EP1428444A1 - Climbing shoe - Google Patents

Abstract

The footwear comprises of a flexible upper (10) provided with a clamping unit, and an external sole (30). The upper is assembled on a primary lasting (12) and consists of a molded heel stiffener (20). A line of protection (15) is applied on the front of the upper. A strap is sticked on the back of the upper and is overlapped on the stiffener and the line of protection in front. An Independent claim is also included for a process of assembly of footwear.

Description

The subject of the present invention is an article of footwear, in particular of the bootie type or ballerina designed more specifically for climbing in the mountains, cliffs, rocks or structures artificial.

The bootie is a fundamental element of the climber's equipment. This is indeed it which is the interface between the climber's foot and the wall to be climbed and which must transmit with precision all the sensations and efforts.

A climbing shoe consists of a flexible upper, generally low or mid-high, in a flexible and inextensible material and provided at its upper end with a holding system foot such as lacing.

The rod is generally coated over its entire lower peripheral part with a strip coating, also called "wrapping", of an adhesive material such as rubber, and is provided at the heel with a strap or tie in elastic material such as rubber, around the heel, at an angle, from top to bottom from the back of the heel to the front of this one and apply a tension on the rod. Finally a sole, rubber or similar, glued to the rod completes the assembly.

Known climbing shoes or slippers therefore have a high number elements, in particular rubber, which are in strips and are applied and manually shaped to the shape of the rod by gluing. The production cycle turns out to be this fact relatively long and expensive.

In addition, the reproducibility of footwear is not very good because of the large number of manual operations and the lack of prior shaping of the strips of rubber applied. This results in comfort problems linked to the lack of homogeneity including heel volume from one liner to another.

To partially solve these problems, it has been proposed for example EP 688 512 and the FR 2 720 235 to make the strap or pulling in one piece with the outer sole.

In the case of EP 688 512, the flange and the sole are formed together by molding, of plus the strap completely envelops the heel and therefore also constitutes a heel counter.

The disadvantage of such technology is that it is very expensive, a mold being necessary for each size. In addition, the liner is difficult to resole when the sole is worn because there is a risk of damaging the heel.

The FR 2 720 235 also offers to make a heel-pull-sole buttress in one room. In the case of this document, the sole and the reinforcement (heel pull-up) are made from a single piece of sheet material, shaped by gluing on the rod.

This technology has the same disadvantage as the previous one with regard to the repair. In addition, the heel part is shaped manually on the liner and suffers therefore the same drawbacks of reproducibility described above.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks and in particular to provide a new construction principle, allowing good reproducibility and homogeneity footwear. One of the aims is also to allow greater ease of repair.

This object is achieved in the article of footwear, in particular for climbing, according to the invention, which is of the type comprising a flexible rod provided with clamping means and an external sole, the upper with molded heel counter.

Indeed, the fact that the buttress is molded ensures volume for the heel determined and consistent footwear from one footwear item to another and therefore solves problems comfort and homogeneity of manufacturing mentioned above.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective éclatée d'un article chaussant selon l'invention avant assemblage,
• la figure 2 est une vue en perspective avant du contrefort,
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective arrière du contrefort,
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective avant de l'article chaussant de la figure 1 après assemblage.

The invention will be better understood and other characteristics thereof will be highlighted with the aid of the description which follows with reference to the appended schematic drawing which illustrates by way of nonlimiting example, a preferred embodiment and in which:

• FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an article of footwear according to the invention before assembly,
• FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the buttress,
• FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the buttress,
• Figure 4 is a front perspective view of the footwear of Figure 1 after assembly.

• une tige 10 en matériau souple tel que cuir ou textile inextensible, de forme basse comme représenté sur le dessin ou mi-haute, et munie de moyens de serrage 11 de type laçage ou similaire ;
• une première de montage 12 assemblée périphériquement à la tige 10 par une couture 12a type "Strobel" ou zigzag, la première de montage 12 étant souple ;
• un insert de renfort 14 s'étendant sensiblement sur toute la surface de la première de montage 12 et interposée entre celle-ci et le semelage externe, le but de cet insert 14 étant d'aider à maítriser au mieux les déformations du semelage du chausson lors de la mise en appui, selon les caractéristiques recherchés pour le chausson d'escalade, cet insert 14 peut être plus ou moins rigide, il peut également être supprimé. Une telle construction avec insert est décrite dans la demande de brevet FR 02.06811 au nom de la demanderesse ;
• un contrefort talon 20 et une semelle externe 30 qui seront décrit plus précisément dans ce qui suit ;
• une bande périphérique avant de protection 15 appliquée sur l'avant de la tige 10 et une bride ou tirant 17 entourant la partie talon de la tige 10 et comportant deux branches 18 et une partie arrière 19.

As shown in FIG. 1, the footwear or climbing shoe 1 according to the invention comprises:

• a rod 10 of flexible material such as leather or inextensible fabric, of low shape as shown in the drawing or mid-high, and provided with clamping means 11 of lacing type or the like;
• a first mounting 12 assembled peripherally to the rod 10 by a seam 12a of the "Strobel" or zigzag type, the first mounting 12 being flexible;
• a reinforcement insert 14 extending substantially over the entire surface of the first mounting 12 and interposed between the latter and the outer sole assembly, the purpose of this insert 14 being to help control the deformations of the sole assembly of the liner as well as possible during resting, according to the characteristics sought for the climbing shoe, this insert 14 can be more or less rigid, it can also be eliminated. Such a construction with insert is described in patent application FR 02.06811 in the name of the applicant;
• a heel counter 20 and an outer sole 30 which will be described more precisely in the following;
• a front peripheral protective strip 15 applied to the front of the upper 10 and a flange or tie 17 surrounding the heel part of the upper 10 and comprising two branches 18 and a rear part 19.

The heel counter 20 is produced by molding a flexible and adherent material such as rubber.

Preferably, the material used will be a very adherent rubber with a hardness of around 70 Shore A.
(to complete).

The buttress 20 has a rear wall 21, substantially vertical, two walls or lateral edges 25 and a bottom 26. It extends forwards by its bottom 26 substantially up to the front limit of the arch area, and therefore behind the articulation zone metatarsophalangeal. The side edges 25 stop substantially behind them. the arch area. The rear wall 21 in particular, but also the edges lateral 25 together define a rounded volume that best matches the shape of the heel and intended to receive and comfortably accommodate the heel of a user. The role of the side edges 25 is to protect the rear side edges of the rod in the same way as the strip of front peripheral protection 15.

At the junction between its rear wall 21 and the lateral edges 25, the heel counter has a notch 22 intended to allow the relative "pivoting" of said rear part relative to to these lateral edges during use and in particular during putting on.

Indeed, the rear wall 21 has a very nested rounded shape intended to wrap well the heel, and the strap 17 further reinforces this effect since its role is to exert a heel pushing effort forward. When fitting, it is therefore necessary to do "pivot" the wall 21 of the heel counter with respect to the lateral edges 25 of the latter to actually allow the introduction of the foot.

The heel counter 20 also has recesses or housings intended to facilitate positioning and bonding of the elements then applied, namely the flange 17 and the outer sole 30. These are first of all recesses 25a, at the front of each lateral edge and 26a below the bottom 26 to receive the lower ends 18a of the branches 18 of the flange 17. Optionally another obviously 21 a can be provided in the rear wall 21 to receive the rear part 19 of the flange 17.

Of course the recesses can be provided only for one, flange or sole external, of the elements mentioned above.

Finally in the rear wall 21 and in the bottom 26 of the buttress are provided recesses respectively 21b, 26b to receive an associated part 34 of the sole 30.

• une première partie avant 31 située essentiellement en regard de la zone avant du chausson présentant une épaisseur de 4mm ;
• une zone intermédiaire 32 située au niveau de la voûte plantaire et dont l'épaisseur diminue progressivement de 4 à 2mm ;
• une zone arrière 33-34, d'épaisseur de 2mm et comportant une première section 33 destinée à recouvrir le fond 26 du renfort talon 20 et une seconde section 34 destinée à remonter sur la paroi arrière 21 dudit renfort.

As shown in particular in FIG. 1, the sole 30 has three parts:

• a first front part 31 situated essentially opposite the front zone of the boot having a thickness of 4 mm;
• an intermediate zone 32 located at the level of the arch of the foot and the thickness of which progressively decreases from 4 to 2 mm;
• a rear zone 33-34, 2 mm thick and comprising a first section 33 intended to cover the bottom 26 of the heel reinforcement 20 and a second section 34 intended to rise to the rear wall 21 of said reinforcement.

• tout d'abord l'insert de renfort 14 est collé sur toute la surface inférieure de la première de montage 12, comme indiqué précédemment cet insert de renfort 14 peut être présent ou non en fonction des caractéristiques du chausson recherchées ;
• ensuite le contrefort talon 20 est appliqué et collé sur la tige 10 et sa première 12 ou insert 14 ;
• et la bande de protection avant 15 est appliquée et collée sur l'avant de la tige et la périphérie de sa première de montage 12 ou insert 14 ;
• la bride ou tirant 17 est ensuite positionnée et collée sur la tige 10, et en prise de montage par l'extrémité 18a de ses branches 18.

The assembly of the boot according to the invention is very simple:

• first of all the reinforcement insert 14 is glued over the entire lower surface of the first mounting 12, as indicated previously, this reinforcement insert 14 may or may not be present depending on the characteristics of the liner sought;
• then the heel counter 20 is applied and glued to the rod 10 and its first 12 or insert 14;
• and the front protective strip 15 is applied and glued to the front of the rod and the periphery of its first mounting 12 or insert 14;
• the flange or tie 17 is then positioned and glued to the rod 10, and in mounting socket by the end 18a of its branches 18.

Note that the positioning of the flange on the rod is facilitated by the slots provided on the heel reinforcement 20. In addition, these housings also prevent the formation of extra thicknesses too large of the flange relative to said reinforcement.

It will also be noted that the lower ends of the branches 18 are glued in overlap on the heel stiffener 20 and the reinforcement strip 15 and thereby create a "clean" junction between these two elements. The flange 17 is glued to the rod so as to pre-stress the rear wall 21 of the heel reinforcement towards the front. The sole 30 is then positioned and glued to the rod / first / heel counter assembly thus formed.

Such a manufacturing process makes it possible to standardize manufacturing, while maintaining costs at low levels because the heel counter is molded but can nevertheless serve for different sizes since it is independent of the outsole 30. The complexity and the number of molds required is therefore reduced.

In practice, such a heel counter 20 can be provided for at least two sizes. different. The aesthetic problem of possible junctions between the heel counter 20 and the front reinforcement strip 15 are further resolved by overlapping overlap of the connection zone of these two elements by the flange 17.

In addition, repairs are facilitated since it suffices to remove and replace the sole 30, without risk of damaging the heel part as in known constructions previously.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above by way of nonlimiting example, but encompasses all similar embodiments thereof or equivalent.

Claims (8)

Footwear in particular for climbing, comprising a flexible upper (10) provided with tightening means and an outer sole (30), characterized in that the upper comprises a molded heel counter. Footwear according to claim 1, characterized in that the heel counter has a rear wall (21) and a bottom (26) extending substantially up to the front limit of the arch of the foot. Footwear according to claim 2, characterized in that the heel counter has two lateral edges (25) intended to protect the rear lateral edges of the upper. Footwear according to claim 3, characterized in that the heel counter has a notch (21) for pivoting at the junction between the lateral edges (25) and the rear wall (21). Footwear according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the heel counter has housings for positioning and bonding at least one strap (17) or the outer sole (30). Footwear according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the heel counter is made of rubber. Footwear according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the outer sole has two parts (31, 33) of different thicknesses. Method of assembling an article of footwear, characterized in that it consists of: assemble the rod (10) on a first assembly (12), apply and glue a molded heel counter (20) to the upper (10), apply and glue a front protective strip (15) to the front of the rod, apply and glue an overlapping flange (17) on the back of the upper on the heel counter and the front protective strip, apply and glue the outer sole (30).

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