SHOE

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-118287, filed on Jul. 16, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND
Technical Field

The present invention relates to a shoe.

Background Information

There have been conventionally provided a variety of shoes. For example, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. 2015-535443 discloses a footwear product that includes a sole structure disposed below the foot of a wearer, and a knitted upper disposed on the sole structure. Accordingly, the upper has a two layer structure.

The upper includes a cover component that is secured to the sole structure, and a knitted component that is disposed inside the cover component and secured thereto.

The knitted component includes a void forming portion, an inside of which forms a void for entry of the foot of the wearer, and an annular collar integrally formed with the void forming portion to cover the entire circumference of the ankle of the wearer.

When the footwear product having the above configuration is worn, the sole structure is brought into a state where it is pulled toward the foot of the wearer by the contraction force of the collar. Thereby, the footwear product has improved fitness.

The collar of the knitted component of the footwear product connects with the void forming portion along the entire circumference. Therefore, even by pulling the collar of the knitted component outward, it hardly expands. This sometimes made the wearer feel difficult to insert the foot through the collar, and remove and wear the footwear product.

SUMMARY

In view of the above, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a shoe that can provide both high fittability and easiness for wearing and removing.

The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosed shoe in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements nor delineate the claimed scope. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a shoe is provided that basically comprising: a shoe sole; and an upper disposed on the shoe sole. The upper has an upper body and an annular holding portion. The upper body has an opening portion for entry and removal of the foot of a wearer. The annular holding portion has stretchability configured to hold the foot of the wearer. The holding portion is coupled to the opening portion. The opening portion has an edge that includes a first edge portion and a second edge portion. The first edge portion is located on a rear end side in a longitudinal direction. The second edge portion is located forward of the first edge portion. The holding portion has a first degree of mobility relative to the first edge portion and a second degree of mobility relative to the second edge portion. The second degree of mobility is a higher degree of mobility than the first degree of mobility.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the holding portion is coupled to the first edge portion, and is not coupled to at least a part of the second edge portion.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the holding portion is configured to cover a region from a front side of the anklebone to a front side of a shinbone and a peroneal bone of the foot of the wearer.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the holding portion has an upper end located above positions respectively covering a medial ankle and a lateral ankle of the wearer, or above an upper end of the medial ankle and an upper end of the lateral ankle.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the upper body has a forefoot covering portion, a pair of midfoot covering portions and a tongue portion. The forefoot covering portion is configured to cover a toe side of the foot of the wearer. The midfoot covering portions extend rearward from the forefoot covering portion, and are respectively disposed on one side and an other side in a width direction. The tongue portion is disposed between the midfoot covering portions. The holding portion is formed integrally with the first edge portion.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the holding portions formed separately from the upper body, and the holding portion is coupled to the first edge portion.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the holding portion is coupled to the tongue portion.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the tongue portion is coupled to the forefoot covering portion.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the tongue portion is coupled to the midfoot covering portions.

The shoe of the present disclosure can be configured such that the midfoot covering portions are configured to be respectively disposed on a medial side and a lateral side, and the tongue portion is coupled to any one of the midfoot covering portion on the medial side and the midfoot covering portion on the lateral side.

Also, other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the disclosed shoe will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses preferred embodiments of the shoe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the attached drawings, which form a part of this original disclosure, an illustrative embodiment is shown

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a shoe according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the shoe according to the one embodiment as seen from the medial ankle side.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the shoe according to the one embodiment as seen from the lateral ankle side.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the shoe according to the one embodiment in a state where midfoot covering portions are developed.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the shoe according to the one embodiment as seen from the medial ankle side with a portion of the upper broken away.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the shoe according to the one embodiment as seen from the lateral ankle side with a portion of the upper broken away.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the shoe according to the one embodiment shown in a worn state as seen from the medial ankle side.

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the shoe according to the one embodiment shown in a worn state as seen from the lateral ankle side.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Selected embodiments will now be explained with reference to the drawings. It will be apparent to those skilled in the bicycle and footwear fields from this disclosure that the following descriptions of the embodiments are provided for illustration only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a shoe 1 is illustrated in accordance with one illustrated embodiment. The shoe 1 basically includes a shoe sole 2, an upper 3 and a fastener 4. The shoe sole 2 is configured to support the foot of a wearer (see FIG. 2). The upper 3 is disposed on the shoe sole 2. The fastener 4 is configured for fastening the foot of the wearer onto the shoe sole 2 through the upper 3, as shown in FIG. 1.

The description will be herein given with a longitudinal direction of the shoe 1 referred to as a longitudinal direction, a width direction of the shoe 1 referred to as a width direction, a height direction of the shoe 1 referred to as a height direction, a medial side in the width direction referred to as a medial ankle side_(medial side), and a lateral side in the width direction referred to as a lateral ankle side (lateral side).

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the shoe sole 2 has a forefoot sole portion 20 located on a front end side in the longitudinal direction, a midfoot sole portion 21 located rearward of the forefoot sole portion 20, and a rear sole portion 22 located on a rear end side in the longitudinal direction. The forefoot sole portion 20 forms the front end side of the shoe sole 2. The rear sole portion 22 forms the rear end side of the shoe sole 2.

The forefoot sole portion 20 is a region on which the toe of the wearer is placed. The rear sole portion 22 is a region on which the heel of the wearer is placed. The midfoot sole portion 21 is a region on which the central portion of the foot of the wearer (i.e., the central portion in the longitudinal direction) is placed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the upper 3 has an upper body 30 forming an opening portion O for entry and removal of the foot of the wearer, and an annular holding portion 31 having stretchability that is configured to hold the foot of the wearer. In other words, the annular holding portion 31 is a stretchable material or stretchable fabric which has the ability to stretch and elastically return to an original unstretched state. For example, the stretchable material of the annular holding portion 31 can be partially made of elastic fibers, such as Lycra, Spandex or elastane, and/or can be a knit fabric which stretches due to a series of interlocking loops formed in the production of the annular holding portion 31. The annular holding portion 31 is coupled to the opening portion O.

An edge of the opening portion O of the upper body 30 includes a first edge portion 300 located on the rear end side, and a pair of second edge portions 301 located forward of the first edge portion 300. The second edge portions 301 are continuous with the first edge portion 300. One of the second edge portions 301 is a portion disposed on the medial ankle side. The other of the second edge portions 301 is a portion disposed on the lateral ankle side.

A boundary between the first edge portion 300 and each of the second edge portions 301 can be set at a position corresponding to a center of the opening portion O in the longitudinal direction (i.e., a position aligning with the center of the opening portion O in the width direction), for example.

The upper body 30 of this embodiment includes a forefoot covering portion 302 located on the front end side in the longitudinal direction, a pair of midfoot covering portions 303 located rearward of the forefoot covering portion 302 in the longitudinal direction while being adjacent to each other and respectively disposed at positions away from each other in the width direction, a rearfoot covering portion 304 located rearward of the midfoot covering portions 303 in the longitudinal direction while being adjacent to each other (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3), and a tongue portion 305 disposed on the inner side of the midfoot covering portions 303 while being overlapped with the midfoot covering portions 303.

The forefoot covering portion 302, the midfoot covering portions 303, and the rearfoot covering portion 304 are integrally formed. The forefoot covering portion 302 is a portion configured to cover the toe side of the foot of the wearer. One of the midfoot covering portions 303 is a portion configured to cover the medial ankle side of the foot of the wearer. The other of the midfoot covering portions 303 is a portion configured to cover the lateral ankle side of the foot of the wearer. The rearfoot covering portion 304 is a portion configured to cover around the heel of the wearer.

As described above, the midfoot covering portions 303 align with each other with a distance therebetween in the width direction. In this embodiment, a region between the midfoot covering portions 303 will be referred to as a fastening margin region. The fastening margin region and the opening portion O are formed to be continuous with each other.

The holding portion 31 is configured to have a higher degree of mobility relative to the second edge portions 301 than a degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the first edge portion 300. In other words, the holding portion 31 has a first degree of mobility relative to the first edge portion 300, and a second degree of mobility relative to the second edge portions 301, where the second degree of mobility is higher than the first degree of mobility According to the holding portion 31 configured in this way, the front end side of the holding portion 31 in the longitudinal direction can more easily stretch than the rear end side of the holding portion 31 in the longitudinal direction.

The first degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the first edge portion 300 herein means the degree of relative displacement (movement) to the first edge portion 300 of the holding portion 31 when the holding portion 31 is pulled in a direction away from the first edge portion 300. The second degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the second edge portions 301 herein means the degree of relative displacement (movement) to the second edge portions 301 of the holding portion 31 when the holding portion 31 is pulled in a direction away from the second edge portions 301.

More specifically, the rear end side of the holding portion 31 is coupled to the first edge portion 300. The front end side of the holding portion 31 is not coupled to the second edge portions 301 (see FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6). Coupling between the holding portion 31 and the first edge portion 300 can be made by sewing, bonding, welding or any other means.

Therefore, the rear end side of the holding portion 31 is kept close to the first edge portion 300 when it is pulled by the wearer. However, the front end side of the holding portion 31 is not kept close to the second edge portions 301 when it is pulled by the wearer. Thereby, the front end side more easily stretches than the rear end side.

The fastener 4 is a wire, a string of the shoe 1, a hook and loop faster, or the like. The fastener 4 can fasten the midfoot covering portions 303 to each other, and loosen the fastened pair of midfoot covering portions 303.

The description for the configuration of the shoe 1 of this embodiment will be hereinafter made and the description on how to wear and remove the shoe 1 will follow.

In wearing the shoe 1, the wearer stretches the holding portion 31 radially outward. For example, the wearer grabs and pulls the one side and the other side in the width direction of the holding portion 31 away from each other. As such, the holding portion 31 is stretched to such a size to enable the wearer to easily insert the foot therethrough. The wearer inserts the foot through the holding portion 31 into the inside of the upper body 30.

As described above, since the front end side of the holding portion 31 is not coupled to the second edge portions 301, the front end side of the holding portion 31 easily stretches compared with the rear end side. Therefore, the wearer can easily insert the foot through the holding portion 31.

When the upper end of the holding portion 31 is not located at positions respectively corresponding to a medial malleolus A1 and a lateral malleolus A2 of an ankle N of the wearer, or not located on the upper side of the medial malleolus A1 and the lateral malleolus A2, the holding portion 31 is pulled upward. Then, the upper end of the holding portion 31 is located at positions respectively overlapping with the medial malleolus A1 and the medial malleolus A1, or located on the upper side of the medial malleolus A1 and the lateral malleolus A2 (see FIG. 7 and FIG. 8). In FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the foot is allocated with a reference code F, and the ankle is allocated with a reference code N.

The wearer operates the fastener 4 to fasten the f midfoot covering portions 303 to allow the foot of the wearer to be restricted within the upper body 30.

When the wearer removes the shoe 1, the wearer operates the fastener 4 to loosen the fastening force of the fastener 4 applied to the foot. The wearer then pulls the foot out of the upper body 30 and the holding portion 31. When the wearer pulls the foot out of the holding portion 31, the front end side of the holding portion 31 easily stretches compared with the rear end side. Therefore, the wearer can easily move the foot through the holding portion 31.

In the case where the wearer wears the shoe 1, the front end side of the holding portion 31 is in the state where it more stretches than the rear end side of the holding portion 31. Therefore, the rear end side of the holding portion 31 is held in a state where it is pulled toward the front end side of the holding portion 31. Thereby, the rearfoot covering portion 304 of the upper body 30 and the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 are also held in a state where they are pulled toward the front end side of the holding portion 31.

The holding portion 31 is inclined so as to have the front end located above the rear end. Therefore, the rear end side of the holding portion 31, the rearfoot covering portion 304 of the upper body 30, and the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 are held in a state where they are pulled forward and upward by the front end side of the holding portion 31.

For example, when the wearer takes a step on the ground during walking, the toe of the wearer steps on the shoe sole 2, while the heel of the wearer tends to move away from the shoe sole 2. However, as described above, since the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 is in the state where it is pulled forward and upward by the front end side of the holding portion 31, the heel of the foot of the wearer is prevented from being easily separated from the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2. That is, the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 comes into the state where it can easily follow the motion of the heel of the foot of the wearer.

As described above, according to the shoe 1 of this embodiment, the second degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the second edge portions 301 is set to be higher than the first degree of mobility of the same relative to the first edge portion 300 so that the front end side out of the entire holding portion 31 can easily stretch. Therefore, in the shoe 1, the wearer can insert the foot through the holding portion 31 while sufficiently stretching the holding portion 31 so that the wearer can easily wear and remove the shoe 1. In particular, for a high-cut shoe such as the shoe 1 of this embodiment, easiness for wearing and removing of the shoe can be significantly improved.

Since the rear end side of the holding portion 31 has a low degree of mobility relative to the first edge portion 300, the first edge portion 300 along with the rear end side of the holding portion 31 are pulled forward by the front end side of the stretched holding portion 31 in the state where the shoe 1 is worn by the wearer. Thereby, the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 is pulled toward the foot of the wearer. Thus, the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 is hardly separated away from the foot of the wearer to thereby improve the fitness.

Thus, according to the shoe 1 of this embodiment, a difference is caused between the degree of mobility of the front end side and the rear end side, of the holding portion 31, to thereby realize both improved fitness and easiness for wearing and removing.

Further, since the holding portion 31 is configured not to be coupled to at least a part of the second edge portions 301, the second degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the second edge portions 301 is likely to increase compared with the first degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the first edge portion 300. Thereby, easiness for wearing and removing is likely to improve.

Further, as long as the holding portion 31 covers a region from the front side of the anklebone to the front side of the shinbone and the peroneal bone, of the ankle of the wearer, as in the shoe 1 of this embodiment, the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 is likely to be pulled toward the heel of the foot of the wearer by the tensile force due to the contraction of the holding portion 31. Thus, the fitness is likely to be further improved.

In particular, according to the configuration that the holding portion 31 has an upper end located above positions covering the medial ankle and the lateral ankle of the wearer, or above an upper end of the medial ankle and an upper end of the lateral ankle, the upper end of the holding portion 31 can be easily pulled upward to higher positions so that the holding portion 31 can easily increase its force of pulling the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2 toward the heel of the foot of the wearer.

Further, in the case where the holding portion 31 is configured so that the tensile force can be transmitted not only to the rearfoot covering portion 304 of the upper body 30 and the rear sole portion 22 of the shoe sole 2, but also to any other regions of the upper body 30, the fitness is likely to be further improved.

For example, in this embodiment, the front side of the holding portion 31 is coupled to the tongue portion 305 and the tongue portion 305 is coupled to the forefoot covering portion 302. With this configuration, the front side of the holding portion 31, the tongue portion 305, and the forefoot covering portion 302 are coupled together as one unit, which enables the tensile force of the holding portion 31 to be easily transmitted to the front end side of the shoe 1 (i.e., the forefoot covering portion 302 or a forefoot sole portion).

In wearing state, the arrangement positions become higher in the order of the forefoot covering portion 302, the front end of the tongue portion 305, the rear end of the tongue portion 305, and the holding portion 31. Therefore, the forefoot covering portion 302 can be easily pulled toward the foot (toe) of the wearer. Thereby, the toe of the foot of the wearer and the shoe sole 2 are hardly separated away from each other so that the fitness can be easily improved.

The shoe of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it is a matter of course that the shoe can be subjected to various modifications without departing the gist of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the holding portion 31 which is formed separately from the upper body 30 is coupled to the upper body 30, without limitation thereto. The upper body 30 and the holding portion 31 can be formed as an integral member.

The entire second edge portions 301 of the above embodiment are not coupled to the holding portion 31, without limitation thereto. For example, a part of the second edge portions 301 can be coupled to the holding portion 31 as long as the second degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the second edge portions 301 is higher than the first degree of mobility relative to the first edge portion 300. That is, the second edge portions 301 can include a coupled portion to which the holding portion 31 is coupled and a non-coupled portion to which the holding portion 31 is not coupled. Thus, the holding portion 31 may not be coupled to at least a part of the second edge portions 301.

The holding portion 31 can be coupled to the entire second edge portions 301 as long as the second degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the second edge portions 301 can be set to be higher than the first degree of mobility relative to the first edge portion 300.

In a case where the holding portion 31 is also coupled to the second edge portions 301, the first degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the first edge portion 300 can be represented as a degree of extension and contraction of the holding portion 31 relative to the first edge portion 300 when the holding portion 31 is pulled in a direction away from the first edge portion 300. Also, the second degree of mobility of the holding portion 31 relative to the second edge portions 301 can be represented as a degree of extension and contraction of the holding portion 31 relative to the second edge portions 301 when the holding portion 31 is pulled in a direction away from the second edge portions 301.

In the above embodiment, the holding portion 31 is coupled to the tongue portion 305, without limitation thereto. For example, the holding portion 31 may not be coupled to the tongue portion 305.

In the above embodiment, the tongue portion 305 is coupled to the forefoot covering portion 302, without limitation thereto. For example, the tongue portion 305 may not be coupled to the forefoot covering portion 302. In this case, the tongue portion 305 may be coupled to, for example, the midfoot covering portions 303.

In the above embodiment, the tongue portion 305 is not coupled to the midfoot covering portions 303, without limitation thereto. For example, the tongue portion 305 can be coupled to the midfoot covering portions 303. In this case, the tongue portion 305 may be coupled to one of the midfoot covering portions 303 respectively located on the medial ankle side and the lateral ankle side.

According to the above configuration, the tensile force due to the contraction of the holding portion 31 can be easily transmitted not only to the tongue portion 305 but also to the midfoot covering portion(s) 303 so that the fitness can be easily improved.

Although not referred above, the shoe 1 can be a shoe for a user of a sports bicycle, or a shoe for any other applications.

The shoe of the present invention is described above by way of the above embodiments, but is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments. Thus, the shoe according to the present invention can be subjected to various modifications within the intended scope of the present invention. Further, the operation and effect of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiments. That is, the embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the appended claims, not by the above description. It is also contemplated that the scope of the present invention includes all modifications within the meaning and scope of equivalence to the claims.

Information

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Abstract

Description

Claims

Priority Claims (1)