Locking device for a sports footwear and sports footwear provided with such locking device

Abstract

A locking device for sports footwear is adapted to lock two mutually hinged portions of sports footwear or to release them from each other. The locking device may be used in a ski boot for locking or releasing the shell and cuff relative to each other. The locking device comprises a male member and a female member, which members comprise respective engaging elements adapted to cooperate with each other, and actuating elements for moving the members from a configuration in which the male member is disengaged from the female member to a configuration in which the male member is engaged with the female member. The engaging elements of the male member and/or the engaging elements of the female member have a tapered or conical shape, whereby it is possible to make a coupling without clearance between the male member and the female member when the members are engaged.

Claims

1. A locking device for a sports footwear, the sports footwear comprising a shell and a cuff hinged to each other, wherein the locking device comprises a male member and a female member, which male member and female member are provided with respective engaging elements adapted to cooperate with each other and at least one of which members is arranged movably and is connected to actuating elements of the locking device, wherein one of the male member and female member of the locking device is stationarily mounted on the shell/the cuff of the sports footwear and the other one of the male member and female members of the locking device is movably mounted on the cuff/the shell of the sports footwear and is actuated by the actuating elements, the actuating elements being actuatable for moving the locking device from a first configuration in which the engaging elements of the male member are engaged with the engaging elements of the female member for preventing rotation of the cuff of the sports footwear relative to the shell of the sports footwear, to a second configuration in which the engaging elements of the male member are disengaged from the engaging elements of the female member so as to leave the cuff of the sports footwear free to rotate relative to the shell of the sports footwear, and vice versa, wherein the engaging elements of the male member and the engaging elements of the female member have a tapered or conical shape, whereby, when the actuating elements are actuated for moving the locking device from the second configuration to the first configuration, the engaging elements of the male member penetrate into the engaging elements of the female member until the male member becomes wedged into the female member so as to make a coupling without clearance when the engaging elements of the male member are wedged into the engaging elements of the female member, wherein the actuating elements comprise a wedge-shaped element movably connected to the male member/female member and an actuating lever connected to the wedge-shaped element by means of an interposed spring, wherein the actuating lever can move from a first to a second stable position for moving the actuating elements from the first to the second configuration, and vice versa, and wherein, when the actuating lever is in the first position, the wedge-shaped element pushes the male member and the female member against each other.

2. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the engaging elements of the male member comprise one or more tapered teeth and wherein the engaging elements of the female member comprise one or more correspondingly tapered seats.

3. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the male member/female member is provided with a slot, a slider movably mounted in the slot is provided and the wedge-shaped element is attached to the slider.

4. A sports footwear, of the kind comprising a shell and a cuff hinged to each other, comprising a locking device according to claim 1 for preventing/allowing the relative movement of the shell and the cuff relative to each other.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically shows a sports footwear, more particularly a ski boot, incorporating a locking device according to a first embodiment of the invention;

(3) FIG. 2a schematically shows a cross-section of the locking device according to the first embodiment of the invention, illustrated in a first configuration;

(4) FIG. 2b schematically shows a cross-section of the locking device of FIG. 2a, illustrated in a second configuration;

(5) FIG. 3 schematically shows a sports footwear, more particularly a ski boot, incorporating a locking device according to a second embodiment of the invention; and

(6) FIG. 4 schematically shows a perspective view of the locking device according to the second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) The preferred embodiments of the invention described below refer to the application of the invention to a ski boot comprising a shell and a cuff hinged to each other. Such embodiments are not to be considered as limiting in any way the scope of the invention and the invention can be applied to any sports footwear comprising two mutually hinged portions in which it is deemed necessary or convenient to provide thatdepending on the user's needsthe footwear can assume a configuration in which the portions are movable relative to each other or a configuration in which the portions are locked relative to each other.

(8) Referring to FIG. 1, there is schematically illustrated a ski boot 100. The ski boot comprises an inner element or liner made of a substantially soft material (not visible in FIG. 1) and an outer shell 120 made of a substantially rigid material, configured for receiving the user's foot. In addition, the ski boot 100 comprises a cuff 130 adapted to receive the user's ankle and lower part of the leg. The cuff 130 partially overlaps the shell 120 and is hinged thereto by means of a pair of pins 140 arranged on the opposite sides of the ski boots and located substantially at the user's malleolar region.

(9) As anticipated above, when the user is skiing, it is desired that any rotation of the cuff 130 relative to the shell 120 is prevented; on the contrary, when the user has to walk some way it is preferable that the cuff 130 is free to rotate relative to the shell 120. To this aim, the ski boot 100 is provided with a locking device 1 that can selectively lock the possibility of the cuff 130 to rotate relative to the shell 120.

(10) Such locking device 1, which will be described in detail below, is arranged in the lower portion of the cuff 130, in the area overlapping the shell 120, preferably in the rear portion of the ski boot 100. Correspondingly, the cuff 130 in its lower portion comprises a portion shaped so as to form a housing 132 for receiving the locking device, except for the actuating elements 3 of the locking device, which are locatedat least partiallyoutside the housing 132, so that they can be accessible by the user for moving the locking device 1 from the configuration in which rotation of the cuff 130 relative to the shell 120 is prevented to the configuration in which such rotation is allowed, and vice versa.

(11) The housing 132 is provided with an opening 134 allowing passage of connecting elements for connecting the actuating elements 3 of the locking device 1 to that member of the locking device that is actuated by them.

(12) The locking device 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 2a and 2b. The locking device 1 comprises a male member 5, consisting of a body 5a having a plurality of teeth 5b, and a female member 7, consisting of a body 7a in which corresponding seats 7b for the teeth 5b of the male member 5 are provided.

(13) At least one member of the locking device is movable, whereas the other one is preferably stationary. In the illustrated embodiment, the female member 7 is fixed to the shell 120 of the ski boot 100. The male member 5, instead, is mounted so as to be movable, more particularly rotatable, on the cuff 130 of the ski boot 100 by means of a hinge pivot 9.

(14) The male member 5 is connected to the actuating elements 3 and is actuated by them for moving from a first configuration in which the teeth 5b of the male member 5 are engaged in the seats 7b of the female member 7 (FIG. 2a) to a second configuration in which the teeth 5b of the male member are disengaged from the seats 7b of the female member 7 (FIG. 2b): in the aforesaid first configuration (FIG. 2a), owing to the engagement between the male and female members 5, 7 of the locking device, any rotation between shell and cuff is prevented; on the contrary, in the second configuration (FIG. 2b) the relative rotation between shell and cuff is not prevented by the locking device 1.

(15) According to the invention, the engaging elements of the male member 5 and/or of the female member 7 are tapered or conical. More particularly, in the illustrated embodiment the teeth 5b of the male member 5 are tapered and the seats 7b of the female member 7 are tapered correspondingly. In this way it is possible to eliminate clearances between the engaging elements 5b, 7b of the male and female members 5, 7 of the locking device andcorrespondinglyany minimum relative movement between the shell and cuff of the ski boot 100 when the locking device is in its first configuration (FIG. 2a).

(16) In this embodiment of the invention, the actuating elements comprise a wedge-shaped element 3a which is interposed between the male member 5 of the locking device 1 and the inner wall of the housing 132 provided in the cuff 130 and is movablymore particularly slidablyconnected to the male member 5. For this purpose, a slot 5c is formed in the male member 5 and the wedge-shaped element 3a is attached to a slider 3b mounted so as to be slidable in the slot 5c.

(17) The wedge-shaped element 3a is further connected, by means of a transmission cable 3c, to an actuating lever 3d with interposition of a spring 3e or similar elastic element, the actuating lever being capable of assuming two different stable positions shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, respectively.

(18) When the actuating lever 3d is in the position shown in FIG. 2a, the wedge-shaped element 3a is in an advanced position, with its slider 3b at the distal end of the slot 5c of the male member 5. In this configuration, the wedge-shaped element is wedged between the inner wall of the cuff 130 and the body 5a of the male member 5, so as to push the male member 5 against the female member 7 and to make the teeth 5b of the male member 5 penetrate into the seats 7b of the female member 7 until any clearance is eliminated.

(19) In this configuration the locking device 1 prevents relative rotation of the cuff 130 relative to the shell 120. In addition, the wedge-shaped element 3a opposes any horizontally directed force which would tend to loosen the engagement between the male and female members 5, 7 and create clearances.

(20) By overcoming the resistance of the spring 3e, the actuating lever can be brought to the position shown in FIG. 2b. In this configuration, the wedge-shaped element 3a is in a retracted position, with its slider 3b at the proximal end of the slot 5c of the male member 5 and the male member 5 is correspondingly rotated around the pin 9 so that the teeth 5b of the male member 5 are disengaged from the seats 7b of the female member 7. In this configuration, the locking device 1 does not prevent relative rotation of the cuff 130 relative to the shell 120.

(21) By rotating again the actuating lever 3d, it is possible to make the slider 3b slide within the slot 5c to the configuration of FIG. 2a and simultaneously cause movement of the wedge-shaped element 3a, whichby wedging itself between the inner wall of the housing 132 of the cuff 130 and the male member 5 of the locking deviceprogressively pushes the male member into engagement with the female member 7 of the locking device; the cuff 130 is thus locked again relative to the shell 120.

(22) Turning to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is schematically illustrated the locking device 1 according to a second embodiment of the invention. The embodiment differs from the first embodiment described above in the structure of the actuating elements 3.

(23) In this embodiment, too, the locking device 1 comprises a male member 5, consisting of a body 5a having a plurality of teeth 5b, and a female member 7, consisting of a body 7a in which corresponding seats 7b for the teeth 5b of the male member 5 are provided. The female member 7 is configured so as to be fixed to the shell 120 of the ski boot 100, whereas the male member 5 is configured so as to be movably, more particularly, rotatably, mounted on the cuff 130 of the ski boot, which cuff 130 is hinged to the shell 120 by means of the pins 140 andin its lower portion in which it overlaps the shell 120is shaped so as to define a housing 132 for receiving the locking device 1.

(24) The teeth 5b of the male member 5 are tapered and the seats 7b of the female member 7 are tapered correspondingly, so as to ensure absence of clearances when the male member is brought into engagement with the female member.

(25) In this second embodiment, the actuating elements 3 comprise a screw 3a which is screwed in a bushing 3b fixed to the cuff 130 of the ski boot. The screw 3a is arranged so that its head 3c possibly provided with a handle 3d for facilitating rotation thereofprojects outside the cuff 130 so that it can be actuated by the user and its shaft 3e penetrates through the cuff 130 into the housing 132 and comes into abutment against the male member 5 of the locking device.

(26) By screwing the screw 3a, it is possible to make it penetrate into the housing 132, whereby its shaft 3e pushes the male member 5 against the female member 7 and make the teeth 5b of the male member penetrate into the seats 7b of the female member until any clearance is fully eliminated.

(27) During use, the screw 3a with its shaft 3e opposes any horizontally oriented force directed outwards which would tend to loosen the engagement between the male and female members 5, 7 of the locking device.

(28) It is clear from the above description that the invention achieves the objects set forth above by providing a locking device capable of locking two mutually hinged portions of a sports footwear relative to each other in an effective and clearance-free manner.

(29) It is further evident that the embodiments described above in detail are in no way to be intended as limiting and that several modifications and variations within the reach of those skilled in the art may be made without departing from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

(30) More particularly, contrary to what has been described with reference to the above illustrated embodiments, it is possible to provide a locking device in which the male member is stationary and the female member is movable and actuated by the actuating elements. More generally, the number, the type, the structure and the operation of the engaging elements of the male member and of the female member, of the actuating elements for moving the members from a configuration to the other one, and of the elements for pushing the male member against the female member when the members are engaged with each other can be chosen from time to time by the person skilled in the art on the basis of his/her knowledge and preferences, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

(31) In addition, the sports footwear according to the invention may be equipped with an additional locking device (not provided for nor illustrated in the embodiments described above) capable of locking the two footwear portions relative to each to other permanently and independently from the locking device according to the invention. Such an additional locking device would therefore be a sort of by-pass of the locking device according to the invention and on one part it would allow to lock the two footwear portions even more firmly and without clearance and on the other part it would ensure the user that no accidental, undesired relative movement of the two footwear portions can occur during sports practice. The additional locking device can be, for instance, manually actuated and comprise a screw-nut system or similar system.

(32) Finally, while the invention has been described with reference to a ski boot, it will be understood that it is also applicable to other types of footwear.