Patent Application
20050108895
The present invention relates to a shoe structure providing an enhanced connecting force between a sole and a heel, and more particularly to a shoe structure including a sole that is provided with a recess for receiving a fixing plate therein, and a heel that is internally provided with a internally threaded tube, so that a screw may be threaded through the fixing plate into the tube to provide an enhanced connecting force between the sole and the heel, preventing the heel from easily separating from the sole.
Shoes with heels, particularly high heels, make wearers, particularly women, looked higher and showing better shank curves and a matured and sexy feminine nature. Both male and female consumers are highly interested in heeled shoes.
As shown, the shoe 1 mainly includes a sole 11, a heel 12, and a vamp 13 adapted to enclose at least part of a wearer's foot. A reinforcing plate (not shown) is embedded in the sole 11 to extend from a rear end to a near-middle point of the sole 11, so as to bear a downward force from a suspended rear half of the wearer's foot. A lower end of the heel 12 is provided with a cushion pad 121. The heel 12 is generally connected to a rear lower end of the sole 11 by means of nailing a fastening means 111 having pointed pins vertically provided at all corners thereof through the rear end of the sole 11 into a top of the heel 12. Adhesive may be applied over a contact surface between the sole 11 and the heel 12 before the fastening means 111 is nailed into the heel 12. Alternatively, the sole 11 and the heel 12 may be tightly connected to each other by directly nailing a plurality of nails through the sole 11 into the heel 12.
The above-described shoe structure has been used for several decades. However, since the fastening means 111 either has insufficient fixing ability or is inaccurately nailed, and the heel 12 is not always strong enough to support the wearer's weight, the heel 12 tends to separate from the sole 11 or even break when the shoe 1 has been used over a period of time and the heel 12 is impacted by an external force or improperly stepped on an uneven surface. The separated or broken heel 12 would inevitably embarrass the wearer. It is therefore desirable to develop an improved shoe structure to eliminate the drawbacks existed in the conventional shoe structure.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a shoe structure providing an enhanced connecting force between a sole and a heel, so that the heel is not subject to the risk of easily separating from the sole.
To achieve the above and other objects, the shoe structure of the present invention mainly includes a sole, a heel, and a vamp adapted to enclose at least part of a wearer's foot. A reinforcing plate is embedded in the sole to extend from a rear end to a near-middle point of the sole for bearing a downward force from a suspended rear half of the wearer's foot, and a cushion pad is connected to a lower end of the heel. The sole is provided on the rear end with a recess for receiving a fixing plate therein. A screw is extended through the fixing and the reinforcing plate into an internally threaded tube embedded in the heel, providing an enhanced connecting force between the sole and the heel and preventing the heel from breaking or separating from the sole.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
Please refer to
As shown, the shoe structure 2 mainly includes at least a sole 21, a heel 22, and a vamp 23 adapted to enclose at least part of a wearer's foot. A reinforcing plate 211 is embedded in the sole 21 to extend from a rear end to a near-middle point of the sole 21, so as to bear a downward force from a suspended rear half of the wearer's foot. A cushion pad 221 is connected to a lower end of the heel 22. The sole 21 is provided at the rear end above the heel 22 with a recess 212, into which a fixing plate 213 is set. A screw 214 is downward extended through two holes correspondingly provided on the reinforcing plate 211 and the fixing plate 213 into an internally threaded tube 222 embedded in the heel 22. The tube 222 is provided in an upper one third part with internal threads for the screw 214 to quickly screw into the tube 222. In a second embodiment of the present invention shown in
In the above-illustrated embodiments, the shoe structure 2 is implemented as a high-heeled shoe for women. However, it is understood the shoe structure 2 may also be implemented as any other type of shoe having a heel.
The internally threaded tube 222, 223 may be made of a metal material having a high rigidity, such as a steel tube, to enhance the connecting force between the sole 21 and the heel 22, and strengthen the heel 22 so that the heel 22 is not subject to separation from the sole 21 or breaking due to impaction by an external force or stepping on an uneven surface.
