Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FOOTWEAR HAVING A FOOT RETAINING SYSTEM
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to footwear.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various types of footwear exist and such footwear has become more specialized
in recent years. The present invention is directed primarily to footwear which
may take
the form of a boot structure although certain aspects of it are also
applicable to other
types of footwear. Boot type structures are used in, for example, ice skates,
roller blades,
ski and snowboard boots, cross country boots, work boots, etc. The present
invention
may be used in any of these different types of boots.
One sport which utilizes boots is hockey. Until recently, most boots have been
made of plastic and have become so rigid that the natural bending ability
associated with
previous leather structures has become non-existent. As a result, skaters do
not tighten
their skates as much as previously.
Although other means have been proposed in the art including the use of
various
types of straps, it is still conventional to use laces to tighten shoes and
boots. However,
the tightening of the laces may create a pressure on a portion of the foot
which can cause
injuries. Minor injuries can include irritations and swelling while more major
injury can
occur to the tendons being torn after an impact. Sprained ankles and the like
also occur.
One of the problem areas is the tongue structure and the lining of the skates.
The
lining can deteriorate quite quickly particularly when materials made of
textiles which
dry and do not have the required endurance.
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A further problem encountered with ice skates is that the deterioration of
various
portions caused by the flexing can lead to a deformation of the sole and even
the blade of
the skate. The skate can also become deformed because humans frequently have a
leg
which is longer than the other. The pressure is then applied in an even manner
when
skating leading to a deformation of the skate.
SUMMARY OF TIHE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide for an improved ice skate
which
may be easily assembled and provides advantages over ice skates structures
previously
known in the art.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tongue structure
which
will provide protection to the foot of the user while providing a comfortable
fit.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a boot structure
which
may be tightened using a cable or belt system.
According to one aspect of the present invention, in a boot having an outer
shell,
an inner liner, and a tongue structure, the improvement wherein the tongue
structure
includes at least one attachment means on either side thereof, at least first
and second
cables, each cable being attached to a corresponding attachment means, a guide
means
associated with each cable, and cable tensioning means, the cable tensioning
means
being connected to the cables and being movable between first and second
positions to
respectively tighten and loosen the cables.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a tongue structure for
use
in footwear, the tongue structure comprising an upper layer formed of a rigid
protective
material, a lower layer formed of a resilient stretchable material, the upper
layer being
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secured to the lower layer along marginal side edges thereof, the upper layer
being
spaced from the lower layer intermediate the side marginal edges to thereby
provide an
air space between the upper and lower layers.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, in an ice skate having
a
boot, a blade support portion mounted on the boot, and a blade mounted in the
blade
support portion, the improvement comprising a first cable member connected to
an upper
front portion of the blade, a second cable member being secured to an upper
rear portion
of the blade, the first and second cable members extending through the blade
support
portion and being connected to each other.
According a still further aspect of the invention, in an ice skate having a
boot with
a sole portion, a blade support member, and a blade member mounted in the
blade
support member, the improvement comprising a plurality of screw threaded
members
extending through the sole to attach the boot and the blade support member
together.
According a still further aspect of the invention, a hockey skate structure
comprising an outer boot, a blade support portion, a blade mounted in the
blade support
portion and an inner boot, the inner boot having a sole portion, the sole
portion having a
toe area and a heel area, a pair of side walls extending upwardly from the
sole portion, a
rear wall interconnecting the side walls at the heel area, the side walls
terminating short
of the toe area to thereby leave an open toe portion.
According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided an arrangement
wherein the foot is supported by an inner liner which surrounds the foot on
the sides and
a tongue which contacts the top of the foot. Normally, laces produce a
pressure directly
on the tongue. However, in the instant embodiment, a pressure is exerted by
pulling the
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sides of the tongue by means of cables or the like. When a tension is placed
on the
cables, they will create a pressure on the top of the foot by means of the
tongue. The
tongue may be provided with thicker and thinner portions - the upper portion
of the
tongue may be thicker to reinforce it while the portions where it flexes may
be thinner.
Using the above system, one may also employ laces which merely function to
secure portions of the outer boot together; the pressure on the foot is
created by the cable
system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the
accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments thereof, in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a skate according to one embodiment of
the
present invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevational view, with certain interior components shown in
dotted lines, of the skate of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a cable adjusting
mechanism
according to the present invention;
Figure 4 is a side elevational view, with certain interior components shown in
dotted lines, of a further embodiment of a boot having a cable tightening
system;
Figure 5 is a sectional view of a tongue assembly according to the present
invention;
Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a side elevational view, partially in cut-away, showing the inner
boot
portion;
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Figure 8 is an exploded side sectional view;
Figure 9 is a side elevational view showing a blade tensioning mechanism
according to the present invention;
Figure 10 is a top plan view of a sole attached to a blade assembly;
Figure 11 is a cross sectional view of a foot adjustment member;
Figure 12 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 11-11 of Figure 10;
and
Figure 13 is an enlarged view illustrating the attachment of a boot portion to
a
blade assembly.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings in greater detail and by reference characters
thereto,
there is illustrated in Figure 1 an ice skate generally designated by
reference numeral 10.
Ice skate 10 includes a boot portion generally designated by reference numeral
12 and a
blade assembly generally designated by reference numeral 14.
Boot portion 12 includes an outer shell 16, an inner reinforcing element 18,
an
inner boot or liner 19, a tongue 20, and laces 22.
Blade assembly 14 includes a blade support portion 24 and which has a blade 26
retained thereby. As may be best seen in Figures 8 and 11, blade support
portion 24 has
a pair of channels 28, 29 formed therein, channel 28 extending from the front
of blade 26
to a central area with rear channel 29 extending from a rear portion of blade
26 to the
central area. A front flexible tensioning cable 30 extends through front
channel 28 and
a rear flexible tensioning cable 32 extends through the rear channel 29.
Tensioning
cables 30 and 32 are connected together by means of a tightening assembly
generally
designated by reference numeral 34 and having nut portions 36 at that end
thereof which
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are adapted to screw threadedly engage cables 30 and 32. By turning of nuts
36, the
tension on tensioning cables 30 and 32 can be adjusted.
As may be best seen in Figure 7, inner boot 19 comprises a pair of sides (only
one
side 23 being shown) and an interconnecting back portion 21. It will be noted
that the
sides terminate short of the tow area.
The tongue structure of the present invention is best illustrated in Figure 5
and
reference will now be made thereto. Tongue 20 includes an upper protective
layer 40
which may be made of a suitable protective material such as plastic or even a
thin sheet
of metal. It is preferably somewhat resilient for reasons which will become
apparent
hereinbelow. Secured to protective layer 40 is a lower layer 42 which is
preferably of
a somewhat elastic material such as rubber. In between upper protective layer
40 and
lower layer 42 is an air space 44. Upper protective layer 40 and lower layer
42 are
secured together by means of a locking arrangement as shown in Figure 6. A
plurality
of transversely extending ribs 48 are formed in upper protective layer 40.
The present invention employs a plurality of cables 50 which are used to apply
a tightening force on tongue 20. Each cable 50 extends through a corresponding
channel 52. Each cable 50 is attached to the sides of tongue 20 and to this
end, as may
be seen in Figure 2, cable 50 passes through an aperture in plate 56 and is
then secured
by means of screw 54. An anchor bar 58 is provided interiorly to spread the
tensioning
force over a wider area.
At the other end, each cable 50 is secured to a cable tensioning means
generally
designated by reference numeral 60. One embodiment of this is illustrated in
Figures 2
and 3 wherein there is provided a pivotable plate member 62 connected at pivot
point 64
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to the outer shell 16. A pair of vertical guides 66 are designed to receive a
slider 68.
Cables 50 are attached to slider 68 by means of a cable attachment portion 70.
A push
rod 72 interconnects slider 68 and pivotable plate 62 such that a closing
movement as
indicated by arrow 74 will cause slider 68 to move upwardly as indicated by
arrow 76
and thereby apply tension to cables 50. With respect to cables 50, each
preferably
comprises a relatively thin wire of metallic or other suitable material and
which are
joined together at the ends where they are attached to the cable tensioning
means. For
ease of illustration, the securing together of cables 50 has not been shown.
In use, a boot may be tightened by applying tension on cables 50 by means of
cable tensioning means 60. The force exerted on the sides of tongue 20 will
tend to
stretch lower layer 42 and also place upper protective layer 40 in a state of
tension. An
air space 44 is maintained between upper protective layer 40 and lower layer
42 which
are separated by a distance of between 50 mm and 100 mm. In the described
embodiment, laces 22 may be tightened, but are largely superfluous since the
foot is
retained in the boot by tongue 20. This also provides a far more comfortable
arrangement as the upper portion of the foot and ankle flex against a
resilient and
flexible lower layer 42.
An alternative arrangement is illustrated in Figure 4 wherein the tongue 20
has a
plurality of straps 80 extending thereacross. Straps 80 are interconnected to
cables 50.
In view of the cable tensioning means 60 previously described, cables are
connected to a
ring 82 which is securable to a ring retaining member 84 mounted on the heel
or back of
the boot and which has projections 86 extending slightly upwardly.
According to the present invention, sole 90 is provided with a plurality of
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apertures therein designed to receive screws 94 which extend downwardly
through outer
shell 16 and wherein a plurality of screws 94 are screw threadedly engaged
with
apertures 96 in blade support 24. A centrally located aperture 95 provides
access to
tightening assembly 34.
Also according to the present invention, there is provided a member 98
interposed
between blade support portion 24 and sole 90. Member 98 may be used to adjust
the
level of either the heel or toe portion such that the skate may be given a
desired height on
either the toe or heel portion.
As will be seen from the above, there is provided a skate assembly which
includes
a number of improvements over conventional technology. It will be understood
that
many of these improvements can be applied to other footwear such as boots
employed in
other sports including roller blades, ski and snowboard boots, cross country
boots, work
boots and the like.
It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of
illustration only and that changes or modifications may be made thereto
without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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