DETACHABLE TONGUE FOR INJECTED SLIPPER, WITH ASSOCIATED SLIPPER AND BOOT

Abstract

The invention pertains to a detachable tongue (16) for a slipper, with the said tongue (16) incorporating: one upper part (20) designed to come into contact with a tibial area and an area located opposite the talus of the user's foot; one lower part (21) designed to come into contact with a rear part of the top of the user's foot; and a detachable connection system (17) that connects the said tongue (16) with the slipper (10); and a heating element (25) connected to the said lower part (21), such that the said heating element (25) can extend between a tip of the boot and the user's toes.

Claims

1. A detachable tongue for a slipper, the tongue comprising: an upper part configured to come into contact with a tibial area and an area located opposite the talus of the user's foot; a lower part configured to come into contact with a rear part of the top of the user's foot; and a detachable connection system that connects the tongue with the slipper, wherein the tongue also comprises a heating element connected to the lower part, and wherein the heating element is configured to extend between a tip of the boot and the user's toes.

2. The detachable tongue of claim 1, wherein the detachable connection system is separate from the heating element and is connected to the lower part.

3. The detachable tongue of claim 1, wherein the detachable connection system is connected to the heating element, so as to interoperate with a complementary connection system positioned under the tip of the slipper.

4. The detachable tongue of claim 1, wherein the detachable connection system is a system of hook-and-loop type.

5. The detachable tongue of claim 1, wherein the detachable tongue incorporates an energy storage system incorporated within the detachable tongue, within the said upper part.

6. The detachable tongue of claim 1, wherein the detachable tongue incorporates a connector positioned above an upper extremity of the detachable tongue, and a power supply cable extending from the heating element to the connector, the power supply cable passing through the upper and lower parts.

7. The detachable tongue of claim 1 wherein the tongue incorporates an internal pocket that allows the injection of a material configured to solidify.

8. The detachable tongue of claim 1, wherein the tongue incorporates panels forming the upper and lower parts, with the panels being made of polyurethane or vinyl ethylene acetate.

9. A slipper comprising: a sole with edges from which a tip and side panels extend, with the said side panels being stitched together at a rear part of the slipper and being stitched to the tip at a front part of the slipper; and the detachable tongue in accordance with claim 1, with the detachable tongue being connected to the slipper in a detachable manner.

10. A boot incorporating a shell within which the slipper in accordance with claim 9 is positioned.

11. The detachable tongue of claim 2, wherein the detachable connection system is configured to interoperate with a complementary connection system positioned above the tip of the slipper.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

[0039] The manner of implementation of the invention and the advantages arising therefrom will come clearly to the fore in the form of implementation that followswhich is for information purposes and is not limitativewith the aid of the appended illustrations, in which FIGS. 1 to 3 show:

[0040] FIG. 1: an in-perspective view of an injected slipper being in accordance with the current state of the art;

[0041] FIG. 2: an in-perspective view of a detachable heating tongue being in accordance with one first form of implementation of the invention; and

[0042] FIG. 3: a partial cross-section of a slipper incorporating a detachable heating tongue being in accordance with a second form of implementation of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0043] In the description that follows, the term front and the terms rear or back refer to the position of the tongue when it is used within a slipper. The front corresponds to the front of the slipper, namely the part facing the toes of the user's foot, while the back corresponds to the rear of the boot, namely the part facing the heel of the user's foot.

[0044] FIG. 2 illustrates a tongue (16) incorporating one upper part (20) and one lower part (21). The upper part (20) is designed to be in contact with a tibial area and an area located opposite the talus of the user's foot, whereas the lower part (21) is intended to be in contact with a rear part above the user's foot. The lower (21) and upper (20) parts can be made of vinyl ethylene acetate, in the case of a non-injected tongue. As variants, the lower (21) and upper (20) parts can incorporate at least one internal pocket that permits the injection of a material designed to solidify so as to form an injected tongue. An injected tongue is preferably made of polyurethane. Furthermore, the lower (21) and upper (20) parts can be reinforced with reinforcing componentspieces of nylon, for example.

[0045] The upper extremity of the upper part (20) is endowed with a handle (30), to facilitate the positioning and the extraction of the tongue (16) when it is inserted in a slipper (10).

[0046] The tongue (16) can be inserted into an injected slipper (10) such as described with reference to FIG. 1. The slipper (10) in FIG. 1 incorporates a sole (11) with edges from which side panels (12a, 12b) and a tip (13) extend. The side panels (12a, 12b) are stitched together at the rear of the slipper (10).

[0047] At the front of the slipper (10), the side panels (12a, 12b) are stitched to the tip (13). The tip (13) is designed to surround the user's foot, from the metatarsophalangeal articulation until the ends of the toes. The side panels (12a, 12b) are designed to surround the rear of the foot, the heel and the bottom of the peroneal area.

[0048] Two injection pockets are incorporated into each side panel (12a, 12b). These injection pockets are connected to inlet (14) and outlet (15) pipes. The inlet pipes (14) are intended to inject the material, while the outlet pipes (15) are intended to extract the material present in the pockets when the pockets are completely full.

[0049] The tongue (16) is attached to the slipper (10) at one front extremity of the lower part (21), via a detachable connection system (17). As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the detachable connection system (17) can be a piece of fabric stitched to the lower extremity of the lower part (21). The lower face of the piece of fabric incorporates loops that are able to interoperate with hooks positioned on the bottom of the tip (13) of the slipper (10).

[0050] Other types of detachable connection system (17) are possible. For example, the lower extremity of the lower part (21) can be endowed with a loop, and the securing can be achieved with a stud attached to the tip of the boot that enters the loop. When the stud surrounds the loop, one extremity of the stud is connected to another part of the stud via a connection of hook-and-loop type, to ensure the connection of the tongue. As a variant, the tongue can also be attached to the side panels (12a, 12b) via one or more detachable connection systems (17).

[0051] Apart from the detachable connection system (17), the tongue (16) also has a heating element (25) connected to the lower extremity of the lower part (21). In FIGS. 2 and 3, the heating element (25) can be of all known forms. In the example in FIG. 3, the heating element (25) is directly connected to the lower extremity of the lower part (21) whereas, in FIG. 2, the heating element (25) is covered with a protective pocket.

[0052] In all cases, the heating element (25) is designed to be positioned within a slipper (10) between a tip (13) of the slipper (10) and the user's toes. The heating element (25) is able to heating the user's toes by emitting heat above the user's toes.

[0053] The heating element (25) can be positioned in contact with the tip (13) of the slipper (10) by action of the user, when he/she inserts his/her foot into the slipper (10). As a variant, the heating element (25) can incorporate a detachable connection system located on the heating element (25). For instance, the upper surface of the heating element (25) can incorporate loops designed to interoperate with hooks positioned on the lower face of the tip (13) of the slipper (10). The detachable connection system can also be used to connect the tongue (16) to the slipper (10) and can, therefore, replace the detachable connection system (17) in FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0054] When the heating element (25) is an electrical resistor, it is necessary to power the electrical resistor. To accomplish this, the upper part (20) of the tongue (16) can incorporate an electrical power storage system. Preferably, this power storage system is located on the exterior face of the tongue (16), in the tibial area, in order to reduce the inconvenience caused to the user by the presence of this power storage system.

[0055] As a variant, the power storage system can be external to the tongue (16). Preferablyas illustrated in FIG. 2the tongue (16) incorporates a connector (26) positioned on an upper extremity of the tongue (16). This connector (26) is connected to the heating element (25) via a cable extending from the heating element (25) until the connector (26), passing via the lower (21) and upper (20) parts. A housing and a cover can be provided on the upper extremity of the upper part (20), to store the connector (26) when it is not in use.

[0056] Thus, the tongue (16) can be used in an injected slipper. As a variant, the detachable tongue (16) according to the invention can fit any type of slipper incorporating a detachable tonguea thermo-molded slipper, for example.

[0057] The invention thus provides a heating system for a boot that incorporates a slipper with a detachable tongue. The invention can be adapted for multiple different slippersan injected or thermo-molded slipper, for example.

[0058] The heating provided by the invention above the user's toes is very effective, and enhances the user's comfort.