the sock along a direction circumferential to an intended user's leg or foot, and for extensions within the substantially linear, initial portion of that relationship. The effective elastic modulus may be varied by choice of knit/weave pattern or, e.g. by the inclusion of elastic fibres within the weave. The elastic modulus of such fibres, their size, and the number of fibres used call all be employed to control the effective elastic modulus of the complete fabric.

Before the three parts of the composite sock are assembled (inner layer 15, outer layer 14 and membrane 16) the elasticity of the foot and shin portions, 10 and 11 respectively) of the outer layer 14 may have a broadly similar effective elastic modulus. Upon lamination of the inner layer 15 and membrane 16, the effective elastic modulus of the foot section is reduced, producing a close, but non-restrictive fit to a user's foot.

Within the foot portion 10, there is an inner layer 15 constructed from a knitted wool.

Other materials may be employed to form this inner layer, and the materials and kit, or weave, pattern is selected to create an elastic, stretchable fabric. For example, the inner layer may be made of a synthetic fibre such as thai sold under the registered trade mark Coolmax, typically blended with a small amount of elastic material to produce the correct elasticity. The inner layer 15 extends only vithin the foot portion 10. and terminates just abo'e the ankle. in use. ola user.

The inner 15 and outer 14 layers together sandwich a waterproo1 breathable membrane 16 bonded at points. or intervals to both the inner 14 and outer 15 layers. and having a ruched or puckered conliguration. Membranes of this type are known in themselves, such as the hvdrophilic polyurethane membrane sold under the registered trade mark Porelle.

In this embodiment. the three elements of outer 14. inner 15 and membrane 16 layers are bonded by an array of dots of heat-activated adhesive 17. Figure 3b isa close-up cross-section of pan of the foot portion 10 of the sock, and illustrates the configuration of the three layers. Methods of construction of such elastic, waterproof breathable composite materials are known in the an, but for clarity will be described by reference to Figure 4.

Figure 4 illustrates stages in production of the three-layer stretchable, waterproof and is breathable fabric composite. Figure 4a illustrates an outer woven layer 14, an inner woven layer 15. and the waterproof breathable membrane 16 with an array of heat-activatable adhesive dots 17 located on each side of the membrane 16. The inner 15 and outer 14 layers are stretched to have the same approximate area as the membrane 16 which itself is considerably larger (by perhaps 2-3 times) than the required surface area of the finished article. The three layers (14, 15, 16) are brought into close contact with each other, as illustrated in Figure 4b; this may readily be achieved by the use of a former, over which the three elements are placed. For example, the outer layer 14 may be stretched over a former, the membrane 16 then placed over the inner layer, and linally the inner (smaller) layer 15 stretched over the membrane 16. Then, the whole assembly is pressed together and heat is applied to activate the adhesive 17, which bonds the three layers together.

The composite may then be removed from the former, whereupon the effective elastic modulus of the inner and outer layers returns the composite to approximately the original unstretched size of the inner and outer layers, and causes the membrane 16 to adopt a ruched or puckered configuration as illustrated in Figure 4c. In this way, a composite is formed that has the required waterproof breathable properties, whilst retaining the streichablility of the inner and outer layers in the face of the relatively inelastic membrane 16.

The bonding of the three layers in the foot porlion is particularly important in a sporting context. The bonding ensures that there is no damage to the membrane as a resuli of the high impact activity of the players. More imporiantly. however, the bonding of the layers ensures that there is no slip beteen the three layers that might otherwise interfere with the control that a player needs to exercise over feet, boot and ball, and that requires a firm connection between the three.

In particularly preferred embodiments of the sock. the shin portion 11, at least, of the sock is further treated with a water-repellent coating to shed any waler coming into contact with the sock to prevent ii wicking along the fabric and into the user's shoe, or onto the eiasticaled portion 6 of a shin protector I worn by a user. Such water-repellent coatings are known in the art, often comprising a heat-activated fluorinated finish, known in the art as DWR??.

Claims (7)

1. A sock comprising sequentially: a foot portion, configured 10 cover, in use. a users foot. toes and ankle region: a shin portion, contigured 10 cover, in USC. a user's shin and substantially all of a user's calf; and an elasticated cuff portion: and wherein the foot portion, only, is of a waterproof but breathable construction.

2. A sock according to Claim J wherein the shin portion is elasticated and configured to accommodate, in use, a shin protector located on a user's shin.

3. A sock according to either of Claim I or Claim 2 wherein the foot portion is elasticated so as to conform generally, in use, to the shape of a user's foot region.

4. A sock according to claim 3 wherein the effective elastic modulus of the foot portion is greater than that of the shin portion.

5. A sock according to any preceding claim wherein the effective elastic modulus of the cuff portion is greater than that of the shin portion.

6. A sock according to any preceding claim wherein the shin portion, at least. is provided with a water-repellent finish.

7. A sock substantially as described herein, with reference to and as illustrated by any appropriate combination of Figures 2 and 3.