Patent Application
20220192321
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-214318 filed in Japan on Dec. 23, 2020.
The invention relates to a shoe.
Since the opening of a shoe is for putting a foot of a wearer in and out, it is preferable that the opening is wide when the shoe is put on or taken off. Meanwhile, in order to prevent the foot from being displaced inside the shoe and getting a shoe sore or to prevent the fitting property to the foot of the wearer from being lowered, it is preferable that the opening of the shoe is narrow while the shoe is worn.
For this reason, many shoes are provided with tightening members, such as shoelaces or hook-and-loop fasteners, in a portion in front of the opening to prevent the opening from widening while being worn by using the tightening members while being worn and to enhance the fitting property to a foot of a wearer. For a shoe provided with a tightening member, the opening can be widened by loosening the tightening member, and the ease of being put on and taken off is not impaired even if the fitting property to a foot of a wearer is enhanced.
In recent years, further enhancement in the fitting property of shoe has been required. U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,044 discloses a shoe in which the ends of a shoelace are fixed to the rear side of the shoe in order to narrow the opening while the shoe is worn.
However, since a tightening force in the front-rear direction is applied to the opening in the shoe disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,044, this easily generates a gap between the opening and the foot of the wearer in the foot width direction when the foot of the wearer plantarflexes. If a gap is generated between the opening and the foot of the wearer, the foot is easily displaced inside the shoe.
A shoe according to an aspect of the invention includes a sole provided with a ground contact surface, an upper provided with an opening into which a foot of a wearer is inserted, the upper being attached to the sole and covering the foot of the wearer, and a correction member including an inner arm fixed to a medial foot side of the opening of the upper, an outer arm fixed to a lateral foot side of the opening of the upper, and a connection portion connecting the inner arm and the outer arm, the correction member being attached to the upper away from the sole in such a manner that the connection portion is disposed on a rear side of the opening.
Hereinafter, embodiments of a shoe according to the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the invention is not limited by the embodiments. In the following embodiments, the same or common portions are denoted by the same reference signs, and the description thereof will not be repeated.
In the following embodiments, a direction in which a heel center axis, which is a perpendicular line passing through the heel center of a sole in a plan view of a shoe, extends is referred to as a front-rear direction, and a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction in a plan view of the shoe is referred to as a foot width direction.
In addition, of the front-rear direction, a direction directed from the end on the side where a portion of the sole supporting the rearfoot of a foot is positioned toward the end on the side where a portion of the sole supporting the forefoot of the foot is positioned is referred to as a front side, and of the front-rear direction, a direction directed from the end on the side where the portion of the sole supporting the forefoot of the foot is positioned toward the end on the side where the portion of the sole supporting the rearfoot of the foot is positioned is referred to as a rear side.
In addition, a median side of a foot in the anatomical position is referred to as a medial foot side, and the side opposite to the median side of the foot in the anatomical position is referred to as a lateral foot side. That is, the side closer to the median line in the anatomical position is referred to as the medial foot side, and the side farther from the median line in the anatomical position is referred to as the lateral foot side.
Furthermore, a height direction means a direction orthogonal to both the front-rear direction and the foot width direction unless otherwise specified.
The upper 10 includes an upper body 11 and a shoe tongue 12. The shoe tongue 12 is fixed to the upper body 11. A shoelace 16 is detachably attached to the upper body 11.
The upper body 11 is provided with an upper opening 11A for exposing an upper part of the ankle and a part of the instep of the foot. The upper opening 11A of the upper body 11 has a peripheral edge provided with which a plurality of holes 13 is provided. The shoe tongue 12 is fixed to the upper body 11 by sewing, welding, bonding, or a combination thereof in such a manner as to cover a portion of the upper opening 11A provided in the upper body 11 for exposing a part of the instep of the foot. As the upper body 11 and the shoe tongue 12, woven fabric, knitted fabric, synthetic leather, or resin is used. Note that the material of the upper body 11 and the shoe tongue 12 is not limited to those exemplified.
The shoelace 16 is a string-like member and is inserted through the plurality of holes 13 of the upper body 11. The shoelace 16 inserted through the plurality of holes 13 pulls portions of the upper opening 11A of the upper body 11 corresponding to the instep of the foot toward each other in the foot width direction. By tightening the shoelace 16 while the foot is inserted in the upper body 11, it is possible to bring the upper body 11 into close contact with the foot.
Note that a hook-and-loop fastener may be used instead of the shoelace 16 to bring the upper body 11 into close contact with the foot. If a hook-and-loop fastener is used to bring the upper body 11 into close contact with the foot, the plurality of holes 13 is not formed in the upper body 11.
Of the upper opening 11A of the upper body 11, a portion on the rear side from the shoe tongue 12 is an opening 11B through which the wearer puts in and out the foot when the shoe 1A is put on or taken off. In general, the opening 11B is positioned at a part corresponding to 56.1% to 100% of the foot length from the tip on the instep side of the foot of a wearer having a standard body shape.
The upper body 11 is provided with a correction member 30 surrounding the opening 11B. The correction member 30 is attached to the outside of the upper body 11.
As illustrated in
The correction member 30 is made of an elastic material. Examples of the material of the correction member 30 include hard resin, such as a polyether block amide copolymer, and metal, such as titanium. However, the material of the correction member 30 is not limited to those exemplified.
The outer arm 32 of the correction member 30 attached to the upper body 11 extends below a portion of the upper body 11 corresponding to the lateral malleolus of the wearer. On the other hand, the inner arm 31 of the correction member 30 attached to the upper body 11 passes below a portion of the upper body 11 corresponding to the medial malleolus of the wearer and extends further forward and upward. For a man having a standard body shape, the medial malleolus is located 10 mm anterior and 14 mm superior to the lateral malleolus. On the other hand, for a woman having a standard body shape, the medial malleolus is located 8 mm anterior and 12 mm superior to the lateral malleolus. Thus, the end of the inner arm 31 may be at a forward and upward position of 3 mm or more with respect to the end of the outer arm 32.
The correction member 30 attached to the upper body 11 corrects the dimension of the opening 11B in the foot width direction to be equal to or smaller than the foot width dimension when the correction member 30 is not attached. That is, the opening width of the opening 11B in the foot width direction may be narrowed by the correction member 30 as compared with the case where the correction member 30 is not attached. In addition, the opening width of the opening 11B in the foot width direction may be the same by the correction member 30 as the width when the correction member 30 is not attached.
In addition, as illustrated in
In the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment, the correction member 30 prevents the opening 11B from widening in the foot width direction when the foot of the wearer plantarflexes. Thus, a gap between the opening 11B and the foot of the wearer in the foot width direction is hardly generated when the foot of the wearer plantarflexes.
As compared with a shoe not including the correction member 30, the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment reduces the amount of the change in the position of the foot of the wearer and has a high fitting property to the foot of the wearer.
Since the correction member 30 is installed at a distance from the sole 20A in the height direction, the pronation of the foot of the wearer is not hindered at the time of the heel on the ground. Thus, the wearer is less likely to feel uncomfortable at the time of the heel on the ground during running.
When the wearer puts on and takes off the shoe 1A, the foot of the wearer pushes and widens the correction member 30, and the opening 11B is also widened in the foot width direction, and a special action is unnecessary when putting on and taking off the shoe 1A.
In the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment, since the attachment position of the correction member 30 can be visually checked, the positioning of the correction member 30 is easy. That is, the correction member 30 of the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment is easily attached to an appropriate position.
Furthermore, in the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment, since the correction member 30 is disposed on the outer side of the upper body 11, it is possible to be easily visually checked whether the correction member 30 is installed. Thus, it is easy to prevent the occurrence of a defect such as forgetting to attach the correction member 30 when the shoe 1A is manufactured. In addition, since the correction member 30 is visible, its appearance is differentiated from a shoe not including the correction member 30, and it is thus possible for a person who intends to purchase the shoe 1A including the correction member 30 to easily select the shoe 1A from a plurality of shoes.
In the correction member 30A according to the first modification, the end of the inner arm 31 is biased to the center in the foot width direction by tightening the shoelace 16. By biasing the end of the inner arm 31 to the center in the foot width direction, the entire inner arm 31 is biased to the center in the foot width direction. Thus, in the shoe 1A using the correction member 30A, a force to squash the opening 11B in the foot width direction is generated by tightening the shoelace 16. By using the correction member 30A according to the first modification for the shoe 1A, it is possible to further enhance the fitting property to the foot of the wearer.
In a shoe not including the correction member 30, since only the portion corresponding to the instep of the foot of the wearer is tightened by a tightening member such as a shoelace or a hook-and-loop fastener, tightening at the sides of the ankle of the wearer is likely to be insufficient, and a gap between the opening and the foot of the wearer in the foot width direction is easily generated. On the other hand, in the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment, since the opening 11B is tightened from the sides of the ankle of the wearer by the correction member 30, 30A, or 30B, a gap between the opening 11B and the foot of the wearer in the foot width direction is hardly generated. That is, the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment has a high effect of preventing the foot from being displaced inside the shoe 1A and getting a shoe sore and preventing the fitting property to the foot of the wearer from being lowered as compared with a shoe not including the correction member 30.
In the shoe 1B according to the second embodiment, since the correction member 30 is installed inside the upper body 11, the correction member 30 does not easily fall off while the shoe 1B is worn. In addition, since the correction member 30 is bonded to both the outer material 111 and the lining 112 of the upper body 11, the correction member can be more firmly fixed as compared with the case of being attached to the outside of the upper body 11. Thus, the shoe 1B according to the second embodiment has higher durability than that of the shoe 1A according to the first embodiment. In the shoe 1B according to the second embodiment, since the correction member 30 is covered with the outer material 111 of the upper body 11, there are few restrictions on the design of the shoe 1B. For example, in the shoe 1B according to the second embodiment, decorative parts can be installed on the surface of the outer material 111 of the portion where the correction member 30 is disposed to enhance the aesthetic appearance.
In the upper body 11, holes 111A are formed in an oblique rear-side portion of an outer material 111 of the heel, and the inner arm 31 and the outer arm 32 are inserted into the upper body 11 through the holes 111A. The cross section of the shoe 1C at the portion where the inner arm 31 and the outer arm 32 are disposed is similar to the cross section of the shoe 1B according to the second embodiment illustrated in
In the shoe 1C according to the third embodiment, since the connection portion 33 of the correction member 30 is exposed to the outer side of the upper body 11, it is possible to be easily visually checked whether the correction member 30 is installed. Thus, it is easy to prevent the occurrence of a defect such as forgetting to attach the correction member 30 when the shoe 1C is manufactured. In addition, since the connection portion 33 of the correction member 30 is visible, its appearance is differentiated from a shoe not including the correction member 30, and it is thus possible for a person who intends to purchase the shoe 1C including the correction member 30 to easily select the shoe 1C from a plurality of shoes.
When it is desired to strongly hold a foot of a wearer from the foot width direction with the inner arm 31 and the outer arm 32 of the correction member 30, the opening width of the opening 11B in the foot width direction can be too narrow if the correction member 30 is installed close to the opening 11B. In the shoe 1E according to the fifth embodiment, the ends of the inner arm 31 and the outer arm 32 are positioned lower than the connection portion 33, and the inner arm 31 and the outer arm 32 are installed at positions separated downward from the opening 11B. Thus, the wearer easily inserts the foot into the opening 11B even if the correction member 30 having a strong elastic force is installed.
The configurations described in the above embodiments merely show examples of the invention and can be combined with another known technique, and a part of each configuration can be omitted or changed without departing from the gist of the invention.
The shoe according to the invention has an effect that a gap between an opening and a foot of a wearer in a foot width direction is hardly generated when the foot of the wearer plantarflexes.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-214318 | Dec 2020 | JP | national |
