U.S. patent number 3,744,159 [Application Number 05/178,117] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-10 for sports shoe.
Invention is credited to Kazuyoshi Nishimura.
United States Patent |
3,744,159 |
Nishimura |
July 10, 1973 |
SPORTS SHOE
Abstract
The present invention relates to a sports shoe characterized in
that an inner layer member or an inner shoe provided with a member
possessing a form corresponding to the shape of foot is attached to
the inside of the sports shoe, an air receiving cell is provided
adjacent to said member, and said member is adapted to contact
closely the foot under the pneumatic pressure caused by supplying
air into the air receiving cell.
Inventors: |
Nishimura; Kazuyoshi
(Minato-ku, Tokyo, JA) |
Family
ID: |
11903362 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/178,117 |
Filed: |
September 7, 1971 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Mar 20, 1971 [JA] |
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46/15963 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
36/117.6;
36/71 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B
5/0407 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A43B
5/04 (20060101); A43b 019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;36/2.5R,2.5AL,71 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lawson; Patrick D.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A sport shoe having an upper and an inner layer member within
the upper, the inner layer member including an air pervious
cushioning member having an inner peripheral wall provided with a
form corresponding to the shape of a foot, and an outer wall
extending adjacent the cushioning member and spaced outwardly
therefrom to provide an air cell therebetween, the outer wall being
secured to the upper, and means for supplying air to the air
cell.
2. A sport shoe having an upper and an inner shoe within the upper,
the inner shoe comprising a cushioning member having an inner
peripheral wall provided with a form corresponding to the shape of
the foot, inner bag means enclosing the cushioning member and
having an inner wall secured to the inner peripheral wall of the
cushioning member and an outer wall spaced outwardly of the
cushioning member to provide an air cell therebetween, and outer
bag means enclosing the inner bag means.
3. The shoe of claim 2 in which the outer bag means includes an
inner wall secured to the inner wall of the inner bag means and an
outer wall secured to the outer wall of the inner bag means.
4. The shoe of claim 2 in which the cushioning member is air
pervious.
Description
The present invention relates to sports shoes such as ski boots or
the like ski shoes, or to sports shoes used for other sports than
ski.
The present invention relates, more specifically, to inner shoe or
inner layer member to be provided inside an upper of this kind of
sports shoes.
Ski shoes having inner shoe or inner layer member are
conventionally known.
The conventional ski boot or ski shoe is comprising an upper formed
of substantially suitable materials such as leather or the like, a
sole, and an inner layer member fixed to the inside of the upper or
an inner shoe attached to the inside of the upper.
Said inner layer member or inner shoe comprises, for instance, a
foamed material of synthetic rubber or a modified material
consisting of said foamed material covered with leather or the
like, and is provided with an inner peripheral wall which fits the
instep or other corresponding portions of the wearer's foot.
However, this kind of ski boot or ski shoe is unable to fit closely
the wearer's instep or other corresponding portions which vary
considerably among individuals. Accordingly, such ski boot or ski
shoe, when worn for a long period of time, will often fatigue and
injure the wearer's foot.
Further, as such ski boot or ski shoe does not support the foot
sufficiently, it will hamper smooth skiing at ski competitions and
others.
Also, there is conventionally provided a ski boot or ski shoe of
which the construction is being modified from that of the
conventional inner shoe as mentioned above, that is, a sealed bag
member is formed within an inner shoe and a liquid or pasty
unfoamed foamable synthetic resin material is poured into the bag
member.
In using this type of ski boot or ski shoe, the wearer's foot is
first inserted into the inner shoe, and then the liquid or pasty
unfoamed foamable synthetic resin material is poured into the
sealed bag member.
However, said synthetic resin material filled into the bag member
will not reach evenly every part of the space defined between the
wearer's foot and the inner peripheral face of the ski boot or ski
shoe, and, further, due to the pressure caused in the said space
the wearer's foot is liable to move inside the sport shoe.
Consequently, it is difficult to position correctly the wearer's
foot at the required position inside the shoe and hold said
position.
There is also such a disadvantage that polyurethane, which is
generally used as the liquid or pasty foamable synthetic resin
material to be poured into said bag member, generates a poisonous
gas.
Further disadvantage is that the amount of the pasty foamable
synthetic resin material to be poured into said bag member is
relatively difficult to specify and that the handling of pouring
means is not easy.
The object of the present invention is to obviate the disadvantages
of the above-mentioned well-known sports shoes by providing a sport
shoe wherein a ventilative cushioning member (air containing layer)
integrally formed of a substantially foot shaped instep and sole is
provided within an inner layer member or an inner shoe of the
sports shoe thereby supporting provisionally the wearer's foot at
the required position in the sports shoe, and an air receiving cell
is provided adjacent to said cushioning member in the inner layer
member or the inner shoe of the sports shoe and, by means of the
pressure supplied into the air receiving portion, the shape of an
inner peripheral wall of the sports shoe which is in contact with
the instep of the wearer's foot is corrected so as to correspond
exactly to the instep of the wearer's foot, and, by allowing the
inner peripheral wall to fit the instep of the wearer's foot and by
pressing the instep with the inner peripheral wall, the wearer's
foot is substantially fixed at the required position in the sports
shoe by the inner layer member or the inner shoe pressing the
instep of the wearer's foot.
I will hereinafter give explanation relative to a ski boot,
however, it should be understood that the present invention is also
applicable to the sports shoes other than the ski boot.
The main characteristic of the ski boot according to the present
inventon is that an inner layer member or an inner shoe is
comprising a ventilative cushioning member (air containing layer)
and an air receiving cell.
Said ventilative cushioning member is formed of either a foamed
material of natural or synthetic rubber or synthetic resin, or a
felt material formed of a lot of fibrous layers, is integrally
formed of a substantially foot shaped instep and sole, and is
provided with an inner peripheral wall and an outer peripheral wall
both having a concave and convex shape corresponding to the instep
and sole of the wearer's foot. Consequently, the inner peripheral
wall of the inner layer member or the inner shoe should fit at
least indirectly the instep and sole of the wearer's foot.
An onefold bag member which seals up said cushioning member
including said air receiving cell is formed of an unventilated
material such as a non-foamable material of natural or synthetic
rubber or synthetic resin, and comprises an inner peripheral cover
an inner peripheral face of which being fixed integrally or by
means of a binding agent to the inner peripheral wall of the
cushioning member, and an outer peripheral cover.
Said air receiving cell is defined between the outer peripheral
wall of said cushioning member and the outer peripheral cover of
said bag member. And, an air supplying means is provided for said
air receiving cell passing through an upper of the ski boot and
said outer peripheral cover.
Said outer peripheral cover of the inner layer member is fixed to
the inner peripheral face of the upper and sole of the ski boot
either integrally or by means of a binding agent.
On the other hand, the inner shoe is attached to the inside of the
upper and sole of the ski boot.
The present invention will be better understood from the following
detailed description given in connection with two embodiments by
referring to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 through FIG. 6 are pertaining to the inner shoe of the ski
boot related to the 1st embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are partly sectioned views of the inner shoe
formed in an opened-out shape;
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are partly sectioned views of the inner shoe
formed in a boot shape;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken along the
line V--V;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIGS. 3 and 4 taken along the
line VI--VI;
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ski boot related to
the 2nd embodiment of the present invention wherein the inner layer
member is fixed to the inner face of the ski boot;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main part of
the inner shoe attached to the inside of the upper and sole of the
ski boot;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of FIG.
7;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 9
showing a part of a modification of the ski boot (2nd embodiment)
shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 11 is a partially sectioned perspective view of the ski boot
related to the 1st embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 12 is a partially sectional perspective view of the ski boot
related to the 2nd embodiment of the present invention.
The explanation pertaining to the 1st embodiment will be given
hereinafter referring to FIGS. 1 through 6, FIG. 8 and FIG. 11.
The ski boot in this embodiment comprises an upper B of the boot,
an inner shoe A attached removably to the inside of said upper B,
and a sole C, and the state of attachment of the inner shoe to the
ski boot is shown in FIG. 11.
Said inner shoe A is attached to the inside of the ski boot by
first folding the opened-out shape inner shoe as shown in FIGS. 1
or 2 in such a way that both side portions a and b spaced apart
from a central heel portion h are opposed to each other, and then
inserting said folded piece into the upper and sole portion of the
ski boot. The letter C in the figures represent an air supplying
hole.
Referring now particularly to FIGS. 5 and 6, numeral 1 represents
the ventilative cushioning member possessing the inner peripheral
wall 2 having the concave and convex shape corresponding to the
instep shape of the wearer's foot and the outer peripheral wall 3
indirectly opposing to the upper B, and said member 1 is either
molded from the ventilative material containing suitable amount of
air such as the foamed natural or synthetic rubber material, or the
foamed synthetic resin material, or formed by some other method
from the same material. Numeral 4 represents the inner sealed bag
possessing the air supplying hole connected to the air supplying
means above the heel portion h, and is either integrally molded
from the unventilated material such as the non-foamy natural or
synthetic rubber material, or the non-foamy synthetic resin
material, or formed in airtight state with the same material. This
bag 4 is made in the sealed form including said cushioning member 1
and the undermentioned air receiving cell 5 therein. The inner
peripheral face 6 of the bag 4 is fixed to said inner peripheral
wall 2 either integrally or by means of a binding agent (see FIG.
8).
The outer sealed bag 7 sealing said bag 4 by containing said bag in
the inner portion thereof is possessing the air supplying hole
which connects with the valved air supplying means.
The inner peripheral face 8 of said bag 7 is fixed to the inner
peripheral face 6 of said bag 4 integrally either by means of a
binding agent or by welding, and the outer peripheral face 9 of
said bag 7 is fixed to the outer peripheral face 10 of said bag 4
either integrally or by means of a binding agent.
The air receiving cell 5 is defined between the outer peripheral
wall 3 of the cushioning member 1 and the outer peripheral face 10
of the inner sealed bag 4.
This cell 5 is connected with said member 1. When a desired amount
of air is pumped into said cell by using a suitable means (not
shown in the figures) such as a small pump or the like by way of
the air supplying means and the air supplying hole, the cushioning
member 1 or the air receiving cell 5 swells and presses the inner
peripheral faces of both bags 4 and 7 as well as the inner
peripheral wall of the cushioning member 1, that is, the inner
peripheral wall of the inner shoe towards the instep of the
wearer's foot, thereby transforming said inner peripheral wall
enabling it to contact closely the instep of the wearer's foot.
In other words, the inner peripheral wall 2 of the cushioning
member 1 formed so as to substantially correspond with the instep
of the wearer's foot transforms in conformity with the foot shape
of each wearer the instep of which varies from person to person by
the pneumatic pressure supplied into the air receiving cell 5, and
fits exactly the inner peripheral wall of the inner shoe inside the
ski boot, thus the wearer's foot is held at the required position
inside the ski boot for certain.
An inner peripheral face member 11 and an outer peripheral face
member 12 of the outer sealed bag 7 can also be formed separately.
The inner peripheral face member 11 is made of a pliable warmth
keeping material such as felt or boa which improves the warmth
keeping effect of the inner portion of the boot and relaxes the
pressure from the air receiving cell in cooperation with the
cushioning member 1. Further, the outer peripheral face member 12
reinforces the outer peripheral face of the inner shoe and prevents
the inner shoe from getting damaged due to contact friction which
will otherwise cause between the outer peripheral face of the inner
shoe and the inner peripheral face of the upper of the ski
boot.
Since said inner shoe can be attached to the inside of the ski boot
removably, the inner shoe inside the ski boot is replaceable as
required.
Further, the amount of air to be supplied to the air receiving cell
by means of the air supplying means can be regulated to the desired
amount, and the air contained in the air receiving cell can be
withdrawn if necessary, thereby the pneumatic pressure inside the
inner shoe can be adjusted.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the inner shoe A is shaped gradually
thin toward the toe portion so as to facilitate free movement of
the wearer's toe.
The detailed description and explanation of the 2nd embodiment will
be given hereinafter.
As shown in FIG. 7 and any other relative figures, the ski boot is
comprising an upper B of the ski boot, an inner layer member A'
fixed to the inside of the upper, and a sole C. The inner layer
member A' is composed of the structural members substantially
equivalent to those of the inner shoe A of the 1st embodiment.
Referring now particularly to FIG. 9 and in connection with the
other figures, a cushioning member 1' of the inner layer member A'
is made from the same quality of material as said cushioning member
1, and is possessing an inner peripheral wall 2' having a concave
and convex shape corresponding to the instep shape of the wearer's
foot, and an outer peripheral wall 3' which opposes indirectly to
the upper B. Numeral 4' represents an inner sealed bag made from
the same quality of material as said inner bag 4, and possessing an
air supplying hole which is connected to an air supplying means.
This bag 4' is formed in a sealed state containing said cushioning
member 1' and undermentioned air receiving cell 5' therein. An
inner peripheral face 6' of the bag 4' is fixed to the inner
peripheral wall 2' of the cushioning member 1' either integrally or
by means of a binding agent. Further, an outer peripheral face of
the bag 4' is fixed to the inner peripheral wall of the upper B
either integrally or by means of a binding agent. The air receiving
cell 5' is defined between the outer peripheral wall 3' of the
cushioning member 1' and the outer peripheral face 10' of the inner
sealed bag 4'. The cell 5' is connected with the member 1'.
An inner peripheral face member 11' and an outer peripheral face
member 12' of the inner sealed bag 4' can also be formed
separately.
A warmth keeping member 13 fixed to said inner peripheral face
member 11' is made of a warmth keeping material such as felt or boa
which improves the warmth keeping effect of the inner portion of
the ski boot and relaxes the pressure from the air receiving cell
in cooperation with the cushioning member 1'.
Since the upper B of the ski boot and the inner layer member A' are
joined together integrally in the 2nd embodiment, the wearer's foot
can be positioned most correctly at the required position in the
upper and held thereat.
It is desirable to shape the inner layer member gradually thin
toward its toe portion as the inner shoe in the 1st embodiment.
Also, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to omit the outer
peripheral face member 12' of the bag 4' of the inner layer member
A' in which instance the air supplying hole connected with the air
supplying means can be provided at a required position on the upper
B.
* * * * *