U.S. patent application number 13/002135 was filed with the patent office on 2011-08-04 for golf shoe with a stabilizing system.
This patent application is currently assigned to ECCO SKO A/S. Invention is credited to Stefan Guest.
Application Number | 20110185597 13/002135 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41506707 |
Filed Date | 2011-08-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110185597 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Guest; Stefan |
August 4, 2011 |
GOLF SHOE WITH A STABILIZING SYSTEM
Abstract
A golf shoe has a stabilizing system consisting of an upper, a
longitudinally extending midsole consisting of polyurethane, and a
shank, wherein the midsole additionally to its longitudinal
extension is extended vertically with a medial arch support
structure, a lateral side support structure and a heel support
structure. The structures are bonded to the outside of the upper
and the medial arch support structure and the lateral side support
structure extends upwardly and encircles eyelets for lacing of said
upper. In order to further stabilize the golf shoe through all the
phases of the swing of a golfer, the heel support structure (9) of
said midsole (2) extends vertically to a point above the human
calcaneus of a wearer, approximately to the point where the
Achilles tendon is fixated. Midsole beams (14,23) are extending
from the vertically extending heel support structure towards the
vertical medial (8) and lateral (7) support structures.
Inventors: |
Guest; Stefan; (Portland,
OR) |
Assignee: |
ECCO SKO A/S
Bredebro
DK
|
Family ID: |
41506707 |
Appl. No.: |
13/002135 |
Filed: |
June 24, 2009 |
PCT Filed: |
June 24, 2009 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/DK2009/000154 |
371 Date: |
April 5, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/127 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B 5/001 20130101;
A43B 13/14 20130101; A43B 7/1495 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
36/127 |
International
Class: |
A43B 5/00 20060101
A43B005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 8, 2008 |
DK |
PA 2008 00961 |
Claims
1. A golf shoe with a stabilizing system, the shoe having an upper,
a longitudinally extending midsole consisting of polyurethane, and
a shank, wherein the midsole additionally to its longitudinal
extension is extended vertically with a medial arch support
structure and a lateral side support structure, said structures
being bonded to the outside of the upper and the medial arch
support structure and the lateral side support structure extending
upwardly to and encircling eyelets in the shaft wherein a heel
support structure of said midsole extends vertically to a point
above the calcaneus of a wearer and that, respectively, a lateral
beam and a medial beam of the midsole is extending from the
vertically extending heel support structure towards the vertical
medial and lateral support structures.
2. The golf shoe according to claim 1 wherein said medial and
lateral support structures are formed by beams extending from the
longitudinally extending midsole and upwards.
3. The golf shoe according to claim 2 wherein the beams delimit one
or more windows devoid of midsole material.
4. The golf shoe according to claim 3, wherein said one or more
windows have an essentially triangular shape.
5. The golf shoe according to 2, wherein the shank is fully or
partly embedded in the midsole, and a second shank is placed
between an outsole and the midsole.
6. The golf shoe according to claim 5 wherein said two shanks
overlap each other in an area of the midsole corresponding to the
longitudinal position of the encircled eyelets.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is entitled to the benefit of and
incorporates by reference essential subject matter disclosed in
International Patent Application No. PCT/DK2009/000154 filed on
Jun. 24, 2009 and Danish Patent Application No. PA 2008 00961 filed
on Jul. 8, 2008.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention concerns a golf shoe with a stabilizing
system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Stabilization of the golf shoe is needed during the swing
phase for mainly two reasons. First, if the shoe is unstable due to
a sole with a poor grip or a weak upper, injuries to the ankle in
the form of sprain may occur in the follow-through phase, i.e. the
part of the swing phase where the right handed golfer has hit the
ball and is rotating his body and right leg and foot. Second, with
a sufficiently stabilized footing, the golfer can concentrate on
other parameters than footing to improve his golfing performance.
The need for stabilization of golf shoes has been recognized in the
golf world for a long time. A typical way of stabilizing such shoe
is to reinforce the upper with an additional material, typically a
piece of textile sewn onto the upper on the medial and lateral side
in the area of the midfoot. In this way the extra piece of textile
adds stiffness to the golf shoe. Another known solution is
described in JP 2005021384A2, where the sole of a golf shoe is
extended vertically on the inner side of the shoe along the full
longitudinal length of the sole. While both solutions contribute to
improving stabilization, they suffer from drawbacks. Sewing
additional textiles to the upper is, although giving an opportunity
for aesthetic creations, an additional manufacturing step which
adds cost to the manufacturing process. Further, the solution
described in JP 2005021384A2 only provides partly stabilisation
during the swing. In a known manner, the swing phase can be divided
into five phases, namely addressing, backswing, downswing, impact
and follow-through. The solution in JP 2005021384A2 will increase
stabilisation in the downswing and impact phases, but not in the
backswing phase, where the golfer after addressing the ball is
raising the club to its highest point and preparing for the
downswing. Another stabilizing solution is known from U.S. Pat. No.
5,678,329, and concerns an athletic shoe, which has a polyurethane
midsole with left and right side upwardly extending portions. The
portions are encircling eyelets of the shoe, and the shoe lace is
guided through the eyelets. During the rotational movement of the
body through the swing phases, especially in the follow-through
phase where the wrist of the foot rotates, there is exerted a
rotational force on the shoe which force the concept taught in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,678,329 cannot fully handle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The current invention solves the problem of providing a
stabilization system for a golf shoe, which system provides
improved stabilisation in all phases of the swing.
[0005] The problem is solved with a stabilization system according
to the characterising part of claim 1. This system stabilises and
supports the midfoot during the golfswing, hereby increasing the
swing power of the golfer. In order to support the foot in all five
phases of the golf swing, the polyurethane (PU) midsole is extended
vertically on the upper in three selected positions, namely on the
outside of the upper on the medial arch, on the lateral side of the
foot and in the heel area. In combination, these three vertical
support structures, which are integrally moulded with the rest of
the PU midsole, provide encapsulation of the foot and increased
stability, because they are tightly bonded to the upper of the
shoe. Bonding takes place during the PU injection process. PU has a
larger stiffness than textile, and the stiffness in the three
support structures can be customized by varying the thickness of
the PU. The thicker the PU, the more stiff the shoe. A further
inventive stabilizing measure is to connect the medial and lateral
support structures through respective lateral and medial beams to
the vertically extending heel support. This provides additional
support and stabilization especially during the backswing, impact
and follow-through phases of the swing. The three support
structures are extended vertically to a height corresponding to the
position of the eyelets on the upper, preferably to the eyelets
placed closest to the ankle. In this way the midsole embraces and
supports more of the foot than the design of U.S. Pat. No.
5,678,329, where the upwardly extending portions only extend to 2/3
of the distance between the bottom surface of the outsole and the
lace openings. The heel support structure according to the present
invention extends vertically to a point above the calcaneus of a
wearer, and the PU of the arch support structure and the lateral
side support structure encircles one or more eyelets. As the
support structures follow the shape of the upper, they are inclined
towards the lacing area, and exert bending force already from
manufacturing. This bending force gives an improved grip between
shoe and foot, and contributes to keeping the shape of the shoe
over time. When pulling the lace, the medial and lateral support
structures are moved towards each other, and this has the effect
that an even better grip around the foot is achieved once the
golfer has laced his shoe.
[0006] Advantageously, also the medial arch support structure and
the lateral side support structure are formed by beams.
[0007] Preferredly, the beams delimit one or more windows which are
devoid of midsole material. In order to increase stability, the
free space between the beams can be filled with midsole PU, but
this adds to the weight of the shoe. It has been found sufficient
for stabilization purposes to have single beams of PU being bonded
to the upper. This has the advantage, that the midsole can be kept
lightweight.
[0008] Further stabilization is achieved if each structure is
formed by beams defining an essentially triangular shape of the
structure which has a window devoid of midsole material. As is well
known in mechanical and construction engineering, triangles add
structural strength to a construction.
[0009] Conventionally, a shank is placed in the midsole or between
midsole and outsole. It has been found, that increased stability is
achieved by using a double shank system, i.e. a first shank fully
or partly integrated in the midsole, and a second shank placed
between the midsole and the outsole. The second shank is close to
the green during addressing, backswing and downswing, while the
first shank in the midsole provides stability during impact and
follow-through.
[0010] A particularly good stabilization is achieved, where the two
shanks overlap each other in an area of the midsole, which area
corresponds to the longitudinal position of the encircled eyelets.
The toe ends of the shanks are sandwiching the midsole in a place
corresponding essentially to the position where the vertically
extending beams of the medial and lateral support structures are
placed. The first shank in the midsole is surrounded by the three
vertically extending support structures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The invention is now described in detail by way of the
drawings in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a side view of the inventive golf shoe;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the midsole and outsole used
in the inventive shoe; and
[0014] FIG. 3 is a rear view of the midsole and outsole used in the
inventive shoe.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a lateral view of a golf shoe 1 according to the
invention. A polyurethane (PU) midsole 2 is bonded to a shoe upper
3. Such upper can be made of textile or leather. In a known manner,
spikes 4 screwed into the outsole 5 provide good grip to the green.
The outsole 5 and 6 is made of hard density thermoplastic
polyurethane (TPU), which is bonded to the midsole 2. A shank 20 is
placed between the midsole and the TPU outsole, which outsole is
thin in the midfoot area. This shank is made of carbon fibres and
has a good torsional stiffness. On the upper, the lateral side
support structure 7 extends vertically and follows the shape of the
upper. Beam 10 originates in the longitudinally extending portion
of the midsole, and is connected to beam 12 via cross beam 11. As
seen in FIG. 1, the beams are essentially rectangular, thus having
rectilinear sections between the structures or portions they
connect. The beams are tapered in a direction towards the top of
the beam, which top therefore has a smaller surface than the base
portion of a beam, which is the portion bonded to the upper. Beams
10, 11 and 12 are cast in one piece, integrally injection moulded
with the longitudinally extending midsole. More specifically,
manufacturing is made by first roughening the upper 3 before PU
injection on the places, where beams 10, 11, 12 and 14 as well as
vertical heel support structure 9 are to be bonded. This is a
pretreatment of the upper, and typically done by a mechanical
roughening machine. After roughening, the upper is put on a last,
and the last is placed in a mould. Inside the mould, TPU outsole 5,
6 is already placed or can be injected afterwards. Then PU is
injected, and flows in the mould to the roughened places of the
upper, and bonds instantaneously and tightly to the upper.
[0016] Midsole 2 is in the preferred embodiment made of light
polyurethane (PU) material, also called PU light, based on
polyester. PU light is a known variant of PU, and has a low density
(0.35 g/cm.sup.3), i.e. is a lightweight material. A further
characteristic is good shock absorbing properties. Shore A hardness
is between 38 and 40.
[0017] The lateral side support structure 7 is extended vertically
to the area, where laces 17 are placed. The support structure
encircles two eyelets 18 and 19 with PU cross beam 11.
Alternatively, only or also eyelet 21 could be encircled. More
beams can be added to provide further stability and stiffness of
the shoe. Alternatively window 15, delimited by midsole portion 13,
can be filled with PU, but preferably having a lower thickness than
the beams 10, 11 and 12. According to the invention an additional
beam 14 connects the lateral side support structure 7 with the
vertical heel support structure 9, hereby creating a further window
16, and a medial beam 23 connects materially the medial support
structure 8 with the heel support structure. FIG. 3 gives a view of
the heel support structure 9 from the rear. The vertically
extending heel support structure extends to a point above the human
calcaneus, approximately to the point where the Achilles' tendon is
fixated. This results in a firm heel grip. It will be seen from
FIG. 3 that support structures 7 and 8 extend slightly above heel
9.
[0018] FIG. 2 shows in perspective the midsole 2 used in the
inventive shoe. A dual shank system provides extra stability of the
shoe. Shank 22 consists of a mixture of thermoplastic polyethylene
(TPE) and nylon and is preferably placed in the top of midsole 2,
recessed into the surface. It extends in longitudinal direction
from the heel area to the position, which corresponds to placement
of eyelets 18 and 19. Further stabilization is provided by shank 20
placed underneath the midsole. Shank 20 is made of carbon fibre and
reinforced with nylon.
[0019] The scales of the inventive shoe can be varied. In a
preferred embodiment, the beams 12 and 10 measure 75 millimetres
(mm) and 65 mm in length respectively, and have a thickness of 3
mm. The full height A-A of heel 9 in FIG. 2 is 80 mm.
[0020] The described embodiments can be combined in different
ways.
* * * * *