Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1 ~1127~9
Shoe
The lnvention relates to a shoe, partlcularly a sports shoe,
accordlng to the preamble to Clalm l.
Shoes of the type set out in the preamble to Claim 1 are
known ln the art ln varlous constructlons. In such shoes a
flexible upper bears a rotary tensionlng closure whlch is
attached for example ln the instep region of the upper and
contalns one single tension cable which forms an outer
tractlon loop on the outslde of the closure housing so that
wlthln the closure housln~ the tenslon cable can be wound on
a cable pulley rotatably mounted there or can be unwound
therefrom ln order thereby to be able to draw toxether or ~-~
release two partr- or flaps of the upper whlch can be braced
relatlve to one snother, ~o that the appertalning ~hoe can
be fastened on the foot of a person or opened. In these
known shoes, partlcularly sports shoe6, the rotary ten~lon-
lng closure wlth lts houslng 18 ln many cases flxed on apartlally reinforced tongue which 18 speclally cons~ructed
for the purpose or also on relnforced ~lde parts of the
upper. Relatlvely flat rotary tenslonln~ closures for these
shoe~ are also known per ~e, for example from EP-A-412 290.
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The obJect of the lnventlon 1~ to create a shoe of the type
set out ln the preamble to Clalm l whlch has a rellable and
firm hold on a foot and is distlngulshed by lts particularly
slmple construction and economlc manufacture.
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Thls obJect 18 achleved according to the lnventlon by the
featurès of the characterlslng portion of Clalm l, whllst
- the subordlnate clalm~ contaln advantageous further embodl-
ments of thls lnventlon.
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In thls shoe constructed accordlng to the lnventlon a
flexlble ~uide flap for the tenslon cable extendlng aw~y
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from the closure houslng is fastened on the closure houslng
in the region of each of the two cable holes, and in thls
case the closure houslng is fixed on the upper ln the instep
re~lon by means of the two gulde flaps. These measures make
lt posslble to fix the rotary tensionlng closure wlth lts
houslng at any sultable locatlon of the upper of the shoe
wlthout thls upper havlng to be specially constructed or
reinforced. At the same tlme the two guide flap~ ensure
rellable guldln~ of the corresponding longitudlnal portlons
of t~nslon cable ln the reglon of the closure housln~, par-
ticularly the cable holes which are usually provlded in the
perlpheral housing wall.
Gulde ~roove~ or gulde channels whlch point or are directed
ln a substantlally ~-traight llne away from the associated
cable hole are machlned ln an advantageous manner into the
two guide flape, thu~ further a~sl~ting the reliable guldlng
of the tenslon cable.
The lnventlon acte partlcularly favourably when appl;led to
con~tructlon ln the form of a half- hoe in whlch the ten~lon
cable 1~ laced upwards from below alon~ the in~tep and
between the two opposlng edges of the parts of the upper,
wlth several ten~lon cable crossover polnt~ provlded. In
this ca6e it 18 particularly adv~ntageous lf the 6hoe ls
constructed accordln~ to the characterl~lng fe~tures of
Clalm 3. In thl~ way the flrst guide flap acts predomlnant-
ly on the portlon of the tractlon loop of tension cable
located ln the lnctep reglon or the ten~ion cable lacing
there, whilst the second guide flap wlth it~ gulde groove
acts on the portion of the traction loop of tenslon cable
extendlng to the heel of the shoe or around the openlng
through whlch the foot enter~ the 6hoe. Thl~ leadc to a
particularly centred lacing of the ten~lon cable both ln the
instep region and also in the reglon of the upper where the
foot entere the shoe, with the result that the choe has a
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particularly ~ood hold on the foot. ;
, The lnventlon will be explained ln greater detall below with
the ald of the drawings, ln whlch:
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Flgure 1 shows a perspectlve side vlew of a shoe according
to the invention ln the form of a half-shoe;
Flgure 2 shows a top view of a closure houslng wlth gulde
flaps fastened thereon.
In Flgure 1 the shoe accordlng to the invention ls lllus-
trated as a sports shoe <runnln~ shoe, tennis shoe or the
llke>, and in fact in the form of a half-~hoe.
This shoe comprises a sole 1, an upper 2 made from a sult-
able flexlble materlal as well as a rotary tenslonlng
closure 3 borne on the upper 2. The upper 2 has in lts
lnstep reglon 4 two flap-shaped parts 2a, 2b whlch are con-
structed in the usual way ~nd can be braced relatlv~e to one
another and whlch ln the present case lie on the lnstep wlth
thelr edges approxlmately symmetrlcally opposlte one
another. ~ -
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The rotary tenslonlng clo~ure 3 borne by the upper can be
constructed ln the usual way <for lnstance accordlng to the
ex~mple6 of Flgures 4 to 7 of EP-A-412 290> and accordlngly
- as Flgure 2 also shows - comprl~es ~nter ~1 l a a clo~ure
hou~lng 5, a rotary ~ctu~tlng knob 6 and one ~lngle tenslon
cable 7 whlch can be wound and unwound ~n the u6ual way on a
cable pulley whlch ls not shown ln greater detall. Thls
tenslon cable 7 ls passed through two cable holes 8, 9 ln
the closure houslng 5 or ln the perlpheral wall thereof, and
these two cable hole6 ô, 9 can lle approxlmately opposlte
one another ln the manner shown ln Figure 2. Outslde the
closure housing 5 the tenslon cable 7 forms an outer trac-
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tlon loop 7a whlch is in engagement with cable-deflectin~ -
guides 10 on the two parts 2a, 2b of the upper or on the
opposlng ed~es thereof. In thls ca~e - as is known per se -
for the purpose of drawing together or releasing the parts :
2a, 2b of the upper, wlthin the closure houslng 5 the
tension cable 7 can be wound on and unwound <onto or from
the drivable cable pulley which i~ rotatably mounted
therein> with the ald of the rotary actuatin~ knob 6. In
thls case the shoe also has a tenslon cable laclng 11 whlch
runs upwards from below along the instep or lnstep reglon 4
and between the two opposing edges of the parts of the upper
and i~ provided with several tension cable crossover points
12, 12a.
Accordlng to the lnventlon a flexible gulde flap 13, 14,
whlch points away from the closure houslng 5, for the
ten~-lon cable 7 is fixed on the closure housing 5 in the
re~lon of each of the two cable holss 8, 9, preferably ln
the reglon below each of these two cable holes. The closure
housing 5 and with it the actual rotary tenslonlng closure 3
ls flxed ln the ln~tep region 4 on the upper 2 wlth the aid
of these two ~uide flap~ 13, 14. Due to their flexiblllty
the gulde flaps 13, 14 can be adapted or applled ln an
extremely favourable manner to the shape of the assoclated
portlons of the shoe or of the upper 2. The two gulde flaps
13, 14 can be flxed ln any sult~ble manner on the closure
houslng 5, for example by lntegral constructlon from corres- :
pondln~ synthetic material or by weldlng of the gulde flaps
onto ths clo~ure houslng 5, so that ln e~ch case the two
~uide flaps 13, 14 with the closure houslng 5 to a certaln
extent form a structural unlt or fitting which can be very
reliably attached to the corresponding flxin~ polnt on the
upper 2 without the necesslty for the upper 2 to be specl-
ally relnforced or stabllised at thls flxing point for the
purpose.
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As can be seen from Flgure 2, gulde grooves 15, 16 or al~o
correspondin~ guide channels whlch polnt or are dlrected
away from the assoclated cable hole 8 ln a substantially
straight llne are machlned lnto the two ~ulde flaps 13, 14,
thus provlding particularly reliable guldin~ of the corre~-
pondlng longltudinal portlons of tension cable ln the reglon
of the closure houslng 5 and ln particular ln the reglon of
the cable holes 8, 9.
In thls constructlon the rotary ten~ionlng closure 3 wlth
lt~ closure housln~ 5 ls advantageously dlsposed at the
upper end of the tenslon cable laclng 11, l.e. partlcularly
ln the re~lon of the uppermost tenslon cable crossover polnt
12 and offset towards the outslde of the foot 17 wlth
respect to the lnstep reglon 4, as Figure 1 shows. In thls
case the first gulde flap has two ~ulde branche~ 13a, 13b
whlch cross one another, each wlth a ~ulde groove 15, 15a
machlned ln it, and - as the drawlngs, partlcularly Flgure
2, show - these gulde grooves run in the ~ame dlrection a8
the assoclated gulde branches 13, 13a and thus alsoicross
over one another. The gulde groove~ 15, 15a whlch cross
over one another of thls flrst gulde flap 13 or of the
correspondlng gulde branches 13a, 13b are advantageously
machined into the gulde branches 13, 13a at dlfferent
helghts ln such a way that the longltudlnal portlonfi o~ the
tenslon cable 7 which run along and are gulded thereln can
cross over one another unhlndered but wlthout rubbing
a~alnst one another.
The flrst gulde flap 13 with lt~ gulde branche~ 13, 13b
whlch cross over one another advantageously extends 88 far
a~ the lnstep reglon 4 and to below the uppermost tenslon
cable cro~60ver polnt 12 (an thus to a certaln e~tent forms
~ crosslng gulde for the portlons of tens10n cable runnln~
there> in ~uch a way that the tension cable 7 fro~ the
uppermost cable-deflectlng gulde lOa on the part 2a of the
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upper on the lnside of the foot 19 runs upwards and in a
straight line to the assoclated cable hole 9 in th2 closure
housin~ 5 by way of the flrst ~uide branch 13a, whilst the
tension cable 7 from the opposlte uppermost cable-deflectlng
~uide lOb on the second part 2b of the upper on the outside
of the foot 17 ls directed obliquely upwards and backwards
in the direction of the inslde of the foot 19 and the heel
of the shoe 20. By contra6t the second guide flap 14 ~star-
tlng from the closure housing 5 or the associated cable hole
ô> extends on the outside of the foot 17 ln the dlrection of
the heel of the shoe 20. Thus outside the tension cable
laclng 11 running in the instep region 4 a correspondlng
longitudinal portlon 7b of the traction loop 7a of tenslon
cable can b~ gulded in the region below an upper edge 2c of
the upper around the opening 21 through which the foot
enters the shoe, approximately in the manner ~hown in Flgure
1. For this purpose indlvidual sliding guide ele~ent~ 22,
22a made fro~ flexible material, preferably from synthetic
materlal wlth particularly favourable friction character-
lstlcs, for the tenslon cable 7 are fixed on the upper 2 in
the reglon below the upper ed~e 2c of the upper. Further-
more, in thl case one of the ~llding guide elementg, e.g.
the sllding guide element 22, 18 disposed in a f~vourable
manner for deflection of the traction cable in the reglon of
the heel of the shoe 20.
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Accordingly, if the guiding of the traction loop 7a of
tenslon cable is studled ln Flgure 1 then it will be seen
that the flrst gulde flap 13 predomlnantly ensure6 reliable
guiding of one longitudlnal portion of the tructlon loop 7a
of tenslon cable extendlng over tha instep region 4 or the
tension cable lacing 11 there, and the second guide flap 14
ensures particularly reliable guidlng of the longltudlnal
portion 7b of the outer tractlon loop 7~ extending below the
upper edge 2c of the upper or around the openlng 21 through
which the foot enter6 the shoe - in each case ln the region
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of the rotary tensionlng closure 6. Therefore the upper 2
can be produced without a dlstinct or specially provided
heel cap (such as are ~enerally used for shoes of this
type), which also leads to simpllfication and to particu- :~
larly economic manufacture of this shoe.
Thus, ln spite of the relatively simple constructlon and
economical attachment in particular of the rotary tensioning
closure with the associated guide flaps, thls shoe according
to the lnventlon can ensure extremely good overall lacln~ :
and thu~ 9 partlcularly reliablo ~nd flrm hold on the foot.
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