Patent Application
20140366400
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
This invention pertains to shoes having welts.
One aspect of the invention is a shoe comprising a sole, an upper, and a welt. The sole comprises a sole heel region, a sole toe region, a sole lateral side region between the sole heel region and the sole toe region, and a sole medial side region between the sole heel region and the sole toe region. The sole medial side region includes a sole ball region and a sole instep region. The upper is operatively secured to the sole. The upper comprises an upper heel region, an upper toe region, an upper lateral side region between the upper heel region and the upper toe region, and an upper medial side region between the upper heel region and the upper toe region. The upper medial side region includes an upper ball region and an upper instep region. The upper heel region is adjacent sole heel region. The upper toe region is adjacent the sole toe region. The upper lateral side region is adjacent the sole lateral side region. The upper ball region is adjacent the sole ball region. The upper instep region is adjacent the sole instep region. The sole and upper define a seam. The seam has a seam toe region, a seam heel region, a seam lateral side region, a seam ball region, and a seam instep region. The seam toe region is adjacent both the upper toe region and the sole toe region. The seam heel region is adjacent both the upper heel region and the sole heel region. The seam lateral side region is adjacent both the upper lateral side region and the sole lateral side region. The seam ball region is adjacent the upper ball region and the sole ball region. The seam instep region is adjacent the upper instep region and the sole instep region. The welt is secured to at least one of the sole and the upper. The welt covers the seam toe region, the seam lateral side region, the seam heel region, and the seam instep region. The welt does not cover the seam ball region.
Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the operation of the invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
a is a lateral side elevation view of the shoe of
a is a medial side elevation view of the shoe of
Reference numerals in the written specification and in the drawing figures indicate corresponding items.
An embodiment of a shoe in accordance with the present invention is indicated by reference numeral 20 in
The sole 22 comprises a sole heel region 30, a sole toe region 32, a sole lateral side region 34 between the sole heel region and the sole toe region, and a sole medial side region 36 between the sole heel region and the sole toe region. The sole medial side region 36 includes a sole ball region 38 and a sole instep region 40. The sole 22 is preferably of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), but may be of any suitable sole material, such as leather, polyurethane or some other suitable polymer, combinations thereof, etc.
The upper 24 is operatively secured to the sole 22. Preferably, the upper is directly secured to the sole 22 via adhesive. The upper 24 comprises an upper heel region 50, an upper toe region 52, an upper lateral side region 54 between the upper heel region and the upper toe region, and an upper medial side region 56 between the upper heel region and the upper toe region. The upper medial side region 56 includes an upper ball region 58 and an upper instep region 60. The upper heel region 50 is adjacent sole heel region 30. The upper toe region 52 is adjacent the sole toe region 32. The upper lateral side region 54 is adjacent the sole lateral side region 54. The upper ball region 58 is adjacent the sole ball region 36. The upper instep region 60 is adjacent the sole instep region 40. The upper may be a slip-on type upper or a lace-up type upper. The upper could be a loafer, an oxford, a moccasin, or other suitable type.
Referring now to
Preferably, the welt 26 is stitched to the sole 22 via a thread 82. Alternatively or in addition, the welt may be stitched or otherwise secured to the upper 24. Preferably, the welt 26 is of a material stiffer than the material of the sole 22. The absence of welt material in the vicinity of the seam ball region 78 provides greater flexibility of the shoe 20 in the ball region, i.e., the region of the shoe adjacent the ball of the user's foot when the user is wearing the shoe.
In view of the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the invention has several advantages over the prior art.
As various modifications could be made in the constructions and methods herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents. While the bottom region of the upper 24 and the top region of the sole 22 are preferably in contact with one another, it is to be understood that other constructions of shoes may be employed without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, a shoe construction in which the bottom region of the upper 24 is spaced from the top region of the sole by a portion of the welt or by some other member still includes a seam as the term seam is used herein.
It should also be understood that when introducing elements of the present invention in the claims or in the above description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, the terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be open-ended and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, the term “portion” should be construed as meaning some or all of the item or element that it qualifies. Moreover, use of identifiers such as first, second, and third should not be construed in a manner imposing any relative position or time sequence between limitations.
