FR2838925A1 - SHOE WITH FLEXIBLE OUTER FACE - Google Patents

Abstract

Ski boot, comprising a rigid plastic shell in which an internal comfort element is inserted, the rigid shell consisting of a collar fixed to a bottom shell. The boot comprises softening means located on the outer face of the boot and which comprise a plurality of recesses formed in the rigid shell. The recesses are made in the area of the ankle joint, in the lower part of the outer face of the bottom of the shell, and on the outer face of the collar.

Description

coating (1B) of the first part (1).

SHOE WITH FLEXIBLE OUTER FACE

  The invention relates to an alpine ski boot.

  For a long time, skiing techniques tried in leisure practice that in competition imposed during the turn a support, mainly on the outside ski at the turn, the distribution of the supports being 80% for the outside ski and 20% for the ski inside. In this technique called "classic", the leg placed inside the turn has almost no function and that is why the development of ski boots has always been done taking into account the specific problems of the leg placed outside the turn. The arrival of parabolic skis has generated a new ski technique which is completely different from the classic technique and which is called "wide track". In this technique, the two parabolic side skis each produce a curved directional effect, these two effects add up all the more as the skier balances his support between the indoor ski and the outdoor ski at the turn. This new technique, which has already shown its effectiveness, especially in competition, obliges the skier to maintain and closer support on the indoor ski during the turn. It should be remembered that the support on the ski placed inside the turn is made by the external side of the foot located inside the

V1 rage.

  The problem of the dosage of internal support is of course critical when looking for performance. Indeed, although he is resting on his indoor ski, the skier must be able at any time to relieve his support in the event that a

  pressing too hard would cause the internal ski to slip.

  Thus, the new ski technique requires, much more than the classic technique, the external dimension of the foot, which is tempted for the transmission of effort than for the feedback of information and sensations. On the other hand, although the morphology of the external side of the foot is very different from that of the internal side, the shoes have always been developed so as to have

  equivalent stiffness of the external and internal faces.

  It is common in a ski boot to have a shell

  of plastic whose thickness varies between 5 and 10 mm.

  Such wind thicknesses necessary to guarantee the extreme rigidity of the internal face thereof. On the other hand, on the external face such thicknesses make it very difficult to

  dosage by the skier of his interior support.

  The object of this invention is to provide a ski boot, allowing the skier to closer and maintain support on

indoor skiing at the bend.

  This object is solved by a ski boot which includes softening means arranged on the external face of the boot in a force transmission zone. We thus achieve a global softening of the external face of

the shoe.

  The force transmission zone of the external face of the shoe comprises three distinct and contiguous parts: the upper part which connects the upper edge of the shoe to the zone of the ankle joint, the intermediate part formed by the zone of the ankle joint and the lower part which connects the area of the ankle joint to the sole. In this rear part, different transmission circuits radiate from the ankle articulation zone to reach either the front of the shoe, or the heel of the latter, or a point located

between these two extremes.

  In a preferred embodiment, the shoe comprises a shell teas and a collar and the wind softening means arranged uniformly in a weakened L-shaped zone, the upper part of which is formed on the external face of the collar, the part intermediate as well as the lower part being arranged on the external face of the hull teas. The lower part extends between the area of the ankle joint and the sole, it extends to the area of metatarsophalangeal flexion.

  In alternative embodiments of the invention,

  the softening means are not arranged over the entire transmission area of the external face, but only in a part such as at the ankle joint or in the lower part of the external face of the shoe. The means for softening the hull may consist of a plurality of openings made on the external face of the hull or in a more limited number of large openings which substantially circumnavigate the outline of the area that is sought.

  affalblir. These openings may or may not be through.

  The softening means may also consist of the presence of an external face of the shoe made with a thickness less than the thickness of the internal face, or else

  made of a more flexible material than that of the internal face.

  Of course, the invention can be applied to any type of alpine ski boot, in particular to classic type ski boots, that is to say comprising means for introducing the foot located on the front of the boot but also to ski boot at rear entrance. The invention is applicable to any alpine skiing practice, from competition or very rigid wind hulls, to

  relaxation practices or less rigid hulls.

  The present invention also relates to

  characteristics which will emerge during the description

  which follows with reference to the accompanying drawings showing as

  example, some embodiments of the invention as well

only alternatives.

  Figure 1 shows in perspective a shoe according to a

  first embodiment of the invention.

  Figure 2 shows a view of the outer face of the shoe shell teas according to the first embodiment of

the invention.

  FIG. 3 shows a view of the lateral face of the shoe collar according to the first embodiment of

the invention.

  Figure 4 shows a front view of a skier performing a

turn to his right.

  Figures 5 and 6 show in side view modes of

  alternative embodiments of the invention.

  Figures 7 and 8 show a hull teas according to another

embodiment of the invention.

  Figure 9 shows a ski boot with rear entry

  according to an embodiment of the invention.

  Figures 10 and 11 show a shoe according to another

  embodiment of the invention.

  Figure 1 shows a shoe 1 according to the invention, it is a shoe 1 with four hooks. The shoe 1 comprises a shell dividing mainly into two parts, the shell teas 2 and the collar 3. Inside this shell is inserted an internal comfort element in the form of a removable liner 4. The hull teas 2 is carried out by

  molding of a thermoplastic material such as polyurethane.

  It is therefore a one-piece structure which decomposes into a sole part 5 and a rod part. The sole part is equipped at the front as at the rear with standardized end caps intended to cooperate with a fixing device. The binding device connecting the boot to the ski can of course be of any known type, including in particular a

  device with central plug or other.

  The upper part of the shell teas is open at the top for the passage of the foot, and further includes a pad of flaps, arranged on the top of the foot to facilitate the fitting

  and tightening the shoe 1 on the foot of the user.

  Two hooks mechanisms 6, 7 wind arranged on the hull teas 2. They each include a pallet pivotally mounted on a yoke, which is fixed on the side flap, an articulated hook is connected to the pallet through a pulling. In front of the clevis, and on the medial flap is fixed a rack, whose teeth are adapted to receive and retain the hook. The dimension of the outer flap

  and the internal flap is such that they overlap.

  On the other hand, a seal ensures the tightness of connection of the two flaps. The shell teas 2 covers the foot of the user up to the ankle joint. Wind holes are provided in the shell teas 2 at the ankle joint, one of the holes being formed on the outer side of the rod, another hole being on the inner side. The external hole 8 and the internal hole are substantially arranged along the axis of the ankle joint. The two aforementioned holes cooperate with corresponding holes provided at the base of the collar as well as with fixing means for fixing

of the collar on the hull teas.

  The wind softening means distributed uniformly over a large part of the external lateral face of the hull, defining a weakened zone 9 having substantially the shape of an L. The lower part 10 of this L is longitudinal, starts from the front of the shoe and extends to the area of the metatarsophalangeal joint. Wile is limited in elevation, on the one hand by the sole 5 and on the other hand by the attachment points of the hook mechanisms 6, 7. The intermediate part 11 of the L is located in the extension of the lower part 10 having a general orientation more vertical than this behind. Wile is positioned to cover the area of the ankle joint. Finally the upper part 12 extends the intermediate part to the edge

upper collar 3.

  The L corresponds to an external lateral zone of transmission of forces from the top of the shoe to the sole, in particular to the zone of the metatarsophalangeal joint. FIG. 2 shows in detail the lower 10 and intermediate 11 parts of the softening means which are arranged on the hull teas 2. They consist of a plurality of hexagonal recesses 13 which overlap one another. The weakened zone 9 grouping together all of the recesses 13 finds its origin at the front of the shoe,

  substantially at the level of the metatarsal joint area

  phalangeal. Its width staccrolt gradually to reach a maximum at the level of the ankle joint. Wind recesses provided on either side of the external hole 8 present in the hull teas and used for fixing the collar 3 thereon. Each of the recesses 13 has a diameter of approximately 15 mm and spaces apart from each other

  from a distance of between 3 and 10 mm, in particular 5 mm.

  The through wind recesses, and means are provided guaranteeing the tightness of the hull teas. These means may consist of a film bonded to the interior of the shell teaser or else a foam-type filling material. In addition to its sealing function, the filling material can have a damping function. Of course the recesses do not necessarily have a hexagonal contour and others

  possible wind contours within the framework of the invention.

  On the other hand, the recesses may also not be through provided that their depth with respect to the thickness of the hull at the place where it is located is such that the area in question is significantly weakened. Advantageously, non-through recesses do not

  will require no additional sealing.

  Figure 3 shows the collar of a shoe according to the invention. It is equipped with two hook mechanisms 15, 16 and a flexible strap 14. The wind softening means constituted by two openings 17, one of them located 1S between the two hook mechanisms 15, 16 and the second located between the upper hook mechanism 16 and the flexible strap 14. A flexible film sticks to the inside of the collar

  allows, among other things, to guarantee the tightness thereof.

  The operation of the ski boot according to the invention can be described as follows. Figure 4 shows a skier making a turn to his right. The force which it transmits on the outside ski at the turn, passes by its left leg and by the internal face of the left shoe. The force which it transmits on the inside ski 19 at the turn passes through its right leg which is bent and through the external face 24 of the right shoe. On the outside ski 18 at the turn the support is straightforward, it is however more flexible on the inside ski 19 at the turn, because more directly controlled and metered by the

skier's foot.

  Figures 5 and 6 show two embodiments

alternatives of the invention.

  The hull cover 21 of FIG. 5 has a weakened area limited to the area of the ankle joint, while the lower part of the external face of the hull cover keeps all its rigidity. Such a shell teas can be associated with a classic necklace or with a necklace as described

in Figure 3.

  The shell teas 22 of FIG. 6 has a weakened zone limited to the lower part of the face.

external of the hull teas.

  FIGS. 7 and 8 show a hull teas 2 according to another embodiment of the invention in which the weakened zone 9 is a zone in depression. It is common for a ski boot to have a plastic shell whose thickness varies between 5 and 10 mm. It is generally at the base of the shell, on the external and internal faces, that the most important thicknesses are found. In this embodiment, the thickness of the weakened zone 9 is less than 60% of the thickness of the zone of the corresponding internal face 23. By corresponding zone is meant a zone located on the internal face positioned symmetrically to the

  zone weakened in relation to the median plane of the shoe.

  Figure 9 shows another embodiment of the invention. The ski boot is a cited boot, with rear entry. The hull is made up of a hull teas 2, a cuff 25 fixed on the hull teas and a hinged spoiler 26 opening so as to allow the introduction of the foot. The wind softening means positioned on the one hand on the hull teas and on the other hand on the cuff. On the hull teas, an oblong recess is formed in the hull leading to a thinning of the hull of about 50%. On the cuff two wind recesses made on the lateral face thereof on either side of a closure means 27 serving to block the spoiler 26 in the closed position. Figures lO and ll describe another embodiment of the invention. The ski boot 1 comprises a shell teas 2 and a collar 3. The boot is characterized by a significant asymmetry between its internal face 23 and its external face 24. Figure ll is a section of the shell teas 2 along the plane XI -XI and shows that the thickness of the external face 24 from the sole 5 to the end of the external flap 28 is substantially half that of the internal face 23. Similarly, the collar 3 has an asymmetry between lt internal overlap and ['external overlap, which

is thinner.

  A variation of the shoes described in FIGS. 7 and 10 consists in the manufacture of the shell teas and / or of the collar in bi-material molding, the material of the weakened zone or of the external face being more flexible than that of the internal face.

  The invention is not limited to only embodiments

  described here by way of example, it includes in particular any ski boot in which a significant asymmetry of stiffness exists between the external and internal faces by the fact

  softening of the external face.

NOMENCLATURE

  1- shoe 2- bottom of shell 3- collar 4- liner - sole 6- hook mechanism 7- hook mechanism 8- external hole 9- weakened area lower part 11- intermediate part 12- upper part 13- recesses 14soft strap - hook mechanism 16- hook mechanism 17- loops openings- outside ski 19- inside ski 21- bottom of shell 22- bottom of shell 23 inner surface 24- external face - sleeve 26- spoiler 27- 2g closure means- external flap

Claims (4)

claims   1- Ski boot comprising a rigid internal face and an external face equipped with softening means arranged in a force transmission zone. 2- ski boot according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a rigid plastic shell in which is inserted an internal comfort element and in that the softening means comprise a plurality   of household recesses in the rigid hull.   3- ski boot according to claim 2, characterized in that the recesses are made in the area of the ankle joint.   4- Ski boot according to claim 2, characterized in that the recesses are made in the part   lower of the external face of the hull teas.   - Ski boot according to one of claims 3 or 4   further comprising a collar fixed on a hull teas and fitted with at least two closing mechanisms, characterized in that the softening means arranged on the external face of the collar comprise at least one opening between the closing mechanism.   6- ski boot according to claim 1, characterized in that the wind softening means constituted by an area of the outer face whose thickness is less than the