Sports footwear
The footwear insert adjusts rigidity and support through air pressure control, addressing weight and speed variability, providing tailored comfort and reduced weight for athletic performance.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- SG · SG
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- GLOBAL SPORTS TECH
- Filing Date
- 1994-06-07
- Publication Date
- 2000-01-25
- Estimated Expiration
- Not applicable · inactive patent
AI Technical Summary
Existing athletic footwear inserts struggle to provide optimal support and comfort for varying user weights and movement speeds, and they are often too heavy.
The footwear incorporates a pneumatically connected insert with pumping and bleed means to adjust rigidity based on user weight and movement pace, using a deformable cellular structure and airtight casing with integrated valves for air pressure control.
The solution allows for adjustable support and comfort tailored to individual user needs, reducing weight and enhancing performance across different movement speeds.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
erconnected elastically deformable bodies. It is well known thatletics footwear must provide a stable support region which at the samee is comfortable for the foot and hence for the athlete's body, which isjected to the most various types of stress. To solve the problem offorte described in the preceding paragraph have been proposed. The known-arterts positioned in the footwear heel act primarily as a complex spring,that after the impact of the footwear against the ground and theultaneous damping effect, there is partial restitution of the energyorbed by the insert onmple, footwear provided with the insert in question can satisfy theuirements of slow movement but not of fast movement, whereas an insertigned for fast movement could prove too rigid for slow movement. Inition to this, for equal footwear size the weight of the wearer can varyhin extremely wide limits, so that the same insert can prove eitheressively rigiderconnected elastic bodies, such that its rigidity can be matched boththe weight of the user and to the pace of movement at any given time. Ather object of the present invention is to provide footwear with alltight insert of reduced weight.invention by providing the footwear with a pumping means pneumaticallynected to the insert contained in the footwear heel region to increaserigidity of the insert, and with bleed means, also pneumaticallynected to the insert, to decrease this rigidity. The invention will betwear according to the invention;ws to a different scale the sectional view of Figure 3, completed withpartial sectional view taken along line K-K of fig. 2 and comprisingcover;e layers of plastic materials, which can be different. In the sole in aition corresponding with the user's heel there is provided a compartmenttaining an insert 4 formed from an elastically deformable cellularucture 5 of thermoplastics material encosed in an airtight casing 6 ofatively thinthe cell 5A1. The cellular structure is prepared by moulding any elasticthetic material and is free within the casing 6, ie not connectedreto. The casing 6 is formed from two parts 6A and 6B welded together,prepared for example by vacuum-forming. The part 6A has a trayfiguration with a perimetral flange 7 and an appendix 8 onend within the interior of the casing obtained. The part 6B alsoprises an appendix 10, which is substantially flat and is arranged toncide with the appendix 8, and a series of frusto-conical hollowjections arranged to coincide with the projections 9 when the two partsand 6B are joined together by welding along the superposed regionsnciding with thejections 9, 11 is located within a cell 5A (but obviously not within al 5A1, at which the parts 6A, 6B are without projections 9, 11). Theer part of the casing 6 is then placed thereon and the parts joinedether by welding along the said superposed regions to enclose thelular structureions of the casing are connected together pneumatically. By the joiningether of theresponding shape, whereas the tube Z is positioned in the channel 16,ch directs it to an outer lateral appendix 114 on the sole, where itminates in an aperture in which it is fixed by a tubular appendix 115 oflastics block 116 welded to the outside of the appendix 114 andprising aough a hole 21 and has a head 23. A compression spring 22 positionedween the block 16 and head 23 prevents the chamber 17 and hence theerior of the insert 4 being connected to atmosphere, whereas if the headis pressed to hence withdraw the valving member 18 front the hole 21,interior of the insert becomes connected to atmosphere via the spaceular part 27 and two flat lips 20 which diverge to allow air to pass indirection of the arrow R when pressure is applied to a bellows 29 ofstic material which by means of a lateral hollow appendix 30 is sealedlynected to the appendix 24. For this purpose the appendix 30 comprises aner flange 31 which seats in a corresponding annularceding, in which there is mounted an intake valve 26 comprising aular member 37 with a groove 38 into which an inner flange of theendix 35 elastically clamps. The tubular member 37 comprises a narrowsage 39 which can be intercepted by a plastics disc 40 which movesween this passage and a series of radially arrangedtect both the bellows pump 29 and the bleed valve 19. A hole 50 isvided in this cover for the necessary air movements. As Figure 4resents a section on the line A-A of Figure 2A (completed by a sectionen along line K-K of fig. 2) the reference numerals 55 indicate sectionsffen the insert 4, he presses repeatedly on the bellows 29. During thisssing, the air contained in the bellows isdraw air into its interior via the intake valve 36 (the delivery valveaining closed). On achieving the required rigidity the user ceases theping action. If he wishes to reduce the rigidity the user dischargesssure from the insert by pressing the head 23 of the bleed valve 19, tonect the insert 4 to atmosphere.nects the insert 200 to the tube Z, allowing the rigidity of this secondert to also be simultaneously modified. This is achieved in thelowing manner: a) the part 14 and the corresponding part of the insertare constructedgle piece together with appendix 8, which joins them together andprises a lateral branch to be superposed on that of point a), to formether therewith the pneumatic connection to the block 116.ormable means, characterised in that means are connected to said casingvarying the air pressure within said casing, so asdelivery valve means for increasing said pressure and bleed means forreasing said pressure. 3. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 2,racterised in that the pumping means and the bleed means are bothitioned on the outside of the footwear and areclaimed in claim 2, characterised in that the pumping means comprise alows having two openings, one containing an intake valve and the othertaining a delivery valve.nstream of said delivery valve. 7. Sports footwear as claimed in claimcharacterised in that the bleed means comprise a pusher-type valve. 8.rts footwear as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that thesticallyst two parts each comprising an integral appendix which when joinedether form a tube for air passage from and to the insert. 10. Sportstwear as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that said two partst at least one pair 6nected to, the air-impermeable casing. THIS SHEET HAS BEEN REPLACED
Claims
1. Improved sports footwear comprising at least one insert positioned at least in the heel region, said insert comprising an air-impermeable casing of flexible material and containing elastically deformable means, characterised in that means are connected to said casing for varying the air pressure within said casing, so as to modify the elastic characteristics of the insert.
2. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said means for varying the air pressure within the insert comprise pumping means associated with intake and delivery valve means for increasing said pressure, and bleed means for decreasing said pressure.
3. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the pumping means and the bleed means are both positioned on the outside of the footwear and are rigid therewith.4.Sports footwear as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the pumping means and the bleed means are contained within an elastically deformable cover rigid with the footwear.
5. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the pumping means comprise a bellows having two openings, one containing an intake valve and the other containing a delivery valve.
6. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the delivery valve is a lip-type valve and is positioned within a block to which the bellows is connected, this block also containing the bleed means downstream of said delivery valve.
7. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the bleed means comprise a pusher-type valve.8.Sports footwear as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the elastically deformable means are represented by a cellular structure, preferably of honeycomb type.
9. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the air-impermeable casing of flexible material is formed from at least two parts each comprising an integral appendix which when joined together form a tube for air passage from and to the insert.
10. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that said two parts comprise, in coinciding positions, hollow projections which are directed towards the interior of the casing and are connected together at their inner ends.
11. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 10, characterised in that at least one pair of joined-together hollow projections is arranged within a cell of the cellular structure.
12. Sports footwear as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the cellular structure is enclosed within, but not connected to, the air-impermeable casing.