Exoskeletal boot
AssigneeApex Sports Group, LLC
InventorRoger Thompson Neiley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A walking boot and a boot frame. The boot frame can be formed to receive the walking boot. The walking boot can be secured within the boot frame via one or more buckles. The walking boot can have an externally mounted tongue that can be tensioned via the use of one or more laces and associated tensioning mechanisms. The tongue can be molded to conform to a user's foot and leg while the tensioning mechanisms secure the user's foot and leg within the walking boot. In some embodiments, the boot frame has an open heel to capture the walking boot. In some other embodiments, the boot frame has a rotatable heel configured to pivot away from the toe and receive a heel of the walking boot for easy coupling of the walking boot to the boot frame.
Claims4
A walking boot for use with an exoskeletal boot, the walking boot comprising:
- a lateral panel portion having a first edge,
- a medial panel portion joined to the lateral panel portion, the medial panel portion having a second edge,
- a tongue having an upper portion, a lower portion, a lateral edge, and a medial edge, the lateral edge overlapping the first edge and the medial edge overlapping the second edge;
- the tongue further having a top panel and a bottom panel;
- at least one lace routed internally in the tongue below the top panel and above the bottom panel, the at least one lace configured to draw the tongue toward the lateral panel portion and the medial panel portion;
- and
- a first turning guide directly attached to the bottom panel of the tongue, the first turning guide having a first lace channel, wherein the first lace channel is below the top panel and is above the bottom panel of the tongue such that the first lace channel is positioned in between the top panel and the bottom panel;
- and
- a second turning guide disposed on either the lateral panel portion or the medial panel portion, the second turning guide having a second lace channel, wherein the second turning guide is entirely spaced apart from either the first edge of the lateral panel portion or the second edge of the medial panel portion, the second turning guide being entirely spaced apart from the tongue and from the lateral and medial edges of the tongue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.