FOOTWEAR UPPER AND A PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF UPPERS FOR FOOTWEAR.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a footwear upper and a process for the production of uppers for footwear.

It is known that, particularly in so-called "technical" footwear, such as mountain and trekking shoes, as well as running shoes and the like, cable reel rotors are used in which the laces pass.

Cable reel rotors of the type indicated above are described for example in EP 1213981 B l, US 6,202,953 B l, JPH07208 A, EP 1814417 B l, US 5,319,868, EP 56953 B l, WO 2014/074645 A2 and US9339089B2 .

In these documents, the fixing of the rotor to a shoe or other item to be equipped with the closure system is made by means of rivets, seams, clips, or by gluing.

Such known means of fastening the rotor to the shoe do not always provide adequate sealing guarantees, in particular, as regards protection from water and from stresses due to torsion caused by the lace wound on the rotor and subjected to traction during use.

IT 1395832B 1 and WO2014/147652A1 show how to associate the laces hooks by means of the fusion of a seal that is welded to the material that forms the body of the laces hooks. The teaching of these latter documents has not been implemented in the rotors sector and in fact also relatively recent documents, such as, for example, US2016/120267A1 and US2018/160775A1, are silent and don’t suggest alternative methods for fixing the rotor to the upper compared to those of the prior art. In these examples, there is provided a support flange of the rotor body, flange which for be fixed on an item may be sewn, glued, RF-welded or ultrasound-welded.

In general, the application of these rotors on the upper usually involves the execution of holes and relative fixing seams which compromise the impermeability and integrity of the upper and oblige the shoe factories to adopt particular technical measures to limit their negative effects with consequent disadvantages also in terms of production times of the single articles; moreover, the production processes implemented up to now can lead to obtaining the fixing of the rotor to the upper such as not to offer an effective resistance to the torsional stresses caused by the lace when it is wound on the rotor. The main purpose of the present invention is to eliminate, or at least greatly reduce the inconveniences related to the application of the cable reel rotors on a upper by means of sewing.

This result has been achieved, in accordance with the present invention, by adopting the idea of implementing a method and of realizing a upper having the characteristics indicated in the independent claims. Other characteristics of the present invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

Thanks to the present invention is possible to produce footwear, in particular technical footwear, without compromising the waterproofness and the integrity of the upper for the application of the cable reel rotor. In addition, in a shoe made in accordance with the present invention the cable reel rotor is anchored to the upper in a stable and durable way, and ensures optimum resistance to stresses that may affect an intense use of the shoe; with the present solution, resistance to stresses such as those due to torsion is optimized. Another advantageous aspect of the present invention is that the upper can be provided with a single element that incorporates both the rotor that the hooks defining thus a single body that contributes to maintain unchanged the distances between the various incorporated components, and therefore guarantees the obtaining of optimal overall characteristics of resistance to mechanical stress, increasing the impermeability of the shoe. In addition to this, there is the fact that the implementation of a method in accordance with the present invention allows to realize also uppers with seals which allow a glimpse of the shape of the cable reel rotors and the hooks if desired.

These and further advantages and characteristics of the present invention will be more and better evident to each person skilled in the art thanks to the description that follows and to the annexed drawings, provided by way of example but not to be considered in a limiting sense, in which:

- Fig. 1 is a plan schematic view of an upper for footwear in accordance with the present invention;

- Fig. 2 represents a section view along the A-A line of Fig.1;

- Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig.2, in which the base of the rotor is not flat;

- Fig. 4 shows a schematic side view of a base of the cable reel rotor;

- Fig. 5 shows a schematic plan view of a base of the cable reel rotor;

- Fig. 6 shows another schematic side view of a base of the cable reel rotor; - Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of a base of the cable reel rotor;

- Fig. 8 shows another schematic plan view of a base of the cable- winding rotor;

- Fig. 9 shows another perspective view from above of a base of the cable winding rotor;

- Fig. 10 shows to a shoe with an upper in accordance with the present invention.

Reduced to its essential structure and with reference to the figures of the attached drawings, an upper for footwear (1) according to the present invention has a lower side (10) and an upper side (11). The lower side (10) is intended to be inside the shoe when the upper is joined to the sole (S). The upper side (11) when the upper (1) is joined to the sole is outside and has at least one cable reel rotor (2) and a plurality of laces hooks (3, 30). These can be of the closed mouth type, open mouth type, or channel type as shown in the drawings or of another type. With reference to the example shown in the attached drawings, the hooks (3) arranged on opposite edges of the upper (1) define corresponding channels through which the lace (C) passes, which is wound on an internal spool of the cable reel rotor (2), while the laces hooks (30) arranged on the tongue (L) are hooks with closed mouth which, in cooperation with the other laces hooks (3) delimit a path with crossed sections for the same lace (C). For example, the cable reel rotor (2) can be of the type described in US9339089B2 to which reference can be made for a more detailed description. Such a device comprises a base for its anchoring to the upper and the rotor itself that can be inserted in a housing (40) formed on the same base.

In accordance with the present invention, the anchoring of the base of the reel rotor (4) to the upper side (11) of the upper (1) is made by forming a seal (5) which engages the base

(4) of the cable reel rotor (2).

Preferably, said seal (5) extends to the parts of the upper (1) where the laces hooks (3) are arranged to anchor them to the upper similarly to what is provided for the base (4) of the cable reel rotor (2).

Said seal is formed by hot injection of plastic material into a mold (not visible in the drawings) provided with seats for the positioning of the base (4) of the cable reel rotor and possibly of laces hooks (3) and imprints that give the desired shape to the same seal

(5).

More specifically, the base of the cable reel rotor (4) and the laces hooks (3) can also be made of plastic material, whose melting point is equal to or substantially equal to the melting point of the material of the seal (5) injected into the mold, in such a way that the heat of the material of the seal (5) determines its fusion with the material of the base of the cable reel rotor (4) and of the laces hooks (3). In other words, when the material of the seal is injected into the mold, due to its temperature, a melting of the material of the base of the cable reel rotor (4) and of the laces hooks (3) occurs in the areas of contact with the material of the seal: for this reason, the base of the cable reel rotor (4) and the seal (5), as well as the laces hooks (3) when applied to the upper using the seal material, form a single body at the end of the subsequent solidification of the injected material. And since the material of the seal (5) joins the upper face (11) of the upper (1), the perfect anchoring of the base of the cable reel rotor (4) and of the laces hooks (3) to the upper itself is guaranteed.

Alternatively, for example, the base (4) of the cable reel rotor can be made of metallic material, or of a material whose melting point is higher than that of the material of the seal (5). In this case, the base of the cable reel rotor (4) has holes (F) through which fits the injected plastic material from which the seal (5) is made, and consequently it combines, or it welds, to the material of the upper (1) placed immediately below. In this case, the material of the seal (5) passes through the holes (F) and joins the material of the upper (1) forming a structure for hooking the base (4) to the same upper.

In both cases, after the solidification of the injected material of which the seal (5) is made, the base (4) of the cable reel rotor and possibly the laces hooks (3), together with the seal itself, form a single body and guarantee a perfect anchoring of the base (4) of the cable winding rotor (2), and possibly of the laces hooks (3), to the upper itself (1) .

With reference to the example shown in the attached drawings, the cable-winding rotor (2) and the base (4) are two separate elements, whereby the rotor itself, i.e. the part of the device which is intended to rotate to perform its function, can be inserted in the aforesaid housing (40) after the solidification of the seal (5).

In the example shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the material of the seal (5) surrounds and completely envelops the base (4) of the cable reel rotor (2), forming an edge (6) which overhangs the lower part of the base (4) of the cable reel rotor.

The seal (5) can be of shape and/or color that also plays a decorative or ornamental function, in addition to playing a protective function in respect of the upper (1). During the forming of the seal (5) which determines the anchoring of the base (4) of the cable reel rotor (2), and possibly of the laces hooks (3), to the upper (1), other seals may be formed having only a decorative or a protective function.

For example, the material and used to make the seal (5) can be polyurethane. Still for example, such material can be ELASTOLLAN - Thermoplastic polyurethane TPU ether / ester produced by BASF. The temperature of injection of the material constituting the seal (5) can be for example between 190°C and 235°C. I it goes without saying that, however, the material employed to realize said seal (5) can be of any other nature and composition as long as suitable for molding of the same on the upper (1). Likewise, the material of the upper (1) can be of any type on which seals of plastic material can be formed by molding.

The material used to make the seals (5) may also be transparent to leave a glimpse of the shape of the base of the cable reel rotor (4) and possibly of the laces hooks (3) through the same seal (5).

From the foregoing description it is clear that the application of the base (4) of the rotor (2) to the upper (1) in accordance with the present invention does not provide for any seaming or perforation of the upper.

Advantageously, the upper (1) of the present invention is provided with a single element, defined by the seal (5), which is formed so as to incorporate both the base (4) of the rotor (2) and the laces hooks (3) constituting thus a single body which contributes to maintaining the distances between the various components incorporated and therefore guarantees the achievement of optimal overall characteristics of resistance to mechanical stress, increasing the impermeability of the shoe. In other words, unlike a shoe of a known type, in which the rotor and the laces hooks react in a completely independent way to the solicitations giving rise, for example, to folds or sagging in the same upper, in the upper (1) of the present invention, the seal (5) forms a single block which, by incorporating the rotor (2) and hooks (5), increases the mechanical characteristics of the shoe, both as regards the duration and the mechanical resistance against mechanical stresses.

It is understood that the base (4), and consequently the rotor (2), can be positioned in any suitable point of the upper, for example in a lateral position as in the attached drawings or in a rear position. In practice, the details of execution may in any case vary in an equivalent manner as regards the individual elements described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the solution idea adopted and remaining within the limits of the protection afforded by the present invention.