Patent Application
20200068989
The present invention relates generally to footwear; to shoes which are designed to reduce accidents related to slip and fall; and more particularly, to shoes having a tread pattern suitable for providing traction in snow covered environments, and for preventing slip and fall accidents on surfaces containing a pool of liquid, such as water.
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function. Additionally, fashion has often dictated many design elements, such as whether shoes have very high heels or wide flat ones. Contemporary footwear varies widely in style, complexity and cost. Basic sandals may consist of only a thin sole and simple strap. High fashion shoes may be made of very expensive materials in complex construction and sell for thousands of dollars a pair. Other shoes are for very specific purposes, such as boots or shoes specially designed for workers or heavy outdoor use.
A boot is a special type of footwear which covers the foot and the ankle and can extend partially up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece. They are typically made of leather or rubber like material, although they may be made from a variety of different materials. Boots are worn for their functionality for protecting the feet and legs from water, snow, mud or hazards, providing additional ankle support for strenuous activities or providing traction to a particular type of surface, as well as for reasons of style and fashion. Boots are designed to withstand heavy wear to protect the wearer. They are generally made from sturdy leather uppers and non-leather outsoles. They may be used for uniforms of the police or military, as well as for protection in industrial settings such as mining and construction. Protective features may include steel-tipped toes, soles or ankle guards, and nonslip outsoles for interaction with slick surfaces.
Traction or grip to a ground or surface is beneficial for a shoe or boot to provide user safety, whether indoors or outdoors, dry or covered with slippery materials, such as snow. Individuals walking in cold weather areas may potentially face surfaces covered with snow, melted snow, or a combination thereof. Such terrains provide an increased risk of slip and fall accidents over typical surfaces associated with hot and dry surfaces. Using spiked treading to maintain traction when moving about on snow covered surfaces may provide some user stability. However, spiked treading may not be practical when transitioning from an outdoor, snow covered surface to indoor, non-snow covered surfaces. Once inside and away from the snow, spiked treads actually increase the likelihood of falling. Moreover, surfaces that contain mixtures of snow and water still remain potential slip and fall risks, even if the user utilizes shoes with spiked treading. Thus, what is needed is a footwear outsole that can be utilized with a wide variety of footwear types which will minimize or prevent slip and falls accidents whenever snow, or liquid covered surfaces are encountered.
Many different shoe soles have been proposed to prevent an individual from slipping. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,943, the sole of a boot or overshoe is made from rubber and includes fins and grooves. The fins cooperate with the grooves to trap air within the grooves. The air facilitates the self-cleaning feature of the boots, which removes mud and other substances from the soles of the boots.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,116 discloses a tread for a sport shoe which includes a sole having projections extending outwardly from a tread surface. The tread includes a one-piece, thin walled, metal part with at least two separate, dimensionally reinforced surface sections bearing the integrally molded projections. The reinforced surface includes a plurality of embossed, smooth-surfaced and beveled projections. The metal part is fixedly secured to an inner surface of the shoe sole by either a thin wire grid embedded in the synthetic resin sole or uniformly distributed perforations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,211 discloses a shoe sole made of flexible rubber material with a non-slip profile. The sole includes a plurality of variously sized projections or layered elements. The elements include surfaces which are made from materials that are slip resistant. In addition to being slip resistant, the structure and spacing of the projections prevents the accumulation of mud and other debris on the soles of the shoes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,765 discloses a sport shoe sole that possesses a high coefficient of friction along certain portions of the outsole, while other portions of the outsole are formed of a compressible and resilient material that is harder than the material of the rest of the outsole.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,672 discloses a shoe sole which is designed to be used on a sand surface. The outsole is made from a compressed material having an upper surface and a lower surface. A peripheral lip projects downwardly from the lower surface of the outsole. A plurality of fins also project downwardly from the lower surface. This type of construction enables efficient propulsion in sandy environments.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0188132 discloses a slip resistant shoe outsole which includes a plurality of ground contacting projections. The ground contacting projections are V-shaped and are spaced from one another by a predetermined distance in a longitudinal direction of the outsole of the shoe. The V-shaped projections also include reinforcements at their base. The projections are made from an elastomeric polymer with a specific JIS-A hardness. This material increases the shoe's ability to resist slipping, and the shape of the projections increases their resistance to avoid bending and deformation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,221 discloses an outsole assembly for a shoe which includes a flexible base having an underside surface which includes a forward region, a rearward region, and an intermediate region therebetween. The outsole includes a plurality of individual outsole elements on the underside thereof. Each element includes a body portion and a connecting section which is operatively secured to the underside surface of the flexible base. The outsole elements are arranged on the underside surface of the flexible base such that adjacent outsole elements have overlapping sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,322,050, to the present Assignee, discloses a slip resistant outsole that includes chevron shaped treads for channeling water and grease away from the ground engaging treads.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0128455, published May 14, 2015, and assigned to the current Assignee, discloses a slip resistant outsole that utilizes a squeegee effect and flow channels to improve traction on wet flooring.
What is needed is a shoe outsole, suitable for use on a wide variety of footwear, that is configured to provide traction in outdoor environments, as well as preventing or minimizing slip and fall accidents on indoor or outdoor surfaces containing a pool of a liquid. Thus, the present invention provides for indoor and outdoor surfaces footwear treading utilizing cleats with sipes that benefit individuals walking or working in an environment more likely to result in injury, such as on surfaces covered with snow, water, or combinations thereof.
The present invention provides for footwear, such as a shoe, designed to reduce accidents in an indoor or outdoor environment that includes slip and fall causing materials, such as surfaces containing snow, water, or combinations thereof. While exemplified as a shoe, footwear in accordance with the present invention may also include boots, sandals and other forms of foot protection and comfort devices, whether for work, pleasure, or use in sporting events or exercise. The outsole, having tread members, is configured for squeegeeing and channeling liquid away from the center portion of the tread to prevent forward slippage. Accordingly, the treading is designed to displace a pooled liquid on a surface so that other portions of the tread can grip directly to the surface.
The footwear includes an outsole having tread members configured for squeegeeing and channeling liquid away from the center portion of the tread to prevent forward slippage.
In one illustrative embodiment, slip-resistant tread for a shoe outsole comprises a plurality of cleat members configured to maintain traction when engaging a surface covered with snow, said plurality of cleat members positioned on at least a portion of a heel area of a shoe outsole and at least a portion of a forefoot portion of said shoe outsole; each of said plurality of cleat members comprising a plurality of individual segments separated by a sipe or siping groove and configured to move a liquid in a direction away from a center area of said cleat member.
In another embodiment, a shoe having an outsole with a slip-resistant tread comprises an outsole comprising a plurality of tread members configured to maintain traction when engaging a surface covered with snow, said plurality of tread members positioned on at least a portion of a heel area of said outsole and at least a portion of a forefoot portion of said outsole; each of said plurality of tread members comprising a plurality of individual cleat segments configured for providing interaction with a surface or moving a liquid away from said contact surface of the tread or said surface; and an upper portion configured for covering at least a portion of a foot.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the invention to provide for footwear designed to reduce slip and fall type accidents.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a slip-resistant tread for shoe outsoles.
It is yet another objective of the invention to provide a tread pattern for shoe outsoles suitable for providing traction in snow covered environments.
It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a tread pattern for shoe outsoles suitable for preventing slip and fall accidents on surfaces containing a pool of liquid, such as water.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a tread pattern for shoe outsoles suitable for providing traction in snow covered environments, and for preventing slip and fall accidents on surface containing a pool of liquid, such as water.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a shoe having outsoles containing a slip-resistant tread pattern.
It is yet another objective of the invention to provide a shoe having outsoles containing a slip-resistant tread pattern suitable for providing traction in snow covered environments.
It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a shoe having outsoles containing a slip-resistant tread pattern suitable for preventing slip and fall accidents on surfaces containing a pool of liquid, such as water.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a shoe having outsoles containing slip-resistant tread pattern outsoles suitable for providing traction in snow covered environments, and for preventing slip and fall accidents on surfaces containing a pool of liquid, such as water.
Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with any accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. Any drawings contained herein constitute a part of this specification, include exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a presently preferred, albeit not limiting, embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.
Referring to
The mid portion 18 of the outsole 12 may be free of the tread pattern 100. Alternatively, the mid portion 18 may contain secondary treading configurations 20. The outsole 12 is integrally formed to or fastened to the upper 17 using a chemical or mechanical fastening mechanism, such as glue or stitching. The upper 17 may be made of a material configured to cover, either partially or completely, a portion of a user's foot.
The tread pattern 100 comprises a plurality of individual tread members, referred to generally as anti-slip tread member 102. The tread members 102 are preferably arranged in a generally parallel orientation relative to a longitudinal axis 21 (see
The channels 25 extend to the bottom surface 27 of the outsole 12, the channels being about one eighth of an inch in width. Preferably, the anti-slip tread members 102 are integrally formed to the shoe outsole 12. Alternatively, the anti-slip tread members 102 may be formed separately, for example, by way of a suitable molding process, and secured, such as through the use of chemical fastening, directly to the shoe outsole 102. Each anti-slip tread member 102 contains a main body portion 104 having a plurality of opposing side portions 106 and 108, and two opposing end portions 110 and 112, see
Each cleat member 114 is arranged in the same direction relative to the outsole 12, so that the planar contact surface 118 is a single, uninterrupted body running from the first side portion 106 and extending to the second side portion 108. In an illustrative example, the planar contact surface 118 assumes a generally rectangular shape. Preferably, each cleat member 114 is arranged to comprise its corresponding planar contact surface 118 being orientated next to adjacent cleat members so that each anti-slip tread member 102 comprises multiple, consecutively and serially arranged contact surfaces 118. In this arrangement, each cleat member 114 would then form a generally planar, flat surface for contact with an outdoor or indoor surface, i.e. the ground.
In a preferred embodiment, the main body portion 104 includes five substantially equally sized and shaped cleat members 114 and four substantially equally sized and orientated siping grooves 116. In any embodiment, in use, the anti-slip tread member 102 is configured to allow at least a portion, i.e. one or more planar contact surfaces 118, to move pooled liquid, i.e. water, on a surface. At least a second portion, i.e. other planar contact surfaces 118, can act as a gripping surface as the water is routed or squeegeed off to the sides. Since the planar contact surfaces 118 are arranged in a serial or consecutive manner, if the first planar surface 118 is unable to move or route, similar to acting as a squeegee, the entire amount of water, the next one or two (or any number of additional) planar surfaces 118 may do so. Eventually, the water will be removed and one or two of the serially arranged planar surfaces 118 can act as the gripping surface, free of contact with any water. To aid in the removal of water on the surface, the sipes or siping grooves 116 are designed to allow for water to be channeled into the channels 25 and away from the center area of the outsole 12.
All patents and publications mentioned in this specification are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. It is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention is illustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and any drawings/figures included herein.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments, methods, procedures and techniques described herein are presently representative of the preferred embodiments, are intended to be exemplary, and are not intended as limitations on the scope. Changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by the scope of the appended claims. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.
This application is related to U.S. Design Application No. 29/660,891, filed Aug. 23, 2018; entitled “FOOTWEAR TREAD”.
