Tibia and/or foot protection article comprising at least one shock absorbing pad

Abstract

Disclosed is an article for protection of the tibia and/or the foot composed of a sock including at least one pouch and at least one pad removably positioned in the pouch; the article is remarkable in that the pouch is fixed to the inside of the sock and in that the pad is composed of a flexible and flat part including a layer obtained from a viscoelastic material and at least one layer made of fabric fixed to at least one of the faces of the layer of viscoelastic material.

1 - 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A tibia and/or foot protection article composed of a sock comprising at least one pouch and at least one pad removably positioned in said pouch, wherein the pouch is fixed to the inside of the sock and wherein the pad is composed of a flexible and flat part comprising a layer obtained from a viscoelastic material and at least one layer made of fabric fixed to at least one of the faces of the layer of viscoelastic material. 
     
     
         14 . The protection article of  claim 13 , wherein the pad is made from a flexible and flat part comprising a layer made from a viscoelastic material and two layers made of fabric fixed to corresponding faces of the layer of viscoelastic material. 
     
     
         15 . The protection article of  claim 13 , wherein the static friction coefficient of the layer of fabric of the pad is between 0.1 and 0.5. 
     
     
         16 . The protection article of  claim 13 , wherein the Shore hardness of the viscoelastic material is between 20 and 80. 
     
     
         17 . The protection article of  claim 16 , wherein the viscoelastic material consists of a thermoplastic elastomer. 
     
     
         18 . The protection article of  claim 17 , wherein said thermoplastic elastomer is chosen from the group consisting of: a non-vulcanised olefinic thermoplastic elastomer, a vulcanised olefinic thermoplastic elastomer, a polyurethane thermoplastic elastomer, a styrenic thermoplastic elastomer, a thermoplastic copolyester, a thermoplastic copolyamide, and combinations of these thermoplastic elastomers. 
     
     
         19 . The protection article of  claim 18 , wherein said thermoplastic elastomer is chosen from the group consisting of: a styrene thermoplastic elastomer comprising polystyrene-b-polybutadiene-b-polystyrene, polystyrene-b-polyisoprene-b-polystyrene, polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-butylene)-b-polystyrene, polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-propylene)-b-polystyrene, polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-ethylene/propylene)-b-polystyrene and composites thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The protection article of  claim 13 , wherein the pouch is fixed to the inside wall of the sock by stitching. 
     
     
         21 . The protection article of  claim 13 , wherein the pouch extends in front of the tibial crest. 
     
     
         22 . The protection article of  claim 21 , wherein the pouch is substantially rectangular in shape and wherein the upper part of the pouch is open. 
     
     
         23 . The protection article of  claim 22 , wherein the pad is substantially parallelepiped in shape. 
     
     
         24 . The protection article of  claim 23 , wherein the width of the pad is substantially equal to the width of the pouch and wherein the length of the pad is longer than the length of the pouch such that said pad projects outside said pouch. 
     
     
         25 . The protection article of  claim 14 , wherein the static friction coefficient of the layer of fabric of the pad is between 0.1 and 0.5.