EP0298139B1 - Shoe for cyclists - Google Patents

Abstract

The sole (12) of a cycling shoe has releasably attached to it, in the area of the ball of the foot, a pedal plate (13) of a bicycle safety pedal (26) which has a contact surface extending parallel to the attachment area (11) of the sole (12). Said attachment area is recessed into the sole relative to the sole contact area (36) and around the attachment area by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the pedal plate (13). <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a cyclist shoe according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

Such a cycling shoe is known from DE-A-22 40 102. The sole of this cycling shoe has a recess in the area of the pedal sole. The recess has a flat contact surface which is recessed in such a way that the tread of the pedal plate protrudes only slightly from the recess downwards. The pedal plate known from this document is provided on its sole side with a slot which is designed to accommodate a crossbar on the pedal side, the base of the crosspiece being flush with the sole tread.

Shoes designed for bicycle safety pedals are also known, which are intended in particular for racing cyclists (EP-A-146 454 and 153 210). In this type of cycling shoes
the pedal plate is screwed onto the tread of the shoe sole. The pedal plate therefore impedes walking with such a cycling shoe, even if the lower surface of the pedal plate is largely adapted to the course of the sole part located above it. This is particularly uncomfortable for the cyclist when riding a so-called mountain bike or taking part in a cross-country race, because in these cases the cyclist only temporarily moves on his bicycle, while at other times he has to push or even carry the bicycle . For this he needs off-road shoes.

The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a cycling shoe of the type mentioned, which not only can be safely connected in a conventional manner to a bicycle safety pedal or, if necessary, can be released from it, but its pedal plate can also hardly be used for normal running with the shoe with special needs.

To achieve this object, the features of the characterizing part of claim 1 are provided.

The basic idea of the invention is to be seen in the fact that the pedal plate, which is in any case as thin as possible anyway, is sunk in the shoe sole in such a way that it does not protrude downward, at all, or at most only slightly, at most. In order that the interaction of the pedal plate with the bicycle safety pedals is not hindered, sufficient spaces are also provided in the areas around the pedal plate where the bicycle safety pedals act, also for getting into the bicycle safety pedals or for releasing them from the bicycle safety pedals.

The embodiment defined in claim 1 also creates sufficient free space for a pedal engagement projection, at the same time promoting the flexibility of the sole in this area and thus the flexibility.

The additional depression provided in the embodiment according to claim 2 with respect to the fastening area is preferably approximately 2 mm. Their shape is expedient as defined in claim 2.

The rear recess is expediently designed in accordance with claim 3, the additional recess relative to the fastening region preferably being approximately 4 mm. An advantageous shape for the rear recess is optionally characterized in claim 3.

The cyclist shoe according to the invention is particularly advantageous with a screw-on, d. H. also provided detachable pedal plate.

A preferred shape for the pedal plate and the fastening area assigned to it in terms of shape can be found in patent claim 4.

Since the sole of the shoe is weakened in the area of the arrangement of the pedal plate or also in front of and behind it by the depressions, the reinforcing insert defined by claims 5 to 7 is provided according to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention. It is expediently designed in accordance with claim 10, i.e. it is in particular less elastic and harder than the sole of the shoe itself, but is particularly flexible in the thinner areas so that the shoe can be practically walked exactly as if only the usually elastic sole were provided continuously.

Of particular importance for a perfect anchoring of the reinforcement insert are the edges and the areas that project outwards, including the anchoring holes. In the fastening area and in the area of the front and rear recess, the reinforcement insert itself forms the sole bottom. In some cases, however, the lower surface of the reinforcement insert can also be covered by relatively thin layers of the sole material, at least in the edge regions.

The smaller thickness of the reinforcement insert relative to the thickness of the shoe sole is compensated for by the greater hardness or strength of the reinforcement insert relative to the sole material, so that the overall stability of the sole is not impaired by the provision of the depressions and depressions.

The training according to claims 8 and 9 has the advantage that the pedal plate is covered from below during normal running, so that, for example, the screw holes can not be contaminated. This embodiment is suitable for the case that the shoe is to be used for a long time.

For this purpose, the embodiment according to claim 9 is also useful; where practically the depression and the depressions in the shoe sole are closed by a complementary plate piece, this plate piece having countersunk screw holes which have the same arrangement as those of the pedal plate. In this way, the shoe can be converted into a completely normal shoe with a substantially smooth sole by removing the pedal plate and screwing in the filling plate.

Fig. 1

eine Ansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Radfahrerschuhs von unten,

Fig. 2

einen vertikalen Mittellängsschnitt des Gegenstandes der Fig. 1, wobei in strichpunktierten Linien außerdem noch die Fahrradsicherheitspedale schematisch angedeutet ist,

Fig. 3

eine Ansicht der bei dem erfindungsgemäßen Radfahrerschuh verwendeten Verstärkungseinlage von oben,

Fig. 4

eine Ansicht der im Zusammenhang mit der Verstärkungs einlage nach Fig. 3 verwendeten Pedalplatte von oben,

Fig. 5

eine Seitenansicht der Verstärkungseinlage nach dem Pfeil V in Fig. 3,

Fig. 6

einen Schnitt nach Linie VI-VI in Fig. 3,

Fig. 7

eine Ansicht der bei der Verstärkungseinlage nach Fig. 3 verwendeten Pedalplatte von unten und

Fig. 8

eine Fig. 3 entsprechende Ansicht einer vereinfachte Ausführungsform der Verstärkungseinlage.

The invention is described below, for example with reference to the drawing; in this shows:

Fig. 1

a view of a cycling shoe according to the invention from below,

Fig. 2

2 shows a vertical central longitudinal section of the object of FIG. 1, the bicycle safety pedals also being indicated schematically in broken lines,

Fig. 3

3 shows a view of the reinforcement insert used in the cyclist shoe according to the invention, from above,

Fig. 4

3 shows a view of the pedal plate used in connection with the reinforcement insert according to FIG. 3,

Fig. 5

a side view of the reinforcing insert according to the arrow V in Fig. 3,

Fig. 6

4 shows a section along line VI-VI in FIG. 3,

Fig. 7

a view of the pedal plate used in the reinforcement insert of FIG. 3 from below and

Fig. 8

a view corresponding to FIG. 3 of a simplified embodiment of the reinforcing insert.

According to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sole 12 of a cyclist's shoe in the ball area has an essentially triangular fastening area 11, which according to FIG. 2 is recessed relative to the tread 36 of the sole 12 and is essentially flat. The depth of the depression of the fastening area 11 relative to the tread 36 is approximately 10 mm, so that a pedal plate 13 with a thickness of approximately 10 mm can be attached without projecting downward over the tread 36 of the sole.

According to the invention, the fastening area 11 is provided on a reinforcement insert 15 shown in detail in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, which is molded into the material of the sole 12 such that the fastening area 11 according to FIGS. 1 and 2 through the lower surface of the Reinforcing insert 15 is formed.

1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, metal inserts 35 are formed in the fastening area 11 of the reinforcing insert 15, which consists of a hard-elastic plastic, which have threaded bores 14 'which are open at the bottom. One of these metal inserts 35 or threaded bores 14 'is located at the front end of the fastening area 11, while two metal inserts 35 with threaded bores 14' are formed in the reinforcing insert 15 next to one another at the rear.

The fastening area 11 is shaped in plan view analogously to the pedal plate to be put on according to FIGS. 4 and 7, that is to say that in the rear area two side borders 31 are provided which are at a relatively large distance, of which the right side border 31 in FIG is or can be omitted entirely. According to FIGS. 1 and 3, two side boundaries 33 tapering towards the front wedge towards the front, which merge further forward into two side boundaries 32, which have a small lateral spacing and run parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shoe. According to FIG. 4.7, the pedal plate 13 has corresponding side boundaries 31 ', 32' and 33 '.

In front of the side boundaries 32, the fastening region 11 has a substantially semicircular projection 37 which projects forward and which interacts with a corresponding projection of the pedal plate 13 according to FIGS. 4 and 7. In this way, an essentially planar fastening region 11 is created, to which, according to FIGS. 2 and 6, a pedal plate 13 according to FIGS. 4 and 7 can be fastened, which has countersunk screw holes 14 which are aligned with the threaded bores 14 ', when the pedal plate 13 is placed on the fastening area 11. By screwing in fastening screws, not shown, the pedal plate 13 can be screwed onto the fastening area 11. After screwing in, the fastening screws, not shown, do not protrude with their heads above the lower surface of the pedal plate 13.

2, 3, 5 and 6, the fastening area 11 is surrounded by two vertically upwardly projecting, with this one-piece edges 16, which are adapted in their course to the side boundaries 31, 32, 33 of the fastening area 11, but somewhat further than these side boundaries are offset outwards so that they can be molded into the material of the sole 12.

Via edge regions 16 ″ projecting from the front end of the edges 16 towards opposite sides and outwards, the edges 16 merge into a front edge 16 ′, which extends essentially semicircularly around a depression 18 and also into the material of the sole 12 where she has her normal strength, is molded in. That way 1, a depression 18 is also formed in front of the fastening area 11, which is arranged approximately 2 mm lower than the fastening area 11 and is likewise delimited by the lower surface of the reinforcing insert 15. The edge 16 'is shaped in such a way that the depression 18 according to FIG. 1 has two side walls 27 which run essentially in the longitudinal direction of the shoe and which are connected to the front by a semicircular wall 28. The reinforcing insert 15 according to FIGS. 3 and 6 thus has a front extension 38 in the region of the recess 18, which is formed somewhat thinner than the fastening region 11.

According to FIG. 2, the recess 18 creates a space for the engagement of a fixed engagement projection 17 of the bicycle safety pedals 26 behind a front counter projection 23 of the pedal plate 13.

Behind the fastening area 11, the reinforcement insert 15 has a somewhat thinner extension 25, which extends approximately to the middle of the sole 12 and at the end merges into a thin support area 19 ", which has anchoring holes 20. The extension 25 is also made of the material of FIG Shoe sole molded, preferably in such a way that the underside of the extension 25 forms the bottom of the sole at the same time.

In this way, a depression 21 is formed in the sole 12 behind the fastening region 11 according to FIGS. 1 and 2, which is closed off by front and rear boundaries 29 and 30 running transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shoe.

According to FIGS. 2 and 6, the depression 21 behind the fastening area 11 ensures that a movable pedal catch 22 of the bicycle safety pedals 26, which can be swung out resiliently about a transverse axis, can snap into a rear counter-catch 24 of the pedal plate 13.

2 and 3, the reinforcing insert 15 also has lateral support areas 19 and a front support area 19 ', which extend outside the downwardly projecting edges 16, 16', 16 "and with which Fastening area 11 are aligned. Anchoring holes 20 are provided in the lateral support areas 19. The lateral support areas 19 practically fill the space that is available through the tapering of the side boundaries 33 to the front.

The support regions 19, 19 ′, which are also molded into the material of the sole 12, are of particular importance for a perfect anchoring of the reinforcement insert 15 in the material of the sole 12.

5 and 6, the top of the reinforcing insert 15 is essentially flat, with only the extension 25, with the exception of the support region 19 ", projecting somewhat further upwards, in order to achieve a somewhat greater depth of the depression 21.

The manufacture of the cycling shoe according to the invention proceeds in such a way that the reinforcement insert 15 is applied in the correct arrangement to the insole and is fastened there, for example, by gluing, the edges 16, 16 ', 16 "projecting downwards Sole molded from below, but the depressions 18, 21, which can be seen in particular in FIG. 1, and the depression in the fastening area 11 are left free of sole material.

The pedal plate 13 is then screwed to the fastening area 11 according to FIGS. 4 and 7 by means of screws. 2 and 6, the pedal plate 13 now practically does not protrude downward over the tread 36 of the sole 12, so that the shoe can be run normally. In particular, due to the arrangement of the pedal plate 13 in the fastening area 11, the shoe sole is relatively rigid in this area. The depressions 18, 21 in front and behind the pedal plate 13 have the effect, however, that here the sole 12 has increased flexural elasticity, so that an overall rolling of the foot while running is possible in approximately the same way as with a normal running shoe.

Nevertheless, the cyclist shoe can now be inserted from above into a bicycle safety pedal 26 in the manner shown in FIG. 2 and can be engaged by resiliently pivoting back and then advancing the pedal catch 22 so that there is a firm connection between the cyclist shoe and the bicycle safety pedal 26, which in particular also exists allows the bicycle safety pedals 26 to be pulled up sharply when cycling. By rotating the cyclist's shoe around a vertical axis, a release from the bicycle safety pedals 26 can take place in a simple manner, namely by lateral movement of the engagement projection 17 and the pedal catch 22 in opposite directions.

As indicated in dashed lines in FIGS. 1 and 6, a cover plate 34 can be snapped onto the pedal plate 13, which has resilient locking recesses 34 ′, 34 ″ on its upper side, which have the pedal plate counter-projection 23 or the pedal plate counter-catch 24 1, the cover plate 34 can be designed such that it completely covers the pedal plate 13 and at least partially covers the depressions 18, 21.

The cover plate 34 protrudes slightly above the tread 36 of the shoe sole, but because of its relatively thin construction nevertheless allows a comfortable running and protects the screw holes 14 against dirt.

The cover plate 34 could also be in one piece with the pedal plate 13, but the protrusion shown in FIG. 6 could be avoided and the screw holes 14 start from the underside of the cover plate 34. A cover plate designed in this way could be screwed in place of the pedal plate 13 in the fastening area 11, so that now there is a running shoe which can be used practically in a normal manner.

2, a rubber buffer 39 can be inserted into the rectangular opening 39 'of the pedal plate 13 (FIGS. 4, 7), which is supported on the bottom of the reinforcing insert 15 in a correspondingly rectangular recess 39 "(FIG. 1) provided there and protrudes slightly beyond the pedal plate 13.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 8, the front extension 38 and the rear extension 25 of the insert 15 are omitted except for areas protruding forward and rearward slightly beyond the fastening area 11. In this way, the anchoring edges 16 '' which protrude laterally outwards only slightly protrude, which likewise likewise ensure good anchoring within the material of the shoe sole. For the purpose of engagement with the pedal plate 13, however, the depressions 18 and 21 according to FIGS. 1 and 2 are also provided when using the reinforcing insert 15 according to FIG. 8. Due to the shortened design of the reinforcement insert 15 according to FIG. 8, a more favorable bending behavior is achieved in the front and middle areas of the shoe sole.

In a simplified embodiment, the edges 16, 16 ', 16 "and / or 16"' can in principle be omitted, in which case the anchoring areas to the side of the depressions are of particular importance.

Claims (10)

1. Cyclist's shoe having a sole (12) to which the pedal plate (13) of a cycle pedal (26) is releasably attached in the ball region, and which has a base surface (36) extending substantially parallel to the attachment region (11) to the sole (12), and the attachment region (11) of the sole (12) being recessed relative to the base surface (36) of the sole by substantially the thickness of the pedal plate (13), characterized in that,
   the pedal plate (13) has, for releasable engagement with the pedal (26) realised as a cycle safety pedal, a counter-projection (23) at the front which is spaced from the sole and a counter-latch (22) at the rear which is spaced from the sole, so that on placing the pedal plate (13) substantially from above onto the cycle safety pedal (26) and on latching of the pedal plate into the latter a locked engagement of the pedal plate (13) in the cycle safety pedal (26) can be effected with respect to vertical forces and separation of the pedal plate (13) from the cycle safety pedal (26) can be effected by rotation of the pedal plate (13) about a vertical axis;
   in that recesses (18, 21) are provided in front of and behind the pedal plate (13) in the sole (12) to provide free spaces for the components (17, 22) of the cycle safety pedal (26) which move into and out of engagement with the counter-projection (23) and the counter-latch (24) of the pedal plate (13).
2. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the front recess (18) adjoins the attachment region (11) and is somewhat further recessed relative to the latter and has also at least one sidewall, preferably two parallel sidewalls, (27) and a substantially semicircular front wall (28).
3. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the rear recess (21) adjoins the attachment region (11) and is clearly more recessed relative to the latter and also expediently extends over substantially the entire width of the sole, with the front and rear restrictions (29, 30) of the recess (21) preferably extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shoe and permitting the release from the pedal.
4. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with one of the preceding claims having a pedal plate which can be screwed on, characterised in that the pedal plate (13) and the attachment region (11) have in plan view essentially the form of a triangle, in particular an equilateral triangle with its apex pointing towards the front and are provided with screw holes (14, 14') for the attachment of which one screw hole is preferably arranged at the front and two screw holes are preferably arranged at the rear alongside one another and/or in that the pedal plate (13) and the attachment region (11) in the rear region have side restraints (31) which extend substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shoe, with it being possible to drop one side restraint of the attachment region (11) due to approximation to the edge of the sole, and have in the front region side restraints (32) which are at a small distance from one another and which extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shoe and transition side restraints which extend inclined to the longitudinal axis of the shoe therebetween.
5. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a reinforcement insert (15) forming the attachment region with its lower side is molded into the sole (12) in the ball region, with the reinforcement insert being of flat shape in the attachment region (11) and preferably having a downwardly projecting edge (16) at least to the side of the attachment region (11) and extending at a small distance parallel to the side restraints (32, 33) of the attachment region (11) with the edge being molded into the sole material alongside the attachment region (11); in that the reinforcement insert (15) preferably furthermore extends to the front and/or to the rear by only a small piece beyond the attachment region (11) and in that furthermore the edges (16) which are expediently located to the side of the attachment region (11) merge at their front ends via a transversely outwardly and likewise downwardly projecting edge region (16") into two slightly forwardly projecting and likewise downwardly projecting edges (16"').
6. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with claim 5, characterised in that the reinforcement insert (15) extends over the front recess (18) and there forms the base of the sole, in that the part of the reinforcement insert (15) which extends beyond the front recess (18) is expediently surrounded at the side and at the front by a downwardly projecting edge (16') molded into the sole material; and in that furthermore both edges (16, 16') preferably merge into one another and in that a step-like outwardly projecting edge region (16") is preferably also provided between the two edges (16, 16').
7. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with claim 5 or claim 6, characterised in that the reinforcement insert (15) extends beyond the attachment region (11) and the edges (16, 16' or 16") to the side and to the front and is there of flat shape and preferably also has flat support regions (19) alongside the attachment region (11) which are preferably flush with the upper side of the attachment region (11), with the support regions (19) extending into the edge region of the sole, with the support regions (19) expediently having anchorage bores (20) or anchorage spigots which stands in a fixedly anchored connection with the soft material of the sole, and/or in that a flat support region (19') is provided around the edge (16') which surrounds the front recess (18) and is preferably flush with the upper side of the attachment region (11); and/or in that a flat extension (25) with a rear support region (19") which is aligned at the top substantially with the upper side of the attachment region (11) preferably projects slightly upwardly relative to the latter adjoins the attachment region to the rear and upwardly bounds a rear recess (21) for receiving the pedal latch (22) and preferably extends approximately to the center of the shoe as seen in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the shoe, with anchorage bores (20) or anchorage spigots being expediently located in the rear support region (19") which fixedly anchor the reinforcement insert (15) and the sole (12) to one another.
8. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a cover plate (34) is provided in the region of the pedal plate (13) and is releasably securable to the latter, preferably capable of being clipped onto it, with the cover plate (34) preferably also largely covering over the front recess (18).
9. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with claim 8, characterised in that the pedal plate (13) is formed in one piece with the cover plate (34) and in that the part so formed is securable to the shoe sole, and is preferably screwable thereto instead of a pedal plate (13) which cooperates with the cycle safety pedal (26).
10. Cyclist's shoe in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the reinforcement insert (15) consists of hard elastic plastic and comprises metal inserts (35) containing the threaded bores (14'); or in that the reinforcement insert (15) consists of metal and is thickened in the region of the threaded bores (14').

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