NL1039620C2 - Shoelace, football shoe, and method for playing football. - Google Patents

Description

P2012NL022 TITLE: Shoelace, football shoe, and method for playing football

The present invention relates to a shoelace for a football shoe, wherein football is meant to comprise a sports game in which a ball is controlled by contact 5 with a foot, such as soccer, rugby, and American football. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a football shoe and to a method for playing football.

Football shoes are the subject of continuous technical developments. Part of these developments is aimed to improve ball handling, such that it becomes easier 10 for a player for instance to receive the ball, to pass the ball to another player, or to score a goal. Developments in football shoes have resulted for instance in lighter shoes comprised of stronger materials, which are better fitting on a player’s foot.

The present invention is based on the insight that a tied lace of a football shoe forms a surface of a substantial size on top of the football shoe. Hence, when the 15 shoe is brought into contact with a ball, chances are that contact occurs between the ball and the lace. As a result, the lace can to a large extent influence for instance the passing accuracy and general control of the ball.

Despite the technical improvements of football shoes in various aspects in recent years, the laces for tying the shoes have largely remained the same. It is 20 suspected that this is due to a lack of appreciation of the importance of the effects of the contact occurring between the laces of a football shoe and a ball that is being controlled.

An aim of the present invention is to provide, in the light of the above insight, a shoelace that provides improved ball handling. According to an aspect of the 25 invention, this aim is fulfilled by a shoelace comprising a base member which is externally provided with a gripping layer having a higher skid-resistance than the base member.

In a game of football, if a ball is controlled by a player wearing a shoe comprising a shoelace according to the invention, the ball, when in contact with the 30 shoelace, will be in touch with the gripping layer. As a result of the relatively high skid-resistance of the gripping layer, as compared to the case of a shoelace without a 1039620 2 gripping layer, less slip will occur between the ball and the shoelace. The football player will, as a result, have better ball control.

In a practical embodiment, the gripping layer comprises a layer of synthetic 5 material that is glued on the base member.

For improved skid-resistance, the gripping layer may be provided with a pattern of holes distributed along the base member such as for the gripping layer to have a surface with relief.

The gripping layer may comprise at least one chain of a plurality of structural 10 elements, wherein each structural element comprises a plurality of ribs that are positioned with respect to each other so as to form a polygon. The gripping layer is then relatively flexible, such that it is better able to deform together with the base member without the gripping layer becoming cracked.

Advantageously, the structural elements have a hexagonal shape, wherein the 15 ribs of the elements are at a non-zero angle with the longitudinal axis of the base member. The shoelace is then allowed to maximally stretch in the longitudinal direction of the base member with minimal risk of cracks in the gripping layer.

Preferably, the base member has a flat cross section, wherein the gripping layer comprises two portions extending on opposite sides of the base member. Then, 20 when the shoelace is passed through an eye of a shoe, a functional gripping layer will be present on both portions of the shoelace extending on opposite sides of the eye.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a football shoe is 25 provided, comprising a shoelace according to the invention.

A football shoe as described will provide a relatively high degree of control of a ball as described hereinbefore.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method for playing 30 a game of football is provided, wherein at least one player uses a football shoe according to the invention.

In the following, the above-mentioned and various other aspects of the invention are described in detail with reference to the figures, wherein: 3

Figure 1 schematically shows in perspective view an end of a shoelace according to the invention and a detail of said end, and

Figure 2 schematically shows in front view a football shoe comprising the shoelace of Figure 1.

5

Figure 1 depicts an end portion of a shoelace 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The shoelace 1 comprises an elongated base member 10, a gripping layer 20, and a lacing tip 30. The lacing tip 30 is provided at the very end of the base member, and is meant to be used for lacing the shoelace through the 10 eyes of a shoe. Such lacing tips 30 are well known in the art, and need therefore not to be explained further.

The base member 10 is a flexible thread that is suited to be used as a shoelace. Such threads are well known in the art, and are therefore not described in detail. It is mentioned, however, that the base member 10 may comprise a woven 15 thread. This thread may be woven from a synthetic yarn, for instance comprising polyester fibers. The thread may be woven round such as to have a central channel, wherein the thread may be such as for the channel to be collapsed and the base member 10 to have an overall flat shape. The base member 10 shown in Figure 1 is of said type, such that the faces of the base member 10 extending in the longitudinal 20 direction comprise a pair of relatively narrow side faces 12, and a pair of relatively wide top/bottom faces 13.

The gripping layer 20 comprises, in the exemplary embodiment shown, a layer of synthetic material that is glued on the base member 10. It is noted that Figure 1 only shows a single portion of a gripping layer 20 arranged on the top surface 13 of 25 the base member 10. A second portion of a gripping layer 20 may however be arranged on the side of the base member 10 that is opposite to said top face 13.

The material of the gripping layer 20 is chosen such as to have a relatively high slip-resistance when in contact with another surface, especially when in contact with materials that are generally used for manufacturing the exterior of footballs.

30 Examples of the latter materials are leather and typical synthetic materials. The material of the gripping layer 20 is particularly chosen such as for the outer surface 21 of the gripping layer 20 to have a higher slip resistance than the outer surface 13 of the base member 10. The outer face 21 of the gripping layer 20 and the top face 13 of the base member are depicted in the detailed representation part of Figure 1.

4

Examples of materials suited for manufacturing the gripping layer 20 are relatively soft synthetic materials such as certain types of silicone and polyurethane. These are rubbery materials that are well known for their slip-resistance in certain applications. Other materials having similar properties are known in the art, and may 5 also be applied.

As shown in the detailed representation that is part of Figure 1, the gripping layer 20 comprises, in the exemplary embodiment shown, a pattern of holes 22 that is homogeneously distributed along the full length of the base member 10. Each hole 22 is defined by a structural element 24 having a number of ribs 23 that are 10 positioned with respect to each other to form a hexagon, wherein the ribs 23 together surround the hole 22. The various structural elements 24 are chained together by ribs forming part of neighboring structural elements 24, such that a continuous chain of structural elements 24 is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the base member 10. In the shown embodiment, two of such chains are arranged side by side on the 15 top face 13 of the base member 10, the two chains having a staggered position with respect to each other and each sharing ribs with the neighboring chain.

It is noted that, even in the case of yarns from polyester fibers which are relatively stiff, woven threads comprise an inherent flexibility which allows them to bend, twist and longitudinally stretch. While stretching in a longitudinal direction, such 20 threads may furthermore contract in a cross direction with respect to said longitudinal direction. Depending on the stiffness of the material selected for the gripping layer 20, a solid gripping layer 20 may as a result of said deformations be susceptible to cracks.

In order to lessen the risk of crack occurring in the gripping layer 20, in the 25 configuration shown in Figure 1, each rib 23 of a structural element 24 is at a nonzero angle with the longitudinal axis of the base member 10. In particular, ribs 23 extending for a part in the longitudinal direction of the base member 10 are offset with respect to said direction at an angle of 30 degrees. As a result, the ribs 23 are less inclined to be subjected to tensile stress in the case of longitudinal stretching of 30 the base member 10, as a result of which the risk of cracking of the gripping layer 20 is reduced.

An additional advantage of the relatively open structure of the gripping layer 20 resulting from the presence of the holes 22 furthermore resides in that the 5 shoelace 1 can be tied into a knot that will be less inclined to loosen, as compared to the case wherein the gripping layer 20 is solid.

Figure 2 illustrates how a shoelace 1 according to the invention can be used in 5 a shoe 2, wherein the gripping layers 20 face outwards with respect to the shoe 2 in order to be brought into contact with a ball.

The shoe 2 comprises a shoe body 40 to be tied by means of a shoelace, which shoe body 40 comprises two rows of lacing eyes 41 a, 41 b, which are arranged on opposite sides of an opening 42 of the shoe body 40 to be closed. As illustrated in 10 Figure 2, the shoelace 1 of Figure 1 is laced through the eyes 41a, 41b such that, as is known for shoelaces in general, portions 43 of the shoelace 1 extend between the two rows of lacing eyes 41 a, 41 b crossing each other and the opening 42 to be closed. The assembly of the different crossing portions 43 together spans a surface 44 having a substantial area on the outside of the shoe 2, which may be brought into 15 contact with a ball.

It is noted that the shoelace 1, having a flat shape and comprising, as a result, relatively wide top and bottom faces, comprises a gripping layer 20 on both the top surface and the bottom surface. Two crossing portions 43', 43" of the shoelace 1 formed by the shoelace 1 passing through a certain eye 41' of the shoe body 40 as a 20 result each have a gripping layer 20 present at their respective outward facing sides. For the one portion 43' this outward side may be the top side, and for the other portion 43" this side may be the bottom side.

To a person skilled in the art, it will be clear that various alternative 25 embodiments of the invention are conceivable, which embodiments differ from the exemplary embodiments described above.

A relieved surface of the gripping layer may also be formed in another way than by a pattern of holes. The gripping layer may for example comprise a solid base layer having a relieved top surface. Also, the gripping layer may comprise multiple 30 smaller portions, which together are arranged on the base member side by side, possibly at a distance with respect to each other such as to form a regular pattern.

With respect to the length of the gripping layer as compared to that of the base member, it should be noted that according to the invention, the gripping layer need only be arranged on a middle section of the base member, which middle 6 section comprises portions that in a laced shoe form part of the shoe's outer surface. The gripping layer need not extend along the full length of the base member, nor along the ends that in the lacing of the shoe are manually tied into a knot. It may however have a certain advantage, for instance with respect to a production process 5 for producing the shoe lace, if the gripping layer does extend along the full length of the base member, or along the ends to be tied.

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Claims (9)

A shoelace (1) for a football shoe (2), wherein football is a sport in which foot contact controls a ball, such as football, rugby and American football, which shoelace (1) comprises an elongated basic member (10), which externally provided with a gripping layer (20) which has a higher skid resistance than the base member (10). The shoelace (1) according to claim 1, wherein the gripping layer (20) comprises a plastic layer. The shoelace (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the gripping layer (20) is glued to the base member (10). 4. The shoelace (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the gripping layer (20) is provided with a pattern of holes (22) distributed in the longitudinal direction of the basic member (10), so that the gripping layer (20) has a surface with relief has. A shoelace (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the gripping layer (20) comprises at least one chain of a plurality of structural elements (24), each structural element (24) comprising a plurality of ribs (23) which are positioned apart to form a polygon. The shoelace (1) according to claim 5, wherein the structural elements (24) have a hexagonal shape, the ribs of the structural elements (24) making an angle non-zero with the longitudinal axis of the base member (10). 25 The shoelace (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the base member has a flat cross-section, the gripper layer (20) having two portions extending on opposite sides of the base member (10). 1039620 A football shoe (2), wherein football is a sport in which foot contact controls a ball, such as football, rugby and American football, which shoe (2) comprises a shoelace (1) according to one of the preceding claims. A method for playing a football game, wherein football is a sport in which foot contact controls a ball, such as football, rugby and American football, wherein at least one player wears a shoe (2) according to claim 8. 1 0 3 9 6 2 0