EP0465222A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Ventilated boot and in-line roller skate with the same
Assignee: Benetton Sportsystem USA Inc
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Filing: 1991-07-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-07-02
Abstract
Abstract Disclosed is an improved in-line roller skate that cools and drys a skater's foot, provides increased performance, and increased comfort. The skate of the present invention includes a boot having a plurality of venting apertures selectively located therein so as to achieve an interchange of air between the inside of the boot and the external environment thereby providing a cooling and drying circulation of air with in the boot of the in-line roller skate. A skate according to the present invention further includes a cuff pivoting on a pair of guide rails attached to the boot.
Inventors
- 👤 Brennan J. Olson
- 👤 John F. Swigart
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 22:17
CPC Classifications
A; A43; A43B; A43B7/00; A43B7/06; A43B7/08; A43B7/081; A43B5/00; A43B5/16; A43B5/1666; A43B5/1675
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
56 words
A ventilated in-line roller skate providing improved performance and comfort to a skater skating on a skating surface, said skate comprising: a boot including a sole, a tongue, and a foot insertion aperture; and roller means attached to said sole; said boot being formed from a stiff, resilient material and further including at least two ventilators.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
34 words
A skate according to claim 1, wherein: said boot includes an upper section including an ankle segment, the skate further including a cuff pivotally attached to said ankle segment and comprising a stiff material.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
65 words
A skate according to claim 2, wherein: said cuff includes a means for tightening said cuff around a lower leg of a skater; and a pair of guide rails disposed on said boot for low friction sliding movement between said cuff and said rails between a first upright cuff position and a second cuff position forwardly inclined from the first position through a predetermined arc.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
97 words
A skate according to claim 3 wherein: each of said guide rails extends upwardly and rearwardly from said ankle segment, each of said guide rails being supported by a biasing leg for preventing said guide rail from collapsing by biasing it outwardly, each said leg extending upwardly and forwardly from said ankle segment to join said guide rail, each said guide rail and its respective biasing leg together with said ankle segment cooperating to define an aperture therebetween, and wherein said cuff includes a smooth inner surface that slides on said guide rails as said cuff pivots.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
A skate according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: said cuff including a rearward cuff portion, said rearward cuff portion including at least one ventilator disposed thereon.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
A skate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: said tongue comprises a cushioned inner-layer and a stiff, smooth surfaced outer-layer having upper and lower portions, said tongue being removably attached to said boot by an attachment means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
The skate of claim 6 wherein: said attachment means includes a rearwardly projecting segment extension having an aperture and further includes a member attached to said tongue lower portion for removable insertion into said aperture.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
79 words
A skate according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein: said tongue is relatively flexible between a rear rest position and a forward flexed position in response to a stride by a skater, and said tongue outer layer is formed of a material having a shape memory such that as said tongue is flexed forward said tongue exerts a restoring force against said skater's leg to return said skate to said rest position in preparation for a succeeding stride.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
49 words
A skate according to any one of claims 6 to 8 when dependent on claim 5, wherein: said cuff is partly defined by a pair of cuff extensions that extend forwardly and circularly around said boot tongue, said cuff extensions sliding on said tongue outer-layer as said cuff pivots.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
A skate according to claim 9, wherein said cuff is pivotable about forty-five degrees about a horizontally extending axis between said first upright cuff position and said second inclined cuff position.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
122 words
A skate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: said boot includes a vamp integral with said sole, said vamp defined by an upper section including a cap segment, a midfoot segment, and an ankle segment, and by a lower section including a toe box segment, an arch segment, and a heel segment; said skate including a plurality of ventilators disposed in selected ones of said heel, arch, and toe box segments, said skate further including a plurality of tightening means for tightening said boot onto said user's foot disposed on said upper vamp section, said tightening means defining a zone of tightening stress, wherein said lower section is free of any ventilators within each said zone of tightening stress.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
A skate according to claim 11 wherein each of said ventilators has a substantially parallelogram configuration to minimize a loss of stiffness in said lower vamp section.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
100 words
A skate according to claim 9 or any one of claims 10 to 12 when dependent on claim 9 and further including: a free-floating liner, said liner rising and falling between an intake position and an exhaust position to achieve a pumping action, said rising and falling of said liner occurring in response to said skater striding while skating; and said boot including a heel segment and an arch segment wherein one of said segments includes a rear ventilator; wherein said pumping action vents said heel and arch segments by intaking and exhausting air from said boot through said ventilators.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
A skate according to claim 13, wherein said liner is a wicking liner for drawing moisture away from a skater's foot outwardly through said liner where said moisture may be exhausted from said boot through said ventilators.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
56 words
A skate according to claim 13 or claim 14, wherein said boot has at least one ventilator disposed at the front of said skate, and wherein said pumping action induces a front to rear flow of air through said boot, said air being principally intaked through said front ventilator and principally exhausted through said rear ventilator.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
47 words
A skate according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein said heel segment includes said rear ventilator, said rear ventilator having a substantially elongated parallelogram configuration defined by a longitudinal axis and oriented such that said longitudinal axis is substantially perpendicular to said skating surface.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
63 words
A skate according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein said boot further includes a cap segment having a pair of ventilators disposed substantially parallel to said riding surface, said ventilators being separated by a toe bar for protecting the front of said skater's foot, said ventilators venting heat and moisture generated in said boot by convection into the surrounding environment.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
91 words
A skate according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein said boot includes a toe box segment including at least two ventilators disposed on opposite sides of said boot; and wherein said liner includes a toe portion slidable forwardly and rearwardly between an intake position and an exhaust position to achieve a second pumping action, said second pumping action occurring in response to said skater striding while skating, wherein said second pumping action vents said boot by intaking and exhausting air from said boot through said toe box ventilators.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
32 words
A skate according to claim 18, wherein said at least two toe box ventilators each has a subtantially elongated parallelogram configuration defined by a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to said riding surface.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
150 words
A method for cooling and drying the feet of an in-line roller skater using a pair of in-line roller skates, each said skate comprising: a boot including a sole, a tongue, and a foot insertion aperture for inserting a foot into said boot; and roller means attached to said sole; said boot being formed from a stiff resilient material and further including at least two ventilators, wherein said method comprises: pumping air into and out of each said boot during skating by each said foot moving from a first position within said boot to a second position within said boot to draw air into said skate through said at least two ventilators, and by each said foot moving from said second position to said first position to expel air from said boot, whereby said air moving into and out of said boot carries heat and moisture out of said boot.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
121 words
The method of claim 20, wherein said skate further includes: a cuff pivotally attached to an ankle segment included in an upper portion of said boot and comprising a stiff material, said cuff including a means for tightening said cuff around a lower leg of a skater; and a pair of guide rails disposed on said boot for low friction sliding movement between said cuff and said rails between a first upright cuff position and a second cuff position forwardly inclined from the first position through a predetermined arc, wherein said pivoting of said cuff facilitates said pumping of air into and out of said boot by increasing the range of motion of each foot of said skater in said boot.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
96 words
The method of claim 21, wherein: each of said guide rails extends upwardly and rearwardly from said ankle segment, each of said guide rails being supported by a biasing leg for preventing said guide rail from collapsing by biasing it outwardly, each said leg extending upwardly and forwardly from said ankle segment to join said guide rail, each said guide rail and its respective biasing leg together with said ankle segment cooperating to define an aperture therebetween, and wherein said cuff includes a smooth inner surface that slides on said guide rails as said cuff pivots.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
71 words
The method of claim 21 or claim 22, wherein: said tongue comprises a cushioned inner-layer and a stiff, smooth surfaced outer-layer having upper and lower portions, said tongue being removably attached to said boot by an attachment means; and said cuff is partly defined by a pair of cuff extensions that extend forwardly and circularly around said boot tongue, said cuff extensions sliding on said tongue outer-layer as said cuff pivots.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
86 words
The method of claim 23 and further including: a free-floating liner, said liner rising and falling between an intake position and an exhaust position to achieve a pumping action, said rising and falling of said liner occurring in response to said skater striding while skating; and said boot including a heel segment and an arch segment wherein one of said segments includes a rear ventilator; wherein said pumping action vents said heel and arch segments by intaking and exhausting air from said boot through said ventilators.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 24 wherein said liner is a wicking liner for drawing moisture away from a skater's foot outwardly through said liner where said moisture may be exhausted from said boot through said ventilators during said pumping.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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