Boots – shoes – and leggings – Inside slippers
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-15
2001-10-23
Kavanaugh, Ted (Department: 3728)
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Inside slippers
C036S07200R, C036S07700R, C036S054000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305101
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a boot inner liner whose upper is made from one or several pieces which are cut out along a predetermined contour, then mounted together by means of stitches, adhesive, welding, etc., for example.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
Liners of the above-mentioned type are widely implemented in sport boots having a more or less rigid outer envelope, commonly called a “shell.” These liners are adapted to ensure the interface between the shell and the user's foot. They are especially provided with a sole on which the upper is “glued-welded” and, in order to allow passage of the user's foot, their upper is provided, just like the boot shells, with a foot entry opening in its upper front part. In fact, it is these liners that determine the comfort and technicality of the boot.
In a known manner, these characteristics of comfort and technicality are obtained by adjusting the thickness and firmness of the wall of the liner upper, which can be obtained from one or several pieces of different types. More specifically, the upper is most often constituted of one or several pieces which are cut out along a pattern, according to a predetermined contour, then the upper is formed and mounted by assembly means that define stitchings, gluing, welding, etc., i.e., connecting lines.
By this arrangement, each cut out and/or outlined piece can be provided with specific characteristics perfectly adapted to the areas of the foot that it covers and to the technical effects anticipated in the shell-foot interface. By way of example, patent EP 0 427 321 and utility certificate FR 2 719 198 teach these types of liners.
Also known are liners whose upper is formed with one or several pieces molded along a predetermined contour, these pieces being potentially pre-shaped, then formed and mounted by assembly means that define the connecting lines, such as stitching, welding, etc. Still, by way of example, patents IT 1 138 921 and IT 1 138 107, which disclose liners made in this manner, can be cited.
These different ways of obtaining the upper of liners from one or several previously cut out pieces, which are then mounted by assembly means, allow modifying and adjusting the size and/or fitting volume by merely correcting, right before mounting, the contour of the different component piece and/or pieces, and possibly varying very substantially the relative position of the assembly means on the contour of the pieces. In addition, they allow designing liners with an upper whose structure is composed of several pieces of different types and characteristics that are predetermined depending on the sensitivity of various zones of the user's foot and the technical effects sought. Thus, the parameters of comfort and technicality can be easily respected.
For all of these advantageous reasons, manufacturing ease, great freedom of composition, easy adjustment, etc., most of the known liners have their upper formed and mounted by assembly means after the component piece and/or pieces have been cut out.
These liners, however, are found to be badly adapted when impermeability of the boot is sought. This is especially the case for boots adapted to be used in snow, such as boots for alpine skiing, mountain skiing, and cross-country skiing. Indeed, in these boots the only protection offered by the shell remains insufficient since the zone or the foot entry opening of the shell, like that of the liner, requires the use of elements for overlapping and maintaining the foot which must be movable to allow the passage of the foot. Due to this mobility of the overlapping elements in the foot entry of the shell, it is therefore not possible to provide a permanent impermeability at the area of their mutual junction and across from the shell from which they originate. Consequently, the water resulting from melted snow can easily infiltrate and penetrate inside the shell by the front thereof through the overlapping elements, either when using the boot or when putting it on or taking it off, and reach the liner through its foot entry zone, and at its toe. The covering elements for the foot entry of the liner, as well as the outer surface of the latter, are therefore subjected to the same water infiltration problem which, obviously, permeates itself easily through the pores and interstices that remain, especially along the connecting lines defined by the assembly means.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawback in a simple and efficient manner while retaining the advantages procured by the forming and mounting of the liner upper after cutting out its component piece and/or pieces.
According to the invention, the inner liner for a boot has a sole and an upper provided with a foot entry opening in its upper front part. The upper is constituted of one or more pieces cut out along a predetermined contour, then formed and mounted by a mode of assembly that define connecting lines, such as stitching, welding, gluing, etc. A flexible sealing element of the liner, extending continuously from the sole up to the foot entry opening, is attached onto the toe of the liner which it encases completely, covering the connecting lines defined by the mode of assembly located there. Also, the sealing element extends overtop the foot entry opening from the toe of the liner along the zone corresponding to the front part of the foot up to the area of the instep girth.
Advantageously, the sealing element exceeds relatively on both sides of the foot entry opening, at least up to the vicinity of the liner flanks so that its possible fixing onto the component pieces of the liner upper can be achieved largely at a distance from this opening. In this way, when the water infiltration reaches the sealing element, the water is evacuated along the sides in the direction of the flanks where, due to the verticality of the latter elements, it runs off rapidly.
Through these arrangements, the liner becomes one of the components of the boot that contributes to reinforcing and ensuring the impermeability of the latter, in addition to its role of being a comfort element in the shell-foot interface.
According to a preferred embodiment, the sealing element is mountedwelded at the toe of the liner sole and then rises along the front part of the liner that it encases continuously and covers freely, its possible fixing on the flanks occurring at the edge of its contour, therefore at a distance from the foot entry opening. When fixing the sealing element, a mode of assembly can be used that defines lines of stitching, welding, gluing, etc., which can be identical to those used for the actual mounting of the liner upper. The characteristic relative to the free overlapping of the front part of the liner where the foot entry is found is very advantageous for not overly obstructing the evacuation of perspiration in the area of the front part of the foot, and for not interfering with or hindering the relative displacements of the closing elements of the liner on the foot, such as overlapping transverse flaps or the edges of a longitudinal opening associated to a tongue. In order to obtain a good impermeability, the sealing element extends continuously from the toe of the liner sole up to the area of the instep girth.
According to another embodiment, the sealing element extends largely along the liner flanks such that it practically encases the entire front part, or toe of the liner, that corresponds to the zone of the front part of the foot and of the instep girth by including the liner flanks. In this construction, the sealing element can be merely fixed-welded to the sole and be completely free with respect to the liner flanks. For example, it can have characteristics of elasticity ensuring that it is pressed against the flanks and toe of the liner.
REFERENCES:
patent: Re. 24897 (1960-11-01), Schlecht
patent: 129398 (1872-07-01), Crowe
patent: 260024 (1882-06-01), Holbrook
patent: 939639 (1909-11-01), Sack
p
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Kavanaugh Ted
Salomon S.A.
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