Removable liner and inflatable bladder for snowboard boots and method of manufacture
US6766599B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 20, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jul 27, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 20, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S2/03
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An inflatable liner for a boot, such as a snowboard boot. An oily chalk like substance consisting of 90% sweet starch, 9% lubricant, and 1% stearate is included between two sheets of plastic that make up bladder of the liner. The bladder is attached to the EVA of the liner before the EVA is folded, stitched, heated and molded. This allows the bladder to be attached while the EVA is still flat and allows attachment to be performed by machine stitching. The bladder is partially inflated before the EVA is heated and molded. The oily chalk like substance and the partial inflation of the bladder allows the installed bladder to pass through the heating and molding steps of the EVA without the two sheets that make up the bladder melting together. The design and installation of the bladder minimizes the amount of slipping of a wearer's foot and heel within the boot.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.