Heel-Cup for Climbing Shoes

Abstract

A heel-cup structure for climbing shoes having increased edge-contact properties and friction on uneven surface where the heel area has a protrusion around the outer sole area under the heel and rimmed indentation between the heel counter and the outer sole. The heel-cup structure with protrusion of the outer sole made of soft, polymeric, synthetic rubber material provides a device to latch onto a thin edge of the rock surface in contact, to effectuate edging and heel-hooking.

Claims

1. A heel-cup structure for climbing shoes where the heel-cup structure has a slanted open top, an inner surface shaped to be attached to as a part of a climbing shoe, and an outer surface with an upper part and a lower part, which are divided by an indentation, where the upper part forms a heel counter with a structure of ribbed patterns, the indentation is situated below the upper part and above the lower part, and the lower part that has a Hooking Rim, a protrusion of the outer surface of the heel-cup structure, surrounding the calcaneus in a horseshoe shape.

2. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heel-cup structure is made of flexible polymeric material.

3. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the indentation has a depth of more than 2 mm.

4. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the indentation is imbedded along the perimeter of the lower end of the heel counter of the heel-cup forming a dividing line between the heel counter and the Hooking Rim.

5. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the Hooking Rim protrudes at least 5 mm from the indentation.

6. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1, where the structure of ribbed pattern consists of repeating grooves, or ribbed lines, formed by repeated surface indentations.

7. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1, where the ribbed pattern has depths of more than 1 mm.

8. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1, where the ribbed pattern has repeating grooves that are horizontal on the back side of the heel-cup, and slanted on the lateral sides of the heel-cup.

9. The heel cup structure as claimed in claim 1 where the ribbed pattern has grooves that are embedded at angles, on the outer surface of the heel cup.

10. The heel-cup structure as claimed in claim 1 where the top end of the upper part incorporates a cut in the shape similar to the letter v.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment thereof, in which: FIG. 1 is a lateral, exterior view of the heel cup structure realized according to the teachings of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a view of the opposite side of the heel cup structure shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a view of the rear part of the heel cup structure shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the heel cup structure as attached on a climbing shoe. FIG. 5A is a view of the rear part of the conventional heel cup structure as employed in currently available climbing shoe worn by a climber. FIG. 5B is a view of the rear part of the present heel cup structure as employed in a climbing shoe represented in dotted lines. FIG. 6 is an illustration of a climber engaged in heel-hooking activity. FIG. 7 is close-up view of the heel area of the climber engaged in heel-hooking activity. FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the contact area of a conventional climbing shoe and edge of a rock surface. FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the contact area of a climbing shoe equipped with the present heel-cup structure and the edge of a rock surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is an outer heel cup structure to be attached as a part of a climbing shoe in FIG. 4. As in the FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the upper part or heel counter 2 covers the lateral and posterior areas of the heel. The indentations 3 and 3a, run through most of the outer lateral part as in the FIG. 2, extends through the anterior part of the heel and stops short, in the middle of the inner lateral part as in FIG. 1. The indentation, 3a, runs through the lower part of the heel counter begins above platar fascilits on the outer lateral side (3a), i.e. away from the core of the body of the climber or the little toe side, continuously around the back of the heel and stops shorter on the inner lateral side (3), i.e. the core of the body of the climber or the big toe side. The resulting faux outer sole or Hooking Rim (4, 4a), protrudes around the bottom of the heel cup as is evident on the comparison drawings of FIG. 5A (conventional), and 5B (present invention).

[0012] As shown with dotted line 9, in FIG. 2, illustrates the inner thickness of the heel-cup. The dotted line (10) in FIG. 3, represent the inside of the heel cup. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the inner shape, shown by dotted lines (9 and 10) of the heel cup, does not correspond with the indentation (3, 3a). The faux outer sole or the Hooking Rim (4 and 4a) appear to be an outer sole. The protrusion (4) is not a true outer sole, but rather a rim around the outer edge around bottom of the heel-cup.

[0013] The ribbed patterns (6, 7) represent the features on the surface of the heel-cup that provides additional friction when placed on the hold or other features on the surface of the rock.

[0014] The V-shape cut (8) on the lateral top sides of the heel cup assist adjustment of the heel-cup when being attached to as a part of the climbing shoe, to conform to the shape of the heel.

[0015] As FIG. 3 shows the protrusion, or Hooking Rim (4) extends beyond the outer boundaries of the heel counter (2) effectuating the latching of Hooking Rim onto a protrusion FIG. 9. This would have been impossible in conventional climbing shoe, FIG. 8.