Patent Application
20240032647
This patent application claims priority to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/845,301, filed Apr. 10, 2020.
The present novel technology relates generally to the manufacture of shoes. In particular, this invention relates to a house slipper having soles made of heavy-duty tire treads, and method for manufacturing the same.
The decision to replace used tires on an automobile may have more negative effects than anticipated. Typically, old tires are either incinerated or sent to landfills. However, these strategies have proven to be harmful for multiple reasons. Burning old rubber tires releases toxic chemicals into the air, poisoning and polluting the environment and potentially further contributing to the destruction of the ozone. Additionally, tires are not biodegradable and as such tend to stack up over time, ultimately occupying tremendous amounts of space when consigned to a landfill. Old tires also become breeding grounds for bothersome creatures, such as rats, mosquitos, and the like. While recycling extends the life of the tire, harmful destruction of the tire is inevitable as even recycled tires cannot last forever. Thus, there is need for an alternate use of discarded tires. The present novel technology addresses this need.
In addition to providing an efficient alternative to reducing tire waste, the novel gift market could be served by this technology. The soles of the slippers are oversized to the point of comical exaggeration. These slippers should not be considered for functional purposes, as they are unsuitable for outdoor wear as they are open to water and mud and provide no mechanism for staying on the foot when the sole encounters a modicum of traction, but rather as a gag-gift idea for a friend, family member, co-worker or anyone in the market for receiving a gift. These slippers do not provide a heel-strap to prevent the shoe from falling off while walking through rough terrain. This feature further emphasizes that the purpose of these slippers—which contain comically exaggerated shoe soles—are meant to provide comic relief and do not otherwise serve the purpose of providing traction or protection from the elements.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the novel technology and presenting its currently understood best mode of operation, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the novel technology is thereby intended, with such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device and such further applications of the principles of the novel technology as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the novel technology relates.
The novel technology shown in
The oppositely disposed sole portion no is typically formed from a rubber tire, more typically from a heavy-duty, off-road, and/or all-terrain truck tire or tractor tire, and thus has an outer or floor-engaging tire tread surface 120. In some cases, the sole portion 110 is steel-belted. The sole portion no includes a relatively flat surface 125 disposed opposite the tread-surface 120 that may be securely attached to the base 107 via a durable adhesive material 121, such as a welt, flexible cement, shoe glue or the like.
Typically, the sole portion 110 has a tread depth of at least 5 millimeters and more typically at least 1 centimeter, and still more typically of 2 centimeters; a tread width of at least 5 millimeters, more typically at least 1 centimeter, and more typically at least 2 centimeters; and tread thickness of at least 1 centimeters, more typically at least 2 centimeters, and still more typically at least 3 centimeters, and yet more typically of at least 4 centimeters, although other tread designs, dimensions, and patterns may be selected. The sole portion no typically weighs about 0.5 kg, more typically about 1 kg, still more typically about 2 kg, yet more typically about 2.5 kg and may even weigh 3 or more kg.
In operation, a wearer would slip his feet into the slippers 100 and wear them around the house. The wearer would not wear such slippers outside, especially in wet or muddy conditions, because the slipper 100 provides no protection form the elements and further because the tread surface 120 would engage wet or muddy ground and the wearer would slip out of the backless slippers 100. In other words, the slipper 100 would become stuck in the mud and the wearer's forward stride/momentum would disengage the wearer's foot from the slipper 100 because it is without a heel engaging strap, member, or other apparatus to hold the wearer's heel in the slipper 100. The slippers 100 are suited for indoor wear only, and the deeply treaded surface 120 is thus a source of ironic humor and not actual useable traction for the wearer. Unlike tires, any attempt to push forward when the slipper 100 is experiencing traction would disengage the slipper from the wearer; the traction available form the soles 100 is thus a detriment and not a useful feature of the slippers 100 when walking through mud, on ice, and the like.
The novel article of footwear includes an anterior portion 135, a posterior portion 140 and a shock-absorbing tread portion 145. In one embodiment, the anterior portion 135 and the posterior portion 140 are manufactured as one piece to create the upper portion of the claimed article of footwear. The upper portion 105 may be used to facilitate capture and holding of a wearer's foot within the hemispherically-shaped portion 160, so long as the slipper 100 does not experience any appreciable traction. The hemispherically-shaped portion 160 is typically made of a soft cushioned material, such as a fabric-backed foam, plush fabric, thick terry cloth, or the like, and is typically covered in a breathable microfiber material. The bottom portion 110 of the article of footwear 100 may be substantially covered with and in continuous contact with the shock-absorbing portion 145. The shock-absorbing portion 145 is typically formed from tire tread and, when worn, is generally in contact with the floor. The shock-absorbing portion 145 can ideally be divided into two portions: the toe portion 150 and the heel portion 155.
While the novel technology has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. It is understood that the embodiments have been shown and described in the foregoing specification in satisfaction of the best mode and enablement requirements. It is understood that one of ordinary skill in the art could readily make a nigh-infinite number of insubstantial changes and modifications to the above-described embodiments and that it would be impractical to attempt to describe all such embodiment variations in the present specification. Accordingly, it is understood that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the novel technology are desired to be protected.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16845301 | Apr 2020 | US |
| Child | 18483866 | US |
