The invention relates to all or part of a sports shoe comprising a decoration and is particularly appropriate for boots for sliding boards, such as skis or snow boards, or for skating, which are used in abrasive environments. Furthermore, the invention also relates to the process for manufacturing such a shoe.
Boots for sports involving sliding require an appropriate compromise between the constraints of comfort and rigidity. The latter is necessary in order to allow the user to guide the sliding device accurately and to feel the response of the device to his actions. To this end, the boots generally consist of a shell and a collar, part of which is made of a rigid plastic material. The decoration of such boots is frequently sober and produced by hot-marking on the outer surface of the shell or collar. The decorations produced are often damaged by the abrasive environment encountered during use of the boot and, in the case of skiing or snowboarding, they are moreover subjected to unintentional impacts caused by the edges, which give rise to unattractive scratches on these decorations. Such decorations are therefore not very durable. Furthermore, such a decoration process is inconvenient because it adds a long and expensive stage to the process for manufacturing sports shoes.
More generally, the processes for decorating sports shoes of the prior art are unsatisfactory on account of the combination of a large number of constraints, including:
A first object of the present invention consists in proposing a sports shoe comprising a decoration, the latter being, if required, of large size, and of any shape, being capable of comprising a large number of colors, and being resistant to the stresses imposed by the use of the sports shoe and appropriate for the complex shape of the surface of the shoe.
A second object of the present invention consists in proposing a sports shoe with decoration of which the manufacturing process is simple and the extra cost remains negligible.
A third object of the present invention consists in proposing a sports shoe with decoration of which the weight remains minimal.
According to the concept of the invention, the sports shoe comprises at least a portion of transparent wall having a decoration on its inner surface in such a way that it is visible from the outside and protected from external aggression.
Thus, the sports shoe according to the invention comprises a part of shell or cuff type of which at least a portion of wall is transparent or translucent and includes a decoration on its inner face so as to leave the decoration visible from the outside and to protect it.
The decoration can be a marking by silk screen printing and/or lacquer and/or varnish applied to the inner face of the wall.
The decoration can also consist of a support comprising the decoration and fixed to the inner face of the wall by an adhesive means. The support can be the adhesive means, a sticker or of the decal type.
The decoration can also be produced by hot transfer from a ribbon or from a label.
The sports shoe can be a ski boot, the part of the shoe being the shell made of polyurethane and the decoration being arranged on the lateral portions of the shell.
The decoration can be of alphanumeric and/or four-color type.
It can include information allowing management of the sports shoe, by means of a part of bar-code type, for example.
The invention also relates to the process for manufacturing a sports shoe, which comprises the following stages:
The production of the decoration can be effected by means of a method of silk-screen printing type and/or by application of a lacquer and/or a varnish.
In a variant, the production of the decoration can be effected by means of a hot-marking stage.
According to another variant, the production of the decoration can consist in arranging a support including the decoration with the aid of an adhesive means on the inner face of the wall. To this end, this stage can consist in removing a film from the support of the decoration so as to obtain the adhesive effect of the adhesive means. Thus, the production of the decoration can comprise a stage of sticking-on a sticker, the support of the decoration being a sticker.
These objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be explained in detail in the description below of one particular embodiment given on a non-limiting basis with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
The embodiment described below with reference to
This decoration 8 can be produced by means of silk-screen printing, or indeed any other printing technique. In particular, all the marking processes in use today for decorating the outer faces of sports shoes remain compatible with the concept of the invention and can be applied to the inner face of the transparent wall.
In a variant, this decoration can be produced by means of a support 7 for the decoration 8, shown in
According to another variant, the decoration can be arranged in accordance with the decalcomania method, which will therefore consist in applying the support to the wall 11 of the boot by removing the film from the bottom of the decoration.
According to another variant, the decoration can be produced by the hot-transfer method from a label or from a ribbon.
The shell shown in
In a variant illustrated in
The invention also relates to the process for manufacturing the ski boot 1, which is obtained by means of the following essential stages:
The portion of transparent wall 11 therefore fulfils the dual purpose of being a main constituent element of the shell, the main function of which is more specifically rigidity and comfort, while performing the function of supporting and protecting the decoration as it represents a barrier with regard to external aggression for the decoration.
In this embodiment, the decoration has been arranged on the lateral portion of the shell of the boot. However, it could also be arranged on another surface of the shell 3 or on the cuff 4.
Furthermore, the decoration process according to the invention can be combined with the conventional decoration processes of the prior art, which are based on decoration of the outer surface of the walls of the shoes. It is thus possible to increase the aesthetic effects possible by obtaining reliefs, for example, by means of two superposed decorations located in different planes.
In a variant, the decoration can be more than a simple decoration and include information useful for the management of sports shoes for rental organizations, for example. Thus, the decoration can be of the barcode type or any equivalent in order to indicate an identification number of the shoe. It also makes it possible to identify the rental organization which owns the sports shoe. This allows it to automate the shoe rental process thanks to a stage of rapid identification of the shoe. It can also identify easily and with certainty the shoes belonging to it.
Finally, the solution achieves fully the objects mentioned above and affords the following advantages:
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0615/04 | Apr 2004 | CH | national |