WO2012025113A2

WO2012025113A2 - Piece of footwear

Info

Publication number: WO2012025113A2
Application number: PCT/DE2011/075192
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jürgen Bechler
Original assignee: Bechler Juergen
Priority date: 2010-08-27
Filing date: 2011-08-11
Publication date: 2012-03-01
Also published as: WO2012025113A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a piece of footwear (2), in particular a sock or stocking, to be placed directly on a human foot (1), the piece of footwear being designed in such a way that the piece of clothing surrounds the foot on all sides, and the piece of clothing comprises at least one first coarsely meshed knitted fabric (3) in at least one zone (a - f) lying against the foot, the mesh of said knitted fabric providing space for accommodating moisture, in particular water and/or sweat, wherein the material forming the mesh is substantially incompressible, so that said material presses into the skin under the application of pressure in such a way that the increased friction- and/or positive-locking between the skin and the knitted fabric thereby produced enables improved force transmission from the foot to the environment, in particular to the outside of the knitted fabric facing away from the foot.

Description

footwear

The present invention relates to a Fu ßbekleidung, especially a sock or stocking, which is particularly well suited for the transmission of forces.

From the clothing sector, especially sportswear, conventional socks are known. These are usually made of cotton and / or synthetic materials and are designed as a close knit fabric to completely enclose the foot ß and warm. Furthermore, the known socks also serve to form a cushioning zone between foot and shoe to allow a more comfortable wearing of the footwear. Depending on the thickness and nature of the material, the known socks attenuate any undesired influences on the foot, for example starting from edges, seams, overlaps or the like on the inside of the shoe. It is also known to perform individual zones of the sock in different thickness padding to absorb the local different pressure loads on the foot depending on the shoe and / or the sport as best as possible.

However, all such known socks have the disadvantage that they transmitted from Fu ß outgoing forces only poorly on the footwear. Often occur between Fu ß and inside of the sock or socks outside and shoe comparatively low coefficients of friction, so that the foot ß relative to the shoe undesirably strong, especially in extreme sporting conditions. Sliding movements of the foot within a shoe, however, have a detrimental effect on the performance to be achieved, especially for athletic activities, for which the shoe must fit as closely as possible and without any relative movement to be controlled on the foot of the athlete.

Therefore, especially in sports with extreme use of footwear, the shoes are very closely adapted or tied to the foot. However, this disadvantageously leads to constrictions and pressure points on the foot and due to the tight-fitting footwear also increased sweating, which in turn adversely affects the skid resistance of the foot relative to the shoe. The object of the invention is therefore to provide an aid for better power transmission of a foot to his environment, in particular on a shoe worn by him, to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

The object is achieved by a footwear according to claim 1.

The invention is based on a fundamental consideration of the physical balance of power and medical concomitant circumstances, as they exist between the foot of an athlete and the adjacent shoe. A distinction is to be made between compressive forces perpendicular to the surface or skin of the foot and those perpendicular to it, tangential to the foot surface. An athlete standing quietly in his shoes essentially strains the shoe with pressure forces that are transferred to the shoe perpendicular to the skin. This pure pressure load is also easily transferred to the shoe by a conventional sock, whereby the sock could also compress to a degree perpendicular to its surface. In contrast, the conditions look different when the athlete is walking or running or wants to slow down or accelerate his movement in relation to his surroundings (road, sports field, treadmill, tennis court, etc.). In this case, the athlete tries, especially in the area of the sole of his foot, to transfer a horizontal, but at least tangential, force to the skin surface on the shoe and from there to the road. A sock lying between the skin and the inside of the shoe has the above-described disadvantages that the force can not be transmitted 1: 1 through the sock to the shoe due to sliding or slip motion, since the sock partially follows the application of force, stretches, and low friction coefficients or slipping due to perspiration relative to the skin or shoe. As a result, posterior or anterior extremities of the foot, especially the toes, may be squeezed or crushed.

For improved power transmission, the footwear according to the invention therefore provides for at least one zone adjacent to the foot, which is provided with a coarse knitted fabric. The knits of the knitted fabric provide space for absorption of moisture (especially water or sweat) and thus reduce the sliding effect due to such moisture. The mesh forming material of the knitted fabric is essentially incompressible, preferably it is not or only slightly extensible. The frictional force originally reducing water or sweat passes into the mesh of the knit. By absorbing the moisture in the mesh an otherwise disturbing sliding film is effectively broken, since the water recedes behind an otherwise continuous contact surface, such as those present in dense tissues after the pattern of conventional cotton socks. Instead, the frictional or positive connection between skin and socks is achieved very effectively by the fact that the knitted fabric running around the individual stitches presses on or even into the skin of the foot. In medical terms, the socks advantageously prevents depressed or compressed extremities and the no longer necessary tight lacing of the shoe, the circulation of the foot ßes is advantageously improved. By locally reduced to individual lines of contact Fu ßes also advantageous foot reflex zones are stimulated targeted and massaged, which enhances the well-being while using the footwear.

The invention uses webs which separate or define the stitches from each other and together form the knitted fabric for power transmission. According to the invention, the force exerted by the foot is thus not flat, but is transmitted via these webs along their rather linear contact areas in the socks. The entire force, which is preferably tangential to the skin from the foot, is concentrated on these contact areas of the webs (which are significantly reduced in relation to the entire foot surface) and therefore assumes significantly higher values along the local line contact. As a result, the contact pressure between the bar and the skin in the area of the bars increases significantly.

This may already be sufficient to penetrate a possible moisture layer in the line contacts and intimate contact between knitted fabric and skin on the one hand or knitted fabric and shoe on the Au ßenseite the knitted fabric on the other hand so that forces are transmitted without slippage or friction losses on the shoe can.

In addition to a high adhesive or sliding friction produced in this way, the webs can not only press on, but also partially into the skin or footwear. As a result, in addition to the increased friction, there is also a certain positive connection between the knitted material and the shoe or foot, which additionally improves the secure hold or force transmission. The properties of the knitted fabric on the foot facing the inside of the sock can be used in the same way advantageous on the outwardly facing side of the sock, for example, in contact with a shoe. If the webs of the individual stitches press on or even into the insole of a sports shoe, then the pushing force transferred from the foot to the web can be transmitted in the same way with little loss or even without slip or sliding movement into the sole of the boot. The knitted fabric according to the invention thus provides a secure and non-slip connection between the foot and the shoe in order to bring in particular thrust forces tangentially to the foot surface securely onto the outside of the sock or into an adjacent footwear. The footwear is thus advantageous for power sports (weight lifting, boxing, wrestling) as well as for those where a fine or precise feel for the transmission of power between foot and shoe is required (ballet, gymnastics, etc.).

Conveniently, the mesh-forming material is made substantially incompressible, so that it can press into the skin under pressure without internal deformation.

At least one zone of the footwear according to the invention is formed with the coarse-mesh knit (net); expediently, where usually particularly strong (especially tangential) forces emanate from the foot. In question is in particular the area below the bale, which is particularly heavily stressed while running. Furthermore, the zone of the knitted fabric can also extend to the area at the side of the bale in addition to the area below the bale. In this way, the foot can also transmit acceleration or braking forces in the socks above the bale, also in the area of the inside (adjacent to the big toe) or outside (adjacent to the small toe) above the bale.

In cases where a secure footing without unintentional lateral slipping on the ground is required (mountaineering, weight lifting, etc.) footwear according to the invention should have the knit in a zone below the heel. By frictional, or even positive transmission of horizontal or laterally directed forces of the foot through the scee through to the shoe or from the shoe through the sock on the foot then a particularly secure stand is guaranteed. Especially in Bonding with a strong vertical load on the heel press the webs around the mesh of the knitted fabric deep into the skin or footwear, so that the knitted fabric according to the invention has the particular suitability for transmitting tangential forces also in conjunction with high vertical forces. By contrast, in the prior art, on the other hand, the close-knit fabric of the known socks is merely compressed and deformed to a virtually smooth contact surface, which is naturally rather slippery.

With an expected all-round load on the heel (such as occasionally occurs in figure skating), the provided with the knit zone may extend to the area below, laterally and behind the heel, so as to achieve a particularly advantageous power transmission in the rear Fu ßbereich ,

An advantageous embodiment of the footwear according to the invention provides that it has a plurality of separate or interconnected zones in which the knitted fabric according to the invention is arranged. Outside of these zones, the footwear may have the state known from the prior art, in particular so be made of cotton or synthetic material or a mixture of both.

A continuation of the idea underlying the invention provides that the Fu ßbekleidung in the specially designed for power transmission zones comprises a special carrier layer, which is occupied on both sides with the coarse mesh knit. While the preceding examples were therefore based only on a homogeneous or continuous knitted fabric which is arranged between foot and footwear, the other embodiment provides in the respective zone two mutually opposite and separate from a carrier knitted fabric. The carrier layer lying between the two fabric layers serves on the one hand for fastening the coarse knitted fabric to the footwear, but also for the stabilization of the footwear as a whole. The support layer, which may also be referred to as a membrane, is expediently permeable to air and also designed to absorb and release moisture. It could also be made of the material of which the footwear is outside the zones described above (such as cotton). In the relevant zones, the knitted fabric according to the invention then lies on both sides of the cotton-like fabric. A particularly good force transmission from the foot into the first knitted fabric and in particular from this through the cotton layer to the second knitted fabric is obtained when the two knitted fabrics press under pressure locally each in the intermediate cotton layer and thereby interact directly form-fitting manner.

The two opposing knitted fabric with intermediate membrane may be identical or different from each other. Thus, for example, the inner, the foot ß-turned knitted fabric could have a smaller mesh size or material thickness than the outer knitted fabric in order to best adapt to the respective expected contact conditions (foot / knitted or knitted fabric / shoe).

Furthermore, the membrane can advantageously hinder or completely avoid deformation of the knitted fabric applied thereto. While the, for example, square mesh of the knitted fabric could deform into a diamond shape under shear loading - and possibly allow sliding and slip effects - the membrane stabilizes the stitches applied to it in shape and additionally reinforces the particularly good power transmission from the foot to the shoe.

Among other things, the mesh structure of the knitted fabric according to the invention serves to distribute or to absorb the initially distributed moisture over the individual mesh areas. The mesh size must not be too large so as not to transfer part of the holding force over the then large area of the mesh to the shoe, because then the moisture absorbed in the mesh reduces the frictional forces. On the other hand, the mesh size should not be too narrow to ensure the absorption of moisture safely, quickly and as completely as possible. Furthermore, the appropriate locally increased line load along the webs can only be sufficiently ensured if the force to be transmitted is not divided over too many webs, which would be the case if the meshes are too narrow. In tests, a particularly effective mesh size in the range between 1 mm and 5 mm was determined. As a very effective, a mesh size of 3mm has been found.

The knitted fabric should have a certain layer thickness in order to define sufficient volume in the mesh for the moisture to be absorbed or to be able to penetrate deep enough into the skin or the footwear. At the same time that should Knitted fabric but always be kept sufficiently flexible to follow all movements of the foot ß easily and to provide a comfortable fit. Stretching or compression of individual knit sections should also always be possible according to the invention, so that the stitches there can change their shape. Preferably, however, the material itself is designed to be resistant to tension, so that changes in length of the individual webs or web sections are largely excluded. A layer thickness in the range of a few tenths of a millimeter to about 1 mm has proven to be very advantageous. However, layer thickness and mesh size are interrelated, so that a good force transmission with a larger mesh size can also be achieved by a correspondingly greater layer thickness.

The particularly advantageous effect of the invention Fu clothing was examined and confirmed by numerous experiments. For three different surface conditions (dry skin, moist skin, greasy skin) was examined to what extent the transmission of torque can be improved by applying a knitted fabric according to the invention with no or with intermediate membrane. It can be seen from the table below that the knitted fabric offers a sometimes significant improvement in the transmission of forces, which generally increases the knitted fabric with the membrane in between (exception is the variant marked "greasy" in which the membrane may have sliding effects in connection with the greasy substance) favors).

Simple knitted fabric Two knitted fabrics with membrane

Dry 128% 136%

Damp 127% 201%

Greasy 273% 244%

The footwear can also take over the function of thermal insulation, if the carrier layer has corresponding properties. In particular, when the two coarse knitted fabrics are each well connected to the intermediate carrier layer, holding forces can be easily transferred from the inner to the outer ßer coarse-mesh knit to achieve the holding effect of the invention. The material of the footwear should be flexible and largely incompressible in the area of the knitted fabric in order to ensure the described holding effect. Basically, any known material comes into question with this property. Particularly advantageous is a knitted fabric of individual plastic strands has been found, the cross section is formed in particular in the form of a flat rectangle, square or round. The plastic strands can be twisted in and / or with each other. A web laterally delimiting web portion can be formed from a single or several plastic strands.

Hereinafter, an embodiment will be explained with reference to exemplary embodiments. Figures 1-6 show Fu parties, where different zones are occupied by the dense knitted fabric of the invention.

1 shows a schematic side view of a human foot 1. The foot 1 carries a footwear 2 according to the invention, which covers the foot substantially to the ankle. A zone d in the region below, laterally and behind the heel is covered with the knitted fabric according to the invention, as is a zone b in the region below and laterally of the bale.

Fig. 2, however, shows a schematic view from below of a foot with Fu ßbekleidung 2, in which a coarse-knit fabric having a zone limited to the area below the bale.

A comparable bottom view according to FIG. 3 furthermore shows, in addition to the zone a, a zone c provided with the knitted fabric in the region below the heel.

4 shows that here the entire sole of the foot is provided along a zone e with the coarse knitted fabric.

In addition to the illustration according to FIG. 4, the schematic side view of FIG. 5 shows that in addition to the zone e, the region laterally and behind the heel has the knitted fabric as zone d.

Fig. 6 finally shows an embodiment of the footwear 2, in which the Knitted zone f extends completely around the toes and partially protrudes below the bale.

Each figure shows an advantageous embodiment for certain applications, wherein for each application, the particularly safe power transmission should be ensured just in the region of each marked zone. It is understood that deviating from the cases shown embodiments are conceivable in which the knitted fabric according to the invention is arranged in each case there on the Fu clothing, where the transmission should be particularly well.

Claims

claims

1 . Footwear (2), in particular socks or stocking, for direct support on a human foot (1), the clothing comprising the foot on all sides, and the clothing (1) being located in at least one zone (a, b, c, d, e, f) comprises at least one first coarse knitted fabric (3), the meshes of which provide space to absorb moisture, in particular water and / or sweat, and wherein the mesh forming material is made substantially incompressible to allow it Pressed under pressure in the skin so that the resulting increased frictional and / or positive connection between the skin and knitted fabric the improved power transmission from foot to the environment, in particular on the outside of the fabric facing away from the foot allows.

2. footwear according to the previous claim, characterized in that the zone (a) is limited to the area below the bale.

3. Fu ßbekleidung according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the zone (b) is limited to the area below and laterally of the bale.

4. footwear according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the zone (c) is limited to the area below the heel.

5. Fu ßbekleidung according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the zone (d) is limited to the area below, laterally and behind the heel.

6. footwear according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the zone (e) is limited to the entire sole of the foot.

7. Fu ßbekleidung according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the zone (f) is limited to the area around the toes and the bottom of the bale.

8. Fu ßbekleidung according to any one of the preceding claims 2 to 7.

9. footwear according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in at least one zone (a, b, c, d, e, f) the first knitted fabric (3) via an intermediate membrane-like support layer, a second knitted fabric (3 ') opposite.

10. Fu ßbekleidung according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the first and the second knitted fabric (3, 3 ') are identical.

1 1. Footwear according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mesh size is between 1 mm and 5 mm, preferably about 3 mm.

12. Fu ßbekleidung according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mesh (3) forming knitted fabric has a layer thickness of 0.5mm to 2mm.

13. Fu ßbekleidung according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mesh-forming knitted fabric of individual, preferably individually or mutually twisted plastic strands is formed, whose cross-section is designed in particular as a flat rectangle, square or round.