WO2008087381A1

WO2008087381A1 - Sports shoes

Info

Publication number: WO2008087381A1
Application number: PCT/GB2008/000070
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bassey Essien
Original assignee: Bassey Essien
Priority date: 2007-01-16
Filing date: 2008-01-09
Publication date: 2008-07-24
Also published as: GB2445912B; GB0701040D0; GB2445912A

Abstract

The invention provides sports shoe having a reinforced area on an upper part or vamp thereof, the reinforced area comprising a protective layer (D) and a plurality o pressure transferring elements (C) extending through the protective layer, the pressure transferring elements in use serving to transfer pressure from the exterior of the shoe to a user' s foot within the shoe.

Description

SPORTS SHOES

This invention relates to sports shoes and in particular sports shoes that provide greater protection against injury to the wearer whilst retaining the sensitivity to touch required by many sportsmen and in particular footballers.

Background of the Invention

Over the past few decades, sports shoes and football boots in particular have undergone extensive changes in both construction and the materials used. Football boots of 20 to30 years ago were typically designed to provide support and protection for the foot and were often provided with areas of reinforcement such as reinforcing bands or toe caps etc. WiUi the increase in skill levels within professional football, footballers' requirements have changed from boots that provide protection to boots that are constructed so mat the player is able to 'feel ' the ball, Le. is able to detect fine contact between the ball and the boot This, it is considered, adds to the footballer's ability to control the ball in a more skilful manner.

One of the problems with boots that are intended to give a better feel for the ball is mat they are made from much less sturdy material and consequently offer much less protection to the foot. As a consequence, injuries involving broken bones in toes and elsewhere in the foot have become much more commonplace in recent years.

Consequently, there remains a need for a sports shoe such as football boot that combines the ability to provide protection to the foot with the levels of sensitivity required by modern footballers.

Summary of the Invention

Shoes, including sports shoes, typically consist of a sole and an upper part commonly known as a vamp.

The invention provides a sports shoe which is provided with one or more reinforced areas on the upper part or vamp of the shoe to give protection to the wearer. The reinforced areas comprise a relatively stiff protective layer and pressure transferring elements that extend through the protective layer and transfer pressure from the exterior of the shoe to a user's foot within the shoe.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention provides a sports shoe having a reinforced area on an upper part or vamp thereof, the reinforced area comprising a protective layer and a plurality of pressure transferring elements extending through the protective layer, the pressure transferring elements in use serving to transfer pressure from the exterior of the shoe to a user's foot within the shoe.

The term "upper part or vamp" refers to the entire upper part of the sports shoe; i.e. everything apart from the sole. Thus it includes, for example, both the sides and upper surfaces of the shoe as well as the toe region. The shoe may have only a single reinforced area or several reinforced areas. The reinforced area(s) may extend over only a portion of the upper part of the shoe or over the entire upper part of the shoe. Preferably the shoe has one or more reinforced areas protecting the toes, m one embodiment, the reinforced area(s) extend over the entire upper part of the shoe, apart from the heel and/or the lacing panel.

The pressure transferring elements enable pressure from a modest external force, e.g. the force exerted by contact with a football, to be transmitted through the protective; layer to the wearer's foot. Thus, although the shoe is reinforced, the wearer is still able to "feel" the ball.

The pressure transferring elements are typically movable with respect to the protective! layer. Thus, they may take the form of pins or columnar bodies that pass through holes in the protective layer. Preferably the pins or columnar bodies have enlarged end portions or flanges so mat they are held captive in the holes.

The reinforced area preferably has an outer covering layer which is of lesser stiffness than the protective layer and which is arranged outwardly of the protective layer so as to conceal the pressure transferring elements. One or more outer covering layers may be provided. Where there is more than one outer covering layer, the individual layers may be bonded together! to form a single multilayer material or they may be present as separate layers. The outer covering layers can be formed from, for example, plastic materials or woven fabrics or thin leather.

The reinforced area preferably has an inner covering layer which is of lesser stiflhess than the protective layer and which is arranged inwardly of the protective layer so as to conceal the pressure transferring elements. One or more inner covering layers may be provided. Where there is more man one inner covering layer, the individual layers may be bonded together to form a single multilayer material or they may be present as separate layers. The inner covering layers can be formed from, for example, plastic materials or woven fabrics or thin leather.

The pressure transferring elements (e.g. pins or columnar bodies) can be connected to the outer covering layer, for example by means of glue, or by welding or by being formed integrally with the covering layer. Alternatively or additionally, the pressure transferring elements (e.g. pins or columnar bodies) can be connected to the inner covering layer, for example by means of glue, or by welding or by being formed integrally with the covering layer.

The pressure transferring elements transmit pressure to the foot by being pushed inwardly against the foot by contact with an external object such as a ball. In order to enable the elements to return to their original positions after the external force has been removed, a material having resilient properties can be positioned between the protective layer and the outer covering layer. The resilient material can be, for example a rubber or gel material, and can take the form of a unitary layer or a plurality of separate resilient members. In the latter case, the resilient material could take the form of a sleeve or washer surrounding each pressure transferring element (e.g. pin or columnar body). The resilient material can be, for example a natural or synthetic rubber or other elastomeric material such as a silicone gel.

hi order to give further protection to the wearer's foot, a cushioning material can be disposed between the protective layer and the inner covering layer. The cushioning material can be, for example, is a foam material (e.g. a memory foam) The supports shoes of the invention can be shoes intended for use in a wide variety of sports. However, they are particularly useful in sports where it is important to the wearer to be able to feel contact between the foot and an object such as a ball. Thus, one particular application of the invention is in relation to football boots.

Further features of the invention are as set out in the following paragraphs and in the claims and drawings appended hereto.

Functional overview

The upper and lower surfaces (outer and inner covering layers) are highly flexible and malleable. The two flexible surfaces are co-joined by the sturdy columns or pins which pass through holes in the aptly perforated rigid material. Thus, the shape of any depressions or indentation on the upper surface is faithfully replicated on the lower surface with no interference from the interposed layer of rigid material. The layer of a rigid material serves to protect the foot from the harmful effects of a high impacting force.

Specifics

Pins/Columns

• They must be sturdy enough to faithfully transfer all the necessary characteristics of the impact, but aptly shaped, constructed and fitted so as to remove any possibility of injury to the foot caused by the columns themselves.

• They must also be prevented from passing completely through the rigid materials top or bottom surface and out of the holes created for them, though this can easily be achieved either through the actual physical fixture to the upper and lower surfaces or by introducing some sort of sturdy lug shaped ends to each column of greater diameter to the hole through which the mid section of the column must freely oscillate (as depicted in fig 1).

The upper and lower surfaces (outer and inner covering layers) • These must be flexible so as to allow the necessary characteristics of an individual column to be transmitted through the rigid material as interdependently of adjacent columns as possible.

• The surfaces may possibly be physically secured to each of the columns

• They could be composed of leather, rubber or plastic amongst other possibilities.

The protective layer

• This intermediate rigid surface is to take the basic shape of the boot/foot in the areas of the boot to which it is applied, and though it does not necessarily have to be rigid, must be composed of a toughened material so as to offer greater protection to the foot

• It must also offer sufficient resistance to the wear and tear imposed by normal boot operation, which could potentially prove challenging given the perforated nature of its structure

• It could be composed of toughened leather, rubber, plastic or even carbon fibre

Other functional considerations

• The magnitude and rate of impact are also faithfully transmitted from the upper surface to the lower surface, limited however, to some predetermined magnitude of force above which the protective aspect of the rigid material takes effect, distributing the force of impact across its structure and surface area, hence preventing any localized impact from penetrating through to the foot and thereby significantly reducing the risk of injury to the foot

• This upper limit of impact may be governed purely by the physical contact between the upper surface and the rigid material, as the upper surface is forced down onto it This implies that the upper layers would have to have memory mechanism of opposing force in order to hold and return the layer back to its normal position

• The upper limit of impact may however also be dampened or clipped by some sort of intermediary mechanism that, in a compressed-spring-like fashion, allows free downward motion up to a some predefined limit, but then restricting further depression once at that limit Such a mechanism also has the advantage, as it serves as a memory mechanism similar to that which was previously alluded to, which could thus return and maintain the layers in a stable state of equilibrium between impact and non-impact states, thus returning the layer back to its original resting state once the distorting force has been removed.

• This could be achieved by introducing (probably into region (E) - see drawings) some sort of spring mechanism, rubber washers, or a layer of gel or of some other type of composite material or structure, much like those now very commonly found in the soles of various kinds of sports shoe.

Auto-shape-moulding for increased comfort vs equilibrium state

For maximized comfort and greater application and maintenance of the equilibrium state, a foam-like material (possibly memory foam) could be introduced into region (F) (see drawing), between the lower layer and the rigid surface. This ensures that the state of equilibrium is comfortably formed around the shape of the wearer's foot and all subsequent indentations and movement is transmitted relative to this initial state, thus increasing the 'sensitivity' sensation of the touch transfer.

External protection

Given the potential rigidity of the protective material, the combination of the touch transfer and damping effects may also serve as adequate protection for other sports participants from fiilkm impact with the rigid surface of the wearers boot

Variations This composite touch-transfer/protective layer could cover many additional regions of the boot including the instep and the tongue, and could even extend over the complete toe area of the boot from sole to sole/toe to toe, and reach right to the tips of the toes. The various characteristics of the structure can be adjusted as necessary to achieve varying levels of sensitivity and protection from region to region, and even from boot type to boot type.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention will now be illustrated in greater detail, but not limited, by reference to the particular embodiments shown in the drawings Figures 1 to 3.

Figure 3 is a schematic sectional view of part of a football boot which could be, for example, the front end or toe region of the boot or an upper surface of the boot forward of the laces. The shape of the boot is defined by a protective layer D which is formed from a relatively stiff material which could be leather or a plastics material (e.g. a fibre reinforced plastics material). The protective layer D does not need to be rigid but must be sufficiently tough to provide protection to the foot

The protective layer D has plurality of holes G, through each of which is inserted a pin C. Pin C, which is typically formed from a plastics or rubber material, is bonded at its inner end to an inner covering layer B and at its outer end to an outer covering layer A. The outer and inner layers A and B are formed from materials that are more flexible and typically thinner than the material of the protective layer B. The pins C can be bonded to the outer and inner layers by means of glue or (when formed from compatible plastics materials) welding. Alternatively, a covering layer may be formed integrally with the pins as shown in Figure 2. In order to ensure that the pins remain captive in the holes, they may be provided at either ends thereof with an enlarged end portion or flange, as shown in Figure 1.

As shown hi Figure 3, when a relatively modest force (e.g. a force due to the impact of a football) is incident upon the shoe, the pins C are pushed back through the holes G in the protective layer and hence the force of the impact is faithfully transmitted to the wearer's foot. However, in the event that the force is of a greater magnitude, the protective layer D prevents the full force being transmitted to the foot, and hence prevents damage to the foot Thus the shoe provides the wearer (e.g. a footballer) with the necessary sensitivity so that the wearer can feel the contact with a ball, whilst providing protection against damaging impacts.

It will be appreciated that in the drawings, the relative sizes of the pins C have been exaggerated somewhat in order to demonstrate the principles of the invention.

Equivalents

The drawings illustrate merely one way of putting the invention into effect and it will readily be apparent that numerous modifications and alterations may be made to the specific embodiments of the invention described above without departing from the principles underlying the invention. All such modifications and alterations are intended to be embraced by this application.

Claims

i . A sports shoe having a reinforced area on an upper part or vamp thereof, the reinforced area comprising a protective layer and a plurality of pressure transferring elements extending through the protective layer, the pressure transferring elements in use serving to transfer pressure from the exterior of the shoe to a user's foot within the shoe.

2. A sports shoe according to claim 1 wherein the pressure transferring elements are movable with respect to the protective layer.

3. A sports shoe according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the reinforced area comprises an outer covering layer which is of lesser stiffness man the protective layer and which is arranged outwardly of the protective layer so as to conceal the pressure transferring elements.

4. A sports shoe according to claim 3 wherein the pressure transferring elements are connected to the outer covering layer.

5. A sports shoe according to claim 4 wherein a resilient material is disposed between the protective layer and the outer covering layer.

6. A sports shoe according to claim 5 wherein the resilient material is a rubber or gel material

7. A sports shoe according to claim 6 wherein the resilient material is a silicone gel.

8. A sports shoe according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the reinforced area comprises an inner covering layer which is of lesser stiffness than the protective layer and which is arranged inwardly of the protective layer so as to conceal the pressure transferring elements.

9. A sports shoe according to claim 8 wherein the pressure transferring elements are connected to the inner covering layer.

10. A sports shoe according to claim 8 or claim 9 wherein a cushioning material is disposed between the protective layer and the inner covering layer.

11. A sports shoe according to claim 10 wherein the cushioning material is a foam material (e.g. a memory foam)

12. A sports shoe according to claim 4 or claim 6 wherein the pressure transferring elements are integrally formed with the outer covering layer or the inner covering layer.

13. A sports shoe according to anyone of the preceding claims which is a football boot.

14. A sports shoe according to any one of the preceding claims which has one or more reinforced areas on a toe portion of the shoe.

15. A sports shoe according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the pressure transferring elements take the form of resilient (e.g. rubber) plugs that extend through the surface of the shoe from the exterior to the interior thereof.

16. A sports shoe having a reinforced area substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.