Abstract: A footwear item including an upper portion; at least one lace passing through eyelets arranged along the edges of an opening on the front the upper portion, and that tightens, thereby drawing the edges of the opening closer to each other, when pulled in a fastening direction; a string locking arrangement, provided in the upper portion having one or more passages in which the at least one lace is inserted and is capable of sliding when the wearer pulls it, while being capable of being retained there by a lock when it is at rest. The lock including an oscillating locking member in contact with the at least one lace to slide when the latter is pulled in the fastening direction, and which gets attached onto the at least one lace and locks it in position when the latter undergoes a tension in a direction opposite to the fastening direction.

Abstract: Sport footwear, in particular ski boot, having passage openings (16, 19) for the wearer's. foot provided frontally in the lower shell (10) and the leg-piece (20). At least the opening (19) in the leg-piece (20) is capable of being closed by two flaps (22, 23), of which at least one is in the form of a pad (23) coupled to the remaining portion (25) of the leg-piece (20) with a clearance fit allowing said pad (23) to freely rotate in view of enabling the wearer's foot to be most smoothly and conveniently introduced in and subsequently extracted from the footwear.

Abstract: A footwear item including an upper portion; at least one lace passing through eyelets arranged along the edges of an opening on the front the upper portion, and that tightens, thereby drawing the edges of the opening closer to each other, when pulled in a fastening direction; a string locking arrangement, provided in the upper portion having one or more passages in which the at least one lace is inserted and is capable of sliding when the wearer pulls it, while being capable of being retained there by a lock when it is at rest. The lock including an oscillating locking member in contact with the at least one lace to slide when the latter is pulled in the fastening direction, and which gets attached onto the at least one lace and locks it in position when the latter undergoes a tension in a direction opposite to the fastening direction.

Abstract: Sport footwear, in particular ski boot, having passage openings (16, 19) for the wearer's foot provided frontally in the lower shell (10) and the leg-piece (20). At least the opening (19) in the leg-piece (20) is capable of being closed by two flaps (22, 23), of which at least one is in the form of a pad (23) coupled to the remaining portion (25) of the leg-piece (20) with a clearance fit allowing said pad (23) to freely rotate in view of enabling the wearer's foot to be most smoothly and conveniently introduced in and subsequently extracted from the footwear.

Abstract: An article of footwear comprises a shell (10) and preferably also a leg piece (20), and features, at least at some portions thereof that do not include the sole (15), a composite structure formed of two layers (30, 40; 30A, 40A) that are made of preferably synthetic materials having different mechanical properties. At least the interfacing surface (34, 34A) of the layer (30) made of mechanically stronger materials is provided with protruding elements (36) that remain inseparably adhering to the interfacing surface (42, 42A) of the other layer (40).

Abstract: A liner for an article of footwear, particularly a ski-boot, comprises a thermally formable material which can be selectively heated by means of an insert comprising electrical resistance heating elements. The latter in turn are sandwiched between heat spreading material.

Abstract: Sports shoe having a shell (10) partially overlapped by a leg-piece (20) and adjusting hinge (52, 53) for allowing a flexing movement of controlled amplitude of the leg-piece about a hinging axis. In the overlapping zones (ZE, ZI) plates (42, 41; 47) provided on the outer surfaces of the leg-piece (20) allow selective insertion and subsequent locking of at least one hinge (52, 53) in any one of the matching seats (33, 34, 35, 36; 37; 34′, 36′) provided on the shell (10). The hinging axis thus able to assume at least two different angular positions (X1, X2, X3, X4) relative to the longitudinal centre plane (M) of the shoe, as required by the user.

Abstract: In a sports footwear that comprises also a rigid reinforcement structure (200), a shoe (100) of soft, flexiable material comprises two superimposed sub-assemblies (110, 150). The upper sub-assembly (150) slides, jointly with a leg-portion (120) that is a part of the lower sub-assembly (110), with respect to an upper (111) which is also a part of the said lower sub-assembly. USE: skates with in-line rollers, boots for cross-country skiing, snowboard and the like. Advantages: improved flexibility of the user's ankle. Improved manufacturability.

Abstract: An upper material is pressed so as to produce a plurality of separate areas (22) raised relative to the outer face of the upper (10) and corresponding to the mounting positions of lacing hooks or eyes (14), and a plastics material having good flexibility and resistance to tension and bending is joined to the rear face of the upper material to produce a semi-finished upper which gives rise, in the final footwear, to greater softness and to an improved ability of the upper to bend in response to the stresses applied to the upper by the foot in use in the regions interposed between those in which the lacing eyes or hooks (14) are fixed.

Abstract: An upper material is pressed so as to produce a plurality of separate areas (22) raised relative to the outer face of the upper (10) and corresponding to the mounting positions of lacing hooks or eyes (14), and a plastics material having good flexibility and resistance to tension and bending is joined to the rear face of the upper material to produce a semi-finished upper which gives rise, in the final footwear, to greater softness and to an improved ability of the upper to bend in response to the stresses applied to the upper by the foot in use in the regions interposed between those in which the lacing eyes or hooks (14) are fixed.

Abstract: An in-line roller skate, which comprises a rigid shell wherein a flexible inner shoe is housed. The latter is advantageously lined at the level of its leg portion by a cover, thereby defining with it a sheath substantially open downward in which the upper part of the shell is housed. In this way, when the skater's ankle bends forwards it is supported by the inner shoe as a result of the interference arising between the cover and the upper part of the shell. This allows a great freedom of movement in a longitudinal direction for the skater's ankle, which can be bent even in a very accentuated manner, differently from what occurs in the known skates, where the bottom of the leg is enclosed in a rigid leg portion. At the same time, good support is maintained in a lateral direction owing to the upper part of the shell which allows the transmission of the guiding movements. According to a preferred embodiment, the cover may be hinged to the shell in the malleolar regions.

Abstract: A roller skate, of the type having a carriage or frame on which a series of running rollers is arranged in a freely rotatable manner, the frame being provided with a device for fastening to the rigid sole of an item of footwear which is temporarily releasable to enable the position of the footwear and the carriage relative to one another to be altered. The fastening device has a pair of substantially stationary cross-members, each of which accommodates rotatable cam means which are connected eccentrically at the top to the rigid sole of the footwear in order to adjust the position thereof with respect to the carriage and to fasten it in the desired position.

Abstract: Locking device for sports footwear such as ski boots, in which a lower leg envelopment (12) is hinged to a shell (10). The device consists of a support (20) fixed on an inner wall of the lower leg envelopment, in which there is mounted a cam (24) on which acts a rocker arm (35) that constitutes the relative complementary surface for the cam. The coupling of the cam to the rocker arm determines the skiing or walking attitude of the footwear, in relation to the rotations of the cam which are controlled by a lever (32) arranged beside it. This device is particularly compact and structurally strong. It can be produced in plastics material, and can be fitted directly to already assembled footwear, without requiring other operations for its utilization.

Abstract: By interposing between the roller-carrying frame of an in-line roller skate and a rigid plate positioned inside the shoe an insert of elastomeric material having lugs projecting upwards and passing through the sole of the shoe, vibrations and bumps caused by the running of the rollers on the ground are intercepted and damped.

Abstract: There is provided a snow board shoe having a non- rigid structure so that bending and rotation are permitted in the area of the ankle but resistance to release loads, without substantial deformation of the sole, and the transmission of the forces applied by the athlete to the board, both transversely and longitudinally, are ensured by means of the insertion of a preshaped reinforcing element of semi-rigid plastics material which encloses the lower sheet of the upper and an edge portion of the associated arch support, wherein a reinforcing metal sheet or plate is inserted in the reinforcing element and the shoe is completed by a mid-sole of expanded plastics material interposed between the reinforcing element and the sole, the mid-sole being injected directly onto the mounted reinforcing element in such a manner as to surround it externally and partially internally.

Abstract: Closure device for sports footwear, especially for a ski boot. On one edge of a front opening of the boot, a series of levers is provided with their free end having a hook and tightening pin, while a corresponding series of rack elements 10 is provided on the opposing edge of the front opening. A groove 14 in each of the rack elements can receive the hook of a lever. Provided at the free end of at least one rack element 10 is an extendible and retractable additional hooking element 26 which can receive the hooking pin of the opposing closure lever. The extendible and retractable additional hooking element 26, when in its operative state, projects outside the free end of the rack 10 which is therefore extendible.

Abstract: A directional or adjusting plate is arranged between the upper surface of the ski and the safety binding for fixing the boot, the position of which can be adjusted so that its longitudinal axis is coincident or translated parallel and/or rotated through a predetermined angle adjustable with respect to the longitudinal axis of the ski.

Abstract: A padding (14), which is covered internally with a lining (18) and externally with a rigid layer (16), is provided in a tongue for the internal shoes of ski boots. The padding (14) is divided into a lower portion (14a) which is integral with the rigid layer (16) and an upper portion (14b) which is integral with a sliding insert (20) interposed between the upper portion itself and the rigid external layer (16). The position of the sliding insert (20) and thus of the upper padding (14b) varies between a lower limit position in which the sliding insert (20) is completely lowered and un upper limit position in which the sliding insert (16) is completely raised.