Patent Application
20130067769
The present disclosure relates to a footwear device, a footwear assembly, a method for making the footwear device, and a method for making the footwear assembly.
Footwear comes in various types, styles, shapes and sizes. However, footwear generally includes certain common components, such as, for example, an outsole and an upper. Various methodologies have been employed in attaching an upper to an outsole of a shoe. For example, it is known to sew an upper lip of an outsole to a shoe upper, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,757,408. These attachment methodologies can be costly in terms of time and complexity.
The disclosure provides a footwear device, a footwear assembly, a method for making the footwear device, and a method for making the footwear assembly that can reduce manufacturing costs and complexities.
According to one aspect of the disclosure, a footwear device is disclosed that may be implemented as an interface between an upper portion and a lower portion of footwear. The footwear device may comprise a substantially L-shaped cross-section. The footwear device may further include a substantially curved wall and at least one substantially planar wall. The footwear device may further comprise a stitch that is configured, for example, longitudinally along the footwear device. The footwear device may be made from a material comprising, for example, leather, plastic, rubber, silicone, metal, or any other material suitable for footwear.
According to another aspect of the disclosure, a footwear assembly is disclosed. The footwear assembly comprises the upper portion, the lower portions, and the footwear device.
According to a further aspect of the disclosure, a method for making the footwear device is disclosed. The method comprises forming a longitudinal member from a material that may include, for example, rubber, synthetic rubber, leather (e.g., composition leather or patent leather), plastic (e.g., plastic sheeting or cellular plastic sheeting), textiles (both woven and non-woven), plaiting materials, neoprene, wood, cork, rubber, silicone, metal, or any other material suitable fir footwear. The longitudinal member may be formed to have a substantially L-shaped cross-section. The longitudinal member may be further formed to include a curved wall and a substantially planar wall.
The footwear device may comprise a stitch member that may be configured, for example, substantially longitudinally along the longitudinal member. The footwear device may further comprise a second stitch member that is configured, for example, substantially longitudinally along the longitudinal member. The first stitch member may be fastened to the longitudinal member by means of the second stitch member. The first and second stitch members may be made of a material comprising, for example, natural fibers (e.g., manila hemp, hemp, linen, cotton, coir, jute, sisal, silk, wool, or the like) or synthetic fibers (e.g., nylon, rayon, polypropylene, polyesters, polyethylene, aramids, polyaramids, or the like). The first and second stitch members may each be braided.
According to a still further aspect of the disclosure, a method for making the footwear assembly is disclosed. The method comprises attaching a footwear device to a lower portion, and attaching an upper portion to the footwear device. The lower portion may comprise an outsole. The process of attaching the footwear device to the lower portion may comprise applying an adhesive to a section of the lower portion and a section of the footwear device, and affixing the section of the footwear device to section of the lower portion. The process of attaching the upper portion to the footwear device may comprise applying an adhesive to another section of the footwear device and a section of the upper portion, and affixing the section of the dipper portion to the section of the footwear device. The footwear assembly may comprise, for example, a shoe, a sneaker, a boot, a slipper, or the like.
Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the disclosure may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the detailed description and drawings. Moreover, it is to be understood that the foregoing summary of the disclosure and the following detailed description and drawings are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the disclosure as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the detailed description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. No attempt is made to show structural details of the disclosure in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the disclosure and the various ways in which it may be practiced. In the drawings:
The present disclosure is further described in the detailed description that follows.
The disclosure and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the disclosure. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the disclosure may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, the examples and embodiments herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, it is noted that like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The terms “including,” “comprising,” and variations thereof as used in this disclosure, mean “including, but not limited to,” unless expressly specified otherwise.
The terms “a,” “an,” and “the,” as used in this disclosure, means “one or more,” unless expressly specified otherwise.
Although process steps, method steps, algorithms, or the like, may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described does not necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of the processes, methods or algorithms described herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously.
When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of a single device or article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that a single device or article may be used in place of the more than one device or article. The functionality or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality or features.
The substantially curved wall 140 may include a substantially uniform and smooth surface (not shown), or a surface that is configured to substantially match a shape of a part of the upper (and/or the lower) portion of a footwear assembly, so that it may snuggly attach to the upper (and/or lower) portion of the footwear assembly.
The walls 150, 155 may be substantially planar. The wall 150 may include a surface that is configured to substantially match a shape of a part of the lower portion of a footwear assembly, so that it may snuggly attach to the lower portion of the footwear assembly. The wall 155 may have any shape desired for aesthetic appeal, including, e.g., a substantially planar surface, a curved surface, a surface comprising patterns, and the like.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, the walls 150, 155 may be substantially perpendicular to each other (as seen, e.g., in
The term “substantially planar wall,” as used in this disclosure, refers to a wall that lies mostly, or completely, within one plane. Typically, about 50% to about 100%, about 60% to about 100%, or about 80% to about 100% of the wall lies within one plane.
The footwear device 100 may further comprise a stitch 130 that is configured, for example, longitudinally along the footwear device 100. The footwear device 100 may include a channel 135 along the longitudinal direction. The stitch 130 may be provided along the entire (or a part of the) length of the channel 135.
The footwear device 100 may be made from a material comprising, for example, rubber, synthetic rubber, silicone, metal silicone, leather (e.g., composition leather or patent leather), plastic (e.g., plastic sheeting or cellular plastic sheeting), textiles (both woven and non-woven), plaiting materials, neoprene, wood, cork, rubber, or any other material suitable for footwear.
According to a further aspect of the disclosure, a method for making the footwear device is disclosed. The method comprises forming a longitudinal member 110 from a material that may include, for example, leather, plastic, rubber, silicone, metal, or any other material suitable for footwear. The longitudinal member 110 may be formed to have a substantially L-shaped cross-section. The longitudinal member 110 may be further formed to include a curved wall and a substantially planar wall.
The footwear device may comprise a first stitch member (not shown) that is configured, for example, substantially longitudinally along the longitudinal direction of the footwear device 100. The footwear device 100 may further comprise a second stitch member (not shown) that is configured, for example, substantially longitudinally along the longitudinal member 110. The first stitch member may be fastened to the longitudinal member 110 by means of the second stitch member. In this regard, the second stitch member may be pierced through the longitudinal member 110 at regular (or irregular) intervals and fastened to the first stitch member to provide a stitching, for example, as seen in the illustrations. The first and second stitch members may be made of a material comprising, for example, natural fibers (such as, e.g., manila hemp, hemp, linen, cotton, coir, jute, sisal, silk, wool, or the like) or synthetic fibers (such as, nylon, rayon, polypropylene, polyesters, polyethylene, aramids, polyaramids, or the like). The first and second stitch members may each be braided.
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While the disclosure has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure can be practiced with modifications in the spirit and scope of the appended claims. These examples are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible designs, embodiments, applications or modifications of the disclosure.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/535,134, filed Sep. 15, 2011, and titled “FOOTWEAR DEVICE,” the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61535134 | Sep 2011 | US |
