Patent Application
20140230286
no.
Biodegradable resins have been implemented widely for several years within the food & beverage industry for high volume items such as bags, utensils, cups, plates and packaging. Some specific examples are Spudware, BioBags, World Centric and Eco-products, all of which are BPI certified. The Biodegradable Products Institute, Inc (BPI), located in New York and available via the web at BPIWorld.org, is partnered with the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) to set national standards and require testing for product certification for any company seeking the US compostable logo.
Just as with the onset of recycled paper and recyclable plastics, these biodegradable products exist to rectify decades of landfill and pollution problems created by non compostable or non recyclable based products such as Styrofoam, rubber and non recyclable plastics.
Biodegradable resins that are certified, such as those certified by BPI, biodegrade without professional chemical treatment and under regular environmental conditions in 18 months. Due to the 18 month biodegradable nature of the shoe sole in this invention there are significant positive landfill ramifications that are not currently available on the market today.
For example, per the US census data, there are 313,914,040 people in the USA as of 2012. This population data does not include other US owned provinces such as Puerto Rico. If just 10% of those 313,914,040 people have discarded a pair of shoes, which includes the sole of the shoe, in the past 2 years the environmental impact would be as follows:
Approximately 40 shoe soles, or 20 pairs of shoe soles detached from the shoe upper, can fit into a cubic foot of landfill space. And it is known that there are 27 cubic feet in one cubic yard. In this instance, the shoe sole in this invention would have biodegraded and thus avoided 58,132 sq cubic yards of landfill during the same 18 months or roughly two year period.
Secondly, shoes such as Rottua or Pocket flops, that are made from bicycle tires or other types of rubber, help to prevent such materials from entering landfill initially but they are not certified as biodegradable and thus don't solve the longer term problem once discarded. Additionally, any shoe soles made from rubber, synthetics, latex, recycled plastic are also not biodegradable as are the resins and plant based alternatives certified by BPI.
Finally, previous shoes and sandals such as Crocs (U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,020) Sanuk (U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,248), Tivas (U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,075) clogs or flip flops affix the straps or shoe upper to shoe sole in a seamless mold, attached via D rings, glued or sewn into the shoe sole which do not provide the ability to easily detach components for improving repairs, comfort, temperature control, function and ornamental appearance.
One specific example of repair difficulties is having a toe or foot strap on your flip flop or Teva break while walking on a beach, or trail. With the detachable design in this invention one could get by with a borrowed shoe lace and replace just the upper shoe module without the use of a cobbler or product return to the manufacturer. And, in the case of a blister, one can simply change the modular shoe upper configuration to avoid the wound altogether for comfort purposes.
Shoes, clogs, sandals and flip flops are functional for the purpose of preventing skin or nail disease as well as injury while utilizing a public shower, athletic facilities, school gyms, public pool, campgrounds, hotel rooms or even a public beach. These shoes must be lightweight and compact enough that the user would pack & carry them for daily use and also provide quick and thorough drying to prevent bacteria, fungus or odor build up.
A beach sandal such as Sanuk is not intended for shower use as the shoe upper is made of a solid material affixed via stitching. The shoe must be quick drying or able to be quickly toweled dry, as is the case with a basic rubber flip flop such as Pocket Flops or Rottua. That said, none of the aforementioned shoes are biodegradable. Crocs, which use a proprietary close cell resin named Croslite, other known flip flop designs, Tiva, nor Sidi are not biodegradable or certified compostable either.
The invention encompasses the construction of either a left shoe or a right shoe system, and to be used for pairs of shoes, wherein a pair includes both a left and right footed shoe.
Specifically, the invention is a shoe sole that is constructed utilizing certified biodegradable resins. Wherein the aforementioned sole can be coupled or decoupled with various upper shoe modules that fasten via stitching, glue, grooves, holes, hook, broach, interlocking clasp, buckle, tying of two ends, snap, hook and loop, grommet, any other fastener or combination of fastening elements characterized within the proceeding list. The biodegradable shoe sole and the shoe upper can be affixed or completely detachable from one another; wherein the affixed upper shoe module would also be constructed of a biodegradable resin so that the entire shoe can be certified compostable.
Additionally, a modular shoe consisting of a sole and a completely detachable shoe upper is constructed to enable a user to interchange the shoe components for improving repairs, comfort, function and ornamental appearance of the shoe construction in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,782 Granted to Thatcher
U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,075 Granted to Thatcher
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,512 Granted to Zeligman
U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,997 Granted to Scheinhaus
U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,610 Granted to Shigegi
U.S. Pat. No. 2,642,677 Granted to Yates
U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,020 Granted to Bathum
U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,248 Granted to Kelley
U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,960 Biodegradable and/or compostable polymers
U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,168 Biodegradable and/or compostable polymers
