FOOTWEAR

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-185384 filed in Japan on Oct. 21, 2024.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

[0002]The present disclosure relates to a footwear.

Background Information

[0003]A footwear disclosed in JP 2023-53438 A includes an upper covering an instep side of a foot, a sole covering a sole of the foot, and a tongue wing disposed inside the upper. The upper is disposed with a foot insertion opening, which is an opening for inserting the foot into a region surrounded by the upper and the sole. The upper is disposed with a throat, which is an opening having a shape in which the edge of the foot insertion opening is extended toward the toe side. The tongue wing includes a tongue closing the throat from the inside of the upper, and wings (wing portions) extending from the tongue toward each of the medial foot side and the lateral foot side along the foot width direction. The tip of each of the wing portions is joined to the footwear.

[0004]The tongue wing disposed on the above-described footwear covers, with the tongue and the wings, the instep side of a foot of a wearer wearing the footwear. However, although the tongue covering the throat is joined to the footwear via the wings to improve the fit of the footwear, the tongue wing can be stretched out with the use of the footwear.

[0005]The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present disclosure is to prevent a tongue wing from being stretched out while improving the fit of a footwear.

SUMMARY

[0006]A footwear includes an upper disposed with an insertion opening into which a foot is inserted, a fore opening portion extending forward from the insertion opening, and a bottom surface opening disposed to face the insertion opening, a tongue wing including a tongue disposed inside the upper and closing at least a part of the fore opening portion, and a wing portion extending from the tongue to one side along a foot width direction, and a sole covering the bottom surface opening, in which the wing portion is formed in a layer structure including a first layer and a second layer disposed below the first layer, the first layer has lower stretchability than the second layer, and the first layer has a longer length from one end portion to an other end portion than a length of a direct connection line connecting the one end portion and the other end portion along the foot width direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a footwear according to a first embodiment;

[0008]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the footwear according to the first embodiment;

[0009]FIG. 3 is a developed view of a tongue wing;

[0010]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the footwear taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

[0011]FIG. 5 is a plan view of an insole, and is a view illustrating a portion to which a tip of a first wing portion is joined;

[0012]FIG. 6 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a first modification;

[0013]FIG. 7 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a second modification;

[0014]FIG. 8 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a third modification;

[0015]FIG. 9 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a fourth modification; and

[0016]FIG. 10 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a fifth modification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017]Hereinafter, an embodiment of a footwear according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited by the embodiment. In the following description, the same portions are denoted by the same reference signs, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a footwear according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the footwear according to the first embodiment. In the drawings including FIG. 1, only a footwear 1 for a left foot is illustrated. Since the footwear 1 has a right-left symmetrical structure for a left foot and a right foot, only the footwear 1 for a left foot is described in the present embodiment, and the description of the footwear 1 for a right foot is omitted. In the following description, the toe side of a foot of a wearer of the footwear 1 is defined as a fore side, and the heel side is defined as a rear side. A direction orthogonal to the fore-rear direction in a plan view of the footwear 1 is defined as a foot width direction.

[0019]In addition, a median side of a foot in the anatomical position is referred to as a medial side, and the side opposite to the median side of the foot in the anatomical position is referred to as a lateral side. That is, the side closer to the median line in the anatomical position is referred to as the medial side, and the side farther from the median line in the anatomical position is referred to as the lateral side. In addition, a vertical direction means a direction orthogonal to both the fore-rear direction and the foot width direction unless otherwise specified.

[0020]The footwear 1 includes an upper 2, an insole 3, a sole 4, and a tongue wing 5. The upper 2 covers an upper surface of the sole 4. Between the upper 2 and the sole 4, a space for a foot of a wearer is disposed.

[0021]The upper 2 is disposed with an insertion opening 21 into which the foot of the wearer is inserted, a fore opening portion 22 extending forward from the insertion opening 21, and a bottom surface opening 23 disposed to face the insertion opening 21. The upper 2 is fixed to the sole 4 by stitching, welding, or bonding, or a combination thereof.

[0022]The upper 2 is disposed with a plurality of eyelet holes 24 arranged in the fore-rear direction along an edge of the fore opening portion 22. A shoelace (not illustrated) formed in a string shape is passed through the eyelet holes 24. By pulling the shoelace passed through the eyelet holes 24, the width of the fore opening portion 22 can be narrowed to bring the upper 2 into close contact with the foot of the wearer.

[0023]The insole 3 is joined to the upper 2. The insole 3 closes the bottom surface opening 23 disposed in the upper 2. Note that footwear 1 may not include the insole 3. In this case, the bottom surface opening 23 is closed by the sole 4, for example.

[0024]The sole 4 is positioned below the upper 2. The sole 4 supports the foot of the wearer from the sole side. The sole 4 is a member that comes into contact with the ground. The sole 4 is made of a material having a cushioning property in order to absorb an impact applied to the foot during walking and running.

[0025]The tongue wing 5 is disposed inside the upper 2. FIG. 3 is a developed view of the tongue wing. The tongue wing 5 includes a tongue 51 and a wing portion 52. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tongue 51 closes at least a part of the fore opening portion 22 disposed in the upper 2.

[0026]The wing portion 52 is disposed so as to extend from the tongue 51 along the foot width direction. The wing portion 52 includes a first wing portion 53 extending from the tongue 51 to the medial side along the foot width direction, and a second wing portion 54 extending from the tongue 51 to the lateral side along the foot width direction.

[0027]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the footwear taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2. In a state where the tongue wing 5 is disposed inside the upper 2, the first wing portion 53 and the second wing portion 54 are disposed along the inner surface of the upper 2. The tip of the first wing portion 53 and the tip of the second wing portion 54 are each joined at a position close to the sole 4. The tongue wing 5 disposed in this manner covers the instep side of the foot of the wearer with the tongue 51 and the wing portion 52. The joining position of the tip of the first wing portion 53 and the joining position of the tip of the second wing portion 54 will be described in detail later.

[0028]Returning to FIG. 3, the first wing portion 53 is constituted by including a plurality of layers. For example, the first wing portion 53 includes a first layer 531 and a second layer 532 disposed on the first layer 531.

[0029]The first layer 531 and the second layer 532 have different widths along a foot length direction.

[0030]Specifically, the width of the first layer 531 is narrower than the width of the second layer 532. Note that the width of the first layer 531 along the foot length direction is a distance between one end and the other end of the first layer 531 in the foot length direction. The width of the first layer 531 along the foot length direction is narrower than the width of the second layer 532 over the entire region in the foot width direction. In addition, the width of the second layer 532 formed with a wider width is the width of the entire first wing portion 53 along the foot length direction. Note that either the first layer 531 or the second layer 532 may be disposed on the side facing the upper 2. As described later, since the second layer 532 has higher stretchability than the first layer 531 and is easy to fit according to the shape of the foot of the wearer, it is preferable that the second layer 532 is disposed on the side facing the foot of the wearer.

[0031]The first layer 531 and the second layer 532 have different stretchability. Specifically, the first layer 531 is made of a material having lower stretchability than the second layer 532.

[0032]A plurality of the first layers 531 is disposed. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, two first layers 531 are disposed in the foot length direction. Here, a direct connection line connecting one end portion 531a of the first layer 531 on the tongue 51 side and the other end portion 531b on the opposite side of the tongue 51 side along the foot width direction is defined. The direct connection line is indicated by a long dashed double-short dashed line in the drawing. The length of the first layer 531 from the one end portion 531a to the other end portion 531b is longer than a length L1 of the direct connection line.

[0033]More specifically, of the two first layers 531, the first layer 531 disposed on the fore side includes a protrusion portion 531c protruding forward from the direct connection line. Of the two first layers 531, the first layer 531 disposed on the rear side includes a protrusion portion 531c protruding rearward from the direct connection line.

[0034]In the first layer 531, a portion from the one end portion 531a to the protrusion portion 531c and a portion from the protrusion portion 531c to the other end portion 531b are each formed in a straight line. The protrusion portion 531c is a corner portion where the portions formed as the straight lines extending in different directions are connected to each other.

[0035]In a case where a length from the one end portion 531a to the protrusion portion 531c is represented as L2 and a length from the protrusion portion 531c to the other end portion 531b is represented as L3, the relationship of L1<L2+L3 is established. That is, as described above, the length (L2+L3) of the first layer 531 from the one end portion 531a to the other end portion 531b is longer than the length L1 of the direct connection line.

[0036]In addition, in a case where an angle between the straight line forming the first layer 531 and the direct connection line is represented as α, it is preferable that the relationship of 5°≤α≤45° is established.

[0037]The tip of the first wing portion 53 on the opposite side of the tongue 51 is joined and fixed to the insole 3. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the insole, and is a view illustrating a portion to which the tip of the first wing portion is joined. The insole 3 closes the bottom surface opening 23 disposed in the upper 2, and the position of the outer edge of the insole 3 matches the position of the bottom surface opening 23.

[0038]A joining region 31 to which the tip of the first wing portion 53 is joined is positioned inside the outer edge of the insole 3. More specifically, it is preferable that the distance between the outer edge of the insole 3 and the joining region 31 is 1 mm or more and 20 mm or less. The joining region 31 is a region to which the tip of the first wing portion 53 is joined. Therefore, in a case where the distance between the tip of the joined first wing portion 53 and the outer edge of the insole 3 is represented as A, it can be said that 1 mm≤A≤20 mm is preferable. Note that in a case where the footwear 1 does not include the insole 3, the tip of the first wing portion 53 may be fixed to an inner sole (not illustrated) or the sole 4.

[0039]The range where the tip of the first wing portion 53 is joined, that is, the range of the joining region 31 is a range where at least one of the metatarsal, the medial cuneiform, and the navicular of the foot inserted into the upper in the foot length direction is positioned.

[0040]The second wing portion 54 is formed in a single layer using the same material as the second layer 532 of the first wing portion 53. Similarly to the first wing portion 53, the second wing portion 54 may be constituted by including a plurality of layers. The tip of the second wing portion 54 is joined to the upper 2. The position where the tip of the second wing portion 54 is joined is close to the insole 3.

[0041]In the footwear 1 described above, the instep side of the foot of the wearer is covered with the tongue 51, the first wing portion 53, and the second wing portion 54 of the tongue wing 5. The second layer 532 of the first wing portion 53 has higher stretchability than the first layer 531. The first layer 531 of the first wing portion 53 has lower stretchability than the second layer 532, and the length from one end portion on the tongue side to the other end portion on the opposite side of the tongue side is longer than the length of the direct connection line connecting the one end portion and the other end portion along the foot width direction. Therefore, the second layer 532 can stretch and contract according to the shape of the foot of the wearer to improve the fit. The first layer 531 is longer than the length of the direct connection line connecting the one end portion and the other end portion of the first wing portion 53 along the foot width direction and has a stretching margin, which allows the second layer 532 to fit the foot of the wearer, but has lower stretchability than the second layer 532, and it is possible to prevent the second layer 532 from being stretched out. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the tongue wing 5 from being stretched out while improving the fit of the footwear 1.

[0042]The first wing portion 53 extends from the tongue 51 to the medial side. Therefore, in a case where the first wing portion 53 is disposed in a range covering at least one of the metatarsal, the medial cuneiform, and the navicular of the foot, the first wing portion 53 is in close contact with the arch of the foot of the wearer. As a result, at least a part of the arch of the foot is raised upward by the first wing portion 53 to prevent the arch of the foot from collapsing. By preventing the arch of the foot from collapsing, an impact applied to the foot during running or walking is reduced.

[0043]Note that the first layer 531 may also be disposed on the second wing portion 54 to improve the fit of the footwear 1 on both the medial side and the lateral side while preventing the tongue wing 5 from being stretched out.

[0044]The first layer 531 having lower stretchability than the second layer 532 is formed in a shape including the protrusion portion 531c protruding forward or backward from the direct connection line. As a result, although the first layer 531 has lower stretchability than the second layer 532, the protrusion portion 53c serves as a part of a stretching margin, and it is possible for the first layer 531 to prevent the second layer 532 from being stretched out while allowing the second layer 532 to fit according to the shape of the foot of the wearer.

[0045]In the first wing portion 53, a plurality of first layers 531 is disposed side by side along the foot length direction. It is possible for the plurality of first layers 531 of the first wing portion 53 to more effectively prevent the tongue wing 5 from being stretched out at a plurality of positions.

[0046]The tip of the first wing portion 53 is joined to the insole 3, and the joining region 31 is positioned away from the edge of the insole 3. As a result, the tip of the first wing portion 53 is positioned deeper under the sole of the foot of the wearer. Therefore, the area where the first wing portion 53 is in contact with the arch of the foot is also increased, and the entire arch of the foot is raised upward by the first wing portion 53. As a result, the arch of the foot can be more reliably prevented from collapsing, and an impact applied to the foot during running or walking can be further reduced.

[0047]FIG. 6 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a first modification. In the tongue wing 5 according to the first modification, two first layers 531 are disposed side by side in the foot length direction. Unlike the example illustrated in FIG. 3, a protrusion portion 531c of the first layer 531 disposed on the fore side protrudes rearward from the direct connection line. In addition, a protrusion portion 531c of the first layer 531 provided on the rear side protrudes forward from the direct connection line. That is, in the tongue wing 5 according to the first modification, each protrusion portion 531c protrudes in a direction opposite to the direction illustrated in FIG. 3. Therefore, in a case where the first layers 531 are formed in this manner, a plurality of the protrusion portions 531c are disposed close to each other, and it is possible to more effectively prevent the arch of the foot from collapsing.

[0048]FIG. 7 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a second modification. In the tongue wing 5 according to the second modification, two first layers 531 are disposed side by side in the foot length direction. On each of the two first layers 531, a protrusion portion 531c protruding forward from the direct connection line and a protrusion portion 531c protruding rearward from the direct connection line are disposed, respectively. Therefore, in a case where a single first layer 531 is formed with a plurality of the protrusion portions 531c, the first layer 531 can be formed longer than the length of the first layer 531 with one protrusion portion 531c.

[0049]FIG. 8 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a third modification. In the tongue wing 5 according to the third modification, each protrusion portion 531c is formed in a curved line. Therefore, in a case where the protrusion portion 531c is formed in a curved line, the first layer 531 is less likely to stretch and contract than in a case where the first layer 531 is formed in a straight line, and it is possible to more effectively prevent the second layer 532 from being stretched out. Note that the protrusion portion 531c formed in a curved line may be formed so as to protrude in a direction opposite to the example illustrated in FIG. 8.

[0050]FIG. 9 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a fourth modification. In the tongue wing 5 according to the fourth modification, a single first layer 531 is disposed on the first wing portion 53. In the first layer 531, a protrusion portion 531c protruding forward from the direct connection line is disposed. Therefore, in a case where the first wing portion 53 is disposed with a single first layer 531, it is possible to simplify the manufacturing of the first layer 531. In addition, since the direction in which the first layer 531 stretches and contracts is one direction, it is possible to set the stretching and contraction of the first layer 531 in an arbitrary direction. Note that the single first layer 531 may be formed so as to protrude in the opposite direction.

[0051]FIG. 10 is a developed view of a tongue wing according to a fifth modification. In the tongue wing 5 according to the fifth modification, the first layer 531 disposed with one protrusion portion 531c and the first layer 531 disposed with no protrusion portion 531c and extending along the direct connection line are disposed on the first wing portion 53. Therefore, since the direction in which the first layer 531 disposed with the protrusion portion 531c stretches and contracts is one direction, it is possible to set the stretching and contraction of the first layer 531 in an arbitrary direction. In addition, since the first layer 531 extending along the direct connection line has a small stretching margin and hardly stretches and contracts, it is possible to more effectively prevent the second layer 532 from being stretched out.

[0083]A footwear according to the present disclosure is capable of preventing a tongue wing from being stretched out while improving the fit of the footwear.

[0084]Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.