WO2014033396A1

WO2014033396A1 - Articulated shoe having automatic tightening

Info

Publication number: WO2014033396A1
Application number: PCT/FR2013/051966
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nathalie JOUFFROY; Martin TOULEMONDE; Florian Puech; Jean Loup MIQUEL
Original assignee: Decathlon
Priority date: 2012-09-03
Filing date: 2013-08-26
Publication date: 2014-03-06
Also published as: FR2994800B1; FR2994800A1

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of footwear, and in particular to an articulated shoe (1) comprising a front portion (2), a rear portion (3), a sole (4) connecting said front and rear portions (2, 3), and a member (13, 13') for tightening around the foot, arranged at least on the front portion (2). The front portion (2) includes a front upper (6) and an insole (7) secured to one another, the rear portion (3) includes a heel seat, and the sole (4) includes an articulation (5) enabling said rear portion (3) to move, relative to said front portion (2), between a first open position and a second closed position. In order to ensure automatic tightening of the shoe (1), the insole (7) extends toward the rear beyond said articulation (5) of the sole (4), more rigidly than said sole (4), and the shoe (1) comprises at least one flexible pulling member (14) connecting the rear portion (3) of the shoe (1), the tightening member (13), and a point of said insole (7) located to the rear of said articulation (5) of the sole (4), such as to pull on said tightening member (13) when said rear portion (3) moves from said first position to said second position.

Description

ARTICULATED AUTOMATIC CLAMPING SHOE

Background of the invention

The present invention relates to an articulated shoe, and more particularly to an articulated shoe comprising a front part with a front rod and a first integral with one another, a rear part comprising a heel casing, a soleplate connecting said parts. front and rear and comprising a hinge allowing a displacement of said rear portion, relative to said front portion, between a first open position and a second closed position, a foot clamping member disposed at least on the front portion. This relative displacement of the rear portion relative to the front portion may in particular be a tilting around an axis of articulation.

Typically, a shoe is formed by a flexible top, or rod, mounted on a first mounting, or "first mounting plate", under which is fixed a sole intended to contact the ground and more rigid than the rod. Normally, in the stem one can distinguish between a front rod and a rear rod forming the heel casing. The front rod may comprise a mouthpiece, two front quarters located one on each side of the shoe, and a tongue of vamp between the two front quarters. Between the front quarters and the rear rod, a high opening allows the boot and the heaving of the shoe. Such a shoe may also comprise clamping means, such as, for example, laces or hook-and-loop closures arranged so as to pull the two quarters before one towards the other to tighten the shoe around the foot. In some cases, these clamping means may even extend over the rear portion of the boot, so as to extend all around the upper opening. Articulated shoes designed to facilitate the boot and heaving of the shoe by folding the sole to widen the upper opening of the shoe by removing a front portion in a rear portion of the shoe are known to those skilled in the art. Such articulated shoe has for example been disclosed in US Patent 6,189,239 Bl.

Although such an articulation of the sole serves to facilitate the boot and heave, an additional tightening or loosening of the shoe will however typically be necessary to ensure a good hold of the shoe on the foot. This is particularly important for shoes intended for sports use or for being worn by children.

Consequently, the person wearing or loosening the shoe will nevertheless be forced to lean for tightening or loosening, which largely offsets the advantage obtained in terms of ease of entry and heaving.

Object and summary of the invention

The present invention aims to remedy these disadvantages. In particular, the invention aims to provide an articulated shoe that facilitates not only its entry and release, but also ensures its automatic tightening when donning.

In order to achieve this goal, the first mounting may be extended backward more rigidly than said sole, the shoe may further comprise at least one flexible traction member connecting the rear part of the shoe, the body clamping, and a point of said mounting first located behind said hinge of the sole, so as to pull on said clamping member when the rear portion moves, with respect to the front portion, from the first position open to the second closed position. So, closing the shoe after its footwear, operated automatically by pressing the heel of the foot on the rear extension of the first mounting, will also automatically tighten the shoe around the foot.

According to at least a first embodiment, said flexible traction member can pass, between a fastening at the rear part of the boot and a fastening to the clamping member, a first return fastened to said mounting first behind said articulation joint. sole. Thus, during the boot, the removal of this first reference relative to the attachment of the flexible traction member to the rear portion of the boot as a result of the displacement of the rear portion to its second position will generate a traction force said flexible traction member, which will thus pull on the clamping member.

Alternatively, according to at least a first embodiment, said flexible traction member can pass, between an attachment to the clamping member and an attachment to said mounting first, a first return attached to said sole and a second reference , opposite the first reference and attached to the back of the shoe. Thus, during the boot, the distance of the second reference relative to the attachment of the flexible traction member at the rear of the first mounting as a result of the displacement of the rear portion of the shoe to its second position generate a tensile force of said flexible traction member, which will thus pull on the clamping member.

In addition, in either case, said at least one flexible traction member may extend beyond the clamping member to pass through another return, which is attached to said forward rod, to a second fastening to the back of the shoe. In this way, it is possible to obtain not only an automatic tightening of the boot during its fitting, but also an automatic loosening, the flexible traction member pulling in the opposite direction to the tightening of the clamping member. when returning the rear portion of the shoe from its second position to its first position relative to the front portion.

In particular, to ensure this loosening, the shoe may further comprise a tongue of upper superimposed on the clamping member and connected to the at least one flexible traction member, between said first and second links, by a substantially rigid. In this way, this substantially rigid piece can push the vamp tongue outwardly when returning the rear portion of the shoe from its second position to its first position relative to the front portion, further facilitating the heaving.

Said clamping member may in particular be a lace. However, other alternatives, such as self-gripping closures such as those known under the trademark Velcro®, may also be considered by the skilled person.

In particular to maintain the shoe in the closed position after donning, it may also include a releasable locking device, for example clipping, interposed between said first mounting and said rear portion of the shoe behind said hinge of the sole. Clipping or snapping is a method of permanent or temporary attachment of two parts by engagement and elastic deformation, generally local, of at least one of the elements. When both parts are engaged in the latching position, the parts have generally returned to their original shape and no longer exhibit elastic deformation, or less elastic deformation. When the two parts are engaged with each other in the latching position, they cooperate with each other so as to oppose the relative movements of said parts in the direction of disengagement, that is, to say a sense opposite to the meaning of the commitment. In the latching position, the two parts can furthermore cooperate so as to oppose or even block their relative movements in the direction of the extension of the engagement, beyond the latching position. Thus, this device can lock the first mounting to the rear part of the shoe when the latter arrives at its second position relative to the front portion. The releasability of this lock will however allow the subsequent reopening of the shoe for its heaving.

In particular to facilitate the manufacture of the shoe, said hinge can be formed by a flexible segment of the sole.

In order in particular to pull the clamping member on both sides of the shoe, the shoe may comprise, on each side, a flexible traction member connecting the rear portion of the shoe, the clamping member, and a point of said mounting first located behind said hinge of the sole, so as to pull said clamp member on each side of the boot when said rear portion moves from said first position to said second position.

The front rod may in particular be made of a material that is more flexible than said first fitting, in particular in order to ensure the tightening of the boot by traction on the clamping member. The front rod may comprise a quarter on each side, and said clamp member overlap the two quarters, to tighten them towards each other.

In order to allow the shoe to adapt to the specific morphology of the user's foot, at least one fixation of the flexible traction member to the clamping member may be able to be adjusted in its position relative to the flexible traction member and / or the clamping member.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will be better understood and its advantages will appear better, on reading the detailed description which follows, of several modes of embodiment shown as non-limiting examples. The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figures 1A and 1B illustrate an articulated shoe according to a first embodiment in the open and closed position, respectively;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an articulated shoe according to a second embodiment in the open and closed position, respectively;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an articulated shoe according to a third embodiment in the open and closed position, respectively; and

- Figures 4A and 4B illustrate an articulated shoe according to a fourth embodiment in the open and closed position, respectively.

Detailed description of the invention

An articulated shoe 1 according to a first embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. This shoe 1 comprises a front portion 2, a rear portion 3 and a sole 4 connecting these front and rear portions. The sole 4 has a hinge 5 between said front 2 and rear 3 parts, making it possible to move the rear part 3, with respect to the front part 2, between a first position, illustrated in FIG. 1A, in which said front parts 2 and 3 rear deviate at their summit to facilitate the boot or heave shoe 1, and a second position, shown in Figure 1B, wherein said front portions 2 and rear 3 are closed on the foot of the user.

The front portion 2 comprises a front rod 6 and a first mounting 7 secured to each other in the manner of a mule, the first mounting 7 extending rearwardly beyond the joint 5 , from more rigid way than the sole 4, to receive the heel of the foot when donning. The front rod 6, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises a tip 8, two front quarters 9, one on each side of the shoe 1, and a vamp tongue 10 between the two front quarters 9. The rear portion 3 forms a heel casing on the heel of the sole 4.

The boot 1 also comprises a releasable locking device 20, in the form of a clipping device in the illustrated embodiment, interposed between the rear extension of the first mounting 7 and the rear portion 3 of the boot 1. This device 20 makes it possible to fix the boot 1 in the closed position illustrated in FIG. 1B after it has been worn, but remains easily releasable to allow the rear portion 3 to return to its first position and thus facilitate the heaving.

To tighten the boot 1 around the foot, it also comprises a clamping member, which takes, in the illustrated embodiment, the shape of a lace 13 overlapping the two front quarters 9 and the upper tongue 10, and connects the two front quarters 9 so as to be able to tighten these two quarters before 9 one towards the other by traction on this lace.

The shoe 1 also comprises, on each side, a flexible traction member, in the form of a strap 14 in the illustrated embodiment. One end of this flexible traction member 14 is fixed to the rear portion 3 of the shoe 1 by a fastener 15, while its opposite end is fixed to the clamping member 13 by another fastener 16. Between these two fasteners 15 , 16, the flexible traction member 14 passes through a return 17 fixed to the rear extension of the first mounting element 7.

Thus, because of the relative rigidity of the rear extension of the first mounting 7, when the shoe 1 moves from the open position shown in FIG. 1A to the closed position illustrated on FIG. 1B position by introduction of the foot into the shoe 1 and pressure of the heel on this rear extension, the tilting of the rear portion 3 relative to the front portion 2 will distance the attachment 15 of the reference 17. As a result, the flexible member of traction 14 will exert traction on the clamping member 13, so as to tighten the boot 1 around the foot, without the user having to operate directly this clamping member 13.

Although, in the illustrated embodiment, each flexible traction member 14 has only one attachment 16 to the clamping member 13, in at least one variant of this embodiment, several fasteners in parallel could also be envisaged. Thus, for example, when the clamping member is formed by a lace such as that illustrated, the flexible traction member could have several branches, each of which would be attached to a different loop of the lace. In addition, the position of each attachment 16 on the traction member 14 may be adjustable, so as to easily adapt the shoe 1 to different foot morphologies.

Although the shoe according to this first embodiment thus offers an automatic tightening when it moves from the open position to the closed position, it is not the same with the loosening in the other direction. However, a second embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, in which elements equivalent to those of the first embodiment receive the same reference numerals, in which the flexible traction member 14 extends beyond the attachment 16 to another fastener 18 to the rear portion 3 through a reference 19 fixed to the front portion 2. Thus, when the boot 1 according to this second embodiment passes from the closed position illustrated in Figure 2B to the position 2A, the fastener 18 will move away from the reference 19, and the flexible traction member 14 will exert a traction on the clamping member 13 in a direction opposite to that of clamping.

However, although in this second embodiment traction on one or more loops of the lace in the opposite direction to the tightening direction helps loosen the lace forming the clamping member, the user can still be required to bend to pull on the upper tongue 10 to facilitate the heaving. For this reason, in a third embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, on which the elements equivalent to those of the first and second embodiments receive the same reference numerals, the boot 1 also comprises, on each side, a substantially rigid piece 21 connecting the fastener 16 to a clamping member formed by a plate 22 fixed on the upper tongue 10. Thus, when the boot 1 according to this second embodiment passes from the closed position illustrated in FIG. the open position illustrated in Figure 3A, the parts 21 will push the clamping member 22 and the tongue 10 to the outside, thereby forcing the loosening of the member of the shoe 1. When it passes from the position open to the closed position, the parts 21 will pull the clamping member 22 and the tongue 10 inward, clamping against the foot of the user. Although, in the illustrated embodiment, the shoe 1 also comprises a lace 23, it serves only to ensure the maintenance of the bottom of the foot, and it is normally not necessary to tighten or loosen it when In a possible variant of this embodiment, the lace can however also extend upwards and also be connected to the fastener 16, so as to be integrated in a clamping member with the In addition, in order to be able to adapt the boot 1 to the different foot morphologies, the position of each fastener 16 on the flexible traction member 14 and / or the piece 21 may be adjustable, as well as that possibly that of the wafer 22 with respect to the tongue 10 and / or the pieces 21.

A shoe 1 according to a fourth embodiment substantially different from the first three is illustrated in Figures 4A and 4B. In this fourth embodiment, the flexible traction member is a lace 24 with a first end fixed by a fastener 25 to the rear extension of the first mounting 7, while its opposite end is fixed to a clamping member 26 by another fixing 27. Between these two fasteners 25, 27, the flexible traction member 24 passes through a first return 28 fixed near the articulation 5 of the sole 4 and a second return 29 fixed to the rear portion 3 of the shoe 1, so that the distance between this first reference 28 and the clamping member 26 and the distance between the same first reference 28 and the second reference 29 remain substantially unchanged during the tilting of the rear portion 3 of the shoe 1 between the first position shown in Figure 4A and the second position shown in Figure 4B. In the illustrated embodiment, the clamping member is a flexible plate 26 capable of pressing on the upper tongue 10, although the clamping member can also adopt other shapes, such as for example those of the first three embodiments.

When wearing this shoe 1 of the fourth embodiment, when the boot 1 moves from the open position illustrated in Figure 4A to the closed position shown in the 4B position by introduction of the foot in the shoe 1 and heel pressure on the rear extension of the first mounting, the tilting of the rear portion 3 of the boot 1 relative to its front portion 2 will move the attachment 25 of the second reference 29 Accordingly, the flexible traction member 24 will exert traction on the clamping member 26, so as to tighten the boot 1 around the foot, without the user having to directly operate this clamping member 26. In order to adapt the shoe 1 to different foot morphologies, the position of the fastener 27 on the clamping member 26 and / or the flexible traction member 24 can be adjustable.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a specific exemplary embodiment, it is obvious that various modifications and changes can be made to these examples without departing from the general scope of the invention as defined by the claims. In addition, individual features of the various embodiments mentioned can be combined in additional embodiments. For example, the general configuration of the shoes according to the first three embodiments illustrated is compatible with a flexible wafer-shaped clamping member, as in the fourth embodiment. On the other hand, the improvements of the second and third embodiments for the automatic loosening of the clamping member are also adaptable to the general configuration of the fourth embodiment. In addition, although in the first three embodiments the flexible traction member has been shown as a shoulder strap, alternative forms, such as that of a lace or a cable, are also conceivable. Therefore, the description and drawings should be considered in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

Claims

1. Articulated shoe (1) comprising:

a front portion (2) comprising a front rod (6) and a first mounting (7) integral with each other; a rear portion (3) comprising a heel casing;

a sole (4) connecting said front and rear portions (2, 3) and comprising a hinge (5) allowing a displacement of said rear portion (3), with respect to said front portion (2), between a first open position and a second closed position; and

a foot clamping member (13,22,26) disposed at least on the front portion (2); and

characterized in that said first mounting (7) extends rearwardly beyond said hinge (5) of the sole (4) more rigidly than said sole (4), and that the boot ( 1) further comprises at least one flexible traction member (14,24) connecting the rear part (3) of the shoe (1), the clamping member (13,22,26), and a point of said first mounting (7) located behind said articulation (5) of the sole (4), so as to pull on said clamp member (13,22,26) when said rear portion (3) moves from said first position to said second position.

2. Articulated shoe (1) according to claim 1, wherein said flexible traction member (14) passes between a fastener (15) to the rear portion (3) of the shoe (1) and at least one fastener (16). ) to the clamping member (13), a first return (17) fixed to said mounting first (7) behind said sole hinge (5).

3. articulated shoe (1) according to claim 1, wherein said flexible traction member (24) passes through between at least one fastener (27) to the clamping member (26) and a fastener (25) to said first mounting (7), a first return (28) fixed to said sole hinge and a second return (29), opposite the first reference (28) and attached to the rear portion (3) of the boot (1).

The articulated shoe (1) according to any one of claims 2 or 3, wherein said at least one flexible traction member (14) extends beyond the clamping member (13,22) to traverse a another reference (19), which is attached to said front rod (6), to a fastener (18) at the rear part (3) of the shoe (1).

The articulated shoe (1) according to claim 4, wherein said clamping member (22) is connected to the at least one flexible traction member (14) between said first and second links by at least one piece ( 21) substantially rigid.

The articulated shoe (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said clamping member (13) comprises a lace.

The articulated shoe (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a releasable locking device (20) interposed between said mounting first (7) and said rear portion (3) of the shoe (1) behind said hinge (5) of the sole (4).

The articulated shoe (1) of claim 7, wherein said releasable locking device (20) is a clipping device.

9. Articulated shoe (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said hinge (5) is formed by a flexible segment of the sole (4).

10. Articulated shoe (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising, on each side of the shoe (1), a flexible traction member (14,24) connecting the rear portion (3) of the shoe (1). ), the clamping member (13,22,26), and a point of said first mounting (7) located behind said hinge (5) of the sole (4), so as to pull on said clamping member ( 13,22,26) on each side of the shoe (1) when said rear portion (3) moves from said first position to said second position.

The articulated shoe (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said front shaft (6) is made of a more flexible material than said first mounting (7).

An articulated shoe (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the front shaft (6) comprises a quarter (9) on each side, and said clamping member (13,22,26) overlaps the two quarters (9).

13. Articulated shoe (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a fastening (16,27) of the flexible traction member (14,24) to the clamping member (13,22,26). is able to be adjusted in its position relative to the flexible traction member (14,24) and / or the clamping member (13,22,26).