The invention relates to a method for producing of a fire-resistant shoe, especially of a sports shoe for motor sports, wherein the shoe comprises a shoe upper and a shoe sole. Furthermore, the invention refers to a fire- resistant shoe. Shoes for motor sports, for example for formula 1 racing, must show specific properties. A first requirement is a good fit which is convenient for the user. A second demand is a proper traction to the ground and the pedals of a vehicle to be operated respectively. Finally, it must be made sure that the shoe is flame-retardant, i. e. it must be fire-proof to a certain degree.

Normal sports shoes do not comply with those requirements.

Thus, it is an o b j e c t of the present invention to propose a method for the production of a shoe, especially of a sports shoe for motor sports, which is fire-proof or at least fire-resistant to a certain degree. Furthermore, the shoe should be light, but also stable. It should have good traction properties to have a proper grip on the ground or in a vehicle.

€0NR EVfA†(ON COPY The s o l u t i o n of this object according to the invention is characterized in that the method for producing the shoe comprises the steps of:

Producing of the shoe upper, wherein the shoe upper is at least partially formed by a knitting process, wherein a yarn is used for the knitting process which consists of or comprises an aramid fiber or a fiber of polyamide-imides;

Attaching of an outer sole which is the or at least a part of the shoe sole, wherein the outer sole is made of or comprises chloroprene rubber or another fire-resistant rubber.

The shoe upper is preferably completely produced by the knitting process. The shoe upper is preferably produced by the yarn which consists completely of aramid or polyamide-imides.

The outer sole consists preferably completely of chloroprene rubber. The outer sole can be attached to the shoe upper by means of an adhesive. Also, the outer sole can be attached to the shoe upper by means of an injection moulding process or a vulcanization process.

The shoe upper can be knitted in a seamless manner. Here a 3-D-knitting process can be used.

The shoe upper can be at least partially covered with an outer layer made of a ceramic material. This improves the abrasion resistance of the shoe. The fire-resistant shoe, especially the sports shoe for motor sports, which comprises a shoe upper and a shoe sole, is characterized according to the invention in that the shoe upper consists of a knitted fabric, which is made of a yam which consists of or comprises an aramid fiber or a fiber of polyamide- imides and that the sole comprises or is an outer sole, which is connected with the shoe upper and which is made of or comprises chloroprene rubber or another fire-resistant rubber.

An insole can be arranged in the inner of the shoe upper. The insole can thereby consist at least partially of carbon or a carbon fiber. Furthermore, the insole can comprise also a layer of a plastic material, especially of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). The insole can have a shell-shape in the heel region.

The shoe upper can be seamless.

The shoe upper can have the shape of a sock.

Finally, the shoe upper can have at least partially an outer layer made of a ceramic material.

With respect to the mentioned specifications the following should be noted:

Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in a plurality of applications. The name is a portmanteau of "aromatic polyamide". In the fibers the chain molecules are highly oriented along the fiber axis, so the strength of the chemical bond can be exploited. Aramids are for example available under the trademarks Kevlar ^® , Twaron ^® , or Nomex ^® . In this application of the sports shoe specifically Nomex ^® is preferred which contains predominantly the meta-linkage and are poly- metaphenylene isophthalamides (MPIA). Nomex ^® is specifically a flame- resistant meta-aramid material.

Polyamide-imides are either thermosetting or thermoplastic, amorphous polymers that have very good mechanical, thermal and chemical resistant properties. They are prepared from isocyanates and TMA (trimellic acid- anhydride) in n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). This material is available for example under the trademark Torlon ^® . Polyamide-imides display a combination of properties from both polyamides and polyimides, such as high strength, melt processibility, very high heat capability, and broad chemical resistance.

Chloroprene belongs to the group of halogenated hydrocarbon. It is well known and available for example under the trademark NEOPREN ^® .

Thus, the invention relates to a fire-proof shoe specifically for motor sports as well as for a method for producing the same. Important features of the shoe and the respective method for producing the same are that a knitted shoe upper material is produced from a fire-proof yarn. A suitable material for the yarn is available under the trademark NOMEX ^® . The shoe upper is surrounded in the sole region of the shoe by a second material which is preferably NEOPREN ^® or a suitable fire-resistant rubber material.

An insole - preferably made of carbon and possibly of a layer from EVA - is inserted into the shoe according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The insole can be designed flat or designed as a three-dimensional heel shell. The shoe upper can be made in a seamless manner. The shoe upper can be produced by a 3-D-knitting process. The shoe upper can be designed like a sock. The material of the outer sole (NEOPREN ^® or rubber) can be glued onto the shoe upper material; also this material can be attached by an injection moulding or vulcanization process to the shoe upper.

A ceramic material can be printed onto the shoe upper for improvement of the abrasion resistance.

Beneficially, the material of the sole, specifically the NEOPREN ^® or rubber material, has a good traction due to a high coefficient of friction. Also this material is quite fire-proof.

To make the fiber fire-resistant which is used for the shoe upper a fiber can be used which is then special treated. The fiber can be flame-retardant polyester, flame-retardant viscose, Proban (based on Cotton) or Flame-retardant wool. All these fabrics are done with standard yarns are not fire-proof, but they get a fire-retardant treatment on the finished fabric. Here, the above mentioned materials can be employed (aramid, polyamide-imides).

For the outer sole it can be beneficial to use chloroprene rubber and produce a lamination package of this fire-proof material with an aramid fabric.

In the drawings an embodiment of the invention is shown.

Fig. 1 shows a side view of a fire-resistant shoe for use in motor sports, Fig. 2 shows the side view of an insole for the shoe according to figure 1 and

Fig. 3 shows a view of the rear side of the shoe according to figure 1.

In the figures a shoe 1 is shown which is a sports shoe used in motor sports, like e. g. during a formula 1 race. The shoe 1 is made to have improved properties with respect to fire-resistance. Also the shoe 1 has good traction properties so that the wearer has a proper grip for example on the pedals of a vehicle.

The shoe 1 has a shoe upper 2 and a sole 3 which are connected with another. Here conventional techniques can be used like stitching. Preferred is a connection by means of an adhesive. It is also possible that the material of the sole 3 is attached to the shoe upper 2 by an injection molding process or a vulcanization process.

The shoe sole 3 comprises of an outer sole 4 as shown in figure 1. Furthermore, the sole 3 comprises an insole 6 which is shown in figure 2.

As an important feature of the shoe 1 and the process for its manufacturing, the shoe upper 2 is produced by means of a knitting process. Here, the whole shoe upper can be made in a seamless manner (for example by a 3-D-knitting process) or by knitting a flat textile structure which is then formed to the shoe upper and stitched respectively to obtain the shoe upper. It is important that a yarn is used for the knitting process which consists of an aramid fiber or at least comprises this material; alternatively polyamide-imides can be used for the fiber. By doing so, good fire-resistant properties are obtained. With respect to the shoe upper 2 it can be taken into consideration to knit the material of the upper not homogeneous but to knit sections with different properties. For example, the region of the instep can be knitted in such a manner that here the elasticity is higher compared to the rest of the shoe upper. Also a ring-shaped section can be knitted at the most upper region of the instep to surround the leg of the wearer just above the foot.

The outer sole 4 is then attached to the shoe upper 2. Here it is important that the outer sole 4 is made of or comprises chloroprene rubber or another fire- resistant rubber.

In the inner of the shoe upper 2 the insole 6 - see figure 2 - can be inserted. As can be seen in figure 2 the insole has a substantial flat design in a forefoot region but a shell-shape in the heel region. The shell is denoted with 7. The insole 6 comprises basically from a carbon fiber material which supplies a proper stiffness to the foot sole of the wearer. The carbon fiber section 8 is connected with an EVA section 9; i. e. the insole is made of two different components which allow a proper stiffness and high comfort at the same time during use of the shoe.

The abrasion resistance of the shoe 1 is improved by applying of a layer 5 of ceramic material as can be seen in figures 1 and 3. The ceramic coating can be an application of a plastic resin in which ceramic particles are distributed. The layer 5 can be applied by a printing process so that also a desired appearance can be obtained.

As can be seen in figure 1, the outer sole 4 can have a strip-like extension 4'. By doing so a lateral region of the shoe 1 can be supplied with good traction properties as the material of the extension 4' is also chloroprene rubber or another fire-resistant rubber material.

By the proposed method and the corresponding shoe it becomes possible to produce a fire-proof shoe in a cost efficient manner which has at the same time due properties which are beneficial in the field of motor sports.

Reference Numerals:

1 Shoe

2 Shoe upper

3 Shoe sole

4 Outer sole

4' Strip-like extension of the outer sole 5 Layer of ceramic material

6 Insole

7 Shell

8 Carbon fiber section

9 EVA section