Patent Application
20180303195
Traditional dance shoes are designed to provide security to the dancer's feet. However, non-dance shoes, and particularly heeled shoes such as dress shoes, do not provide the medial and lateral stability and ankle security necessary for dancing. Moreover, such shoes do not have the ability to maintain a close proximity of the foot to the shoe so that various, strenuous movements are possible, especially when dancing.
The invention relates to a shoe accessory in the form of a sock structure that acts as a brace and provides strength, support and stability. When combined with a decorative upper, it provides the user with freedom of movement and a design appropriate article of footwear.
Shoe and sock combinations are known in the patented prior art as shown for example by the Payne U.S. Pat. No. 2,332,252 which discloses a beach shoe including a lower shoe portion including a heel and an upper elastic sock portion. While these prior shoe and sock combinations perform satisfactorily, they do not provide sufficient lateral and medial support to the wearer's foot and do not efficiently retain the foot against the insole of the shoe, particularly during vigorous movement such as dance movements.
The present invention was developed in order to overcome these and other drawbacks of prior shoe and sock combinations by providing an elastic brace construction that is integrated into the shoe construction.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a shoe accessory including a footbed including toe, arch, and heel portions and an elastic sleeve connected with the footbed arch portion. The sleeve contains a top opening for receiving the foot of the wearer, a front opening through which the toes and ball of the wearer's foot extend above the footbed toe portion, and a rear opening from which the heel of the wearer's foot extends above the footbed heel portion. When the accessory is used in connection with a shoe, the sleeve stabilizes the wearer's foot relative to the shoe and retains the bottom portion of the foot against the insole of the shoe.
According to a further object of the invention, the accessory is connected with a shoe. More particularly, the footbed is connected with the sole of the shoe and the sleeve is at least partially connected with the shoe upper.
In a preferred embodiment, the sleeve is reinforced with stitching around the top, front, and rear openings.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which:
As shown in the drawing, the shoe accessory 2 according to the invention is adapted for use with a shoe 4. The accessory standing alone is shown in
In a first embodiment of the accessory as shown in
Another embodiment of the accessory is shown in
In both embodiments of the accessory described above, the sleeve is reinforced about the top, front and heel openings. The reinforcement is provided by reversely folding a portion of the sleeve within each opening and then applying stitching 20 to connect the reversely folded portions with the main portion of the sleeve.
The elastic sleeve acts like a brace and provides strength, support and stability to the wearer's foot. When combined with a decorative upper, it allows the user/wearer freedom of movement with a design appropriate article of footwear.
The internal sleeve is integrated into the shoe construction so that it is lasted separately from the upper. This creates an internal structure of the shoe that provides the aforementioned support but more importantly keeps the foot stable and connected with the insole of the shoe at all times. This construction avoids the need for outward adjustments such as laces, zippers, and the like to make the shoe feel tighter and more secure. The design of the internal sleeve is such that the heel is exposed and the sleeve acts as a sock or bootie which wraps securely around the ankle, instep and arch. The sleeve is constructed so that it is a separate element from the upper, yet does not affect the outward appearance of the upper.
The sleeve and shoe combination is particularly useful for dancers in that it allows a dancer to perform all manner of dance moves which he or she would otherwise not be able to perform while wearing a street or fashion shoe without risk of falling or injury since the conventional street or dance shoe is not made to fit securely for dancing purposes.
The accessory is applicable to any shoe articles, and particularly any heeled shoes.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above.
