Patent Application
20100018076
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to footwear, and particular to devices for improving the fit and appearance of footwear such as sandals and other footwear having a portion extending over the top of a wearer's foot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sandals have been very popular for many years, and are widely used indoors and outdoors except in very cold weather. One of the most common types of sandals are V-strap sandals, where two ends of a V-shaped strap are attached to the sole of the sandal on the opposite sides of the sole where a wearer's foot would rest, and the connection of the intersection of the straps of the V-shaped strap with a thong or toe piece extending from the sole for placement between the big or first toe and the second toe of the wearer's feet. In general, more expensive V-strap sandals are made from leather, suede, patent leather, metallic finished material, fabric and other textiles. Less expensive V-strap sandals are called “flip-flops,” and are generally made from a rubber-like material or from vinyl or other artificial leather material. V-strap sandals in general, and flip-flops in particular, do not usually fit well, and are often quite loose. It is very common for persons wearing V-strap sandals, and especially flip-flops, to accidentally have one of their feet slip to the side and/or go over the edge of the sole, actually have the V-strap sandal slip off the foot while walking, fly off in the event the wearer goes through a kicking motion, have the end of the sole slip slightly off the front of the toes while walking and get struck in the ground to cause tripping or falling, and slip sideways off the V-strap sandal to result in a sprained ankle or the like.
In addition to these safety issues relating to V-strap sandals, and especially flip-flops, these types of footwear is often unattractive or at least look inappropriate when worn in various situations. People are often embarrassed by simply going shopping wearing flip-flops or many other types of V-strap sandals because not only are they loose fitting, but they appear extremely informal, i.e. sloppy. Flip flops and other V-strap sandals have numerous varieties on the market. The soles can be one layer or multilayer. The V-shaped straps can be attached on the side edges of the sole or on top of the sole, and forward or rearward along the side of the sole. The part of the heel portion of the V-shaped strap could be a continuous piece and embedded in the heel part of the sole, or have the ends attached in any number of ways to the rear part of the sole or be raised up to engage the back of the wearer's heel. The thong could be fixed at on end to the forward part of the sole, or fixed to a post extending upwardly from the sole. The thong could be integral with the V-shaped strap or attached thereto by sewing, adhesives, molding, and the like. The V-strap also could be attached to the sole by being placed between layers of the sole, riveted, sewn, molded or fixed by adhesives to or within the sole. The forward portions of the V-strap could incorporate part of the thong. The invention described below can work with virtually every kind of flip-flop and other V-strap sandals. In some situations, people would want to change the appearance of the flip-flops or other V-strap sandals, such as to fit some type of theme or environment, such as athletic, formal, Latin American, outdoors, an amusement theme for children or adults, school, employment or fraternal organizations and numerous other themes. There is thus a need for converting flip-flops and other V-strap sandals from an initial appearance to any desired theme, and it would be particularly advantageous to make conversions from one theme to another in a fast and inexpensive manner.
Flip-flops and other V-strap sandals are often used simply to protect the feet, and are frequently worn in very informal situations where the wearer has few if any places to store important items such as pharmaceuticals, keys, watches, a GPS system, miniature telecommunication devices and the like. Flip-flops and V-strap sandals have previously not been able to store such items by means of removable accessories. Although utilizing this type of footwear for storage purposes may have occurred to others in the past, it would be uneconomical for manufacture of such footwear and add the expensive storage compartments on large quantities of footwear when many possible buyers of footwear would not want such storage compartments. In addition to the convenience that some people may want for having a storage area associated with flip-flops and other V-strap sandals, such storage areas are particularly important in some situations such as for children separated from parents or other guardians who have intercommunication or location identification devices, identification devices and small cell phones; people under the care in sanatoriums and the like who need electronic locating systems, drug supplies. People in remote areas or on beaches, who are wearing flip flops and other V-strap sandals and may want to carry keys, timepieces, drugs, locating systems, telecommunication devices such as cell phones, and the like. Such people would find it very helpful to have a carrying device other than a handbag as a storage facility which would not impair movement of their arms, legs or shoulders and not require pockets or enlarged pockets as might otherwise be necessary for bathing suits, recreational clothing, etc.
Another type of footwear suffering some of the same shortcomings of V-strap sandals, are footwear where a portion of the footwear goes over the foot of the wearer and does not have a thong. One type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,993,858 (Seamans, 2006) describing footwear which is known by the name of assignee, Crocs.
Accessories for footwear are well known for a variety of purposes. Accessories for flip-flops and other sandals are known, particularly for decorative purposes. Prior art disclosing such decorative accessories include U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,757 (an enlarged decorative top portion carried on the top of a thong), U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,204 (a foot retaining strap and a ribbon having a visible decorative portion and a lower portion for attachment to the strap by hook and loop fastener structure), U.S. Pat. No. 7,200,959 (a flip-flop having a strap with receiving members for receiving interchangeable connecting pieces), Pub. No.: US2004/0093765 (Published May 20, 2007; a flip-flop having V-shaped straps having a releasable cover with ornamental beads thereon) and Pub. No.: US2006/0254085 (Published Nov. 16, 2006; a flip-flop having a fabric cover wrapped around the V-shaped strap of the flip-flop). There are also a number of design patents disclosing decorative accessories for flip-flops, namely, U.S. D535,186 (Boschok 2006; an artificial flower at the intersection of the two parts of a V-shaped strap), D498,348 (Hunt et al. 2004; a series of ribbons wrapped around V-shaped strap of a flip-flop) and D421,520 (Bonny et al. 2000; a floral T-bar on the V-shaped strap of a flip-flop). Japanese Publications 2006-130267, 2006-130268 and 2006-130269 disclose thong ornaments for flip-flops.
There are also known numerous patents disclosing various decorating accessories for sandals and open women's shoes, including the following: U.S. Pat. No. 2,344,620 (Langley 1944), U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,633 (Connelly 1984), U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,102 (DeVincentis 1984), U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,278 (Scholl 1961), U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,058 (Jneid 1999), Pub. No.: US2005/0011087 (Stevens, Published Jan. 20, 2005), Pub. No.: US2005/0066550 (Liu, Published Mar. 31, 2005), Pub. No.: US2006/0107550 (Caminiti, Published May 25, 2006), and design patent numbers D346,686 (Hatfield 1994), D512,207 (Choi 2005) and D530,240 (Kelsey 2006).
Pocket, pouches and other containers are also known for footwear. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,539 (Mann 1984) a pocket is positioned on a side strap extending from the sole to the thong of the sandal. In D292,441 (Gamm 1987), a sandal with a wrap over strap has a pocket on the strap. Numerous pockets are known for use with shoes with laces, where the pocket is attached to the shoe by the laces, including U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,677 (Perry 1953), U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,566 (Haskell 1981), U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,512 (Oliver 1982), U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,882 (Harrell 1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,975 (Harrell 1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,383 (Gamm 1985), U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,016 (DiVito 1992), U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,679 (Birch 1994), U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,821 (Solo 1997), U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,011 (Britano 1998), U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,497 (McAtee 2002), U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,881 (Assaf et al. 2002), Pub. No.: US2004/0163285 (Johnson; Published Aug. 26, 2004) and Design Pat. Nos. D369,458 (Adams 1996) and D382,691 (Fuller et al. 1997).
Various accessories for decorating lace-up shoes are also known in the art, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,422 (Valteau, III 1998), U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,085 (Ross et al. 1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,197 (Krull 2002), U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,467 (Krull 2003), U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,337 (Harrington 2006), Pub. No.: US2006/0010721 (Valko; Published Jan. 16, 2006) and D404,770 (Meade et al. 1999). A decorative strap for attachment to a slip-on moccasin is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,311 (Epstein et al. 1976).
There are also a large of number of patents disclosing accessories for use with lace-up shoes for protecting the laces, including U.S. Pat. No. 910,308 (Peters 1909), U.S. Pat. No. 2,650,399 (Torelli 1953), U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,537 (Hickerson 1959), U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,198 (Meier 1969), U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,489 (Johnson 1974), U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,101 (Harkavy 1984), U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,293 (Blum 1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,198 (Schweitzer 1986), U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,787 (Walls 1989), U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,000 (Rowland et al. 1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,719 (Koethe 1994), U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,589 (Lubrani et al. 1995), U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,947 (Lascher 1995), U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,477 (Mathis et al. 1996), U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,517 (Gourley 1997), U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,483 (Polk 1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,952,864 (Moreno 2005), U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,298 (Temasky et al. 2006), U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,903 (Johnson 2006) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,616 (Hull 2006). Other decorative accessories are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,439 (Gentry 1988), U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,190 (Smyth 1992) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,220 (Emy 1999). Design patents disclosing devices to be attached to shoelaces are shown in Design Pat. Nos. D210,649 (Getgey 1968), D406,177 (Milroy 1999) and D481,864 (Landry 2003). Other attachments for shoes having sole wiping pads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,426 (Braggs 1989), U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,106 (Emerick 1995), U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,801 (Adzick et al. 2000). Other lace-on attachments for shoes are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,378 (athletic performance and entertainment products Feiner et al. 2001), U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,088 (mounted picture; Ferguson 2004), U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,543 (identification tag; Fernan 2004) and D401,934 (pager module, Wicks 1998). There are also devices known for changing replaceable straps for open face women's shoes for decorative reasons, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,935 (Kelly 1984) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,359 (Bricker 2003). Design straps for sandals are known from various design patents including the following U.S. design patents: D468,523 (Steger 2003), D514,285 (Mouchi et al. 2006), D519,723 (Mouchi et al; 2006), D521,213 (Mouchi et al. 2006) and D523,214 (Mouchi et al. 2006)
An object of the present device is to provide a removable stabilizing accessory for a flip-flop and other V-strap sandals for stabilizing the latter footwear on a wearer's foot to prevent it from inadvertently being removed or loosened on the wearer's foot.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a removable accessory for a flip-flop or other V-strap sandal to change the appearance of the latter footwear.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a stabilizing accessory for a flip-flop or other V-shaped sandal which can easily be attached to the latter footwear and be firmly held thereon, but which can also be manually removed therefrom.
An additional object is to provide an attractive accessory which can be firmly attached to a flip-flop or other V-strap sandal for changing the design of the latter footwear.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide an attachment accessory having a storage container holding keys, a timepiece, identification devices, pills and the like, which can be worn on a flip-flop or other V-strap sandals for providing safe storage without necessitating the use of one's hands or a purse or other shoulder or hand held storage device.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a small storage accessory to be carried by a flip-flop or other V-strap sandal which is smaller than a typical clothing pocket, easily transportable and unnoticeable.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a variety of removable accessories which covers all or part of the V-shaped strap and thong of a flip-flop or other V-shaped sandals employing hook and loop type fasteners.
It is also an object to provide easily replaceable accessories for flip-flops and other V-strap sandals having a slit or other opening for allowing the accessory to be slid forwardly with the thong entering the slit or other opening and being releasably retained therein.
It is still an additional object of the invention to provide a stabilizing device for footwear which does not have a thong but rather a portion such as an upper that goes over the top of a wearer's foot.
An additional object is to provide a removable accessory for the upper of footwear having an upper and apertures extending through the upper.
A further object is to provide a device for a removable accessory for footwear which is held on a wearer's foot by traversing the top of the wearer's foot.
These and other objects should be apparent from the description to follow and from the appended claims.
The foregoing objects are achieved with a removable accessory for footwear The footwear preferably includes a sole, foot-holding structure such as V-straps connected to the sole and to a thong for placement between toes of a wearer or an upper attached to the sole, the foot-holding structure having accessible openings such as the openings forward and rearward of the thong and the straps or through the upper, a member having a first portion disposable on the inside of the foot-holding structure for decreasing the space between the foot-holding structure and a wearer's foot to stabilize the footwear on the wearer's foot and/or add decoration to the footwear and a second portion disposable on the outside of the foot-holding member, and connecting structure on the first and second portions for releasably locking the first and second portions together at the accessible openings. The member is manipulatable to engage the foot-holding structure with the connecting structure on the first and second portions of the member and with the connecting structure on the first and second portions in alignment for being urgeable together to releasably lock the first and second portions to the foot-holding member.
A typical V-strap sandal 1 is shown in
Oftentimes the V-shaped strap and the thong can be a one piece article, and can be molded as an integral unit when made from real or artificial rubber. Although the ends of the V-strap can extend through holes in the flat sole, they can be stitched, held by adhesives or held in place by other layers of material extending across the flat sole and over the end portion of the V-shaped strap and the like. As explained earlier, the V-shaped band can be stitched, held by adhesives, riveted, molding material and the like to the sides of the sole or to upper rear portions of sole 3. The V-shaped strap could be continuous across the heel portion of the flip-flop, and either extend under the upper layer(s) of the rear portion of sole 3 or act as a heel piece to retain the flip-flop on the wearer. One or more parts could extend from the sole to be engaged by the thong and/or V-shaped strap. Sole 3 could be flexible and made from rubber, artificial rubber, selected ones of many plastics, leather or artificial leather, vinyl and the like, or could be inflexible and made from wood, an appropriate hard plastic or the like. The V-shaped strap is usually flexible, and could be made from rubber or artificial rubber, leather or artificial rubber, vinyl or other plastic, metal such as chains or coated chains, fabric and the like. Thong 15 could be flexible or inflexible and made from the same type of material as the sole or strap, and could be made as one piece or as multiple pieces.
V-strap sandals are typically loose when worn on a person's foot, and there is usually a gap between the underside of the V-shaped strap and the sole so that the sandal will fit on feet of various thicknesses. The result is that most V-strap sandals have play on the wearer's foot due to the gaps, which renders V-shaped sandals loose fitting and unsafe.
A removable accessory or stabilizing device 50 according to one of the embodiments of the invention is shown in perspective form in
In order to install stabilizing device 50 on a V-strap sandal 1 or any other type of V-strap sandal, a person merely manipulates stabilizing device 50 by opening it so that the connecting structure are in an open position. Slit 60 is slid on thong 15 so that thong 15 is preferably located at or near an end 69 (depending on the construction of stabilizing device 50) of opening 60 with upper portion 52 being above lower portion 54 and distal from sandal 1. Upper portion 52 and lower portion 54 are then rotated together about folding portion 56 which acts as a living hinge, until the cooperating connecting structure are releasably locked together. Stabilizing device 50 is then in place, as shown in
One of the advantages of the stabilizing device according to the invention is that it makes the engagement of sandal 1 with a foot inserted in the sandal firmer because stabilizing device 50 in effect presses the foot against sandal 1. In order to enhance this effect, a thickening device 71 could be employed. Thickening device 71 could be a wool product or artificial wool product which is held fast to a backing material which is in turn attached by an adhesive means or the like to lower portion 54 according to the embodiment of the invention being described. The thickening device could be additional layers of the material that make lower portion 54 or constitute some material attached to lower portion 54. If thickening device 71 is attached to lower portion 54 across slit or opening 60, it too would need a slit for receiving thong 15 from V-strap sandal 1. Thickening devices could be inserted on the inside of upper portion 52 around the edges of upper portion 52 and/or lower portion 54 as well. Thickening device 71 is preferably made of a resilient material so that it would press against a wearer's foot in a gentle manner so as not to injure the foot or make stabilizing device 50 uncomfortable to the wearer.
A leather shoelace 120 also releasably locks upper portion 102 and lower portion 104 in a releasably locked position, as well as adding an attractive device to stabilizing device 100. A set of lace holes 122, 123, 124 and 125 are provided so that leather shoelace 120 can be threaded into lower portion 104 and upper portion 102.
In order to install stabilizing device 100 on a V-strap sandal, one merely manipulates device 100 by moving lower portion 104 towards thong 15 until thong 15 moves into slit or opening 110 and rests at or in the vicinity of throat 111, while upper portion 102 rides above the connecting location of thong 15 and V-shaped strap 9. Upper portion 102 and lower portion 104 are moved together until loop devices 112, 113 and 114 engage hook devices 115, 116 and 117. Thereafter, the free ends of shoelace 120 are tied together such as with a bow, or with some sort of a knot such as a square knot.
It has been explained that a stabilizing device according to the invention can be used to carry various articles. An example is shown in
Another removable accessory or stabilizing device 200 is shown in
Another construction for a removable accessory or stabilizing device is shown in
Arms 252 and 254 have overlapping end portions, and end portion 256 of arm 252 overlaps end portion 257 of arm 254 when device is installed as shown in
Arm 252 has a V-shaped cut-out 278 bordered by edges 279 and 280. Likewise, arm 254 has a cut-out 282 defined by borders 284 and 285. Arm 252 has a free end 286 and arm 254 has a free end 288. Cut-outs 278 and 282 enable lower folds 260 and 270 of arms 252 and 254, respectively, to fold under the straps of a V-strap sandal without impairment of the other arm. Cut-out 278 has a corner 290 while arm 254 has a corner 292 at its cut-out 282. Fold portion 266 of arm 252 runs between free end 284 and corner 290, while fold portion 269 extends between free end 288 and corner 294 of arm 254.
The installation of stabalizing device 250 is described with respect to
Stabilizing device 250 has a number of advantages. First, it extends over as much of the V-strap 9 as is desired, and this forces a larger portion of the foot of the wearer against sole 5 of sandal 1, increasing the stability of the wearer's foot in sandal 1. Furthermore, stabilizing device 250 can have a decorative surface which could cover up most or all of V-strap 9, which often is not particularly attractive to view. Stabilzing device 250 can have one or more pockets or carrying structure on one or both of arms 252 and 254, thus improving an added feature to stabilizing device 250.
Stabilizing device 250 has been described as incorporating two piece which are stitched together. However, it is also possible to make this as a unitary piece if desired, such as with an appropriate flexible plastic, leather or the like. Of course the hook portion and loop portion could have their positions reversed and/or changed, an could be entirely or partly replaced by other fastening structure or devices.
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in
V-strap 9 can be decorated in innumerable ways. Upper portions 360 and 364 of respective arms 352 and 354 have fringes 375, and if stabilizing device 350 is made out of leather or a simulated leather, fringes 375 give device 350 a rustic or southwestern appearance. Pockets, item carrying loops and the like, can be incorporated on stabilizing device 350. A further decorating device, which is also utilitarian is a shoelace or leather thong 376 which through a pair of holes 378, 379 which can have a metal reinforcement. Shoelace 376 can be tied as explained below.
A pair of connecting structures shown as hook devices 380, 381 are attached to upper portions 360, 364 of respective arms 352, 354 by adhesives or the like, and a pair of aligned, cooperating connecting structures shown as loop devices 383, 384 are attached to respective lower portions 362, 366. When upper portions 360, 364 and lower portions 362, 366 are folded across folding portions 368, hook devices 380, 381 are initially in alignment with and then engage respective loop devices 383, 384 to releasably lock the respective hook and loop devices together.
In order to install stabilizing device 350 on a V-strap sandal such as sandal 1, one positions device 350 so that outer surface 373 is facing upwardly, and places device 350 on sandal 1, with the edges of arms 352, 354 bearing fringes 375 face forwardly in the general direction of thong 15. Stabilizing device 350 is then manipulated by bending it backwardly with cord 370 or folding portion 368, on opposite sides of openings 356, 358, becoming generally parallel with respective first and second strap portions 25, 27. Lower portions 362, 366 of arms 352, 345 are slid beneath respective first and second strap portions 25 and 27, and device 350 is moved forwardly until forward portion 372 of device 350 engages throat 29 of V-shaped strap 9. Respective upper portions 360, 364 are folded with lower portions 362 and 366 until respective pairs of hook and loop devices 380 and 383 and 381 and 384 engage to releasably lock stabilizing device 350 on V-strap sandal 1. Shoelace 376, which can optionally be looped around thong 15 to help secure stabilizing device 350 on sandal 1, is then tied into a bow 386, and device 350 is releasably secured on sandal 1. Sandal 1 now has the appearance of a finished, stylized footwear which can appear to be for more stylish and expensive than an actual flip-flop would be, while rendering the flip-flop or other V-strap sandal more comfortable and safer to wear.
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in
V-strap sandal 11 is a modification of sandal 1. Thong 151 is connected to a ring 450, to which straps 251 and 271 are also connected. Thus, in this situation, thong 151 is not connected directly to V-shaped strap 9.
In order to install stabilizing device 400 on sandal 1 or any other V-strap sandal, one manipulates device 400. The user simply forms bands 404, 406, 408 and 410 into closed loops around strap portion 25 and 27, and puts loop 438 around button 442. Shoe-like structure is then slid forwardly to place thong 15 well inside opening 426. The user then puts a foot into foot-receiving aperture 420, and move the foot until thong 151 is in place between the first and second toes. V-strap sandal 1 is given the appearance of a dress shoe.
An embodiment of the invention similar to that shown in
It can be seen that even though upper 450 gives V-strap sandal 1 the appearance of a shoe, the V-strap sandal can easily be put on as would any other V-strap sandal. Bands 474 and 476 reduce the clearance between the upper part of a person's foot and straps 25 and 27 to stabilize sandal 1 on a wearer's foot. Furthermore, lace assembly 470 can be tightened to also reduce the play between upper 450 and V-strap sandal 1, and a wearer's foot, to further add to the stabilizing device on a wearer's foot. Upper 450 can be universally made to fit on almost any V-strap sandal, and variations would be simple to facilitate for unusual types of V-strap sandals.
Embodiments of the invention can add dramatic effects to the invention.
Removable accessory or stabilizer device 500 is thus shown in
The invention is not limited to V-strap sandals. A currently popular type of footwear of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,993,858 entitled “Breathable Footwear Pieces” which is sold by Crocs, Inc. of Niwot, Colo. Referring to
An inside view of a removable accessory or stabilizer 578 is shown in
Stabilizer 578 can easily be attached to, and removed from, footwear 550. In order to assemble stabilizer 578 in footwear 550, interior portion 588 as shown in
Many different types of material can be used for stabilizer 578. If the wearer does not intend to put footwear 550 in water, many different fabrics, shearling or artificial shearling can be used with the furry part facing the wearer's foot on the inside of footwear 550 and exterior portion 592 being visible on the exterior side of upper 558. If the wearer is going to use footwear 550 in water, there are many types of rubber, artificial rubber and other plastic materials that shed water which could be used, and which preferably would have some thickness, preferably of about ⅜ of an inch of compressible material. This would allow the wearer to easily insert of foot into footwear 550, enable comfortable walking by the wearer with footwear 550 and stabilize the wearer's foot in footwear 550.
Stabilizer 578, like the other embodiments of the invention, can be very decorative. Stabilizer 578 can be modified to serve other purposes as well, some of which have been discussed previously with respect to the other embodiments of the invention. For example, one of more pockets could be incorporated in stabilizer 578 to enable the wearer to carry many types of items, and if stabilizer 578 is large enough, pockets for carrying cell phones can be used.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to its preferred embodiments, and variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description and from the appended claims.
