Patent Publication Number: US-2007118973-A1

Title: Sock

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application is a national application corresponding to International Application No. PCT/DE2004/002140 filed Sep. 24, 2004.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      A. Field of the Invention  
      This invention relates to a sock having padding in some areas, in particular for use in athletic activities.  
      B. Description of the Related Art  
      The anatomy of the human foot naturally offers fat pads on the sole of the foot which have a shock-absorbing effect in running or walking. The other areas of the foot, e.g., the ankle or the instep, do not have such fat pads. This natural design of the foot is designed for walking or running without shoes, i.e., barefoot, because all that is necessary then is a distribution of the pressure on the sole of the foot.  
      However, human feet are often accommodated in sturdy shoes. This is the case in particular when the person is moving rapidly and extensively, e.g., during athletic activities. The shoes then serve to cushion impacts and to secure the foot well while on the other hand preventing injuries to the sole of the foot from striking sharply pointed roughness in the surface or objects on the ground.  
      When feet are accommodated in sturdy shoes, pressure points occur on the feet. These pressure points result from the constricting effect of the shoe, the tongue, impact with the heel, etc. Depending on their design, shoes develop different pressure zones. Since these pressure zones do not occur on the sole of the foot, no natural cushioning is provided there in the form of fat pads.  
      To reduce the pressure load on the foot, it is known that padding may be provided in socks. These pads should make it possible to reduce the pressure load. For example, a sock with a reinforced tread surface is known from WO 97/09890 A, for example; with this sock, the reinforcement has a contour corresponding essentially to that of the tread surface. Therefore, the sock offers additional damping. However, since the foot is naturally provided with fat cushions in the area of the tread surface, there is theoretically no need for such cushioning in the tread area. In addition, it is known (see DE 297 15 762 U1) that padding may be provided in other areas of socks, i.e., in the instep, for example, or padding may be provided in the area of the shins and/or calves for the case when shoes are worn that go beyond the ankle, e.g., for hiking, skiing, inline skating or the like. This padding should also result in a reduction in load.  
      To further reduce the pressure load when wearing shoes, padding is provided in the shoes, especially on modern athletic shoes. For example, the shoe tongue may be padded with soft material. The same thing is also true of the edge in the area of the heel, which is usually hard. In addition, in the case of calf-high shoes, additional cushioning is often provided in the area of the ankle to reduce the pressure load there.  
      In the combination of the aforementioned modern athletic shoe with the known socks having padding for pressure relief, the following problem occurs: both the shoes and the socks are padded in the areas of the greatest load, i.e., especially in the area of the instep, the ankle, the Achilles tendon and the like. Since both the shoes and the socks have additional padding in the same areas of the foot, this results in double padding in these areas. However, this does not usually provide any relief for the feet. Instead this double padding causes an additional pressure load on the feet, which leads to a reduction in wearing comfort and therefore results in more rapid fatigue. This then counteracts the actual goals of padding of socks and/or shoes, namely, to provide relief.  
     C. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention wants to remedy this situation. The object of the present invention is to create a sock with areas of padding while avoiding double padding. According to this invention, this object is achieved by coordinating the arrangement of pads in the sock with the arrangement of pads in the shoe.  
      This invention creates a sock having padding in some areas in such a way as to prevent double padding. Consequently, there is no additional load and instead the padded area is expanded, resulting in a uniform pressure distribution. This prevents premature fatigue.  
      In another embodiment of the present invention, the pads in the area of the instep are formed by absorption pads with a web provided between them. The absorption pads preferably protrude beyond the web. This ensures that the tongue provided on the respective shoe is arranged between the absorption pads when the shoe is being worn. Since the tongue is not padded, double padding is prevented due to the lateral arrangement of the absorption pads. Instead, the result is a continuous surface which results in a uniform pressure distribution. This in turn counteracts pressure points as well as premature fatigue of the foot.  
      In another embodiment of the present invention, the pads in the area of the heel are formed by spacer pads with a web being provided between them. The spacer pads advantageously protrude above the web. This creates the possibility of positioning the padding of the edge, which is provided in the area of the heel of the shoe, above a protective cap which is usually provided in the area of the web, i.e., in an area that has little or no padding. This avoids double padding. The side-by-side arrangement of the spacer pads leads to a uniform cushioning effect in the area of the heel and thus to a uniform pressure distribution.  
      In the embodiment of the invention, the sock has an air channel. The air channel makes it possible for moisture to evaporate and/or for the part of the moisture that does not evaporate to be absorbed by the fabric. In addition, the air channel creates the possibility of removing moisture from the area of the shoe out of the area of the shoe.  
      The sock is advantageously furnished with an X-Cross bandage. The X-Cross bandage supports the ankle in the transitional area between the leg and foot. Other embodiments and refinements of the present invention are characterized in the other subclaims.  
    
    
     D. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
      One exemplary embodiment of the present invention is depicted in the drawing and described in greater detail below. The drawings show:  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a sock in a side view;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective diagram of a sock in another embodiment;  
       FIG. 3  is a simplified diagram of a shoe in a side view;  
       FIG. 4  is the sock shown in  FIG. 1  in combination with the shoe shown in  FIG. 3 , and  
       FIG. 5  is a section along line V-V in  FIG. 4  on an enlarged scale. 
    
    
     E. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Sock  1  has a toe area  11 , a heel area  12  and a tread area  13  situated between the toe area and the heel area. These areas  11 ,  12  and  13  may be made of a reinforced material, as depicted in the exemplary embodiment. Use of blended materials such as wool with elastomer fiber materials, e.g., elastan is also possible.  
      The foot part of the sock is connected to a shaft which ends above the ankle in the exemplary embodiment according to  FIG. 3 , but extends over the calf in the exemplary embodiments according to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . On the end at a distance from the foot part, the shaft is provided with a collar  14 . In the exemplary embodiment shown here, an air channel  15  extends from the collar  14  as far as the tread area  13  and is made of a climate regulating knit mesh fabric. The air channel  15  contributes toward moisture being removed from the sole area upward. Such an air channel may be provided on the sock on the inside of the leg or on the outside of the leg or on both.  
      The sock  1  may also be furnished with an X-Cross bandage (not shown) formed from an elastic climate regulating woven fabric. The X-Cross bandage supports the ankle in the transitional area between the leg and the foot.  
      The sock  1  is provided with pads  2  in some areas. In the exemplary embodiment according to  FIG. 1 , an absorption pad  21  is provided, extending from the toe area over the instep of the foot part to the lower area of the shaft of the sock. The pad  21  is arranged at the side of the instep. On the invisible side of the sock  1  shown in  FIG. 1 , a compatible absorption pad  22  is provided (visible in  FIG. 5 ). The pad  22  has essentially the same shape as the pad  21  shown in  FIG. 1 . A web  23  is provided between the pads  21  and  22 , also extending from the toe area  11  to the lower area of the shaft of the sock. The pads  21 ,  22  protrude definitely beyond the web  23 .  
      In the area of ankle, i.e., in the transition between the foot part and the shaft of the sock, a pad  24  is provided, having an essentially ring-shaped design. The ring-shaped pad  24  encloses an essentially circular area  25 . The pad  24  is designed so that it definitely protrudes above the area  25 .  
      In the exemplary embodiment according to  FIG. 2 , two spacer pads  26 ,  27  are arranged on the sock  1  in the area of the heel. In the exemplary embodiment, the shape of the spacer pads  26 ,  27  is adapted to the anatomy of the foot in this area. The spacer pad  26  begins in the heel area  12  and ends at a web  28  which is provided between the spacer pads  26 ,  27 . The web  28  may be made of a climate regulating fabric. The spacer pads  26 ,  27  are designed so that they definitely protrude beyond the web  28 .  
      The pads  2  are generally made of synthetic yarns or compound fabrics or Yarns or similar materials. In the exemplary embodiment, the pads  2  of the sock  1  are made of hollow chamber fibers covered with wool or cotton in spinning. The hollow chamber synthetic yarns have an especially high impact-absorbing and pressure-absorbing effect. The tread area  13  may be made of microfiber knit which helps to reduce abrasion. The foot bed is also made of microfibers in the toe and heel areas  11 ,  12 .  
      The shoe, labeled as  3  in general in the exemplary embodiment, has pads  4  in some areas. It has a sole  31 . A closed upper part  32  is provided on the sole  31 . When the sock is worn ( FIG. 4 ) the wearer&#39;s foot is supported on the sole  31  while the rest of the foot up to the ankle is surrounded by the upper part  32 . The upper part  32  may be made of different materials. In the past, mainly leather has been used as the material for the shoe upper part  32 , but today mainly artificial fibers and synthetics are used.  
      The upper part  32  of the shoe  3  has a tongue  33  by means of which the shoe is tied (not shown here). To this end, eyelets  34  are provided in the shoe. The tongue  33  is provided with a pad  4  in the form of cotton padding  41  to prevent pain to the wearer&#39;s foot when tying the shoe and/or under a heavy load. A cap  35  is provided in the front area of the shoe  3 . The cap  35  may be made of a hard plastic, leather or a tight knit fabric. In addition, a protective cap is also provided in the heel area of the shoe, where it is labeled as  36 . The protective cap  36  may be made of solid plastic, leather or reinforced knit synthetic fibers. The cap  36  extends into the lateral areas of the shoe to provide lateral guidance for the heel.  
      In the area between the protective caps  35  and  36 , the top part  32  of the shoe is made of leather or synthetic fibers. The areas made of this material are labeled as  37 . These areas contribute significantly to the structural strength of the top part of the shoe. In the area  37  of the top  32  of the shoe there are climate zones  38  which are provided in various locations and in various forms and sizes depending on the area of application of the shoe. The areas  37  are provided with pads  42  on the inside to increase wearing comfort. Above the protective cap  36  the shoe  3  is equipped with a padding  43  to reduce the load on the heel.  
      The arrangement of the pads  2  on the sock  1  is coordinated with the arrangement of the pads  4  on the shoe  3 . As an example, this is explained below on the basis of the absorption pads  21 ,  22  with the web  23  in between them on the one hand and the cotton padding  41  in the tongue  33  of the shoe  3  ( FIG. 5 ). The cotton padding  41  on the tongue  33  extends over the entire width of the tongue. It thus also extends beneath the area  37  and consequently also cushions the eyelets  34 . The cross-sectional view according to  FIG. 5  shows that the cotton padding  41  increases the thickness of the tongue  33 . To create optimum cushioning, absorption pads  21 ,  22  are arranged precisely adjacent to the padded tongue  33 . The tongue  33  with the cotton padding  41  is situated exactly on the web  23 . The pads  21 ,  22  and the cotton padding  41  consequently form a continuous uniformly padded surface. This therefore avoids double padding. There is therefore a uniform pressure distribution even under extreme loads or when the shoes are tied very tightly, which counteracts the occurrence of pressure points and thus the risk of premature fatigue.  
      The spacer pads  26 ,  27  in combination with the web  28  have an effect comparable to the effect of the absorption pads  21 ,  22  and the web  23 . As shown by the diagram according to  FIG. 4 , the pad  43  is in contact with the sock  1  above the protective cap  36  of the shoe  3  when the shoes and socks are being worn, thereby relieving the pressure. The spacer pads  26 ,  27  are arranged exactly adjacent to the pad  43 , which is exactly in the area of the web  28 . This design also avoids double padding and at the same time there is a uniform load distribution. Furthermore the heel is protected from damage in the area of the heel due to the inventive design even in the case of extreme movements of the foot.  
      Although socks have been mentioned in the present description and claims, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and instead stockings, pantyhose and the like are also to be subsumed under this heading and the present invention also covers them. Furthermore, the invention is not limited only to the shape arrangement of the pads. Instead, other arrangements and embodiments of pads are also included in the inventive idea, depending on the respective load conditions and/or shoe forms.