Boots – shoes – and leggings – Boots and shoes – Ventilated
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-15
2001-05-22
Sewell, Paul T. (Department: 3728)
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Boots and shoes
Ventilated
C036S088000, C036S093000, C036S002600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233845
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a skate with improved comfort.
Conventional skates are currently constituted by a shell whereto a quarter is articulated. These skates are usually made of plastics, and a soft innerboot is arranged inside them. A frame for supporting two or more wheels is associated below the shell.
A problem strongly felt by users relates to the dissipation of the heat produced by the foot during sports practice, which usually occurs in case of favorable weather and therefore on predominantly dry surfaces. This has allowed the development of this sport in warmer countries, where the ideal skating conditions last for a considerable time.
The need to use a rigid shell arises from the fact that the shell must on the one hand secure the foot in an optimum manner and on the other hand allow optimum transmission of forces from the foot to the wheels.
This conventional construction, however, clashes with the need to ventilate the foot in order to dissipate the heat produced in excess. U.S. Pat. 5,171,033 discloses a skate with in-line wheels which is composed of a shell and a cuff which are substantially rigid but have holes or openings that allow ventilation of the underlying innerboot and therefore of the foot contained therein.
However, since the closure devices must allow optimum fastening of the shell on the innerboot, the innerboot usually has a certain thickness, required to allow good foot comfort, and therefore ventilation of part of its outer surface does not allow adequate dissipation of the heat generated by the foot.
The thickness of the innerboot, the material it is made of and the fact that the holes or openings cover only a limited region of the shoe further produce, for the foot, regions at differentiated temperatures.
Moreover, there are times during sports practice when the user reduces his speed and therefore the amount of air flowing by the holes or openings decreases and therefore the ventilation effect and the dissipation of the heat produced by the foot also decrease.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem, eliminating the drawbacks of the cited prior art, by providing a skate which allows both to achieve optimum control, and therefore transmission of forces from the foot to the wheels, and to maintain a good comfort level for the user, keeping the temperature of the foot in optimum conditions.
An important object of the present invention is to provide a skate which allows to maintain a temperature which is uniform over the entire surface of the foot.
A further important object of the present invention is to provide a skate in which it is possible to preset the optimum temperature to be maintained for the foot during sports practice, as a function of specific commercial requirements such as, for example, the targeting of the product to children or adults or to a user who uses it for competitions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a skate which is structurally simple and effective and can be obtained by using conventional machines and equipment.
This aim, these objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by a skate with improved comfort, comprising a shoe characterized in that it comprises openings which are connected to the outside or to a vapor-permeable surface, and an innerboot or upper which comprises a phase-change material that releases or absorbs heat in selected temperature ranges.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4856294 (1989-08-01), Scaringe et al.
patent: 4894931 (1990-01-01), Senee et al.
patent: 5357695 (1994-10-01), Lu
patent: 5797610 (1998-08-01), Grande et al.
patent: 5985383 (1999-11-01), Allen et al.
patent: 6004662 (1999-12-01), Buckley
patent: WO 94/07386 (1994-04-01), None
Arnold Troy
Benetton Group S.p.A.
Josif Albert
Modiano Guido
O'Byrne Daniel
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