Abstract:
A boot which has a tongue structure which includes at least first and second cables attached to the sides of the tongue, a guide channel associated with each cable, and a cable tensioning device connected to the cables and which is movable between first and second positions to respectfully tighten and loosen the cables. The tongue structure acts to maintain the foot in the boot and in a preferred embodiment, the tongue includes an outer somewhat rigid shell and an inner elastic layer.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to footwear.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Various types of footwear exist and such footwear has become more specialized in recent years. The present invention is directed primarily to footwear which may take the form of a boot structure although certain aspects of it are also applicable to other types of footwear. Boot type structures are used in, for example, ice skates, roller blades, ski and snowboard boots, cross country boots, work boots, etc. The present invention may be used in any of these different types of boots.  
           [0003]    One sport which utilizes boots is hockey. Until recently, most boots have been made of plastic and have become so rigid that the natural bending ability associated with previous leather structures has become non-existent. As a result, skaters do not tighten their skates as much as previously.  
           [0004]    Although other means have been proposed in the art including the use of various types of straps, it is still conventional to use laces to tighten shoes and boots. However, the tightening of the laces may create a pressure on a portion of the foot which can cause injuries. Minor injuries can include irritations and swelling while more major injury can occur to the tendons being torn after an impact. Sprained ankles and the like also occur.  
           [0005]    One of the problem areas is the tongue structure and the lining of the skates. The lining can deteriorate quite quickly particularly when materials made of textiles which dry and do not have the required endurance.  
           [0006]    A further problem encountered with ice skates is that the deterioration of various portions caused by the flexing can lead to a deformation of the sole and even the blade of the skate. The skate can also become deformed because humans frequently have a leg which is longer than the other. The pressure is then applied in an even manner when skating leading to a deformation of the skate.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is an object of the present invention to provide for an improved ice skate which may be easily assembled and provides advantages over ice skates structures previously known in the art.  
           [0008]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tongue structure which will provide protection to the foot of the user while providing a comfortable fit.  
           [0009]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide a boot structure which may be tightened using a cable or belt system.  
           [0010]    According to one aspect of the present invention, in a boot having an outer shell, an inner liner, and a tongue structure, the improvement wherein the tongue structure includes at least one attachment means on either side thereof, at least first and second cables, each cable being attached to a corresponding attachment means, a guide means associated with each cable, and cable tensioning means, the cable tensioning means being connected to the cables and being movable between first and second positions to respectively tighten and loosen the cables.  
           [0011]    According to a further aspect of the present invention, a tongue structure for use in footwear, the tongue structure comprising an upper layer formed of a rigid protective material, a lower layer formed of a resilient stretchable material, the upper layer being secured to the lower layer along marginal side edges thereof, the upper layer being spaced from the lower layer intermediate the side marginal edges to thereby provide an air space between the upper and lower layers.  
           [0012]    According to a further aspect of the present invention, in an ice skate having a boot, a blade support portion mounted on the boot, and a blade mounted in the blade support portion, the improvement comprising a first cable member connected to an upper front portion of the blade, a second cable member being secured to an upper rear portion of the blade, the first and second cable members extending through the blade support portion and being connected to each other.  
           [0013]    According a still further aspect of the invention, in an ice skate having a boot with a sole portion, a blade support member, and a blade member mounted in the blade support member, the improvement comprising a plurality of screw threaded members extending through the sole to attach the boot and the blade support member together.  
           [0014]    According a still further aspect of the invention, a hockey skate structure comprising an outer boot, a blade support portion, a blade mounted in the blade support portion and an inner boot, the inner boot having a sole portion, the sole portion having a toe area and a heel area, a pair of side walls extending upwardly from the sole portion, a rear wall interconnecting the side walls at the heel area, the side walls terminating short of the toe area to thereby leave an open toe portion.  
           [0015]    According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided an arrangement wherein the foot is supported by an inner liner which surrounds the foot on the sides and a tongue which contacts the top of the foot. Normally, laces produce a pressure directly on the tongue. However, in the instant embodiment, a pressure is exerted by pulling the sides of the tongue by means of cables or the like. When a tension is placed on the cables, they will create a pressure on the top of the foot by means of the tongue. The tongue may be provided with thicker and thinner portions—the upper portion of the tongue may be thicker to reinforce it while the portions where it flexes may be thinner.  
           [0016]    Using the above system, one may also employ laces which merely function to secure portions of the outer boot together; the pressure on the foot is created by the cable system. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments thereof, in which:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a skate according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, with certain interior components shown in dotted lines, of the skate of FIG. 1;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a cable adjusting mechanism according to the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, with certain interior components shown in dotted lines, of a further embodiment of a boot having a cable tightening system;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a tongue assembly according to the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines  6 - 6  of FIG. 5;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 is a side elevational view, partially in cut-away, showing the inner boot portion;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 is an exploded side sectional view;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 is a side elevational view showing a blade tensioning mechanism according to the present invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 10 is a top plan view of a sole attached to a blade assembly;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of a foot adjustment member;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view taken along the line  11 - 11  of FIG. 10; and  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 13 is an enlarged view illustrating the attachment of a boot portion to a blade assembly. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0031]    Referring to the drawings in greater detail and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an ice skate generally designated by reference numeral  10 . Ice skate  10  includes a boot portion generally designated by reference numeral  12  and a blade assembly generally designated by reference numeral  14 .  
         [0032]    Boot portion  12  includes an outer shell  16 , an inner reinforcing element  18 , an inner boot or liner  19 , a tongue  20 , and laces  22 .  
         [0033]    Blade assembly  14  includes a blade support portion  24  and which has a blade  26  retained thereby. As may be best seen in FIGS. 8 and 11, blade support portion  24  has a pair of channels  28 ,  29  formed therein, channel  28  extending from the front of blade  26  to a central area with rear channel  29  extending from a rear portion of blade  26  to the central area. A front flexible tensioning cable  30  extends through front channel  28  and a rear flexible tensioning cable  32  extends through the rear channel  29 . Tensioning cables  30  and  32  are connected together by means of a tightening assembly generally designated by reference numeral  34  and having nut portions  36  at that end thereof which are adapted to screw threadedly engage cables  30  and  32 . By turning of nuts  36 , the tension on tensioning cables  30  and  32  can be adjusted.  
         [0034]    As may be best seen in FIG. 7, inner boot  19  comprises a pair of sides (only one side  23  being shown) and an interconnecting back portion  21 . It will be noted that the sides terminate short of the tow area.  
         [0035]    The tongue structure of the present invention is best illustrated in FIG. 5 and reference will now be made thereto. Tongue  20  includes an upper protective layer  40  which may be made of a suitable protective material such as plastic or even a thin sheet of metal. It is preferably somewhat resilient for reasons which will become apparent hereinbelow. Secured to protective layer  40  is a lower layer  42  which is preferably of a somewhat elastic material such as rubber. In between upper protective layer  40  and lower layer  42  is an air space  44 . Upper protective layer  40  and lower layer  42  are secured together by means of a locking arrangement as shown in FIG. 6. A plurality of transversely extending ribs  48  are formed in upper protective layer  40 .  
         [0036]    The present invention employs a plurality of cables  50  which are used to apply a tightening force on tongue  20 . Each cable  50  extends through a corresponding channel  52 . Each cable  50  is attached to the sides of tongue  20  and to this end, as may be seen in FIG. 2, cable  50  passes through an aperture in plate  56  and is then secured by means of screw  54 . An anchor bar  58  is provided interiorly to spread the tensioning force over a wider area.  
         [0037]    At the other end, each cable  50  is secured to a cable tensioning means generally designated by reference numeral  60 . One embodiment of this is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein there is provided a pivotable plate member  62  connected at pivot point  64  to the outer shell  16 . A pair of vertical guides  66  are designed to receive a slider  68 . Cables  50  are attached to slider  68  by means of a cable attachment portion  70 . A push rod  72  interconnects slider  68  and pivotable plate  62  such that a closing movement as indicated by arrow  74  will cause slider  68  to move upwardly as indicated by arrow  76  and thereby apply tension to cables  50 . With respect to cables  50 , each preferably comprises a relatively thin wire of metallic or other suitable material and which are joined together at the ends where they are attached to the cable tensioning means. For ease of illustration, the securing together of cables  50  has not been shown.  
         [0038]    In use, a boot may be tightened by applying tension on cables  50  by means of cable tensioning means  60 . The force exerted on the sides of tongue  20  will tend to stretch lower layer  42  and also place upper protective layer  40  in a state of tension. An air space  44  is maintained between upper protective layer  40  and lower layer  42  which are separated by a distance of between 50 mm and 100 mm. In the described embodiment, laces  22  may be tightened, but are largely superfluous since the foot is retained in the boot by tongue  20 . This also provides a far more comfortable arrangement as the upper portion of the foot and ankle flex against a resilient and flexible lower layer  42 .  
         [0039]    An alternative arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 4 wherein the tongue  20  has a plurality of straps  80  extending thereacross. Straps  80  are interconnected to cables  50 . In view of the cable tensioning means  60  previously described, cables are connected to a ring  82  which is securable to a ring retaining member  84  mounted on the heel or back of the boot and which has projections  86  extending slightly upwardly.  
         [0040]    According to the present invention, sole  90  is provided with a plurality of apertures therein designed to receive screws  94  which extend downwardly through outer shell  16  and wherein a plurality of screws  94  are screw threadedly engaged with apertures  96  in blade support  24 . A centrally located aperture  95  provides access to tightening assembly  34 .  
         [0041]    Also according to the present invention, there is provided a member  98  interposed between blade support portion  24  and sole  90 . Member  98  may be used to adjust the level of either the heel or toe portion such that the skate may be given a desired height on either the toe or heel portion.  
         [0042]    As will be seen from the above, there is provided a skate assembly which includes a number of improvements over conventional technology. It will be understood that many of these improvements can be applied to other footwear such as boots employed in other sports including roller blades, ski and snowboard boots, cross country boots, work boots and the like.  
         [0043]    It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and that changes or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.