Skate and method of manufacture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9648922-B2
Application number	US-201514687000-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2015
Priority date	Apr 15, 2014
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a skate boot shell, including shaping tridimensional outer and inner sub-shells, and bonding the shaped sub-shells together through lamination. The lamination is performed after the sub-shells are shaped and includes applying heat to the sub-shells and/or pressure on one of the sub-shells toward the other against a mold surface. A skate with three sub-shells is also discussed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a skate boot shell, the method comprising:
shaping a tridimensional outer sub-shell to define a first heel portion, a first ankle portion connected to the first heel portion, and two opposed first side portions extending from the first heel and ankle portions, the outer sub-shell having an inner surface;
shaping a tridimensional inner sub-shell separately from the outer sub-shell, the inner sub-shell being shaped to define a second heel portion, a second ankle portion connected to the second heel portion, and two opposed second side portions extending from the second heel and ankle portions, the inner sub-shell having an inner surface and an outer surface complementary to the inner surface of the outer sub-shell;
shaping a tridimensional reinforcement sub-shell separately from the inner sub-shell and from a material different from that of the inner and outer sub-shells, the reinforcement sub-shell being shaped to have a third heel portion, a third ankle portion connected to the third heel portion, and two opposed third side portions extending from the third heel and ankle portions, the reinforcement sub-shell having an outer surface complementary to the inner surface of the inner sub-shell;
inserting the shaped inner sub-shell within the shaped outer sub-shell and the shaped reinforcement sub-shell within the inner sub-shell; and
bonding the shaped sub-shells together through lamination, the lamination being performed after the sub-shells are shaped, the lamination being performed with the inner surface of the inner sub-shell in alignment with the outer surface of the reinforcement sub-shell and with the outer surface of the inner sub-shell in alignment with the inner surface of the outer sub-shell, the lamination including applying heat on the sub-shells and pressure on one of the reinforcement and outer sub-shells toward the other of the reinforcement and outer sub-shells, the other of the reinforcement and outer sub-shells resting against a mold surface.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the outer sub-shell is shaped from a first material and the inner sub-shell is shaped from a second material different from the first material.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein the second material is a foam, and the first material is more rigid than the second material.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising interconnecting the sub-shells with adhesive prior to applying the heat and pressure.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the lamination includes receiving the assembled sub-shells within a female mold defining the mold surface complementary to an outer surface of the outer sub-shell, and applying pressure with an inflatable bladder received within the reinforcement sub-shell.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the lamination includes inserting a tridimensional boot shape with in the reinforcement sub-shell, the boot shape defining the mold surface complementary to an inner surface of the reinforcement sub-shell, and applying pressure with an inflatable bladder surrounding the outer sub-shell.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein one or both of the inner and outer sub-shells is shaped to include a sole portion connected to the heel and side portions thereof.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including inserting a sole portion within the inner sub-shell before the lamination.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein shaping the tridimensional outer sub-shell comprises: providing at least one layer of a material of the outer sub-shell in a flat configuration, the material being in a formable state; forming the at least one layer to conform to a second mold surface, the second mold surface being complementary to the first heel, ankle and side portions; pressing the at least one layer against the second mold surface while heating the at least one layer; and cooling the outer sub-shell, the cooled outer sub-shell retaining its tridimensional shape defining the first heel, ankle and side portions.

10. The method as defined in claim 9 , the method further comprising, after forming the at least one layer, placing a sole portion over the at least one layer in contact with the first heel, ankle and side portions, and pressing the at least one layer includes fusing the sole portion with the at least one layer by pressing the sole portion against the at least one layer toward the second mold surface while heating the sole portion and the at least one layer.

11. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein shaping the tridimensional inner sub-shell is performed by injection molding, the inner sub-shell being shaped to further include a second sole portion connected to the second heel, ankle and side portions.

12. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein shaping the tridimensional inner sub-shell comprises: forming at least one layer of a material of the inner sub-shell in a flat configuration; heating the at least one layer; forming the heated at least one layer to conform to a second mold surface, the second mold surface being complementary to the second heel, ankle and side portions; pressing the at least one layer against the second mold surface; and cooling the inner sub-shell, the cooled inner sub-shell retaining its tridimensional shape defining the second heel, ankle and side portions.

13. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein shaping the inner and outer sub-shells includes: forming a flat member including at least one layer of the first material and at least one layer of the second material; heating and forming the flat member to conform to a second mold surface while allowing relative movement between the first and second materials, the second mold surface being complementary to the first and second heel, ankle and side portions, to define the shaped inner sub-shell located inside the shaped outer sub shell prior to the lamination.

14. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the outer sub-shell is made of thermoplastic material, and after bonding the shaped sub-shells together through lamination, the method further includes creating at least one geometrical feature on the outer sub-shell by heating and pressing at least one part of the outer sub-shell against a re-shaping mold surface complementary to the at least one geometrical feature, and cooling the outer sub-shell after re-shaping, the cooled outer sub-shell retaining the at least one geometrical feature.

15. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein shaping the outer sub-shell includes, on each first side portion, forming a first recess adjacent the first heel portion and a first bulge extending upwardly from the first recess, and shaping the inner sub-shell includes, on each second side portion, forming a second recess adjacent the second heel portion and a second bulge extending upwardly from the second recess, the first bulge complementary to the second bulge, the first recess complementary to the second recess.

Assignees

• Sport Maska Inc

Inventors

• Koyess Philippe
• Chartrand Daniel
• Chretien Alexandre
• Champagne Etienne
• Lapierre Philippe

Classifications

• A43B23/0255

  assembled by gluing or thermo bonding · CPC title

• A43B23/026

  Laminated layers · CPC title

• A43B5/1666 Primary

  characterised by the upper · CPC title

• A43B5/1641

  characterised by the sole (skates with special foot-plates for the boot A63C1/22); characterised by the attachment of the skate (A43B5/1633 takes precedence; skates rigidly mounted to the sole of the boot A63C1/02) · CPC title

• A43B5/1683

  characterised by the lower part of the upper or by the shell · CPC title