GB2131677A

GB2131677A - An article of footwear

Info

Publication number: GB2131677A
Application number: GB08308914A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Mcquiggin
Original assignee: M C F FOOTWEAR CORP
Current assignee: M C F FOOTWEAR CORP
Priority date: 1982-11-18
Filing date: 1983-03-31
Publication date: 1984-06-27

Abstract

A jogger-type shoe comprises a sole (10) and an upper (11) including outer and inner layers (12, 13 respectively) of bi-stretchable material and two inserts (14) or insert portions of elastomeric material one on either side of the shoe interposed between the outer and inner layers of bi- stretchable material. The inserts are connected at respective first positions at or adjacent to the rear upper part of the vamp of the shoe to opposite ends of a substantially non-stretchable member (15) which extends in the vamp region of the shoe from one side to the other of the shoe. Each insert is also connected at a second position spaced rearwardly and downwardly of the first position to a substantially non-stretchable member (20) which is interposed between the outer and inner layers of bi-stretchable material and secured at least to the outer layer. The outer and inner layers are stretchable in each of two mutually perpendicular directions to an elongation of at least 60%. The shoe has a substantially non-stretchable facing (17) and a fake tongue (18) and a load spreading pad (16) of visco elastic material to spread the load applied to the foot by the insert. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An article of footwear This invention relates to an article of footwear and more particularly but not exclusively to the type of shoe commonly known as a jogger or trainer.

Known jogger-type shoes are either provided with laces or with "Velcro" fasteners. Tying laces takes time and the laces often come undone.

"Velcro" fasteners often wear out before the rest of the shoe.

"Slip-on" shoes are also known but the "elastic" in these known shoes generally extends over the top of the foot. This can be orthopaedically bad because the "elastic" can impede the flow of blood to the foot.

The invention provides an article of footwear comprising a sole, and an upper including outer and inner layers of bi-stretchable material and two inserts or insert portions of elastomeric material one on either side of the shoe, each insert or insert portion being interposed between the outer and inner layers of bi-stretchable material and being fixed at a first position at or adjacent to the rear upper part of the vamp of the shoe and at a second position spaced rearwardly and downwardly of the first position.

By "bi-stretchable" we mean stretchable in two mutually perpendicular directions in the plane of the material.

By "vamp" we mean the part of the shoe which in use covers the front of the foot.

Such an article does not require laces and so can be of the "slip-on" type, but without the "elastic" extending over the top of the foot.

Preferably, the second position is intermediate the front and rear edges of the top line of the shoe and is spaced downwardly from the top line of the shoe. The second position may be above or adjacent to the juncture of the sole and the upper.

By "topline" we mean the edge of the upper which defines the foot entry opening.

Preferably, the second position of each insert or insert portion is connected to a first substantially non-stretchable member, which is interposed between the outer and inner layers of bistretchable material and secured at least to the outer layer. In this case the first substantially nonstretchable member may be a stable interlining disposed in the counter region of the shoe (i.e. the back of the upper).

Preferably, the two inserts or insert portions are connected at their respective first positions to opposite ends of a second substantially nonstretchable member which extends in the vamp region of the shoe from one side to the other side of the shoe.

Preferably, the inserts or insert portions are of woven elastic material normally containing an anti-oxidant, possibly a thiol bound antioxidant.

The antioxidant slows down the degeneration of the material such that it will not slacken significantly over the life span of the shoe.

Alternatively, the inserts or insert portions are of natural rubber containing an antioxidant and preferably a thiol bound antioxidant.

Preferably, the outer and inner layers are stretchable in each of two mutually perpendicular directions to an elongation of at least 60%. This is preferable in order that one can get the shoe on one's foot without too much difficulty.

Preferably, a load spreading pad of visco-elastic material is provided in the rear upper vamp region of the shoe below said second substantially nonstretchable member. The load spreading pad can be of a partially cross-linked polyurethane resin and advantageously, has a hardness of between 35 Shore 0 and 45 Shore 0. Also, it may be thicker on the outer side than the inner side of the shoe.

By "visco-elastic" we mean a material which is elastic in that it resumes its normal shape after distortion, and which is viscous in that it creeps rather than springs back to its normal shape.

The load spreader spreads the load applied to a foot in the shoe by the elastomeric inserts which need to do a considerable amount of work in order to make the shoe a good fit and prevent movement of the shoe on the foot which would cause chafing.

Preferably, the upper part of the vamp is provided with a substantially non-stretchable facing and a fake tongue.

Preferably, there are two inserts separate from each other, each being of single limb configuration.

Alternatively, at least one of the inserts or insert portions may be bifurcated and in the case where both are bifurcated they may be inserts separate from each other or insert portions integral with each other.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of one embodiment of a shoe according to the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a load spreading pad incorporated in the shoe of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a side view of another embodiment of a shoe according to the invention, and Figure 4 is a plan view of one of two inserts in the shoe of Figure 3, the other insert being of mirror image shape.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the shoe shown therein is of the type commonly referred to as a jogger or trainer and comprises a sole 10 and an upper 1 The upper includes outer and inner layers 12 and 13 of bi-stretchable knitted fabric, having an elongation of at least 60% and conveniently much greater, to the facing surfaces of each of which a layer of foam is flame bonded.

For instance, the layers 1 2 and 13 may be of 80% nylon and 20% lycra having an elongation of about 180% before the foam is flame bonded thereto.

The inner layer 13 forms the lining of the upper.

The upper is "loose-lined", that is to say the outer and inner layers 12, 13 are not bonded together but are simply sewed together. Two inserts 14 are interposed between the outer and inner layers 12, 13 one on either side of the shoe.

The inserts 14 are each in the form of a single strip of elastomeric material, preferably woven pretensioned elastic material comprising round filaments of vulcanised latex rubber. These filaments will normally contain an antioxidant, possibly a thiol bound antioxidant, to give the inserts good hysteresis properties and prevent them from degenerating quickly over the life span of the shoe. The advantages of using thiol bound antioxidant are referred to in a report entitled "Developments in Polymer Stabilisation" published by Allied Science Publishers Ltd. of Barking, Essex, England at or about Page 217.

Instead of woven elastic material, the inserts could be of cast natural rubber containing an antioxidant, preferably a thiol bound antioxidant.

In this case, each insert contains woven material (scrim) at its ends to render the ends stitchable. In practice the woven material may be an impregnatable woven textile of open weave onto which the ends of each insert are cast.

The required stiffness of the inserts is achieved in the case where the inserts are of woven elastic material by the mass of the inserts, the degree of cross-linking of the materials and the degree of pretensioning during weaving of the elastic material and in the case of cast rubber inserts by the mass of the inserts and the degree of crosslinking of the material.

One end of each insert 14 is fixed to the upper at or adjacent to the rear upper part of the vamp i.e. where the last lace holes of a conventional shoe are located. in order to achieve this, the one end of each insert is attached by sewing to a substantially non-stretchable member 1 5 which extends in the vamp region from one side to the other of the shoe and between the outer and inner layers 12, 13. Disposed below the member 1 5 and above the inner layer 1 3 is a load spreading pad 1 6 which will be described more fully hereinafter.

The upper part of the vamp is provided with a substantially non-stretchable facing 1 7 which may be, for example, of suede, imitation suede or plastics material and a fake tongue 1 8 - the shoe has no lace holes. The facing 17, tongue 18, member 15 and outer and inner layers 12 & 13 are all sewed together, hence locating the load spreading pad 1 6.

The other end of each insert 14 is attached to a substantially non-stretchable member 19, such as by sewing, and each member 1 9 is in turn attached to a stable interlining 20 provided in the counter region (i.e. the back of the upper) of the shoe between the outer and inner layers 12, 13 and fused to the outer layer 12 at least. As can be seen from Figure 1, the other end of each insert is, therefore, fixed at a position about midway between the front and rear edges of the topline 21 and well below the topline 21 but above the juncture 22 of the sole 10 and upper 11.

The load spreading pad 1 6 is of visco-elastic material, such as a partially cross-linked polyurethane resin and has a hardness of between 35 Shore 0 and 45 Shore 0. During use, as the topology of the foot changes the inserts 14 yield and the load spreading pad prevents high load points on the foot. The load spreading pad is ideally profiled so as to be of greater thickness on the outer side than the inner side of the shoe (see Figure 2) to compensate for the asymmetrical shape of the foot and it may have through holes therein to remove local points of high load.

The upper part of the counter region has a substantially non-stretchable reinforcement commonly referred to as a dog ear 23 sewed thereto. Moreover, the lowest part of the vamp (including the toe) and the counter region of the shoe may be trimmed as shown at 24 and 25 respectively such as with suede, imitation suede, or plastics material.

There could be a further insert or insert portion (not shown) on one or each side of the shoe. In this case the or each further insertcould be fixed at a first position at or adjacent to the rear upper part of the vamp and at a second position generally above the other end of the insert 14 on that side of the shoe.

In the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4 like parts are given the same reference numerals as in Figure 1. In this embodiment, instead of the inserts 14, there are two bifurcated inserts 26, one of which is the mirror image or substantially the mirror image of the other. These inserts 26 are of elastomeric material and may be of cast natural rubber or of woven pretensioned elastic material.

Each bifurcated insert 26 has two branches 27 and 28. The region of division 29 of each insert is fixed to the upper at or adjacent to the rear upper part of the vamp. This may be achieved by sewing the insert at the region of division 29 to the facing 1 7. The regions 29 of the two inserts are spaced apart transversely of the longitudinal extent of the shoe so that they do notextend over the top of the foot.

The end 30 of the upper branch 27 is fixed to the upper at or adjacent to the upper part of the counter region of the shoe. The branch 27, as shown, has arcuate edges so that it will extend proximate to the top line 21 of the shoe.

The other branch 28 extends both downwards and rearwards from the region of division 29 and its end 31 is connected to a stable interlining (not shown) similar to the interlining 19 shown in Figure 1. If the inserts are of woven elastic material the end 31, advantageously, has a piece of durable textile material stitched to it.

The inserts 26 need not be separate as shown in Figures 3 and 4, but instead the ends 30 of the upper branches 27 may be integral with one another.

A load bearing pad 16 could be provided in the shoe of Figure 3, below the regions 29.

As one alternative, there may be one single limb insert 14 on one side of the shoe and one bifurcated insert 26 on the other side of the shoe.

The invention is not confined to jogger type shoes, but may be applied to any other appropriate shoe.

Moreover, many modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A shoe comprising a sole, and an upper including outer and inner layers of bi-stretchable material and two inserts or insert portions of elastomeric material one on either side of the shoe, each insert or insert portion being interposed between the outer and inner layers of bi-stretchable material and being fixed at a first position at or adjacent to the rear upper part of the vamp of the shoe and at a second position spaced rearwardly and downwardly of the first position.

2. The shoe of claim 1, wherein said second position is intermediate the front and rear edges of the topline of the shoe and is spaced downwardly from the topline of the shoe.

3. The shoe of claim 2, wherein said second position is spaced above the juncture of the sole and the upper.

4. The shoe of claim 3, wherein the second position of each insert or insert portion is connected to a first substantially non-stretchable member, which is interposed between the outer and inner layers of bi-stretchable material and secured at least to the outer layer.

5. The shoe of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the two inserts or insert portions are connected at their respective first positions to opposite ends of a second substantially nonstretchable member which extends in the vamp region of the shoe from one side to the other side of the shoe.

6. The shoe of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer and inner layers are stretchable in each of two mutually perpendicular directions to an elongation of at least 60%.

7. The shoe of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inserts or insert portions are of woven elastic material.

8. The shoe of claim 7, wherein the woven elastic material contains an antioxidant.

9. The shoe of claim 8, wherein the antioxidant is a thiol bond antioxidant.

10. The shoe of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the inserts or insert portions are of natural rubber containing an antioxidant.

1 The shoe of claim 10, wherein the antioxidant is a thiol bound antioxidant.

12. The shoe of claim 10 or claim 1 wherein each insert or insert portion includes woven textile material at the positions at which it is fixed to render these parts of each insert or insert portion stitchable.

13. The shoe of claim 6 or any one of claims 7-13 when dependent on claim 6, wherein a load spreading pad of visco-elastic material is provided in the rear upper vamp region of the shoe below said second substantially non-stretchable member.

14. The shoe of claim 13, wherein the load spreading pad is of a partially cross-linked polyurethane resin.

1 5. The shoe of claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the load spreading pad has a hardness of between 35 Shore 0 and 45 Shore 0.

16. The shoe of any one of claims 13-15, wherein the load spreading pad extends between inner and outer sides of the shoe and is generally thicker on the outer side than on the inner side.

1 7. The shoe of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the upper part of the vamp is provided with a substantially non-stretchable facing and a fake tongue.

18. The shoe of any one of the preceding claims, wherein a further insert or insert portion is provided on at least one side of the shoe, said further insert or insert portion being fixed at a first position at or adjacent the upper part of the vamp of the shoe and at a second position above the second position of the other insert or insert portion on that side of the shoe.

19. The shoe of any one of claims 1-17, wherein at least one of the inserts or insert portions is of bifurcated shape with the region of division of its two branches fixed to the upper at a position at or adjacent to the rear upper part of the vamp of the shoe, the end of one branch fixed at a position rearwardly and downwardly thereof, and the end of the other branch fixed at a position at or adjacent to the counter region of the shoe.

20. The shoe of claim 19, wherein the other branch of each insert or insert portion extends proximate to the top line of the shoe.

21. The shoe of claim 19 or claim 20 having two bifurcated inserts separate from one another.

22. The shoe of claim 19 or claim 20, having two bifurcated insert portions, the end of the other branch of one of the insert portions being integral with the end of the other branch of the other insert portion.

23. A shoe substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in Figures 1 and 2, or Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.