The present disclosure relates to a boot, and more particularly, to a boot with an instep-comforting feature.
For many people, whether footwear can be easily put on and taken off is always an important consideration that affects their purchasing decision. Nevertheless, due to the design considerations for functions and aesthetics, the kinds of footwear like cowboy boots and wellington-type boots often have an L-shape wearing space formed and defined jointly by the boot shaft and boot body, wherein the wearing space is provided for the foot and lower leg, wherein the boot shaft is often made of materials with very low resilience (such as cow leather), and the boot shaft does not have a design mechanism for tightening and loosening such as that of a shoe lace.
The aforementioned footwear without shoe laces cannot be made too large since unwanted loosening during walking would be uncomfortable for the wearer. As the corner of the wearing space for the aforementioned footwear cannot be made too large, the wearer needs to aggressively push with the foot into the shoe shaft corresponding to the corner of the wearing space as he/she puts on and takes off the footwear, and hence the shoe shaft corresponding to the corner is deformed and expanded so as to allow sufficient space and passage for the foot to get through.
In order to solve the wearing problems for the aforementioned footwear, U.S. Pat. No. 7,980,010 disclosed a boot having an expandable portion adapted to expand in order to facilitate ease of entry of a heel of a foot into the shell.
Nevertheless, the aforementioned expandable portion at the boot shaft corresponding to the heel portion of a foot has only limited benefit because there is only a limited area in the heel region of the boot shaft for the heel of a foot to push into when putting on the footwear. Thus, the amount of expansion for the expandable portion is also limited. Hence, it is necessary for a wearer to push on the instep of the boot shaft with the instep of a foot so as to create additionally sufficient space at the corner of the wearing space and to allow a smooth wearing experience.
This “Discussion of the Background” section is provided for background information only. The statements in this “Discussion of the Background” are not an admission that the subject matter disclosed in this “Discussion of the Background” section constitutes prior art to the present disclosure, and no part of this “Discussion of the Background” section may be used as an admission that any part of this application, including this “Discussion of the Background” section, constitutes prior art to the present disclosure.
One aspect of the present disclosure provides a boot with an instep-comforting feature.
A boot, according to this aspect of the present disclosure, comprises a boot body having a wearing space of a wearer's foot; an elastic recovering member positioned on the boot body; and a shielding unit comprising at least one shielding sheet partially fixed on the boot body and configured to cover the elastic recovering member. The boot body comprises a top section having a top opening communicating with the wearing space; a bottom section configured to connect a boot base; and a breaking section having an aperture positioned around a position of the boot body corresponding to an instep of the wearer's foot. The position of the elastic recovering member corresponds to the aperture of the breaking section. The at least one shielding sheet comprises a fixing section fixed on the boot body; and a shielding section extending outward from the fixing section to cover the elastic recovering member. The aperture of the breaking section changes from a non-expanding state to an expanding state as the boot body is increasingly deformed by expansion, and the elastic recovering member is correspondingly expanded to generate a resilient recovering force for restoring the aperture of the breaking section to the non-expanding state. The shielding section of the at least one shielding sheet covers the elastic recovering member when the aperture of the breaking section is at the non-expanding state.
A boot, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, comprises a boot body having a wearing space of a wearer's foot; an elastic recovering member positioned on the boot body; and a shielding unit comprising at least one shielding sheet partially fixed on the boot body and configured to cover the elastic recovering member. The boot body comprises a top section having a top opening communicating with the wearing space; a bottom section configured to connect a boot base; and a breaking section positioned at an upper region of the boot body corresponding to an instep of the wearer's foot, wherein the breaking section has an aperture changing from a non-expanding state to an expanding state so as to increase the wearing space. The position of the elastic recovering member corresponds to the aperture of the breaking section. The at least one shielding sheet comprises a fixing section fixed on the boot body; and a shielding section extending outward from the fixing section to cover the elastic recovering member.
A boot, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, comprises a boot body having a wearing space of a wearer's foot; an elastic recovering member positioned on the boot body; and a shielding unit comprising at least one shielding sheet partially fixed on the boot body and configured to cover the elastic recovering member. The boot body comprises a top section having a top opening communicating with the wearing space; a bottom section configured to connect a boot base; and a breaking section positioned at a side region of the boot body corresponding to one of the left side and the right side of the wearer's foot, wherein the breaking section has an aperture changing from a non-expanding state to an expanding state so as to increase the wearing space. The position of the elastic recovering member corresponds to the aperture of the breaking section. The at least one shielding sheet comprises a fixing section fixed on the boot body; and a shielding section extending outward from the fixing section to cover the elastic recovering member.
A boot, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, comprises a boot body having a wearing space of a wearer's foot; and an elastic recovering member positioned on the boot body. The boot body comprises a top section having a top opening communicating with the wearing space; a bottom section configured to connect a boot base; and a shielding section positioned between the top section and the bottom section, wherein the shielding section has a lane positioned around a position corresponding to an instep of the wearer's foot. The lane of the shielding section changes from a non-expanding state to an expanding state as the boot body is increasingly deformed by expansion, and the elastic recovering member is correspondingly expanded to generate a resilient recovering force for restoring the lane to the non-expanding state. The position of the elastic recovering member corresponds to the lane, and the shielding section covers the elastic recovering member when the lane of the shielding section is at the non-expanding state.
A boot, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, comprises a boot body having a wearing space of a wearer's foot; and an elastic recovering member positioned on the boot body. The boot body comprises a top section having a top opening communicating with the wearing space; a bottom section configured to connect a boot base; and a shielding section having a lane positioned at an upper region of the boot body corresponding to an instep of the wearer's foot. The lane of the shielding section changes from a non-expanding state to an expanding state as the boot body is increasingly deformed by expansion, and the elastic recovering member is correspondingly expanded to generate a resilient recovering force for restoring the lane to the non-expanding state. The position of the elastic recovering member corresponds to the lane, and the shielding section covers the elastic recovering member when the lane of the shielding section is at the non-expanding state.
A boot, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, comprises a boot body having a wearing space of a wearer's foot; and an elastic recovering member positioned on the boot body. The boot body comprises a top section having a top opening communicating with the wearing space; a bottom section configured to connect a boot base; and a shielding section having a lane positioned at a side region of the boot body corresponding to one of the left side and the right side of the wearer's foot. The lane of the shielding section changes from a non-expanding state to an expanding state as the boot body is increasingly deformed by expansion, and the elastic recovering member is correspondingly expanded to generate a resilient recovering force for restoring the lane to the non-expanding state. The position of the elastic recovering member corresponds to the lane, and the shielding section covers the elastic recovering member when the lane of the shielding section is at the non-expanding state.
With the design of the breaking section (the shielding section with the lane) positioned around the position of the boot body corresponding to the instep of the wearer's foot, there is no need for the wearer to apply too much force from the instep of the foot in order to expand the boot body when putting on or taking off the boot. Thus, additional wearing space is created at the corner of the wearing space and the structural integrity with the recovering elastic force of the elastic recovering member is maintained while the boot body is being expanded.
In addition, by disposing the breaking section (the shielding section with the lane) around the position of the boot body corresponding to the instep of the boot, the contact area of the boot body with the instep of the foot around the corner of the wearing space is far greater than that between the boot body and the heel region of the foot. Thus, it is much easier for the wearer to expand the boot body when putting on or taking off the boot. Furthermore, when the boot is worn by the wearer, the breaking section of the boot body can be instantaneously deformed in accordance with the foot in motion, thereby reducing the compression of the boot body to the instep of the foot, and ensuring a comfortable wearing quality.
For a wearer who has a higher instep, the boot of the present disclosure is easier to be worn than boots without such a design of stretching and relaxing functions. In addition, for those wearers with higher insteps, the boot of the present disclosure provides a more comfortable wearing feeling, without adding pressure to the instep of the foot.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures or processes for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.
A more complete understanding of the present disclosure may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the Figures, where like reference numbers refer to similar elements throughout the Figures, and:
The following description of the disclosure accompanies drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, and illustrate embodiments of the disclosure, but the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments. In addition, the following embodiments can be properly integrated to complete another embodiment.
References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “exemplary embodiment,” “other embodiments,” “another embodiment,” etc. indicate that the embodiment(s) of the disclosure so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in the embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may.
The present disclosure is directed to a boot with an instep-comforting feature. In order to make the present disclosure completely comprehensible, detailed steps and structures are provided in the following description. Obviously, implementation of the present disclosure does not limit special details known by persons skilled in the art. In addition, known structures and steps are not described in detail, so as not to limit the present disclosure unnecessarily. Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail. However, in addition to the detailed description, the present disclosure may also be widely implemented in other embodiments. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the detailed description, and is defined by the claims.
Referring to
The boot body 2 is connected to the boot base 1 and has an L-shape wearing space 4. The boot body 2 comprises a top section 21, a bottom section 22 connected to the top surface 11 of the boot base 1, and a breaking section 23 positioned around a position corresponding to an instep of the wearer's foot. The top section 21 has a top opening 211 communicating with the wearing space 4, and the breaking section 23 has an aperture 231. The boot body 2 further comprises an inner periphery 24 circumferentially defining the aperture 231 of the breaking section 23. The technique of connecting the bottom section 22 of the boot body 2 and the top surface 11 of the boot base 1 is well known to those who are skillful in this art, and hence is not described in detail. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the breaking section 23 is positioned at an upper region of the boot body 2 corresponding to the instep of the wearer's foot.
The elastic recovering member 3 is made from elastic material sewn on an inner surface of the breaking section 23, and corresponds to the aperture 231. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the elastic recovering member 3 is an elastic resilient fabric, but the structural configuration of the elastic recovering member 3 and its connecting relationship with respect to the breaking section 23 is not limited to the aforementioned description. For example, the elastic recovering member 3 can be an elastic resilient leather disposed on the outer surface of the breaking section 23 and covering the aperture 231, or the elastic recovering member 3 can be elastic resilient materials spanning across the aperture 231 with both opposite ends fixed at the breaking section 23 respectively.
The shielding unit 60 comprises at least one shielding sheet 6 partially fixed on the boot body 2. For example, the upper part of the shielding sheet 6 is fixed on the boot body 2, while the bottom part of the shielding sheet 6 is not fixed on the boot body 2. The shielding sheet 6 has a fixing section 61 permanently sewn over the outer surface of the boot body 2, and a shielding section 62 extending outward from the fixing section 61 to the top of the aperture 231 and covering the elastic recovering member 3. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the shielding sheet 6 includes, but is not limited to, a piece of decorating sheet having the same material as the boot body 2. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the shielding sheet 6 can also be made of other materials.
When the wearer's foot is inserting into and removing from the wearing space 4 through the top opening 211 of the top section 21, the wearer expands the boot body 2 with his/her instep of the foot at a location corresponding to a corner 41 of the wearing space 4 (next to the breaking section 23 of the boot body 2), such that the breaking section 23 changes at the aperture 231 from a non-expanding state (referring to
As a result, an extra wearing space is created around the corner 41 to allow a smooth passage for the foot in order for the boot to be worn comfortably. When the boot body 2 has not been expanded, the aperture 231 of the breaking section 23 can be restored to the original non-expanding state with the resilient restoring force of the elastic recovering member 3. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, if the aperture 231 of the breaking section 23 is at a non-expanding state and the elastic recovering member 3 is made of materials different from the boot body 2, the shielding section 62 of the shielding sheet 6 fully covers the aperture 231 of the breaking section 23 to prevent the exposure of the elastic recovering member 3 through the aperture 231 so as to preserve the aesthetic decoration of the boot.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the boot further includes an elastic inner liner 5 (referring to
It can be understood from the above description that, according to the boot described in the first embodiment of the present disclosure with the design of the breaking section 23 around the position of the boot body 2 corresponding to the instep of the foot, the wearer can more easily expand the boot body 2 with the instep of the foot when putting on or taking off the boot so as to create the additional wearing space at the corner 41 of the wearing space 4 and maintain the structural integrity with the recovering elastic force of the elastic recovering member 3 while the boot body 2 is expanded.
In addition, by disposing the breaking section 23 around the position of the boot body 2 corresponding to the instep of the boot, the contact area of the boot body 2 with the instep of the foot around the corner 41 of the wearing space 4 is far greater than that between the boot body 2 and the heel region of the foot. Thus, it is much easier for the wearer to expand the boot body 2 when putting on or taking off the boot. Furthermore, as the wearer is walking while wearing the boot, the breaking section 23 of the boot body 2 can be instantaneously deformed in accordance with the foot in motion, thereby reducing the compression of the boot body 2 to the instep of the foot, and ensuring a comfortable wearing quality.
The boot body 2 of the second embodiment comprises a shielding section 62A positioned between the top section 21 and the bottom section 22, wherein the shielding section 62A has a lane 7A formed around a position of the boot body 2 corresponding to the instep of the wearer's foot. The shielding section 62A has a circumference 621A next to an inner periphery 24A of the boot body 2, and the circumference 621A of the shielding section 62A and the inner periphery 24A of the boot body 2 jointly form the lane 7A extending substantially along a lateral (left-and-right) X direction and a vertical (up-and-down) Z direction, different from the extending direction of the elastic recovering member 3 (i.e., a front-and-rear Y direction).
When the wearer's foot is inserting into and removing from the wearing space 4 through the top opening 211 of the top section 21, the lane 7A of the shielding section 62A changes from a non-expanding state to an expanding state, and the elastic recovering member 3 is correspondingly expanded to generate a resilient recovering force that restores the shielding section 62A to the original non-expanding state.
At the non-expanding state, the shielding section 62A substantially covers the elastic recovering member 3 to prevent the exposure of the elastic recovering member 3 through the lane 7A. When the wearer's foot is inserting into and removing from the wearing space 4 through the top opening 211 of the top section 21, the structural change provides benefits similar to the first embodiment for stretching and relaxing the instep of a wearer's foot for wearing comfort.
The boot body 2 comprises a shielding section 62B positioned at a side region of the boot body 2 corresponding to one of the left side and the right side of the wearer's foot, wherein the shielding section 62B has a lane 7B positioned around a position corresponding to the instep of the wearer's foot. The shielding section 62B has a circumference 621B next to an inner periphery 24B of the boot body 2, and the circumference 621B of the shielding section 62B and the inner periphery 24B of the boot body 2 jointly form the lane 7B extending along a vertical (up-and-down) Z direction, different from the extending direction of the elastic recovering member 3 (i.e., a front-and-rear Y direction).
When the wearer's foot is inserting into and removing from the wearing space 4 through the top opening 211 of the top section 21, the lane 7B of the shielding section 62B can change from a non-expanding state to an expanding state, and the elastic recovering member 3 is correspondingly expanded to generate a resilient recovering force that restores the shielding section 62B to the original non-expanding state. At the non-expanding state, the shielding section 62B substantially covers the elastic recovering member 3 to prevent the exposure of the elastic recovering member 3 through the lane 7B. When the wearer's foot is inserting into and removing from the wearing space 4 through the top opening 211 of the top section 21, the structural change provides benefits similar to the first embodiment for stretching and relaxing the instep of a wearer's foot for wearing comfort.
The boot of the fifth embodiment in
In summary, the benefits of this innovation include the following: with the design of the breaking section 23 (the shielding section 62 with the lane 7) positioned around the position of the boot body 2 corresponding to the instep of the wearer's foot, there is no need for the wearer to apply too much force from the instep of the foot in order to expand the boot body 2 when putting on or taking off the boot. Thus, additional wearing space is created at the corner 41 of the wearing space 4 and the structural integrity with the recovering elastic force of the elastic recovering member 3 is maintained while the boot body 2 is being expanded. In addition, by disposing the breaking section 23 (the shielding section 62 with the lane 7) around the position of the boot body 2 corresponding to the instep of the boot, the contact area of the boot body 2 with the instep of the foot around the corner 41 of the wearing space 4 is far greater than that between the boot body 2 and the heel region of the foot. Thus, it is much easier for the wearer to expand the boot body 2 when putting on or taking off the boot. Furthermore, when the boot is worn by the wearer during walking, the breaking section 23 of the boot body 2 can be instantaneously deformed in accordance with the foot in motion, thereby reducing the compression of the boot body 2 to the instep of the foot, and ensuring a comfortable wearing quality.
Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, many of the processes discussed above can be implemented in different methodologies and replaced by other processes, or a combination thereof.
Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201510308887.5 | Jun 2015 | CN | national |