Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a 3-D insert to be disposed in a skate boot so as to eliminate or reduce the gap between the posterior section of the Achille&#39;s heel and the boot liner.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention pertains to a boot construction, especially for ice hockey skates, but which may be suitably adapted to other footwear applications such as in-line roller skates, hiking boots, etc. The present invention, by way of example only, will be described hereinafter in relation to ice hockey skate boots, but it is understood that the invention herein described and claimed may be suitably adapted to other boot applications. 
   At present, ice hockey skate boots use, in order to protect the wearer, ankle inserts and heel counter inserts which are sandwiched in between the layers of various materials which make up the liner of the boot. Typical skate boots are quite rigid in order to protect the foot and ankle of the wearer from impacts and stress during skating. This rigidity, combined with variations in human anatomy, has as a consequence the creation in many instances of a gap between the skate boot and the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon. The presence of a gap between the skate boot and the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon may result in heel slippage leading to discomfort, irritation and blisters. After considerable use of the skate, however, the leather and other materials naturally soften and become less rigid from repeated flexing, with the result that the upper ankle portion of the boot tends to slump down onto or over the heel counter, typically creating a ridge on the inside of the skate. This ridge bears against the Achilles&#39; tendon, and thus creates a pressure point which results in decreased comfort and potential for blistering or other injury. 
   It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a skate boot construction which reduces or alleviates the gap which may be present between the skate boot and the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon so as to prevent heel slippage leading to discomfort, irritation and blisters. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a skate boot construction which increases comfort and protects the wearer from potential blistering or other injury caused by the possible formation of a ridge on the inside of the skate due to wear of the skate boot. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention generally provides for a boot or ice hockey skate construction where the Achilles tendon and both the internal and external retro malleoli regions of the foot are now fully supported so as to reduce or alleviate the gap which may be present between the skate boot and the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon as well as protecting the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon from a possible pressure point which may result from the wear of the skate. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     Other applications and advantages of the present invention may be made clear by the following detailed description of several embodiments of the invention. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of an example of a skate boot comprising a skate boot outer, a tendon guard support, an ankle support, a heel counter, a 3-D heel pocket, a tendon guard support foam, a liner foam and a soft material liner. 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view from the outside of a flattened skate boot according to  FIG. 1  without the boot outer. 
       FIG. 3  is a plan view from the outside of a flattened soft material liner and a liner foam over which is positioned a 3-D heel pocket. 
       FIG. 4  is a right side elevation of a skate and foot, in cross-section, showing the positioning of the 3-D heel pocket. 
       FIG. 5  is a plan view of the 3-D heel pocket laid flat according to a particular embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIGS. 6 to 8  are plan views of the 3-D heel pocket laid flat according to a further embodiments of the present invention. 
       FIGS. 9 and 10  are plan views of the 3-D heel pocket laid flat according to still further embodiment of the present invention, the 3-D heel pocket comprising hinge means. 
       FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of the 3-D heel pocket laid flat corresponding to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
       FIGS. 12 and 13  are cross-sectional views of the 3-D heel pocket corresponding to  FIGS. 9 and 10  respectively. 
       FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of the 3-D heel pocket corresponding an alternative embodiment where the pocket is formed of three parts of varying thicknesses 
       FIGS. 15 to 18  are cross-sectional views of a liner over which is positioned a liner foam, the 3-D heel pocket corresponding to  FIGS. 11 to 14 , respectively, and an ankle support, in relation to the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon. 
       FIGS. 19 and 20  are cross-sectional views of a liner over which is positioned a liner foam, an ankle padding means and an ankle support, in relation to the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon, according to prior art. 
       FIG. 21  is a bended cross-sectional view of  FIG. 20 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1  illustrates an exploded perspective view of an example of a skate boot  18  comprising a skate boot outer  16 , a tendon guard support  14 , an ankle support  12 , a heel counter  6 , a 3-D heel pocket  8 , a tendon guard support foam  10 , a liner foam  4  and a soft material liner  2 .  FIG. 2  further illustrates the positioning of the various components forming the skate boot  18 , which in order from the interior to the exterior are: the tendon guard support  14 , the ankle support  12 , the heel counter  6 , the 3-D heel pocket  8 , the tendon guard support foam  10 , the liner foam  4  and the soft material liner  2 . The skate boot outer  16  may be constituted in a number of ways, such as various layers of leather, plastic, ballistic nylon and/or other material portions sewn together. The tendon guard support  14  , an ankle support  12 , a heel counter  6 , a 3-D heel pocket  8 , a tendon guard support foam  10 , a liner foam  4  and a soft material liner  2  comprise a particular embodiment of the present invention. 
   In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a skate boot comprising a boot-shaped outer, a cushioning insert positioned inwardly from the outer, the insert including a middle portion positioned to cover at least part of an Achilles tendon of a wearer of the boot and lateral and medial side portions extending from the middle portion to respectively cover at least part of lateral and medial malleoli of the wearer, and a liner positioned inwardly from the insert, wherein the middle portion has a thickness at least equal to that of the side portions, such as to at least partially fill a gap between the Achilles tendon and the boot. 
   Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a skate boot cushioning insert comprising a middle portion for covering at least part of an Achilles tendon, a lateral side portion extending from the middle portion for covering at least part of a lateral malleoli, a medial side portion extending from the middle portion opposite of the lateral side portion for covering at least part of a medial malleoli, wherein the insert is made of cushioning material, and wherein the middle portion has a thickness at least equal to that of the lateral and medial side portions. 
   In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the 3-D heel pocket  8  may be of relatively constant thickness and comprises a cushioning material such as foam, for example poron or VN foam, or an air or gel pocket. The 3-D heel pocket  8  may be relatively rectangular in shape, comprising a left  91 , right  92 , top  93  and bottom  94  sides. In order to conform as much as possible to the anatomy of a wearer&#39;s ankle shape, the 3-D heel pocket  8  may comprises an indentation  95  in its bottom side  94  that traces the contour of the skate boot  18  wearer&#39;s heel. Alternative embodiments of the 3-D heel pocket  8  are illustrated in  FIGS. 6 to 10 . The embodiment of  FIG. 6  is similar to that of  FIG. 5  with the exception that its bottom side  94  comprises no indentation.  FIG. 7  illustrates another alternative embodiment where the 3-D heel pocket  8  is relatively triangular in shape, comprises a left diagonal  91 , right diagonal  92  and bottom  94  sides, with an indentation  95  in its bottom side  94 , while  FIG. 8  illustrates a further alternative embodiment where the 3-D heel pocket  8  is relatively crescent shaped, comprises a relatively semi-circular top side  93  and a bottom side  94  having an indentation  95 .  FIGS. 9 and 10  illustrate still further embodiments where the 3-D heel pocket  8  comprises three parts which may be of relatively equal thickness: a left side part  82  and a right side part  84  separated by a middle part  80 . The side parts  82 ,  84  are connected to the middle part  80  by hinge means  86 , as illustrated in  FIG. 9 , or a seam  87  as illustrated in  FIG. 10 . The hinge means  86  and seam  87  may be especially helpful in the bending of the 3-D heel pocket  8  around the ankle of the wearer, when denser material are used and/or for preventing air or gel (or any other gas or liquid), in the case where the 3-D heel pocket  8  is comprised of such material, from accumulating near the left  91  or right  92  sides because of the bending of the 3-D heel pocket  8 . Alternatively, the 3-D heel pocket  8  may comprise three parts of varying thickness: two side parts  82 ,  84  which may be of relatively equal thickness and a thicker middle part  80 .  FIG. 11  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the 3-D heel pocket  8  corresponding to  FIGS. 5 and 6  while  FIGS. 12 and 13  correspond to  FIGS. 9 and 10  respectively.  FIG. 14  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the 3-D heel pocket  8  corresponding to an alternative embodiment where the three parts of the pocket are of varying thicknesses, i.e. two side parts  82 ,  84  of relatively equal thickness and a thicker middle part  80 . Other embodiments may have further shape, number of parts and/or thickness combinations. 
     FIGS. 15 to 18  illustrate cross-sectional views of various embodiments showing the positioning of the 3-D heel pocket  8 , corresponding to  FIGS. 11 to 14  respectively. The 3-D heel pocket  8  is shown disposed, between layers of the skate boot  18  in relation to the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon  20 . The 3-D heel pocket  8  may be positioned between the liner foam  4  and the ankle support  12 . Once the layers of the skate boot  18  are bended so has to conform to the boot outer  16 , the 3-D heel pocket  8  covers the Achilles tendon  20  and both the medial  21  and lateral  22  malleoli bones of the wearer&#39;s foot. It should be noted that in  FIG. 18 , the 3-D heel pocket  8  corresponds to an alternative embodiment where the three parts of the pocket are of varying thicknesses, i.e. two side parts  82 ,  84  of relatively equal thickness and a thicker middle part  80 , thus the compression of the 3-D heel pocket  8  between the liner foam  4  and the ankle support  12  results in the 3-D heel pocket  8  being denser at the Achilles tendon  20  region of the wearer&#39;s foot than at the internal  21  and external  22  retro malleoli regions. The layers between which the 3-D heel pocket  8  is located depend on the configuration of the skate boot  18  and may vary from one configuration to another. For example, as one example, the skate boot  18  may only comprise a boot outer, a combined tendon guard support/ankle support/heel guard and a soft material liner. Consequently, the 3-D heel pocket  8  may be located between the combined tendon guard support/ankle support/heel guard and the soft material liner 
     FIGS. 19 and 20  illustrate cross-sectional views of the positioning of an ankle padding means  11 , according to prior art, between layers of the skate boot  18  in relation to the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon  20 . As illustrated in  FIG. 19 , the ankle padding means  11  are typically positioned between the liner foam  4  and the ankle support  12  and consist of two cushions, one covering the internal retro malleoli region  21  and the other covering the external retro malleoli region  22 , leaving a gap between the liner foam  4  and the ankle support  12  at the position of the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon  20 . Alternatively, as illustrated by  FIG. 20 , the two cushions of the ankle padding means  11  may connected by a middle part  15  considerably thinner than the ankle padding means  11  cushions, leaving once again a gap  13  between the liner foam  4  and the ankle support  12  at the position of the wearer&#39;s Achilles tendon  20 .  FIG. 21  illustrates the presence of gap  13  when the layers of the skate boot  18 , according to the prior illustrated in  FIG. 20 , are bended so has to conform to the boot outer  16 . 
   It will be appreciated that the above description relates to the preferred embodiment by way of examples only. Certain variations on the invention will be obvious to those knowledgeable in the field, and such obvious variations are within the scope of the invention as claimed, whether or not expressly described herein. 
   For example, it should be clearly appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the specific configuration of liner components as illustrated herein. Many variations in shape or positioning may be contemplated while still employing the principle of this invention. 
   Reasonable variations and modifications are possible within the scope of the foregoing disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims to the invention.