CA1097062A - Injection moulded skate boots - Google Patents
Injection moulded skate bootsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1097062A CA1097062A CA334,876A CA334876A CA1097062A CA 1097062 A CA1097062 A CA 1097062A CA 334876 A CA334876 A CA 334876A CA 1097062 A CA1097062 A CA 1097062A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- skate
- boot
- support means
- skate boot
- wearer
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A43—FOOTWEAR
- A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
- A43B5/00—Footwear for sporting purposes
- A43B5/16—Skating boots
- A43B5/1666—Skating boots characterised by the upper
Landscapes
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
- Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
A low cost, injection moulded plastics material skate boot, more particularly an ice skate boot, in which the upper shell is integrally moulded with the lower shell in such a way as to permit relative movement, at the ankle joint, between the upper and lower shells. In an alternative embodiment a prefabricated blade assembly is also embedded in the boot sole during the moulding operation.
A low cost, injection moulded plastics material skate boot, more particularly an ice skate boot, in which the upper shell is integrally moulded with the lower shell in such a way as to permit relative movement, at the ankle joint, between the upper and lower shells. In an alternative embodiment a prefabricated blade assembly is also embedded in the boot sole during the moulding operation.
Description
1~97062 This invention relates to skate boots, and more particularly to a relatively low cost one-piece injection moulded plastics mater~al skate baot.
Skating, either ice skating or roller skating, is an athletic activity requiring specialized footwear having characteristics unlike those required in other sporting foot-wear. Skating requires a boot which is not only relatively rigid so as to provide adequate ankle support but which is sufficiently flexible to provide at least limited longitudinal and lateral movement of the skater's ankle. Skating is essentially an activity involving ankle movement, in contrast to such activities as skiing which is essentially an activity involving knee movements and substantially no ankle movement.
Because of the distinct differences in movements required, ski boots and skate boots are quite distinct in concept and construction though there are certain points of similarity, notably the material of construction.
In recent years manufacturers of sports boots, such as ski boots and skate boots, have transferred their attention away from the traditional leather materials for footwear, toward mod-ern man-made materials, notably thermoplastic or thermosetting plastics materials. Such materials can be formulated to pro-vide the exact amount of flexibility and stiffness required, they are waterproof and an outer shell can be i~jection moulded to the exact shape required. An inner lining of soft resilient foot-shape conforming material can be provided thereby eliminat-ing a considerable amount of the hand labour required to fabri-cate a well fitting and comfortable leather boot. While the outer shell provides most of the required support, it must also - 1 - ii~
' ` 1~)97062 provide the flexibility required for ankle movement as described above. Generally this flexibility has been provided by making the outer shell in two parts: a lower shell including the sole, heel and vamp of the boot, and an upper shell which is removably attached to the lower shell adjacent the top rear part thereof and positioned to surround the ankle of the wearer. The attachment has generally been effected by rivets posit~oned either on each side of the ankle or at the rear of the heel.
It has also been suggested to integrally mould an attachment point at the rear of the lower shell and provide a slot in the upper shell so as to form a button and button hole attach-ment. In this regard attention is directed to copending Canadian ~pplications 286,232 and 286,233 filed Septe~ber 7, 1977 which are commonly ass~gned and are d~rected to different aspects af the attachment ar~angement, These arrangements provide satisfactory and su~ficient flexibility to provide lateral and longitudinal movement but it requires considerable labour to assemble the two shells and~ furthermore, the provisIon of two completely different ser~es of moulds to produce the upper and lower shells is an expensive capital undertaking.
It is, therefore an object of the present invent~on to provide a relatively low cost simply constructed one-piece injection moulded plastics material skate boot shell providing lateral and longitudinal flexibility at the ankIe ioi`nt.
Thus by one aspect of this invention there i`s provided a skate boot comprislng:
; (a) an iniection moulded plastics material lower shell including a sole portion, a heel portion, and a vamp portion;
and ~09706Z
(b) an injection moulded plastics material upper shell including a back portion and a pair of forwardly extending flap portions;
said upper and lower shells being integrally moulded with said back portion of said upper shell being interconnected along a lower marginal edge thereof with said heel portion of said lower shell at a position below the ankle joint of a wearer and said forwardly extending flap portions overlying at least a portion of said vamp forwardly and above the ankle joint of the wearer, so as to permit relative lateral and longitudinal movement between said shells in response to movement of the wearer's ankle.
The invention will be described in more detail herein-after with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a rear view of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 4 is a plan view of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 5 is a side view of a boot of the present invention; and Figure 6 is a sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the invention.
In order to reduce production and mould inventory costs, a boot wherein the previously separate upper shell is moulded integrally with the lower shell has been developed, '' ' - ' ,: : ' . , ~ , . : , - .
~ 109706Z
as shown in Figure 1. A lower boot shell 1 is in~ection moulded in a conventional thermoplastic material in a conventional injection moulding machine. The lower boot shell 1 comprises a sole portion 2, a heel portion 3 and an upper or vamp portion 4. The vamp 4 includes a toe portion 5 and is provided with eyelet holes 6. The upper marginal edge 7 of the vamp terminates at a position slightly above the wearer's ankle joint and slopes rearwardly and downwardly towards the heel 3. Instead of removably securing an upper shell 8 to the lower shell 1, as described in the prior art, the upper shell 8 is integrally moulded with the lower shell 1, so that the lower marginal edge 9 of upper shell 8 is integral with the heel portion 3 at the rear of the lower shell 1 at a position slightly below the wearer's ankle joint. It is stressed that, in order to provide for lateral and longi-tudinal movement at the ankle joint, the upper shell 8 is only integral with lower shell 1 over a relatively small proportion of the lower marginal edge 9 thereof. The majority of the marginal edge 9 is relatively free to move relative to the vamp 4 and, as is seen most clearly in ~igures 1 and 5 the upper shell 8 overlaps the lower shell 1 adjacent the upper : edge 7 thereof forwardly from a position 10 which corresponds substantially to the wearer's ankle joint. The side pieces 11 and 12 of the upper shell are provided with eyelet holes 13 which, in conjunction with eyelet holes 6, are used to close the vamp 4 in conventional manner with laces (not shown), so that the upper and lower shells cooperate to form a complete ~ ~ boot. The rear upper marginal edge 14 of the upper shell can : be of any convenient height so as to provide a tendon guard ' in known fashion.
In order to complete the boot an inner, soft resilient lining (not shown) is inserted into the boot and a conventional skate blade support assembly 15 and associated skate blade 16 may be riveted, screwed or otherwise secured in or to the sole 2. It will, of course, be understood that a roller skate assembly can equally well be secured to the boot sole 2, if desired.
In an alternative embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, there is shown an ice skating boot 60, having an integrally moulded, relatively stiff thermoplastic boot vamp 61, sole 62 and upper shell 63, and a conventional prefabricated, rigid downwardly projecting and longitudinally extending blade support member 64 having a skating blade 65 rigidly secured along a lower marginal edge thereof. The support member 64 is prefer-ably provided with a peripheral flange 66 around the upper marginal edge thereof and the flange 66 is moulded into the sole 62 as the boot 60 is produced. By moulding the blade sup-port 64 and blade 65 into the boot 60 still further cost reductions can be achieved, although a conventional blade and blade assembly having rivet holes and the like is employed, the time consuming job of riveting the blade assembly to the sole is eliminated. Although reference has been made particular-ly to the use of thermoplastic materials~ it ~ill be appreciated that the present invention is not limited thereto, as modern injection moulding technology also contemplates the use of ;~ thermosetting plastics materials which although not preferred materials, could be used for boots of the present invention.
- : , . . : , . . .
. .
., :
Skating, either ice skating or roller skating, is an athletic activity requiring specialized footwear having characteristics unlike those required in other sporting foot-wear. Skating requires a boot which is not only relatively rigid so as to provide adequate ankle support but which is sufficiently flexible to provide at least limited longitudinal and lateral movement of the skater's ankle. Skating is essentially an activity involving ankle movement, in contrast to such activities as skiing which is essentially an activity involving knee movements and substantially no ankle movement.
Because of the distinct differences in movements required, ski boots and skate boots are quite distinct in concept and construction though there are certain points of similarity, notably the material of construction.
In recent years manufacturers of sports boots, such as ski boots and skate boots, have transferred their attention away from the traditional leather materials for footwear, toward mod-ern man-made materials, notably thermoplastic or thermosetting plastics materials. Such materials can be formulated to pro-vide the exact amount of flexibility and stiffness required, they are waterproof and an outer shell can be i~jection moulded to the exact shape required. An inner lining of soft resilient foot-shape conforming material can be provided thereby eliminat-ing a considerable amount of the hand labour required to fabri-cate a well fitting and comfortable leather boot. While the outer shell provides most of the required support, it must also - 1 - ii~
' ` 1~)97062 provide the flexibility required for ankle movement as described above. Generally this flexibility has been provided by making the outer shell in two parts: a lower shell including the sole, heel and vamp of the boot, and an upper shell which is removably attached to the lower shell adjacent the top rear part thereof and positioned to surround the ankle of the wearer. The attachment has generally been effected by rivets posit~oned either on each side of the ankle or at the rear of the heel.
It has also been suggested to integrally mould an attachment point at the rear of the lower shell and provide a slot in the upper shell so as to form a button and button hole attach-ment. In this regard attention is directed to copending Canadian ~pplications 286,232 and 286,233 filed Septe~ber 7, 1977 which are commonly ass~gned and are d~rected to different aspects af the attachment ar~angement, These arrangements provide satisfactory and su~ficient flexibility to provide lateral and longitudinal movement but it requires considerable labour to assemble the two shells and~ furthermore, the provisIon of two completely different ser~es of moulds to produce the upper and lower shells is an expensive capital undertaking.
It is, therefore an object of the present invent~on to provide a relatively low cost simply constructed one-piece injection moulded plastics material skate boot shell providing lateral and longitudinal flexibility at the ankIe ioi`nt.
Thus by one aspect of this invention there i`s provided a skate boot comprislng:
; (a) an iniection moulded plastics material lower shell including a sole portion, a heel portion, and a vamp portion;
and ~09706Z
(b) an injection moulded plastics material upper shell including a back portion and a pair of forwardly extending flap portions;
said upper and lower shells being integrally moulded with said back portion of said upper shell being interconnected along a lower marginal edge thereof with said heel portion of said lower shell at a position below the ankle joint of a wearer and said forwardly extending flap portions overlying at least a portion of said vamp forwardly and above the ankle joint of the wearer, so as to permit relative lateral and longitudinal movement between said shells in response to movement of the wearer's ankle.
The invention will be described in more detail herein-after with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a rear view of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 4 is a plan view of a boot of the present invention;
Figure 5 is a side view of a boot of the present invention; and Figure 6 is a sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the invention.
In order to reduce production and mould inventory costs, a boot wherein the previously separate upper shell is moulded integrally with the lower shell has been developed, '' ' - ' ,: : ' . , ~ , . : , - .
~ 109706Z
as shown in Figure 1. A lower boot shell 1 is in~ection moulded in a conventional thermoplastic material in a conventional injection moulding machine. The lower boot shell 1 comprises a sole portion 2, a heel portion 3 and an upper or vamp portion 4. The vamp 4 includes a toe portion 5 and is provided with eyelet holes 6. The upper marginal edge 7 of the vamp terminates at a position slightly above the wearer's ankle joint and slopes rearwardly and downwardly towards the heel 3. Instead of removably securing an upper shell 8 to the lower shell 1, as described in the prior art, the upper shell 8 is integrally moulded with the lower shell 1, so that the lower marginal edge 9 of upper shell 8 is integral with the heel portion 3 at the rear of the lower shell 1 at a position slightly below the wearer's ankle joint. It is stressed that, in order to provide for lateral and longi-tudinal movement at the ankle joint, the upper shell 8 is only integral with lower shell 1 over a relatively small proportion of the lower marginal edge 9 thereof. The majority of the marginal edge 9 is relatively free to move relative to the vamp 4 and, as is seen most clearly in ~igures 1 and 5 the upper shell 8 overlaps the lower shell 1 adjacent the upper : edge 7 thereof forwardly from a position 10 which corresponds substantially to the wearer's ankle joint. The side pieces 11 and 12 of the upper shell are provided with eyelet holes 13 which, in conjunction with eyelet holes 6, are used to close the vamp 4 in conventional manner with laces (not shown), so that the upper and lower shells cooperate to form a complete ~ ~ boot. The rear upper marginal edge 14 of the upper shell can : be of any convenient height so as to provide a tendon guard ' in known fashion.
In order to complete the boot an inner, soft resilient lining (not shown) is inserted into the boot and a conventional skate blade support assembly 15 and associated skate blade 16 may be riveted, screwed or otherwise secured in or to the sole 2. It will, of course, be understood that a roller skate assembly can equally well be secured to the boot sole 2, if desired.
In an alternative embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, there is shown an ice skating boot 60, having an integrally moulded, relatively stiff thermoplastic boot vamp 61, sole 62 and upper shell 63, and a conventional prefabricated, rigid downwardly projecting and longitudinally extending blade support member 64 having a skating blade 65 rigidly secured along a lower marginal edge thereof. The support member 64 is prefer-ably provided with a peripheral flange 66 around the upper marginal edge thereof and the flange 66 is moulded into the sole 62 as the boot 60 is produced. By moulding the blade sup-port 64 and blade 65 into the boot 60 still further cost reductions can be achieved, although a conventional blade and blade assembly having rivet holes and the like is employed, the time consuming job of riveting the blade assembly to the sole is eliminated. Although reference has been made particular-ly to the use of thermoplastic materials~ it ~ill be appreciated that the present invention is not limited thereto, as modern injection moulding technology also contemplates the use of ;~ thermosetting plastics materials which although not preferred materials, could be used for boots of the present invention.
- : , . . : , . . .
. .
., :
Claims (10)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A skate boot comprising:
(a) an injection moulded plastics material lower shell including a sole portion, a heel portion and a vamp portion;
and (b) an injection moulded plastics material upper shell including a back portion and a pair of forwardly extending flap portions;
said upper and lower shells being integrally moulded with said back portion of said upper shell being interconnected along a lower marginal edge thereof with said heel portion of said lower shell at a position below the ankle joint of a wearer and said forwardly extending flap portions overlying at least a portion of said vamp forwardly and above the ankle joint of the wearer, so as to permit relative lateral and longitudinal movement between said shells in response to movement of the wearer's ankle.
(a) an injection moulded plastics material lower shell including a sole portion, a heel portion and a vamp portion;
and (b) an injection moulded plastics material upper shell including a back portion and a pair of forwardly extending flap portions;
said upper and lower shells being integrally moulded with said back portion of said upper shell being interconnected along a lower marginal edge thereof with said heel portion of said lower shell at a position below the ankle joint of a wearer and said forwardly extending flap portions overlying at least a portion of said vamp forwardly and above the ankle joint of the wearer, so as to permit relative lateral and longitudinal movement between said shells in response to movement of the wearer's ankle.
2. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1 including eyelet means in said vamp and in each said flap portion to receive means to tighten said boot around a wearer's foot.
3. A skate boot as claimed in claim 2 wherein said upper shell includes a tendon guard contiguous with said back portion and extending upwardly therefrom.
4. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including skate blade support means secured to said sole portion.
5. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including skate blade support means secured to said sole portion and a blade rigidly secured in said support means longitudinally of said boot.
6. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including prefabricated skate blade support means embedded in said sole portion during moulding thereof.
7. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including prefabricated skate blade support means embedded in said sole portion during moulding thereof and further including skate blade means rigidly secured in said support means longitudinally of said boot.
8. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including roller skate support means secured to said sole portion.
9. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including roller skate support means secured to said sole portion and roller skate means mounted in said support means.
10. A skate boot as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said upper and lower shells are fabricated from a thermoplastic material.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA334,876A CA1097062A (en) | 1979-08-31 | 1979-08-31 | Injection moulded skate boots |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA334,876A CA1097062A (en) | 1979-08-31 | 1979-08-31 | Injection moulded skate boots |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1097062A true CA1097062A (en) | 1981-03-10 |
Family
ID=4115058
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA334,876A Expired CA1097062A (en) | 1979-08-31 | 1979-08-31 | Injection moulded skate boots |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1097062A (en) |
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5072529A (en) * | 1988-02-19 | 1991-12-17 | Graf & Co. Sportschuhfabrik Kreuzlingen | Ice skate |
| US7325813B2 (en) | 2004-04-14 | 2008-02-05 | Samuel Bock | Skate boot |
| WO2008083499A1 (en) * | 2007-01-12 | 2008-07-17 | Sport Maska Inc. | Skate boot with improved flexibility |
-
1979
- 1979-08-31 CA CA334,876A patent/CA1097062A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5072529A (en) * | 1988-02-19 | 1991-12-17 | Graf & Co. Sportschuhfabrik Kreuzlingen | Ice skate |
| US7325813B2 (en) | 2004-04-14 | 2008-02-05 | Samuel Bock | Skate boot |
| WO2008083499A1 (en) * | 2007-01-12 | 2008-07-17 | Sport Maska Inc. | Skate boot with improved flexibility |
| US8505217B2 (en) | 2007-01-12 | 2013-08-13 | Sport Maska Inc. | Skate boot with improved flexibility |
| US8745898B2 (en) | 2007-01-12 | 2014-06-10 | Sport Maska Inc. | Skate boot with improved flexibility |
| US9565891B2 (en) | 2007-01-12 | 2017-02-14 | Sport Maska Inc. | Skate boot with improved flexibility |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |