EP0185781B1 - Shoe sole of plastic material or rubber - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a shoe sole made of plastic or rubber, consisting of a continuous running layer with a molded-on edge and of elastically deformable webs, which are arranged in the heel and ball area enclosed by the sole edge pointing obliquely to the sole surface and whose upper edges lie in the sole surface .

Shoe soles made of rubber or plastic are already known, on the abrasion-resistant thin running layer of which webs are formed on the upper side in order to reduce the sole weight and to save expensive sole material. For technical reasons, these webs extend perpendicular to the running layer up to the surface of the shoe sole in the longitudinal and / or transverse direction of the sole and are arranged in the central sole area enclosed by the continuous sole edge. A disadvantage of this sole construction is that the elasticity and thus the wearing comfort of shoes with such soles is not improved compared to soles made of solid material, because the vertical webs are subjected to compression when walking. In the case of foamed materials in particular, the webs are stronger and therefore harder than the material of the overlay, because no foam can form in the relatively thin webs during sole production, so that a relatively compact material is produced there.

From the generic DE-A-3 247 686 a ventilated shoe sole made of elastically deformable plastic is known, which has at least one air inlet and one air outlet and in whose central area enclosed by the edge of the sole there are arranged a plurality of mutually parallel transverse webs pointing obliquely upwards, which, as at least partially elastic pump walls, limit a corresponding number of pump chambers arranged next to one another. This known shoe sole is intended to enable effective ventilation of the foot by changing the volume of the pumping chambers when walking and at the same time to offer the foot an orthopedically favorable bed. However, this presupposes that the pump walls are arranged in a highly elastic manner and ascending obliquely to the rear, so that a sufficiently large change in volume of the individual pumping chambers occurs. This high elasticity can be achieved with certain types of shoes, e.g. B. in indoor sneakers or the like., But it is desirable for sturdy footwear, such as hiking and mountain shoes, work shoes and the like. Like. disadvantageous, because it reduces the sure-footedness and it gives the wearer a "spongy" kick feeling.

A similarly designed insole is described in US Pat. No. 3,274,708. In this sole, however, the tongue-shaped webs are formed on an upper continuous running layer pointing downwards.

Finally, so-called cushion soles are known in various designs, in which a desired spring and damping effect is generated by highly elastic foam pads which are formed between the outsole layer and the upper shoe either as midsoles or as pads embedded in the outsole. However, these soles destroy both part of the impact energy generated from the rear when it occurs, which is desirable, and part of the repulsive energy acting obliquely upwards, which is none _. It may be desirable because this part of the energy is lost to the wearer, especially athletes and hikers, as a propulsion for advancement.

The object of the invention is to improve the elasticity or softness of rubber or plastic shoe soles with molded webs, while maintaining the advantages of low weight and material savings as well as cost-effective production.

This object is achieved in that the webs are arranged in the form of a lattice work and, together with their crossing points, rise obliquely forward from the running layer.

Due to the oblique alignment of the bars arranged in a grid and their crossing points, the bars are subjected to bending stress rather than compression when they are treaded and can thus absorb the loads in an elastically resilient manner. It is particularly important here that the points of intersection of the webs are also at an angle, since vertical points would cancel out the suspension options of the network. This bending effect aimed at according to the invention is specifically effective in all loading conditions occurring when walking, since the webs are oriented obliquely towards the front. Under the load coming from behind from above, the oblique elastic webs bend downwards to the front and thereby dampen load impacts. When pushing off the foot with the ball of the toe, the webs that rise diagonally forward result in a stiffening effect of the spring action, because in contrast to the first loading phases of a step in the push-off phase, the webs are almost in the direction of the push-off force and thus fully convert the push-off force into propulsion.

The network of webs preferably encloses oblique recesses which are arranged laterally offset in the longitudinal direction of the sole in the upper layer of the outsole. As a result of this arrangement of the oblique recesses, both the flanks and the node or crossing points of the web of net rise obliquely from the running surface.

For designing different network patterns the oblique recesses can have square, elongated or oval cross sections. Web patterns with predominantly oblique webs running transversely to the longitudinal direction of the sole, which intersect at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal direction of the sole and at an acute angle to the transverse direction of the sole and whose recesses have a rhombic cross section with the longitudinal axis transverse to the longitudinal direction of the sole, are preferred. The preferably overturned webs are aligned with their oblique flanks almost in the transverse direction of the sole. The crossing points are considerably narrower in the longitudinal direction of the sole than in the transverse direction of the sole and can therefore deform particularly resiliently under the load conditions that occur when walking. The production of negative molds for the soles of shoes with this web pattern is easier than with other web patterns according to the invention with sloping flanks and crossing points.

Since completely different load conditions occur in the heel area of a sole than in the ball area, a further preferred embodiment of the sole according to the invention is characterized in that the oblique cavities forming the webs in the heel area are deeper, larger in cross-section and more spaced apart than in the ball area. This design results in fewer webs with greater wall thickness in the heel area, as a result of which a higher load capacity, improved surefootedness and possibly a greater spring travel is achieved, which is desirable in this particularly highly stressed area.

For so-called health shoe soles, in which the support foot must be given certain therapeutic aids by appropriately designing the shoe sole, an embodiment of the invention is characterized by three different web patterns in the longitudinal direction of the shoe, with inclined webs of relatively great depth and strength in the heel area by far Are arranged at a distance, vertical bars of relatively great depth are provided between the heel and ball area and there are bars in the ball area tilted forward at a smaller spacing and less depth and thickness, the bar depths and wall thicknesses can vary according to the desired orthopedic support functions .

The invention can also be used for shoe soles, the sole material of which is itself unsuitable for the formation of elastically deformable sloping webs or whose type of manufacture does not permit one-piece molding of the webs onto the running layer or only with disproportionately great effort. In these cases, molded parts are produced separately from the sole with the webs pointing obliquely forward and subsequently introduced into corresponding recesses in the molded sole.

• Fig. 1 eine im Fersen- und Ballenbereich ein schräges Steg-Netzwerk aufweisende Schuhsohle in Draufsicht;
• Fig. 2 eine Schuhsohle im Längsschnitt mit senkrechten Stegen in der Gelenkpartie;
• Fig. 3a- 3c verschiedene Belastungsphasen einer Schuhsohle gemäß der Erfindung;
• Fig. 4 den vorderen Teil einer Schuhsohle mit ovalen Ausnehmungen im Längsschnitt und in perspektivischer Darstellung;
• Fig. 5 den vorderen Teil einer Schuhsohle mit rechteckigen Ausnehmungen und Stegen von sich ändernder Neigung und Querschnitt in der Darstellung nach Fig. 4;
• Fig. 6 den vorderen Teil einer Schuhsohle mit sechskantigen Ausnehmungen und Stegen von sich verändernder Länge in der Darstellung nach Fig. 4;
• Fig. 7 eine Schuhsohle mit je einer Einlage im Fersen- und im Ballenbereich.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in detail below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

• Figure 1 is a shoe sole in the heel and ball area having an inclined web network in plan view.
• 2 shows a shoe sole in longitudinal section with vertical webs in the joint area;
• 3a-3c different loading phases of a shoe sole according to the invention;
• Figure 4 shows the front part of a shoe sole with oval recesses in longitudinal section and in perspective.
• 5 shows the front part of a shoe sole with rectangular recesses and webs of changing inclination and cross section in the illustration according to FIG. 4;
• 6 shows the front part of a shoe sole with hexagonal recesses and webs of varying length in the illustration according to FIG. 4;
• Fig. 7 a shoe sole, each with an insert in the heel and in the ball area.

The shoe soles shown consist of an elastically deformable plastic, preferably a PUR foam, or of rubber. A continuous running layer 1 has on its underside a conventional profile 2 and a circumferential edge 3 which merges in the ball and heel area 4, 5 into a narrow zone 6, 7 of the sole surface to which the midsole or insole is attached. In the ball area 4 as well as in the heel area 5, a latticework 8, 9 made of inclined webs 10, 11 with crossing points 12 is provided. The webs 11, 12 extend at an angle a of approximately 20 ° to the transverse axis A of the sole and at an angle β of approximately 80 ° to the longitudinal axis B of the sole middle network area have a rhombic cross-section and are cut off from the wall zone in the outer areas. These recesses 13 and thus also the webs 11, 12 with their crossing points are formed in the sole designs according to FIGS. 1 to 3 at an angle of inclination y of approximately 45 ° to the horizontal contact plane C of the shoe sole and inclined toward the front and with the running-layer material molded in one piece. The shoe sole shown in Fig. 1 consists of a PUR foam suitable for sturdy footwear. The width b of the webs 10, 11 in the bale area is approximately 2.0 mm and the web length 1 is from 5.0 to 10.0 mm increasing from the front to the rear. The longer diagonal D running approximately parallel to the transverse axis A from the two center points of the crossing points 12 is approximately 20 mm and the shorter diagonal d parallel to the longitudinal axis B is approximately 10 mm between the crossing points of each rhombic design.

In the heel area 5, the wall thickness b of the webs 10, 11 is approximately 3 to 4 mm and their depth or length is 20 to 25 mm.

The arrangement and shape of the webs 10, 11 in the ball area 4 as well as in the heel area 5 results in a network 8 or 9, which is preferably adapted to the load conditions when walking and combines high elasticity with excellent sure-footedness. The sole shown in Fig. 1 is therefore particularly suitable for sturdy footwear such as work shoes, hiking and mountain boots.

To the elasticity of the shoe sole in the ball and heel area according to the load conditions of special shoes, such as. B. sandals, running shoes or the like. To adjust, the length 1, the width b, the angle of inclination y and the cross-sectional shape of the webs and finally the web direction can be changed. For example, the webs in the ball area of the shoe sole according to FIG. 2 have a widened shape in the base of the web, as a result of which their front flank has a tilted shape. This also applies to the intersection points 12, which cannot be seen from FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the - static - load conditions of the shoe sole in the heel and ball area and in the area in between are shown by arrows. The webs 10, 11 in the heel area are loaded to a relatively large extent in the longitudinal direction of the sole and deformed elastically. Due to the anatomy of the foot, there are no loads on the inside area between the ball of the foot and the heel, which is indicated by the upward-pointing arrow. Relatively large loads act in the front bale area, which leads to a bending stress of the webs 10, 11 at least in their upper, highly elastic section. A narrow zone in the area of the toe joints is relieved - cf. the upward-pointing arrow - and then passes into the area under the toes, which is more heavily loaded. Accordingly, the webs are more or less deformed.

The changing loads and deformations of the webs of a shoe sole designed according to the invention are shown in detail in FIGS. 4, 5. Fig. 3 shows the state at the beginning of a step in which almost the entire load acts on the heel part in a jerky manner, as a result of which the relatively strong and deep ribs are bent far forward. In this load state, the best possible damping is in the foreground, which is made possible by the greater wall thickness of the ribs and in particular by the greater depth of the recesses delimited by the ribs. In the approximately vertical loading of the sole shown in FIG. 4 in the middle sequence of a step, the deformation of the ribs in the heel area is reduced and the ribs in the ball area are bent forward, as is also shown in detail in FIG. 2. An essential effect of the shoe sole according to the invention is clear from FIG. 5, in which the loading processes at the end of a step, i.e. H. a rejection process are shown. As can be seen, in this state the ribs run approximately parallel to the main loading force shown by an arrow, as a result of which they are now primarily subjected to compression and consequently give the shoe a stiffening effect, by means of which the repulsion force exerted by the wearer is particularly effective in "propulsion" "can be implemented.

The basic construction of the shoe soles shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 correspond to the designs according to FIGS. 1, 2. Differences exist essentially only in the other shape of the recesses, which are delimited by the webs. 4, the recesses are designed in the form of ovals 15, which leads to an irregular shape of the webs. It can be seen, however, that even in this embodiment, the webs, despite their irregular shape, preferably run transversely to the longitudinal axis of the sole.

5 corresponds essentially to that of FIG. 4, but the recesses 16 have a rectangular shape. In addition, this FIG. 5 also indicates the possibility of giving the webs a cross section which gradually widens towards the bottom, in order to be able to set the desired suspension and damping properties depending on the type of sole.

6 contains recesses 17 of angular cross-sectional shape and webs of increasing length towards the rear.

Fig. 7 shows a shoe sole in which - due to the sole material in the ball area 4 and in the heel area 5 - an insert 20, 21 is firmly inserted into a correspondingly shaped recess in the sole, in which a web network 8, 9 of the above described type is formed.

As already stated, the wearing properties of the shoe soles according to the invention can be adapted to the special loading conditions of different shoe types by the shape and arrangement of the webs 10, 11 and the size of the recesses 13. This is evident, for example, from FIG. 2, which shows a shoe sole for health shoes, which must give the therapeutic foot certain therapeutic aids. For this purpose, the three different web patterns, of which inclined webs of great depth and strength are provided at a relatively large distance in the heel part, the webs of in the area between the ball and the heel of relatively great depth run vertically and in the bale section in turn the webs pointing obliquely forward, have a small intermediate distance and low depth and strength. These - optionally changeable - web patterns allow very specific damping or suspension effects to be achieved. The strong, deep webs in the heel area provide good cushioning and cushioning of the heel bone, while the vertical webs in the area between the heel and ball, which are subject to compression, provide effective and more rigid support for the arch of the foot in the inner and outer joints. In the ball area, the weaker sloping bars with less depth and smaller distance ensure a springy, soft support of the toe ball combined with an effective push-off effect. At special points - e.g. B. in the area of the metatarsal or the toe bend - hardening of the spring action and thus an additional support function is achieved at these points by means of sloping ridges that are less deep.

A relatively long and comparatively narrow webs can also achieve a special support effect if the spacing between them is selected to be relatively small, so that the webs are supported on one another in the event of elastic compression deformation. This is shown, for example, in FIG. 5, in which the webs, in particular in the right-hand part of this figure, widen downward and are tilted forward. Because of this shape and the relatively narrow recesses 16, a vertical support by the support foot will result in a mutual support of the webs which are elastically deformed towards the front.

Claims (9)

1. A shoe sole made from plastic material or rubber, comprising a continuous outsole layer with an integrally moulded edge (3) and elastically deformable webs (10, 11) which are disposed in the heel and ball regions of the sole (5 and 4) that are enclosed by the sole edge (3), said webs being arranged above the outsole layer (1) at an angle to the sole top surface (6, 7) and having their upper edges disposed in the sole top surface (6, 7),
characterised in
that said webs (10, 11) are arranged in lattice fashion (8, 9) and with their intersection points (12) ascend obliquely forwardly from the outsole layer (1).

2. A shoe sole as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the angular recesses (13) enclosed by said webs (10, 11) are disposed with a mutual lateral offset in longitudinal direction (B) of the sole.

3. A shoe sole as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the mutually laterally offset recesses (13) are of elongated configuration in transverse direction (A) of the sole so that the lattice (8 or 9, respectively) also has a lattice shape which is elongated in transverse direction (B) of the sole.

4. A shoe sole as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the oblique webs (10, 11) cross each other at a more obtuse angle (β) in respect of the longitudinal direction (B) of the sole and at an acuter angle (a) in respect of the transverse direction (B) of the sole, and that the recesses (13), which are inclined relative to the sole tread surface, have rhombic cross-section with the longer diagonal (D) extending in transverse direction (A).

5. A shoe sole as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in that in the heel region (5) the webs (10, 11) are deeper and wider and that the recesses (13) have greater width than in the ball region (4).

6. A shoe sole, especially for health shoes, as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5, characterised in that between the heel and the ball regions of the sole there is provided a lattice formed of crossing points, wherein the webs ascend from the sole layer (1) approximately vertically and have a greater depth than in the ball region.

7. A shoe sole as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said lattice (8, 9) is formed from angled webs in insoles (20, 21) which are placed in corresponding recesses in the outsole (1).

8. A shoe sole as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the length (1) of the webs is about two to three times greater than the web width (b).

9. A shoe sole as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the angle of inclination (y) of the non-loaded webs (10, 11) relative to the tread surface of the shoe sole is in the range of from 20 to 60°.

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