Patent Publication Number: US-2002010988-A1

Title: Wedging device for a tightening system and an article of clothing incorporating such device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001] This application is based upon French Patent Application No. 00 09799, filed Jul. 21, 2000, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto in its entirety, and the priority of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. §119.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0003] The present invention relates to a wedging device for a tightening system, using a linkage such as a lace, adapted to equip a clothing article, in particular an article of footwear, such as a shoe or boot. This article of footwear is adapted in particular, but in a non-limiting fashion, to the practice of sports, such as walking or running shoes, but also for leisure and relaxation, such as sandals.  
       [0004] 2. Description of Background and Relevant Information  
       [0005] In the prior art, there are shoelace guides which combine the function of sliding the lace, in order to ensure the tensioning of the lace, as well as a function of wedging the lace in a slit for maintaining the tightening tension in the lace. The documents U.S. Pat. No. 1,434,723 and CH 241 891 describe eyelets for the passage of a lace, which integrate into the usual circular shape, a slit in which the lace is wedged. The documents FR 2 586 343 and WO 89/00387 describe identical functions, but which are combined in a main body that is then attached on the boot upper, in particular by a sewing process. The lace guide is then reduced to the minimum surface to ensure these functions and its attachment to the boot upper.  
       [0006] However, all of the previously described systems rely on the rigidity of the upper with which they are associated in order for the function of unlocking the lace to be properly carried out in the wedging systems. Indeed, if the upper is slightly flexible, the movement for loosening the lace, which moves the lace downwardly, will deform the upper instead of sliding the lace in the slit toward the eyelet.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] One of the objects of the invention is therefore to propose a wedging device for a system for tightening a clothing article, in particular an article of footwear, which has an easy release of the device, irrespective of the envelope of the clothing or footwear article with which it is associated.  
       [0008] To achieve these objects, the wedging device includes a main body, which includes a sliding opening connected to a wedging opening, which main body is extended beyond the wedging opening by a rigid tongue. This rigid tongue extends substantially in the direction of the wedging slit and in the direction of the wedging slit toward the sliding opening.  
       [0009] In a first embodiment, the wedging device is firmly fixed to the envelope of the clothing article.  
       [0010] In a second embodiment, the wedging device is fixed to the envelope of the clothing article so that it can partially move away the envelope.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
     [0011] The invention will be better understood, and other advantages thereof will become apparent from the description that follows, with reference to the annexed drawings. The description illustrates, by way of non-limiting examples, certain preferred embodiments.  
     [0012]FIG. 1 schematically shows a side view of a shoe equipped with the wedging device according to the first embodiment.  
     [0013]FIGS. 2 and 2 a  schematically show a perspective side view of the wedging device according to the first and second embodiments.  
     [0014]FIG. 3 schematically shows a perspective side view of the upper of a shoe equipped with the wedging device according to the second embodiment. The upper is exploded in cross section for more clarity.  
     [0015]FIG. 4 schematically shows a perspective side view of the shoe upper equipped with the wedging device according to a first variation of the second embodiment. The upper is exploded in cross section for more clarity.  
     [0016]FIG. 5 schematically shows a perspective side view of the shoe upper equipped with the wedging device according to a second variation of the second embodiment. The upper is exploded in cross section for more clarity.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0017] In FIG. 1, the clothing article shown is an article of footwear CH constituted here, but in a non-limiting fashion, of a low upper sports shoe. The shoe CH is equipped with a tightening system  101  that brings closer together at least two portions of the envelope O of the clothing article. In the present case, the envelope of the shoe CH is the upper O that overlays a sole  110 .  
     [0018] The tightening system  101  includes a tightening linkage  100 , such as a lace or a string, which passes in guides  30  arranged on each of the lateral and medial surfaces of the upper O, and are arranged, for example, in a substantially symmetrical fashion.  
     [0019] The tightening system  101  is blocked, preferably at one of its ends  101   a , by a blocking mechanism, such as a lacing knot, or a blocking element (not shown). However, when implementing the blocking mechanism, the user must loosen the tightening linkage  100 , even locally, thereby causing a loss of tension in the tightening linkage  100 . This shows the advantage of positioning on the shoe CH a wedging device  111  that prevents a decrease of tension in the linkage  110 , without any specific manipulation. This wedging device  111  is advantageously arranged at the end  101   a  of the tightening system  101 , and preferably between the blocking mechanism and the last guide  30  that is positioned at the same end  101   a  of the tightening system  101 .  
     [0020] In the illustrated embodiment at issue, the wedging device  111  is firmly fixed to the upper O of the footwear CH. The constituent elements of the wedging element  111 , namely, a main body  10  and a rigid tongue  3 , include fixing assembly  12 ,  13 , such as stitchings, which are adapted to fix the elements  10 ,  3 , respectively, to the upper O, and more generally to the envelope of the clothing article.  
     [0021] During the phase of tensioning the tightening system  101 , the user pulls the two strands of the tightening linkage  100  upwardly, and by moving away from the axial plane formed by the leg and the foot. The outer portion  100   b  of the tightening linkage  100 , comprised between the wedging device  111  and the zone for gripping with the user&#39;s hand, is therefore advantageously positioned outside the upper O. Conversely, the tightening linkage  100  therefore includes an inner portion  100   a  that passes at least partially in the upper O, in the direction of the guides of the tightening device  101 .  
     [0022] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the upper O includes a channel  31  that opens out on the wedging device  111 . The channel  31  is obtained by an upper reinforcement  32 , which is fixed outside the upper O by appropriate means such as stitching  33 . This stitching  33  has an interruption  34  which makes it possible to free a passage for the tightening linkage  100  between the upper O and the upper reinforcement  32 .  
     [0023]FIG. 2 shows the wedging device  111  and, in broken lines, the tightening linkage  100  in various positions of use. The inner portion  100   a  of the tightening linkage  100  comes from the guides of the tightening device and passes through the wedging device  111 .  
     [0024] When one wishes to tension the tightening linkage  100 , the latter is placed in a low position designated by the reference numeral  100   d . The tensioning is then made possible, because the tightening linkage  100  passes in the wedging element  111 , in the area of a sliding opening  1  that pierces the main body  10  of the wedging device  111 . This sliding opening  1  advantageously has a cylindrical shape whose diameter is substantially equal to, or even slightly greater than the diameter of the tightening linkage  100 .  
     [0025] During the blocking phase, the tightening linkage  100  is placed in a high position designated by the reference numeral  100   c . The tightening linkage  100  engages in a wedging slit  2  whose width is less than the diameter of the sliding opening  1 , making it possible to maintain, by wedging, the tension in the tightening linkage  100 . The wedging slit  2 , which extends through the main body  10 , and which is connected to the sliding opening  1 , has a width that is greater than or equal to the diameter of the linkage  100 .  
     [0026] Moreover, the main body  10  advantageously has an extra thickness zone  35  positioned substantially around the sliding opening  1  and the wedging slit  2 . The extra thickness  35  is substantially equal to the thickness of the stiffener of the upper shown in FIG. 1. Furthermore, the stiffener of the upper has a recess that is complementary of the extra thickness zone  35 . Respecting this constructional arrangement makes it possible to obtain a continuity of the outer surface of the upper stiffener, and also makes it possible to move the upper away from the sliding opening  1  and from the wedging slit  2 , so that the friction of the tightening linkage  100  does not deteriorate the constituent material of the upper and/or upper stiffener.  
     [0027] The main body  10 , which includes the sliding opening  1  and the wedging slit  2 , is extended by a rigid tongue  3  that extends substantially in the direction X of the wedging slit  2 , beyond the sliding opening  1 , and in the direction of the wedging slit  2  toward the sliding opening  1 . The advantages of this rigid tongue  3  will become apparent subsequently.  
     [0028]FIGS. 3, 4, and  5  show the envelope O of the clothing article, which has been sectioned for an easier understanding, according to various alternatives of the second embodiment in which the envelope O includes a lug  5  that is fixed, at least at its base  20 , to the envelope O.  
     [0029] In FIG. 3, the rigid tongue  3  is fixed to the lug  5  by at least one transverse seam  4  that fixes the wedging device  111  to the envelope O. The transverse seam  4  maintains the wedging device  111  inserted between the envelope O and the lug  5 . In the preferred embodiment currently shown, the transverse seam  4  is positioned in the vicinity of the sliding opening  1 , and is preferably positioned substantially half-way between the upper end  2   a  of the wedging slit  2  and the lower end  3   a  of the rigid tongue  3 . This transverse seam  4  makes it possible to fix the base  20  of the lug  5  to the envelope O and, thus, due to its position, to define a portion  111   a  of the wedging device  111  that can move away from the envelope O, as well as a portion  111   b  which encloses the rigid tongue  3  at least partially, and which is fixed on the envelope O. The spacing of the portion  111   a  depends directly on the deformation in bending of the rigid tongue  3 .  
     [0030] During the loosening movement, the tightening linkage must slide from the upper end  2   a  of the wedging slit  2  toward the sliding opening  1 . So that this sliding can occur, the user exerts a downward force on the tightening linkage which must remain tensioned. Moreover, maintaining tension in the tightening linkage causes a deformation of the wedging device  111  toward the outside of the foot, which results in the partial spacing in relation to the envelope O, as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, the downward force applied by the user causes the tightening linkage to slide, because the relative rigidity of the constituent material of the wedging device  111  avoids the deformations by buckling and compression, substantially along the direction of the sliding slit  2  in the position deformed by spacing.  
     [0031] The present wedging device therefore optimizes the loosening, irrespective of the rigidity of the envelope. The best results in terms of comfort and performance are obtained for a rigid tongue  3  of about 1-2 millimeters thick along a length of about 7-20 millimeters, made of a thermoplastic material, including in particular, but in a non-limiting fashion, polyamide, polyethylene, or acetal.  
     [0032] This example is provided for guidance only and is not limiting, because, for a given material, one can generally determine a length/thickness geometric combination making it possible to obtain the desired flexibility.  
     [0033]FIG. 4 shows a variation of the embodiment shown previously, in which the lug  5  is integrated into the wedging device  111 . The wedging device  111  is fixed to the upper O, in the area of the rigid tongue  3 , by at least one transverse stitched seam  4 , in the vicinity of the portion  111   a  of the device that can move away from the upper O. The wedging device  111  includes a bending zone  11  that is oriented transversely and is positioned between the rigid tongue  3  and the main body  10 . More specifically, the bending zone  11  is located between the sliding opening  1  and the transverse seam  4 . The rigid tongue  3  can be advantageously fixed to the envelope O by a complementary transverse seam  4 ′ that is located in the vicinity of the lower end  3   a  of the tongue  3 . The functioning of the wedging device  111  is similar to that described in FIG. 3. However, it makes it possible to break free from the choice of good material and good geometry to obtain the desired flexibility. Indeed, the flexibility of the device is currently obtained by the bending zone  11  which can be obtained by a bellows, in particular.  
     [0034] In FIG. 5, the wedging element  111  is fixed on a lug  5  that is connected, at least by its base  20 , to the envelope O. More specifically, the rigid tongue  3  and the main body  10  are fixed to the lug  5  by appropriate means such as a stitched seam  36 . To optimize the ease of loosening the device by avoiding the buckling of the lug  5 , the wedging device  111  extends advantageously over an area corresponding substantially to that of the lug  5 . This result is also obtained if the stitching  4  is arranged substantially in the area of the lower end  3   a  of the rigid tongue  3 .  
     [0035] The present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described hereinabove, which are provided for guidance only, but encompasses all similar or equivalent embodiments. The present invention also encompasses the tightening systems integrating a wedging device consistent with the spirit of the invention.  
     [0036]FIG. 2 a  shows the wedging device  111  and specifies the length of the rigid tongue  3 . The rigid tongue  3  extends over a length d, along the direction X of the sliding slit  2 , which is greater than or equal to the cumulated axial length D of the wedging slit  2  and of the sliding opening  1 . The cumulated axial length D is defined as the sum of the length of the wedging slit  2  and of the diameter of the sliding opening  1 . The best experimental results were obtained for a length of the rigid tongue  3  substantially equal to two and a half times the cumulated axial length D.  
     [0037] However, the results are good starting with a cumulated axial length D greater than one and a half times the cumulated axial width D.