Sports boot

Abstract

A boot including a sole, an upper, and a mechanism for tightening the upper, the mechanism for tightening the upper including keepers, at least one lace, a device for blocking at least one strand of the lace, as well as a handle for pulling the strand, the boot also including a device for removably affixing the handle to the upper. A storing device allows storing the portion of the strand that extends between the blocking device and the handle.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of French Patent Application No. 05.01123, filed on Feb. 4, 2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention relates to an article of footwear and, specifically, to a sports boot, and, more specifically, to a sports boot adapted to be retained on a sports apparatus. [0004] More specifically, the invention relates to boots of the aforementioned types for use in the fields of endeavor such as snowsurfing or snowboarding, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, including mountain climbing and glacier traveling, skating, including inline skating, skateboarding, and others. [0005] 2. Description of Background and Relevant Information [0006] For certain fields of sport, it is advantageous that the boot be flexible. [0007] In the field of snowboarding, for example, a flexible or ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014] An object of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawback by providing a boot that improves upon boots of the prior art. Thus, one of the objects of the invention is to reduce substantially, or even eliminate, the risk of hindrance between a non-active portion of lace and an obstacle. In other words, the invention aims at preventing the portion of the lace that extends from the blocking device to the handle from becoming hooked to an obstacle.

[0015] To this end, the invention proposes a boot including a sole, an upper, and a mechanism for tightening the upper, the mechanism for tightening the upper including lace keepers or guides, at least one lace, a device for blocking at least one strand of the lace, as well as a handle for tensioning the strand, the boot further including a device for removably affixing the handle to the upper. A storing device for the boot according to the invention allows the portion of the strand that extends between the blocking device and the handle to be stored.

[0016] Thus, this portion of the strand is not loose in the sense that it is not separated from the upper once the storing is done. As a result, the non-active portion of the lace can hardly ever, or not ever, become hindered by an obstacle. In particular, it is very unlikely that a projecting obstacle could become hooked to a strand of the lace. Among the resulting advantages is that the handle is better retained on the upper and the rider has greater freedom to steer the sports apparatus, such as the snowboard.

Problems solved by technology

In particular, it is very unlikely that a projecting obstacle could become hooked to a strand of the lace.

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