JP-7855540-B2 - Instep protectors and safety shoes equipped with instep protectors

JP7855540B2JP 7855540 B2JP7855540 B2JP 7855540B2JP-7855540-B2

Inventors

天野浩昭

Assignees

ミドリ安全株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20230317

Claims (7)

The instep protector body extends from the wearer's toes towards the ankle and covers the instep of the safety shoe, A support structure provided at the toe portion of the safety shoe, which supports the tip of the instep protector body and supports the instep protector body so that it can move in an arc shape around the tip; A fastening member fixing portion is provided on the back surface of the instep protector body facing the upper part of the safety shoe, extending along the instep protector body and forming an annular portion that is open in the width direction of the safety shoe, and through the annular portion a fastening member that fastens the upper part of the safety shoe is passed, thereby fixing the instep protector body to the upper part of the safety shoe, An instep protector characterized by comprising a biasing portion provided between the back surface of the instep protector body and the instep portion of the safety shoe, which biases the instep protector body in a direction away from the safety shoe.
The fastening member fixing portion is composed of a strip-shaped member having one end fixed to the front end of the instep protector body and the other end fixed to the rear end of the instep protector body, forming the annular portion between itself and the instep protector body. The instep protector according to claim 1, characterized in that the annular portion is a gap formed between the back surface of the instep protector body and the strip-shaped member.
The aforementioned strip-shaped member comprises a strip-shaped member body and a low-friction layer formed on the strip-shaped member body, having a lower coefficient of friction than the strip-shaped member body. The instep protector according to claim 2, characterized in that the strip-shaped member is fixed to the instep protector body with the low-friction layer facing the back surface of the instep protector body.
The one end of the band-shaped member has an extension that extends toward the wearer's toes beyond the fixing position to the instep protector body. The instep protector according to claim 2, characterized in that the biasing portion is composed of an extension portion which is folded back toward the safety shoe side and whose free end contacts the instep portion of the safety shoe.
The instep protector according to claim 4, characterized in that the band-shaped member has resilience.
The instep protector according to claim 2, characterized in that the band-shaped member or the fastening member is made of an elastic material.
Safety shoes equipped with an instep protector that covers the upper part of the foot, and in which the upper part is fastened with a fastening member, The aforementioned instep protector is, The instep protector body extends from the wearer's toes toward the ankle and covers the instep, A support structure provided at the toe area, which supports the tip of the instep protector body and supports the instep protector body so that it can move in an arc shape around the tip, A fastening member fixing portion is provided on the back surface of the instep protector body facing the instep, extending along the instep protector body and forming an annular portion that is open in the width direction, and the fastening member is passed through the annular portion to fix the instep protector body to the instep, Safety shoes equipped with an instep protector, characterized by comprising a biasing portion provided between the back surface of the instep protector body and the instep portion, which biases the instep protector body in a direction away from the instep portion.

Description

This invention relates to an instep protector and safety shoes equipped with an instep protector. To prevent injuries to the wearer from falling objects on the top of their foot, for example, instep protectors fixed to the instep portion of safety shoes, and safety shoes equipped with instep protectors are known, as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-178504Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-289902 This is a side view of a safety shoe (for the left foot), which is an example of this embodiment.Figure 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of the instep protector portion of the safety shoe.This is a perspective view showing safety shoes with the laces removed and the instep protector raised.Figure 2 is a magnified view of the instep protector portion.This is a side view (schematic diagram) of the strip-shaped member.This is a side view showing a person wearing safety shoes, with the shoes flexing at the toes.Figure 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the instep protector portion of the safety shoe.This is a side view of a safety shoe (for the left foot), which is an example of a second embodiment.Figure 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the instep protector portion of the safety shoe. The following describes embodiments of the instep protector and safety shoes equipped with the instep protector according to the present invention with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a side view of a safety shoe (for the left foot) as an example of this embodiment; Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the instep protector portion of the safety shoe shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the safety shoe with the laces removed and the instep protector raised; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the instep protector portion shown in Figure 2; and Figure 5 is a side view (schematic diagram) of the band-shaped member. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the safety shoe 1 of this embodiment is a low-cut lace-up type safety shoe. The safety shoe 1 conforms to the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) standard JIS T 8101:2020. That is, the safety shoe 1 meets performance requirements such as impact resistance, and the instep protector is attached in a way that "cannot be removed unless the safety shoe is damaged" (6.2.6.1 Structure of the instep protector). The safety shoe 1 comes as a set of left and right shoes, but since they have the same symmetrical structure, the description below will focus on the left shoe 1, and the description for the right shoe will be omitted. In safety shoes 1, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, the longitudinal direction of the shoe, extending from the toe (front) to the heel (rear), is defined as the front-to-back direction X, the width direction of safety shoes 1 as the width direction Y, the sole 3 as the downward direction, and the direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction X and the width direction Y as the up-and-down direction Z. Safety shoe 1 comprises a sole 3, an upper 5, a toe reinforcement 7, and an instep protector 9. <Sole> The sole 3 consists of a midsole 11 which serves as a cushioning layer and an outsole 13 which forms the contact surface. The midsole 11 and outsole 13 are made of rubber or urethane with different hardness levels. <Instep> The upper 5 is made of leather such as natural leather or synthetic leather, and consists of a front part 15 and a rear part 17. The front part 15 is also called the toe cap and has a toe portion 19, a central part 21, and a tongue portion 23. The rear part 17 is also called the heel portion and has a pair of flap portions 25, 25' and a heel portion 27. In this specification, the front and rear portions of the upper (15 and 17) are not specifically distinguished, and the area covering the wearer's foot in the safety shoe 1 is referred to as the "instep (IS)" (see Figure 2). Specifically, the instep IS is the area spanning the toe portion (19), the central portion of the upper (21), the tongue portion (23), and the pair of flap portions (25, 25'). The toe section 19 covers the upper and side portions of the wearer's toes. The toe section 19 contains a rigid, cup-shaped toe cap 29 (shown as a dashed line in Figure 2) with a closed tip, designed to protect the wearer's toes. As shown in Figure 3, the central upper section 21 covers the wearer's instep (especially the sides). The tongue section 23 is located between the pair of flap sections 25 and 25' and covers the wearer's instep (especially the upper portion). As shown in Figure 3, the pair of flap sections 25 and 25' are positioned opposite each other, with the tongue section 23 in between. The upper end of flap section 25 is provided with eyelets 31 (first eyelet 31A to fourth eyelet 31D). Similarly, the upper end of flap section 25' is provided with eyelets 31' (first eyelet 31A' to fourth eyelet 31D'). In the safety shoe 1, the degree to which the pair of flap sections 25 and 25' are opened can be adjusted by pa