Patent Grant
6968638
This invention relates to an article of footwear, and, more particularly, to an educational shoe which assists young children in recognizing shapes, colors and how laces cross over one another on a shoe which ties.
A popular use of hook and loop fastening elements has been in articles of footwear for young children who are not yet old enough to be able to tie shoe laces. In most designs, one end of each of a number of straps is mounted to the upper of the shoe, boot or other article of footwear on one side of the tongue of the shoe. The underside of each strap is provided with hook (or loop) fastening elements, and discrete areas on the upper on the opposite side of the tongue mount cooperating loop (or hook) fastening elements. In order to tighten the upper around the foot when it is inserted into the shoe, the straps are extended from one side of the upper, across the tongue and then to the discrete areas on the other side of the upper where the cooperating hook and loop fastening elements engage one another to hold the straps in place. Usually, the straps extend horizontally across the front of the shoe and do not overlap or otherwise contact one another when fastened. Shoes having hook and loop fastening elements of the type described above are convenient and easy for those helping a child to put on his or her shoes, and, as the child gets older, he or she can do it alone. But at some point, the child needs to learn about tie shoes.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to design footwear having some educational value in teaching children how to properly lace and/or tie their shoes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,418 to Silverman et al discloses a shoe in which a continuous lace has one color on half of its length and another color on the other half. The upper, in turn, has eyelets of matching color so that a child is prompted to insert the appropriate portion of the lace into the corresponding eyelet to properly lace his or her shoe. See also U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,642 to Cohen.
A variation of the Silverman et al design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,991,561 to Moore et al in which opposite ends of a continuous lace are formed with different shapes, e.g. square, triangle etc. The eyelets of the shoe have a shape corresponding to the lace ends, and alternate along the upper so that the shoe is properly laced by inserting an end of the lace into the correspondingly shaped eyelet.
The article of footwear of this invention includes an outsole connected to an upper having a toe portion, heel portion, a foot insertion opening and a tongue which defines two, opposed sides of the upper extending between the heel and toe portions. One end of each of a number of straps is fixed to one side of the upper, and the free end of each strap is formed with a tab. Each tab has a different indicia, such as a shape, e.g. circle, square, triangle etc., number and/or a different color. A series of patches are mounted to the other side of the upper, i.e. opposite the straps, and each patch is formed with a matching indicia corresponding to one of the tabs on the straps. The tabs and patches have cooperating hook and loop fastening elements to secure them together upon contact with one another.
An important aspect of this invention is the educational benefit and enjoyment provided to young children in learning how to fasten their own shoes. The patches on one side of the upper are offset from the correspondingly shaped and/or colored tabs on the strap mounted to the opposite side of the upper. In the preferred embodiment, if the child matches the same shaped or colored tab with a corresponding patch, the straps cross over one another to simulate the look of the laces of a shoe. The shoe of this invention thus helps teach children to recognize different shapes and colors, and also to understand what the laces of a tie shoe look like.
In addition to the matching shapes and/or colors of the tabs and patches, the side of each tab opposite the hook or loop fastening elements may be marked with a letter of the alphabet. When the laces of the shoe are properly fastened to the upper, the exposed side of the tabs collectively spell a word such as a name or the like. This aspect of the invention assists the child in learning letters and the spelling of the name of a favorite character, e.g. “Elmo” or some other name.
The structure, operation and advantages of a presently preferred embodiment of this invention will become further apparent upon consideration of the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring initially to
In the embodiment of
The straps 28–34 and tabs 36–42 are preferably formed of cloth, plastic or other material capable of sustaining a pull force on the order of about ten pounds. The “underside” of each tab 36–42, i.e. the surface presented in
The side portion 24 of the upper 16 on the opposite side of the tongue 22 mounts four spaced patches 44, 46, 48 and 50 in the shape of a circle, triangle, square and hexagon, respectively. Each patch 44–50 may also be provided with a color which matches that of one of the tabs 36–42, as described below. The exposed surface of each patch 44–50 receives hook and loop fastening material to interlock with that mounted on the tabs 36–42.
As seen in
Referring now to
A still further embodiment of this invention is shown in
In the embodiment depicted in
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof.
For example, in the preferred embodiment of this invention the straps 28–34 cross over one another when secured to the shoe 10. It is contemplated that the straps 28–34 could extend straight across from one side portion 24 of the shoe 10 to the other side portion 26, and not crisscross, while employing the same matching indicia on the tabs 36–42 and patches 44–50 as in any of the embodiments described herein. Additionally, the term “indicia” is meant to be broadly construed as essentially any matching shape, color, number or other designation which comprises or appears on the tabs 36–42 and patches 44–50. Further, although hook and loop fastening material and snap closures are depicted in the preferred embodiments for securing the tabs 36–42 to the patches 44–50, essentially any other type of closure device is considered within the scope of this invention.
Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
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|---|---|---|---|
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050126041 A1 | Jun 2005 | US |
