Ankle protection element and ankle protection

Abstract

Ankle protection element (12, 14) with a shell-like inner layer (24) made of a relatively soft, supple flat material, which is anatomically adapted to and covers an ankle region, a shock- and impact-resistant protective layer (26) arranged on an outer side of the inner layer (24), which comprises a woven or nonwoven fabric formed from threads, yarns or fibers of a tensile-resistant plastic, in particular consisting of polyester, aramid, Kevlar, glass fibers, carbon fibers, basalt fibers or PVA fibers, and adhesively bonded to the inner layer (24), and a cover layer (22) made of flexible flat material covering the protective layer (26), wherein the protective layer (26) has a plurality of woven or nonwoven layers (28, 30, 34) which are arranged one above the other and connected to one another, and a peripheral edge of the respective upper layer is at a distance from the edge of the respective lower layer.

Description

The invention relates to an ankle protection element according to claim 1.When several kinds of sports are being performed, the joints are exposed to external risks and can thus suffer more or less severe damage. In the football or in the hockey, the sportsists protect themselves against impacts and impacts by means of an ankle protection, which is usually formed by a type of bandage, which is particularly cushioned in the ankle region. During skatting, the sports persons are protected by knee and elbow protectors. These are hard-shell parts which are padded on the inside and are attached in the knee and elbow region by means of a bandage or straps. Such protection means are not particularly suitable for sports where the sportsists are very mobile and have to run a lot.While the football and hockey players protect themselves against violent impacts and steps by rail-like tibial protectors made of plastic, the ankle areas represent further areas at risk, even if they are covered more or less by padding layers. The blows with a hockey stick or the impacts caused by an opposing player with his foot or a hockey ball are only insufficiently attenuated by the previously known ankle protection measures.From the patent specification DE 199 51 990 C1 an ankle protection with a U-shaped "pack" surrounding an ankle section has become known. The pack has, in the lateral foot region of the outward-pointing ankle, a protective element made of a semi-rigid plastic material.From the patent application U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,626 A, an ankle protection for protecting the ankle and the achilles tendon from injuries in sports activities has become known. The ankle protection may be carried out with a protective layer consisting of one or more glass fibre layers treated with water curable resin. The layers are flexible at the beginning and can thus be adapted to the ankle. By contacting them with water.The object of the invention is to provide an ankle protection element and an ankle protection which on the one hand effectively protects against impacts and blows and on the other hand does not interfere with the wearer.This object is achieved by the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are specified in the subsequent dependent claims.In the ankle protection element according to the invention, a shell-like inner layer is provided which is adapted anatomicalally to an ankle area and covers it and is formed from relatively soft, conformable flat material. On the outside of the inner layer there is at least one shock- and impact-resistant protective layer which consists of a woven fabric or a nonwoven which is formed from threads or yarns or fibers of a tensile- and impact-resistant plastic. The protective layer is bonded to the inner layer. A covering covering layer of flexible, more or less soft flat material is applied to the protective layer.According to the invention, the protective layer has a plurality of woven or nonwoven layers which are arranged one above the other and are connected to one another, wherein the circumferential edge of the respectively upper layer is at a distance from the edge of the respectively underlying layer. The different layers can in particular be glued to one another. By means of this measure, the effectiveness of the protective layer is further improved. When using a plurality of fabric layers, these may each have a preferred direction along which the threads, yarns or fibers or a large part thereof are aligned, and the preferred directions of the fabric layers arranged one above the other may be arranged at a predetermined angle to one another. The predetermined angle may be in a range of 45° to 90°, for example.The ankle protection element according to the invention is placed in a snug manner against the ankle area to be protected. Since the inner layer is soft, it does not result in scouring on the skin. The protective layer applied to the inner layer, on the other hand, is relatively hard and above all shock- and impact-resistant. Since it is a woven fabric or nonwoven fabric, the weight of the protective layer is light and thus does not interfere with the support. The covering layer for the protective layer is important only for aesthetic and maintenance reasons and for advertising purposes.It is understood that an ankle protection element according to the invention cannot be attached in the ankle joint area of the wearer without additional holding measures. Various possibilities are conceivable for this purpose. The ankle protection element can be attached to the ankle joint, for example, with the aid of a napkin or a cuff. It is also conceivable for two ankle protection elements to be provided for the opposite ankle parts, which are connected to one another by a flexible, flat, strip-shaped web. The flat web is laid around the sole of the foot, with additional measures being provided to hold the ankle protection elements in place. This is effected, for example, with the aid of a rubber lining or hook-and-loop fastener tape which interacts with hook-and-loop fastener sections on the outer side of the covering layer.An important advantage of the invention is that impacts or shocks acting on the ankle protection element are absorbed by the protection layer and / or distributed to a larger area in a vicinity of the ankle. This reduces the compressive stress on the ankle to such an extent that injury to the ankle including the outer and side straps, the socket strap and the syndesmose strap is prevented. It is likewise possible to prevent direct action of impacts or impacts on the ankle section, so that rebounds and other injuries in the vicinity of the ankle are also prevented.A further advantage is the supporting action for the ankle joint exerted by a properly fitted ankle protection element. This counteracts buckling and can promote the durability and in particular the ability of a sport person to change sides quickly. In particular, injuries to the straps as a result of bending can thus be avoided.According to one embodiment of the invention, a soft, elastically yielding cushioning layer, preferably made of foam rubber or a gel-like substance, is arranged between the protective layer, consisting of the woven or nonwoven layer, and the inner layer. The foam rubber or gel layer 1 mm to 5 mm thick absorbs impacts acting on the protective layer and weakens its effect on the ankle so much that injury to the ankle is prevented.Alternatively or additionally, it can be provided that a flat cavity is arranged between the inner layer and the protective layer at a distance from the edge of the protective layer. This cavity allows the more or less elastic protective layer to be deformed in the direction of the inner layer in order to absorb impacts and impacts with their damaging effect.In a further embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the threads, yarns or fibers for the woven or nonwoven fabric consist of polyester, aramid, Kevlar, glass fibers, carbon fibers, basalt fibers and / or PVA fibers. Yarns, threads or fibers of the materials listed exhibit high impact strength when they have a certain thickness. This can be at least 0.1 mm.According to one embodiment of the invention, the protective layer preferably comprises a lattice fabric, i.e. a fabric with warp and weft. The meshes of the relatively thick threads can thereby constitute a relatively large area. Thus, the mesh width can be 1 mm and more.In a further embodiment, the lattice fabric is a leno fabric. In a leno weave, instead of the usual heddles, so-called leno heddles are used in which the warp threads also wrap laterally in pairs, for example. The protective layer can then be an open, net-like fabric. For example, two or more, in particular three, weft threads can be arranged closely adjacent to one another. Within these groups, the warp yarns are not entangled with each other. Between these groups, the warp threads arranged in pairs are interlaced one or more times, so that greater distances in the range of, for example, 0.5 mm to 4 mm are produced between the groups of closely adjacent weft threads. Such leno fabrics allow a particularly good compromise between strength and flexibility, thus combine an optimal protective effect with high wear comfort.According to a further embodiment of the invention, the inner layer consists of relatively thin fleece, a woven fabric, leather or a leather aspect. This provides the inner layer with a relatively soft, conformable behavior that does not rub the wearer's skin. In a further embodiment of the invention, the inner layer can either be previously brought into a suitable shell-like, macroscopically adapted shape or be shaped intramuscularly together with the application or adhering of the protective layer, the latter ensuring the shape retention of the ankle protection element. It can be adapted just as well to the anatomical shape after it (for individualization of the sport person).According to one embodiment of the invention, the covering layer can consist of a fleece, a woven fabric, leather or a leather mimic.To increase the strength, the threads, the fibers or the yarn of the protective layer can be impregnated with synthetic resin and / or coated with polyurethane.In one embodiment, the invention is directed to an ankle protection device which has two of the ankle protection elements which are connected to one another. Such an ankle protection makes simultaneous use of the described effects for the ankles on the inside and outside of the foot and is particularly easy to put on.In one embodiment, the two ankle protection elements are connected to one another by a web to be arranged on the sole of the foot. Alternatively or additionally, a web or a plurality of webs, in particular parallel webs, can be provided for the connection, which webs are arranged in the region of the Achilles tendon. This largely determines the correct arrangement of the ankle protection elements on the foot.Each of the webs mentioned can be a flat, flexible band, in particular an elastic band, for example a rubber cable. This results in a particularly high wear comfort with at the same time optimum seating of the ankle protection elements.It is likewise possible to connect the two ankle protection elements to a hook and loop fastener, in particular on the front side of the foot. For this purpose, an adhesive section can be arranged on one of the two ankle protection elements. To the other of the two ankle protection elements a hook and loop strip may be attached, which cooperates with the adhesion portion.A further possibility for fastening the ankle protection element according to the invention in the ankle area consists in incorporating or working it into or onto a bandage or into or onto a stocking-like connecting piece or embedding it. The bandage or the connecting piece can have a type of pocket into which the ankle protection element can be inserted. These parts can then be separated from each other for cleaning purposes.In one embodiment, the web to be arranged in the region of the sole of the foot is dimensioned such that regions of the two ankle protection elements reinforced by the protective layer begin less than 5 cm above the sole of the foot and extend from there upwards as far as over the ankle. Preferably, the reinforced areas may begin less than 4 cm or even less than 2 cm above the sole of the foot. Thus, the ankle protection elements or their regions reinforced by the protective layer are partially located within a shoe, which provides an additional supporting effect and counteracts bending over.In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a sports shoe, in particular a football shoe, which has a shank portion of a textile material covering the ankle portion. An ankle protection element according to the invention is integrated into this shaft section. In particular, the shank portion can have a pocket into which the ankle protection element is inserted. The integration into a sports shoe is particularly expedient because it ensures a proper fit of the ankle protection element in a simple manner. An arrangement of two ankle protection elements on both sides is likewise possible by integration into the shank section.The particular effectiveness of the ankle protection element according to the invention consists in that shocks or blows are distributed over a larger area and do not strike the ankle area in a punctiform manner with high surface loading, wherein at the same time damping takes place in the protective layer, whereby the ankle area is also optimally protected against hard, forceful actions.Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to drawings. Figure 1 shows an ankle protector at the foot of a wearer with two protective elements for the outer and inner ankle according to the invention. FIG. 2 shows the top view of the outer ankle protection element from FIG. 1 at the foot of the wearer. FIG. 3 shows the top view of the inner ankle protection element from FIG. 1 at the foot of the wearer. FIG. 4 shows a top view in the unfolded form of an ankle protection with two ankle protection elements. FIG. 5 shows the top view of an ankle protection element of the ankle protection according to FIG. 4 without a covering layer. FIG. 6 shows the side view of the ankle protection element according to FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 5 taken along line 7--7. FIG. 8 shows a further exemplary embodiment of an ankle protector at the foot of a wearer with two protective elements for the outer and inner ankle in a front view. FIG. 9 shows a top view of the outer ankle protection element from FIG. 8 at the foot of the wearer. FIG. 10 shows a top view of the inner ankle protection element from FIG. 8 at the foot of the wearer.Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the ankle protector according to the invention at the foot of the wearer.In FIG. 4, an ankle protection 10 is indicated, having an ankle protection element 12 and an ankle protection element 14, which can each be placed against an ankle section of a ankle joint. The ankle protection elements 12, 14 are connected to one another by a somewhat narrower web 16. The web 16 extends under the sole of the wearer in use, folding the ankle protection elements 12, 14 upwards. In FIG. 4, the outer side of the ankle protector is shown. The outer side of the ankle protection 10 is provided in the ankle protection elements 12, 14 with adhesion surfaces 18, 20 for a hook and loop fastener. In the use state, the ankle protection elements 12, 14 are held together by a band (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 ), which is also provided with hook and loop fastening surfaces.The ankle protector 10 comprises an inner layer (not shown) and a covering layer 22 laid on the inner layer in the same area. While the inner layer may be formed of, for example, a woven, nonwoven, leather, a leather trim, or other suitable fabric, the cover layer 22 may also be formed of leather, a leather trim, or a woven or nonwoven fabric. In the following, the ankle protection elements 12, 14 are explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, i.e. ankle protection element 12, wherein the ankle protection element 14 is constructed analogously.In FIG. 5, the capping layer 22 (FIG. 4 ) is omitted. An inner layer 24 is seen which, as already mentioned, consists of a relatively soft, conformable material and which, as can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, is shaped like a shell for anatomical adaptation to the ankle area to be protected. In Fig. 7 (section 7-7) it is shown how a protective layer 26 is arranged on the inner layer 24. The protective layer of yarns, fibers, nonwoven, polyester, aramid, kevlar, glass fibers and / or carbon fibers consists of three layers 28, 30, 34, the layer located further outward in each case being at a distance from the edge of the layer located beneath. This can also be seen very well in FIG. 5.The individual layers 28, 30, 34 consist of a lattice fabric, the weft and warp consisting of plastic threads of relatively large thickness, which have a high tensile and impact strength. The individual layers are bonded to one another and applied to the inner layer by bonding. Between the inner layer 28 and the inner layer 24, which is not shown in the drawing, a cushioning layer is arranged, for example made of foam rubber or gel with a thickness of 1 mm to 3 mm. It weakens an impact against the protective layer and transmits it to the ankle area in a highly damped manner.Alternatively, a shallow cavity may be located between the inner layer 24 and the protective layer 26 spaced from the periphery of the protective layer. This cavity allows the elastic protective layer 26 to deform in the direction of the inner layer 24 during impact or impact and thus to strongly dampen the impact or the impact force on the ankle area.In manufacturing, the inner layer 24 is formed into the anatomical shape, with the protective layer 26 preferably being applied when the relatively soft inner layer is on the mold.After the two protective layers 26 for the ankle protection according to FIG. 4 have been produced, complete covering by the covering layer 22 takes place, as is illustrated in FIG. 4. The connection of the inner and cover layers can be effected by adhesive bonding and / or seams.Like the first exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 7, the further exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 10 also uses two ankle protection elements 12, 14 which are connected to one another. The internal construction of the ankle protection elements 12, 14 corresponds to the first exemplary embodiment and is not explained again. The connection of the two ankle protection elements 12, 14 to one another is, however, solved differently:Below the sole of the foot, a web 16 made of an elastic band, a rubber pull, is arranged. The two ends of the web 16 are each connected, for example sewn, to one of the two ankle protection elements 12, 14. Due to the elasticity of the web 16, each user can find an optimum arrangement of the two ankle protection elements 12, 14.Two further webs 36, which are likewise produced from an elastic band and are sewn to the ankle protection elements 12, 14, are arranged in the region of the Achilles tendon. The elasticity of these webs 36 likewise achieves particularly high wearing comfort, since the ankle protection elements 12, 14 are held in their optimum arrangement and at the same time a movement in the region of the Achilles tendon is made possible.On the front side of the foot, the ankle protection is closed with a hook and loop fastener. For this purpose, a rubber lining 40 is fastened to the ankle protection element 14, which rubber lining has a hook-and-loop tape (fluff) at the end. This interacts with a hook-and-loop strip 42, that is to say a hook-and-loop strip with barbs, which is fastened to the ankle protection element 12.In FIGS. 8 to 10, the arrangement of a collar of a typical sports shoe is shown in each case by a dashed line 38. It will be appreciated that the length of the web 16 is sized and the sizes of the ankle protection elements 12, 14 are selected such that, in use, a portion of each ankle protection element 12, 14 is located within the shoe. The lower ends of the ankle protection elements 12, 14 are located at a small distance of about 0 cm to 5 cm from the level of the sole of the foot. The regions of the ankle protection elements 12, 14 reinforced by the protective layer not shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 are arranged about 4 cm above the sole of the foot and thus also extend partly into the shoe. As a result, the properly applied ankle protection develops a particularly strong supporting effect for the ankle joint and counteracts bending over.

Claims

An ankle protection element (12, 14) comprising a shell-like inner layer (24), which is adapted anatomical to an ankle area and covers it and is made of a relatively soft, conformable flat material, a shock- and impact-resistant protective layer (26) arranged on an outer side of the inner layer (24) and comprises a woven or non-woven fabric formed from threads, yarns or fibers of a tension-resistant plastic, in particular consisting of polyester, aramid, kevlar, glass fibers, carbon fibers, basalt fibers or PVA fibers, and is bonded to the inner layer (24), and a covering layer (22), which covers the protective layer (26), made of flexible flat material, wherein the protective layer (26) comprises a plurality of woven or non-woven fabric layers (28, 30, 34), which are arranged one above the other and are connected to one another, and a peripheral edge of the respective upper layer is spaced apart from the edge of the respective lower layer.Ankle protection element (12, 14) according to claim 1, characterised in that a soft padding layer, preferably made of foam rubber, is arranged between the protective layer (26) and the inner layer (24).Ankle protection element (12, 14) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that a flat hollow space is arranged between the inner layer (24) and the protective layer (26) at a distance from the edge of the protective layer (26).Ankle protection element (12, 14) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the protective layer (26) comprises a mesh fabric, wherein the mesh fabric is in particular a leno fabric.Ankle protection element (12, 14) according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the threads or the yarns for the fabric have a thickness of at least 0.1 mm and / or in that a mesh width of the fabric is at least 1 mm.Ankle protection element (12, 14) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the inner layer (24) consists of relatively thin fleece, a woven fabric, leather or leather aspect and / or in that the covering layer (22) consists of a fleece, a woven fabric or a leather or leather aspect.Ankle protection element (12, 14) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the threads, fibres or yarns are impregnated with synthetic resin and / or coated with polyurethane.Ankle protection (10), characterized in that two ankle protection elements (12, 14) according to one of claims 1 to 7 are connected to each other.Ankle protection (10) according to claim 8, characterised in that the two ankle protection elements (12, 14) are connected to each other by a web (16) to be arranged on a sole of the foot and / or by a web (36) to be arranged in the region of an Achilles tendon.Ankle protection (10) according to claim 9, characterised in that the web (16) to be arranged in the area of the sole of the foot and / or the web (36) to be arranged in the area of the Achilles tendon comprise an elastic band, in particular a rubber lining (40).Ankle protection (10) according to claim 9, characterised in that the web (16) to be arranged in the area of the sole of the foot and / or the web (36) to be arranged in the area of the Achilles tendon consists of two layers arranged one above the other, of which the inner one is a continuation of the inner layer (24) and the outer one is a continuation of the covering layer (22).Ankle protection (10) according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterised in that a further web (36) is provided in the region of the Achilles tendon, wherein the one web (36) and the further web (36) are to be arranged parallel.Ankle protection (10) according to one of claims 9 to 12, characterised in that the two ankle protection elements (12, 14) each have an adhesive surface (18, 20) on the outer side for connection to a hook and loop tape.Ankle protection (10) according to one of claims 9 to 12, characterised in that a hook-and-loop strip (42) is fastened to one of the two ankle protection elements (12, 14) and a rubber lining (40), which has a hook-and-loop tape with loops, is fastened to the other of the two ankle protection elements (12, 14).Ankle protection (10) according to one of claims 9 to 14, characterised in that the web (16) to be arranged in the region of the sole of the foot is dimensioned such that regions of the two ankle protection elements (12, 14) reinforced by the protective layer (26) begin less than 5 cm above the sole of the foot and extend from there upwards as far as over the ankle.Ankle protection (10) with at least one ankle protection element (12, 14) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one ankle protection element (12, 14) is worked or worked into or on a bandage or a stocking-like neck.Sports shoe having a shank portion which adjoins a shoe collar and covers the ankle section and is made from a textile material, characterized byan ankle protection element (12, 14) according to one of Claims 1 to 7, which shank portion is integrated into the shank portion or is inserted into a pocket of the shank portion.

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