Boots – shoes – and leggings – Boots and shoes – With coating – treatment or impregnation of shoe
Utility Patent
1998-01-21
2001-01-02
Patterson, M. D. (Department: 3728)
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Boots and shoes
With coating, treatment or impregnation of shoe
C036S012000, C036S014000
Utility Patent
active
06167640
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an athletic shoe, especially a soccer shoe, including an upper, which has a vamp in the toe region of the shoe that is joined to an insole, and also including an outsole disposed underneath the insole; the vamp comprises a full-grain leather which is composed of a grain layer and a leather fiber layer joined to it.
Athletic shoes must be light in weight and adapt to the foot in an optimal way. In soccer shoes, the toe of the shoe in particular must comprise a soft, yielding leather, to give the soccer player the requisite feel of the ball. On the other hand, the vamp region of athletic shoes, and more particularly in the toe region, are subject to severe dynamic tensile, compressive, impact, shock and abrasion stresses. The leather is also stressed by wetness, lawn fertilizer residues, sweat, and sand, which is abrasive. Especially if shoe care including reoiling is neglected, the shoe upper is quickly destroyed by these stresses and factors, and primarily in the vamp region. Another cause of premature destruction of the upper especially in the vamp region is the major persistent stretching, which is required in manufacture to deform the upper and simultaneously join it to the insole. As a rule, that joint is created by a process known as lasting. In that operation, the edge region of the upper, spread out on a last, is pulled over the insole that extends as far as the edge of the last and is turned in at that location, and the inturned lasting edge thus formed is secured to the underside of the insole, preferably with an adhesive.
In another prior art method known as the Strobel lasting method, the upper is first stitched to the insole, and the upper, together with the stitched insole, is pulled onto a last and shaped. In the Strobel lasting method, the insole must not stretch, and so the shoe is shaped solely by the stretching of the upper as it is pulled onto the last. The upper in the vamp region is usually stretched about 20%, so that here particular demands in terms of tear strength are made of the upper, but also in terms of the resistance to stitches pulling out, since after all in Strobel lasting the upper is stitched to the insole.
These demands made of the upper, particularly in the vamp region, have thus far made it impossible, or possible only with an increased rate of customer complaints, to use an upper of only slight thickness of the kind that for the reasons given at the outset is especially desirable in athletic shoes. For athletic shoes and especially soccer shoes, as a rule leather from cattle with a thickness of more than 1.4 mm has previously been used. The shoes made from that leather are heavy, are stiff in the vamp region, and impede the feel of the ball in playing soccer.
The use of full-grain leather, especially for the vamp, has numerous advantages. However, it is disadvantageous that such full-grain leather comprises two layers, namely a grain layer and a leather fiber layer joined to it. By nature, these two layers are not very firmly bonded to one another. It is true that the bond between these two layers can be improved within narrow limits by means of the type of tanning, post-tanning and/or oiling, but the danger nevertheless exists that the two layers will separate at the inturned lasting edge, especially whenever the grain layer, as is usually necessary, has been nearly completely removed before the application of the adhesive in the inturned lasting edge by being roughened or ground down, so that the adhesive can anchor itself in the fibrous structure of the leather fiber layer. In athletic shoes in general, shoe sole adhesion of at least 30 N per 10 mm of width between the upper and the insole is demanded. If the grain layer in the inturned lasting edge is not completely removed, then a separation occurs there between the grain layer and the leather fiber layer and as a rule these two layers are already separated if a force of less than 16 N per 10 mm of width is applied. This is true for both leather from cattle and for kangaroo leather.
Since the grain leather, with its dense, cornified callous surface offers excellent protection against abrasion and makes it harder for dirt and water to penetrate the leather, a loss of this grain layer means that these properties are lost as well. Moreover, this weakens the leather in the particularly severely stressed zone of the inturned lasting edge, which is a substantial disadvantage. Since roughening or grinding down of the grain layer is always done mechanically, usually by hand using rotating disks, often not only the grain layer but also part of the leather fiber layer is ground off, which further weakens this critical zone.
Another disadvantage is that in full-grain, soft leather the skin, for the same thickness, has very different density and strength properties at different locations and also has a highly variable leather fiber structure. It can therefore happen that even if the portions of the hide from which the vamp is cut are suitably selected, regions of lesser density and strength will be located in the region of the inturned lasting edge, so that the strength of the bond between the vamp and the insole and above all between the vamp and the outsole are decreased still further.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an athletic shoe, and in particular a soccer shoe, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices and methods of this general type and which exhibits the desired softness and flexibility in the vamp region as well as the requisite strength and resistance. In particular, the bond with the insole and above all the outsole in the region of the inturned lasting edge should have the necessary strength, to enable resisting the stresses occurring during athletics. Moreover, the destruction of the leather in the region of the last insert from external factors should be prevented or at least substantially reduced. Another object of the invention is to improve the strength of the bond between the grain layer and the leather fiber layer of the full-grain leather. An increase in strength should also be attained in a visible region of the vamp adjoining the inturned lasting edge.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an athletic shoe, comprising:
an upper defining a toe region, an insole connected to the upper, and an outsole underneath the insole;
a vamp at the toe region of the upper joined to the insole, the vamp being formed of a full-grain leather composed of a grain layer and a leather fiber layer joined thereto;
a coating of elastomeric material disposed on and partway penetrated into the leather fiber layer solely in a region where the leather fiber layer is joined to the insole, and optionally also in an adjoining region, the coating having a thickness above a surface of the leather fiber layer of at least 0.1 mm.
In other words, the objects of the invention are satisfied in that the leather side is provided, solely in the region where it is joined to the insole and optionally also in an adjoining region, with a coating of an elastomeric material that partly penetrates the leather, and whose protruding level from the surface of the leather side is 0.1 mm or more. The coating brings about a reinforcement of the leather in the critical regions, namely in the region where the connection with the insole and the outsole is made, and optionally in a visible region immediately adjoining it, which is subjected to major mechanical stresses and strains during athletics, without any sacrifice in comfort, softness and flexibility of the remaining portion of the vamp, and assuring an optimal feel of the ball when playing soccer. Since the critical regions as a result of the coating undergo appropriate reinforcement, it is possible to make the vamp from a full-grain natural leather of less thickness, for instance less than 1.2 mm, thereby attaining still further improvement in the desired
adidas International B.V.
Greenberg Laurence A.
Lerner Herbert L.
Patterson M. D.
Stemer Werner H.
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