There have been many attempts in the prior art to construct and provide shoes that are capable of easy and useful conversions from one type of footwear to another. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,268,967 and 4,783,909 each provide for a shoe that can convert from a shoe to a slip-on footwear by use of a flexible heel portion. U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,583 provides for collapsible shoe portions to make the footwear more compact for transport. U.S. Pat. No. 7,331,122 teaches a sandal with a pivoting heel strap to provide additional heel support when required. U.S. Pat. No. 8,959,795 teaches a flip flop footwear with an insert slipper portion to keep a wearer's feet warm, thereby requiring a separate “second attachment piece” that must be used for the conversion. U.S. Pat. No. 9,474,330 provides a collapsible heel portion to facilitate putting on and securing the footwear. U.S. Publication No. 2008/0155860 provides for a retractable toe section to provide extra protection if needed and pivoting heel section to provide additional heel support. U.S. Publication No. 2014/0298684 teaches reversible footwear but the function and structure of the footwear is substantially the same in both configurations.
These prior art attempts suffer from many disadvantages and limitations. For example, the prior art convertible footwear requires that a second separate piece be used in order carry out the conversion. Movable heel portions and reversible configurations are provided but none of them provide the ability to convert without using a separate piece.
In view of the foregoing, there is a demand for footwear that can be easily and quickly converted between a shoe configuration and a sandal configuration.
There is a further demand for convertible footwear that does not use any separate components to carry out the conversion.
There is a further demand for a convertible footwear to be easily reconfigured using existing components of the footwear thereby obviating the need to carry around a separate component for such conversion.
The invention related generally to convertible footwear, namely, footwear that can be converted from one configuration to another, such as between a shoe configuration and a sandal configuration. While this invention is particularly related to footwear that is convertible between a shoe and sandal configuration, it is pertinent to the conversion of any type of footwear configuration.
There is a need for convertible footwear in the consumer market. Many type of footwear conversions are desirable. For example, it is desirable to convert between a shoe, a slipper, a backless shoe (otherwise known as a clog or mule), and a sandal. The present invention preserves the advantages of prior art convertible footwear. In addition, the present disclosure provides new advantages not found in currently available convertible footwear and overcomes many disadvantages of such currently available convertible footwear.
The invention is generally directed to the novel and unique footwear that can be convertible between a shoe configuration, a slipper configuration, and a sandal configuration. More specifically, the footwear of the present invention can include a shoe configuration where a flexible front vamp portion is elevated into an upwardly flexed and elevated position so it creates a cavity, in conjunction with a shoe upper portion, to receive the foot of the wearer to provide a shoe configuration. In particular, the toes of the wearer reside in the cavity portion formed by the flexible front vamp portion.
For conversion to a slipper configuration, a collar portion, proximate the heel portion, can be folded outward and downward onto itself to reduce the height of the upper proximate the heel portion of the footwear. Alternatively, or additionally, for conversion to a backless shoe, the entire rear quarter, or heel, can be pushed downward towards the toe cap, such that a user's foot rests thereon when the foot is received in the shoe. In an alternative, the midsole can be removed from the outer sole and the rear quarter can be pushed downwards to nest in the outer sole, and the midsole can be reinserted into the outsole.
For conversion to a sandal configuration, the midsole can be removed from the outer sole and the front vamp portion can be downwardly flexed so that it collapses and then nests into the outer sole. The midsole can be replaced back into the outer sole with the front portion thereof resting over the nested front vamp portion. The front vamp portion can thereby be hidden without removing or adding any components, as in the prior art. In this configuration, the shoe upper portion remains in an elevated position to receive the foot of the wearer whereby the toes of the wearer are exposed thereby achieving the desired sandal configuration. The sandal configuration can be combined with the slipper configuration to create a sandal which can be slipped on. The process can be reversed to change the footwear from a sandal configuration back to a shoe configuration. Therefore, the present invention eliminates the need to carry a secondary attachment piece when closed toe covering is desired.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide footwear that has the capability of being configured as a shoe, a slipper, and a sandal all with one footwear.
A further object of the present invention is to obviate the need to carry around any extra pieces or separate footwear articles to carry out such a conversion.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide footwear that converts easily between a shoe, a slipper, and a sandal with just a few easy steps and leaves no extra pieces in the conversion process.
There is a further object of the present invention to provide an “all in one” footwear article that can convert between a shoe, a slipper, and a sandal wherever they are, on the go, without needing to carry any extra pieces or separate footwear articles.
The novel features which are characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. However, the invention's preferred embodiments, together with further objects and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
Various embodiments are presented herein, showing various configurations of footwear. Each of the various features discloses herein can be incorporated with others of the various features, or alternatively, used individually. In general, footwear is provided having an outer sole which makes contact with the ground or other surfaces, a removable inner midsole and an upper textile portion. The upper textile portion can be formed from a number of discrete panels which can be folded, or otherwise manipulated, to permit the shoe to be reconfigured into a variety of discrete configurations. For example, the shoe can be arranged in at least four distinct configurations, A) a shoe, B) a slip-on clog; C) a slipper; and D) a sandal. Advantageously, the various flexible materials used, in conjunction with a removable and lockable midsole, allow for a single shoe to be modified into the various configurations.
Turning to
Disposed within the outsole 112, a midsole 130 can be disposed. The midsole 130 can be made of foam or other materials which can provide cushioning. The midsole 130 can generally be foot shaped to match the outsole 112. The midsole 130 can provide the wearer with added cushioning when received within the outsole 112. Advantageously, the midsole 130 of the instant footwear is designed to be repetitively removed and secured in the outsole 112. As shown in
In some embodiments, a cavity, not shown, can be disposed under the midsole 130, proximate to the toe box 122 of the shoe. As will be discussed further below, the cavity can be sized and arranged to receive material from the front toe box, toe box, toe box vamp, or front vamp portion, 122 when the shoe is in a sandal configuration.
Extending upward from the perimeter wall 114 of the outsole, a plurality of panels of textile, designated by the toe box 122 and mid-fixed strap portion 124, and can extend upward to create the upper 120 of the shoe which can, in various configurations, retain the shoe 100 on the foot of a wearer. The plurality of panels can all be made of a single material or a plurality of materials. For example, the panels can be made of mesh, textile, cotton, synthetic materials, foam, leather, or other similar materials. The upper can include a toe box vamp 122, a mid-fixed strap portion 124, and a heel 126 portion having a collar 140. The mid-fixed strap portion 124 can additionally be referred to as a panel of textile, a shoe upper portion, or an upper. In the illustrated embodiment, the toe box vamp 122 is a separate panel of material from the mid-fixed strap portion 124 and heel portion 126. In the illustrated embodiment, the toe box 122 is manufactured from a flexible material. The toe box vamp 122 can have a generally “dome” shape when in the shoe configuration. A distal edge 122d of the toe box 122 can be secured to the “L” shaped lip 118 of the outsole 112 such that the distal edge of the toe box 122d can be retained between the outsole 112 and the midsole 130, when the midsole 130 is retained in the outsole 112. For example, the distal edge of the toe box 122d can be stitched, glued, or otherwise affixed, to the “L” shaped lip 118. As seen in
Similar to the toe box 122, the mid-fixed strap 124 and heel portion 126 can be a single piece of material or multiple pieces of material. For example, the material can be a textile, a synthetic, leather, mesh, etc. In alternative embodiments, the mid-fixed strap and heel portions can be two, or more, distinct panels of material. For example, the mid-fixed strap 124 can be manufactured from a foam and the heel portion 126 can be manufactured from a flexible material. In a further alternative, the mid-fixed strap 124 and heel portions 126 can be manufactured from a more rigid material such as foam, and the collar 140 can be manufactured from a flexible textile. Similar to the toe box 122, a distal edge of the upper 124 can be retained on the “L” shaped lip 118 of the outsole 112 with glue, stitching, or a combination thereof. The mid-fixed strap 124 and heel portion 126 can extend 80-90% of the length of the shoe 100 from the rear of the shoe towards the toe box 122. In some embodiments, the heel portion 126 of the footwear can include a counter, or support, to provide structure and strength of the back part of the shoe 100 to help the footwear maintain its shape. The counter, not shown, can extend upward from the outer sole approximately halfway up the height of the heel portion 126. The portion of the heel 126 that does not include a counter can be considered the collar 140, which can be flexible. In an alternative embodiment, the counter can be eliminated entirely. In such an alternative embodiment, a user can easily fold the collar 140 and heel portion 126 downward and forward, towards the toe box 122, to create a slide on “clog” or sandal configuration. In addition, the portion of the heel 126 that is folded downward can be retained underneath the midsole 130. For example, the midsole 130 can be removed from the outsole 112, the heel 126 can be folded downward to the interior surface 112p of the outsole 112, and the midsole 130 can be re-inserted into the outsole 112 to obscure the folded portion of the heel 126. Alternatively, the folded portion of the heel 126 can rest on the upper face of the midsole 130 directly, without removing the midsole 130.
In an alternative footwear 200, as shown in
As shown in
In use, the footwear 100 of the present invention enables the conversion of a shoe/sneaker, as seen in
Turning now to
As discussed above, the front toe box 122 section of the shoe upper 120 is preferably made of mesh or textile and secured to the outer sole 112. Moreover, the toe box 122 can be free floating underneath the fixed strap 124 in the middle zone of the shoe upper 120, as best seen in
The sizing, dimensions and configuration of the footwear of the present invention and the materials used therefor may be modified, as desired, and will still be within the scope of the present invention.
Therefore, the footwear of the present invention successfully provides both a shoe and sandal in one product and solves the problem of having to carry around any extra pieces or separate footwear articles. Most notably, the footwear of the present invention eliminates the need for carrying around a secondary attachment piece to be used as a closed toe covering because it is integrated into the footwear structure and is never detached. As a result, the wearer will be able to change the footwear article from a shoe to a sandal where ever they are on the go without needing to carry any extra pieces or separate footwear articles and is an “all in one” footwear.
It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be covered by the appended claims.
This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/614,039, filed Jan. 5, 2018, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
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