JP3246100U - Heel counter for shoes with elastic recovery properties - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a heel counter for producing shoes that can be quickly put on hands-free and that provide a good fit even during natural walking or exercise. A heel counter includes a head arch part 110, a neck arch part 120, an abdominal arch part 130, and a foot part 140. The top part of the head arch part 110 extends diagonally upward in an arc shape, and the center part of the head arch part 110 is formed in a concave shape to form an arch-shaped tray part 111. The neck arch portion 120 has a substantially arcuate V-shape, narrow at the back and wide at the front, and the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 is narrower than the width of the heel of the foot. The abdominal arch is formed into a hemispherical shell structure. When downward pressure is applied to the tray part 111 of the head arch part 110, the tray part 111 deforms in response to the pressure, and the neck arch part 120 deforms so that the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 becomes wider. , when the pressure is released, it immediately restores its original shape. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a heel counter for shoes that facilitates putting on and taking off shoes.

In recent years, hands-free shoes that can be quickly put on without using your hands or a shoehorn have become popular. Techniques used for these include those that modify the shape of the heel of the shoe and its heel counter, and those that add a spring structure to the heel of the shoe to restore the shape of the heel. There is. The former includes, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, and the latter includes Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4.

In Patent Document 1, a guide portion is provided at the heel portion including the rear edge of the opening edge of the shoe collar, and the guide portion is inclined upward as the distance from the rear edge increases. It is proposed to make it easier to wear. In order to form this guide part, the heel counter is made of two layers: the first hard heel counter, which is normally used in the heel of shoes, and the second heel counter, which is softer and has a slit, and forms the guide core part. It has a structure.

In Patent Document 2, a hard protruding piece extending upward and diagonally backward is formed at the upper edge of the heel of the shoe, and the protruding piece reliably guides the heel of the foot that is lowered from above into the inside of the shoe. Shoes that can be used are suggested. The heel counter used here has a shape that has the rigidity to support the heel of the foot, functions as a slide for the heel of the foot, and allows the foot to slide forward and diagonally downward.

Patent Document 3 proposes providing a spring portion that restores the shape of the heel portion when the rear end portion of the shoe opening is stepped on. In order to facilitate this spring function, the heel portion of the shoe has a structure including a first hard leather portion, a flexible intermediate leather portion, and a second hard leather portion.

Patent Document 4 proposes a shoe heel retainer whose spring portion is made of a superelastic alloy. The company claims that it can be applied to the heels of shoes manufactured using conventional manufacturing methods by utilizing the amazing restoring power of superelastic alloys.

Utility model registration No. 3212460 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-139151 Utility model registration No. 3239159 Utility model registration No. 3244158

Shoes that can be put on quickly and hands-free need to be able to be put on quickly, and at the same time, should not come off during natural walking or exercise, have a good fit, and be able to be put on and taken off hands-free. Since the heel counter of Patent Document 1 has a fixed shape, the heel part has a heel curve that slopes inward toward the rear edge so as to hold the heel of the foot and make it difficult to take off the shoe during natural walking or exercise. It is said that Therefore, in order to take off the shoes hands-free, it is necessary to provide a hook on the outer surface of the heel to make it easier to take off the shoes, but this poses problems in terms of manufacturing and design. Furthermore, the second heel counter has a slit to make it soft, but there is a risk of it being damaged if stepped on forcefully by the heel of the foot. Furthermore, creating a double structure of the first heel counter and the second heel counter is time-consuming and costly.

The heel counter of Patent Document 2 is made of a hard material, and the upper extending portion is formed narrowly in a straight line, so there is a risk of it breaking if stronger pressure is applied to the heel of the foot. In addition, since the heel counter has a fixed shape, if ease of wearing is emphasized, there is a risk that the heel counter will come off during natural walking or exercise, and it is necessary to provide a padded portion to prevent this from happening.

In Patent Document 3, the heel part of the shoe has a structure of a first hard leather part, a flexible intermediate leather part, and a second hard leather part in order to facilitate the function of the spring, which increases the resistance when the shoe is put on. It is necessary that the heel is not excessively large and that the heel is easily restored. In Patent Document 4, the material used for the heel portion is required not to be too hard, and there are restrictions on the selection of materials.

Therefore, the present invention attempts to solve the above problems by using a heel counter that has elastic recovery properties.

The heel counter according to the invention of claim 1 is an elastic heel counter used in the heel of a shoe, and includes a head arch, a neck arch, and a abdominal arch. The top part of the head arch part extends obliquely upward and backward in an arc shape, and the central part of the head arch part is formed in a concave shape to form an arch-shaped tray part. The neck arch portion imitates the shape of the Achilles tendon in the heel of the foot, and has a substantially arcuate V-shape, narrow at the back and wide at the front, and the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening is narrower than the width of the heel of the foot. The abdominal arch portion imitates the shape of the calcaneus of the heel of the foot, and is formed into a hemispherical shell structure. When downward pressure is applied to the tray portion of the head arch, the tray portion deforms in response to the pressure so as to warp, and the neck arch portion further deforms so that the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening becomes wider. When the pressure is released, it immediately returns to its original shape. As a result, when putting on the shoes, the shoes easily deform in response to the pressure of the heel of the foot, so that the shoes can be put on quickly and hands-free. It also restores its shape during natural walking or exercise, giving the user a comfortable fit that prevents it from falling off.

The heel counter according to the invention of claim 2 is further sandwiched between the upper material and the lining material at the bottom of the neck arch portion, and is curved and fixed between the midsole and the outsole. The feet are distributed and arranged. This allows the heel counter to be firmly fixed to the heel of the shoe.

In the heel counter according to the third aspect of the present invention, the head arch, neck arch, and abdominal arch are formed so that the portions extending in the upward and left-right directions are gradually thinner from the inside to the outside. This increases the strength of the heel counter 100, makes the outline of the heel counter 100 less noticeable on the surface of the shoe, and also allows the edge of the heel counter 100 to touch the ankle of the foot when the user puts on the shoe. You can do it so that it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable.

The heel counter according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is made of TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) having elastic restoring force. Thereby, the heel counter of claim 1 having elastic restoring force can be manufactured.

The heel counter according to the invention of claim 5 is manufactured by injection molding. As a result, the heel counter of the present invention can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost.

As described above, the present invention uses a material with elastic restoring force for the heel counter, so that the heel of the shoe easily deforms in response to the pressure of the heel of the foot when putting on the shoe, allowing hands-free operation. You can quickly put on your shoes. It also restores its shape during natural walking or exercise, giving the user a comfortable fit that prevents it from falling off. When taking off your shoes, the neck arch expands, making it easy to take them off hands-free. The heel of the shoe does not require any special structure, and can be applied to a wide variety of shoe manufacturing methods, and there are no particular requirements regarding material or hardness. Furthermore, since the heel counter of the present invention can be manufactured by injection molding, it can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the heel counter of the present invention. (a) is a front view of the heel counter of the present invention, and (b) is a right side view. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of deformation of the heel counter of the present invention due to pressure on the top of the head. FIG. 2 is an end view of the heel counter of the present invention taken along line AA′ in FIG. 2(a); (a) is the end view when there is no pressure; FIG. This figure shows a user wearing shoes equipped with the heel counter of the present invention.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated based on drawing.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heel counter 100 of a shoe according to the present invention, FIG. 2(a) is a front view thereof, and FIG. 2(b) is a right side view thereof. The heel counter 100 used in the heel of the shoe of the present invention is composed of a head arch part 110, a neck arch part 120, an abdominal arch part 130, and a foot part 140.

The top of the head arch part 110 extends obliquely upward and backward in an arc shape, and the center part of the head arch part 110 is formed in a concave shape to form an arch-shaped tray part 111. The neck arch portion 120 imitates the shape of the Achilles tendon region of the heel of the foot, and is formed in a substantially arcuate V-shape with a narrower rear portion and a wider front portion, and the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 is equal to the width of the heel of the foot. It is more narrowly formed. When this is illustrated, it has a shape as shown in FIG. 4(a). FIG. 4(a) is an end view of the heel counter 100 taken along line AA' in FIG. 2(a). The abdominal arch portion imitates the shape of the calcaneus of the heel of the foot, and is formed into a hemispherical shell structure so as to wrap around the calcaneus. The foot portions 140 are arranged in a plurality of approximately rectangular shapes along the lower base of the abdominal arch.

As shown in the right side view of FIG. 2B, the heel counter 100 is curved vertically in a substantially S-shape, and as shown in FIG. 4A, it is curved horizontally in an arc shape. The head arch portion 110, the neck arch portion 120, and the abdominal arch portion 130 are formed so that the portions extending in the upward and left-right directions become gradually thinner from the inside toward the outside. This increases the strength of the heel counter 100 and makes the outline of the heel counter 100 inconspicuous on the surface of the shoe, and when the user puts on the shoe, the edge of the heel counter 100 touches the ankle of the foot. I try not to make people feel uncomfortable. Further, the forwardly extending portions of the neck arch portion 120 and abdominal arch portion 130 are also formed so as not to give a sense of discomfort to the ankles of the feet.

As shown in FIG. 5, the heel counter 100 is disposed between a heel upper 210 and a lining 220 of the shoe. When inserting the upper 210, the foot 140 is attached by being bent and sandwiched between the midsole 240 and outsole 230 of the shoe, and is firmly attached and integrated with the upper 210.

Materials for the heel counter 100 having elastic recovery characteristics of the present invention include TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane), TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer), silicone, elastomer, and neoprene. TPU is preferred in terms of oil resistance, chemical resistance, elastic recovery, bending resistance, and the like.

When downward pressure is applied to the tray portion 111 of the head arch portion 110 of the heel counter 100 of the present invention, the tray portion 111 is warped and deformed in response to the pressure. This deformation force is transmitted to the neck arch portion 120, and the neck arch portion deforms so that the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 increases. This situation is shown in FIG. When pressure P is applied to the heel counter 100, the tray portion 111 of the head arch portion deforms in the D direction, and at the same time, the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 of the neck arch portion deforms so as to expand in the R and L directions. FIG. 4(b) is an end view taken along the line AA′ in FIG. 2(a), and shows how the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 in the neck arch portion is widened and deformed.

When the heel counter 100 is released from the pressure, the head arch portion 110 and the neck arch portion 120 immediately return to their original shapes due to the elastic recovery force.

When a user puts on shoes, the heel of the foot touches the tray section 111 of the head arch section 110, and when a downward force is applied to the tray section 111, the tray section 111 warps as described above. This increases the opening area of the shoe opening, and the head arch portion 110 functions as a slide for sliding the heel of the foot into the shoe, allowing the user to easily insert the heel of the foot into the shoe. Also, at this time, the neck arch portion 120 deforms so that the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 becomes wider, so that the heel of the foot passes through the neck arch portion 120 and smoothly slides into the abdominal arch portion 130, allowing the heel of the foot to easily slide into the abdominal arch portion 130. Can be inserted inside the shoe.

When the heel of the foot slides into the abdominal arch section 130, the tray section 111 of the head arch section 110 returns to its original shape, and the area of the shoe opening also returns to its original state. At the same time, the width of the widened V-shaped horizontal opening 121 in the arch of the neck is restored and narrowed. Therefore, the heel portion of the shoe equipped with the heel counter 100 of the present invention properly adheres to the heel of the foot, and is unlikely to fall off during natural walking or exercise. Furthermore, when taking off the shoes, by pulling up the instep of the foot, the neck arch has appropriate elasticity, so the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 is widened, making it easy to take off the shoes. Further, in the same way as when putting on shoes, by applying a downward force, the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening 121 of the neck arch portion 120 becomes wider, making it easier to take off the shoes.

The heel counter 100 of the present invention can be manufactured by injection molding, which involves heating and melting a material such as TPU and injecting it into a mold at high pressure to mold it into a specific shape, so it can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost. be able to. In addition, there are a wide variety of shoe manufacturing methods, including Direct Molding or Direct Injection, Cementing or Strobel, Vulcanization, Mackay Method, and Goodyear Welt Method, but the heels of this invention counter 100 can be applied to any manufacturing method.

The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the shape shown in this embodiment, but is a heel counter 100 that utilizes elastic recovery, which is the gist of the present invention, and allows shoes to be quickly put on and taken off hands-free. Other forms may be adopted as long as they do not contradict the purpose of shoes.

100 Heel counter 110 Head arch
111 Tray section 120 Neck arch section 121 V-shaped horizontal opening 121R Right V-shaped horizontal opening 121L Left V-shaped horizontal opening 130 Abdominal arch section 140 Foot section 200 Shoes 210 Instep material (upper)
220 Backing material (lining)
230 middle sole 240 outsole

100 Heel counter 110 Head arch
111 Tray section 120 Neck arch section 121 V-shaped horizontal opening 121R Right V-shaped horizontal opening 121L Left V-shaped horizontal opening 130 Abdominal arch section 140 Foot section 200 Shoes 210 Instep material (upper)
220 Backing material (lining)
230 Outsole 240 Midsole

Claims (5)

An elastic heel counter used in the heel of shoes,
The top part of the head arch part including a head arch part, a neck arch part, and an abdominal arch part extends obliquely upward and in an arc shape,
A central portion of the head arch portion is formed in a concave shape to form an arch-shaped tray portion;
The neck arch portion imitates the shape of the Achilles tendon in the heel of the foot, and has a substantially arcuate V-shape, narrow at the back and wide at the front, and the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening is narrower than the width of the heel of the foot;
The abdominal arch portion imitates the shape of the calcaneus of the foot and is formed into a hemispherical shell structure,
When downward pressure is applied to the tray portion of the head arch portion, the tray portion is deformed to warp in response to the pressure, and further the neck arch portion is deformed so that the width of the V-shaped horizontal opening becomes wider. death,
A heel counter that immediately returns to its original shape when the pressure is released. Further, at the bottom of the abdominal arch, foot parts are distributed and sandwiched between the upper material and the lining material, and are curved and fixed between the midsole and the outsole. The heel counter according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. The heel counter according to claim 2, wherein the head arch, neck arch, and abdominal arch are formed so that the portions extending in the upward and left-right directions are gradually thinner from the inside to the outside. The heel counter according to claim 3, wherein the heel counter is made of TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) having elastic restoring force. 5. The heel counter according to claim 4, wherein the heel counter is manufactured by injection molding.