Patent Application
20210307454
This invention relates generally to shoes, and more particularly to a shoe that is openable such that it may rapidly receive and be fastened around a foot, and further enables easy removal of the foot.
The prior art teaches many examples of shoes that can be opened in various ways to facilitate putting on the shoe.
Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,978, teaches an athletic shoe that includes a resilient sole portion having a rear portion that extends upwardly from the sole portion for supporting the ankle of the person. The shoe includes an upper that is pivotally attached to the sole, the upper including an ankle enclosing section and a toe enclosing section, both of which may be attached/detached from the sole, to enable the user to put on the shoe. While this makes placement of the foot into the shoe very easy, the front, toe portion of the shoe must be attached strongly enough to withstand considerable forces, hence the use of a zipper rather than hooks and loops fasteners. This also results in the zipper taking considerable strain, which may result in failure of this fastener.
Ito, U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,837, teaches a shoe of similar design, which opens in its entirety, including the toe portion of the shoe. This design is useful for the elderly and disabled because it is so easy to put on and remove. The upper can be opened for insertion of the foot, and a zipper zips horizontally along the edge of the upper for closing the upper. The upper also includes a hooks and loops fastener, and further includes an additional strip of hooks and loops fastener for added strength.
There are several additional patents that are similar to Ito, wherein the entire upper including the toe pivots upwardly, and a zipper is used to close the upper:
Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 10,178,893, teaches a shoe that includes a sole and a top member pivotally mounted on the sole. The top member and sole to together define a space for receiving a foot, and the top member further comprises an opening. A zipper fastener is provided in the top member and extends from the opening and continues over the top member such that a portion of the top member is movable between a first position in which the space is substantially closed and a second position in which a portion of the top member is folded back from the sole to provide access to the space.
Innocente, U.S. Pat. No. 10,499,710 (assigned to Nike), teaches a shoe having a toe portion, a heel portion and first and second sides, the shoe including a sole, an upper and a zipper closing mechanism extending from a top portion of the upper down along the first side of the shoe and then horizontally between the sole and the upper around the toe portion, around the second side and around the heel portion. See also Price, U.S. 20160338447, Paintin, U.S. Pat. No. 8,245,418, and Ashton, U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,225.
There are many benefits from a shoe which may rapidly receive and fasten around a foot. For example, those with injured or sore feet, the very young or elderly, those with a disability which causes difficulty with laces, or those who need an adjustable shape would all benefit from such a design. Further, triathlon competitors who may need to quickly switch between footwear, divers, travelers, those in an emergency situation, etc., would also benefit.
The prior art teaches shoes wherein the entire upper, including an ankle enclosing section and a toe enclosing section, pivot upwardly for allowing insertion of the user's foot. However, the prior art does not teach a shoe where the middle, ankle enclosing section pivots upwardly, and opens the shoe all the way to the sole, for easy insertion, while the toe and ankle portions remain closed and fixed, for added strength during intense athletic performances. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary.
The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.
The present invention provides a shoe that includes a sole and an upper which together enable a user to put on the shoe quickly and easily. The sole includes a front end and a rear end connected by a first side edge and a second side edge. The upper includes a heel support member fixedly attached to and extending upwardly from the rear portion of the sole; a toe box fixedly attached to and extending upwardly from the front portion to form a toe receiving recess; and a middle flap fixedly attached to and extending upwardly from the first side edge of the sole and extending to a terminal edge, the middle flap pivoting between an open position wherein the shoe is adapted to receive the user's foot, and a closed position wherein the middle flap is closed over the user's foot such that the terminal edge is positioned adjacent the second side edge of the sole. The shoe further includes a fastener for fastening the terminal edge of the middle flap to the second side edge of the sole.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a shoe having advantages not taught by the prior art.
Another objective is to provide a shoe which may rapidly receive and be fastened around a foot.
Another objective is to provide a shoe which, when fastened, provides strong and reliable support comparable to standard shoe designs.
Another objective is that the inner sole can be quickly and easily accessed for removal, cleaning, drying, or swapping.
A further objective is to provide a shoe fastener which may be integrated into a variety of existing types of shoes.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In such drawings:
The above-described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a shoe that includes an upper than can be opened to receive and be fastened around a wearer's foot without traditional fasteners.
As discussed below, the sole 20 includes a forward portion 30 that includes the front end 22 of the sole 20, and at least a portion of the first and second side edges 26 and 28; and the sole 20 further includes a rear portion 32 that includes the rear end 24 and at least a portion of the first and second side edges 26 and 28 of the sole 20. The significance of these portions 30 and 32 is discussed in greater detail below.
As shown in
The heel support member 36 is fixedly attached to and extends upwardly from the rear portion 32 of the sole 20, and is adapted to support the wearer's heel. In this embodiment, the heel support member 36 comprises a heel counter 38 and a heel collar 40, the heel counter 38 further including an inner forward edge 43. However, in other embodiments, the heel support member 36 may be formed according to any shoe style known in the art. The general construction of the heel support member 36 is similar to prior art shoes, and may include suitable support structures, padding, etc., which are known in the art.
The heel support member 36 extends into the middle flap 46 along the first side edge 26 of the sole 20, the middle flap 46 being fixedly attached to and extending upwardly from the outer edge 26. The middle flap 46 includes a terminal edge 48 having a fastener 50 for removably attaching to the second side edge 28, as described in greater detail below. The middle flap may further include a forward edge 33 and a rear edge 45.
Similarly, the toe box 42 is fixedly attached to and extending upwardly from the forward portion 30 of the sole 20, to form a toe receiving recess 44 adapted to receive the wearer's toes. In one embodiment, the toe box 42 may extend to at least partially enclose the user's toes, and alternatively may fully encompass the toes. It should be understood that the toe box 42 may be provided in a variety of structures and materials, so long as it remains fixedly attached to the sole 20 to form the toe receiving recess 44, thereby providing structural stability to the shoe 20 during use.
As shown in
The shoe 10 may further include an additional fastener strap 52 which includes a first strap fastener 53, with a mating second strap fastener 54 being mounted on the heel support member 36. In this embodiment, the additional fastener strap 52 extends from the middle flap 46 toward the heel support member 36. As discussed above, the fasteners used may be a hook and loop fastener, or other suitable form of fastener. The additional fastener strap 52 functions to provide additional strength to ensure that the shoe 10 remains closed while in use.
As shown in
In practice, the wearer first inserts his or her toes into the toe box 42, and then steps down into the shoe 10 guided by the heel support member 36. This is performed while the middle flap 46 is in the open position, as shown in
As shown in
The base 64 may be in the form of a rigid sheet (e.g., metal, plastic, etc.) and may include an attachment means 68 for securing the base to another surface (such as the shoe, as shown in
In use, the triangular teeth 66 interlock with each other such that they provide a very strong engagement, but wherein a user may simply pinch the fasteners 50c and 50d towards each other to release the interlocking engagement and release. In alternative embodiments, the fasteners 50c and 50d may be used to interlock different objects (e.g., mounting frames on a wall, interlocking any two items known in the art, or other type of fastening).
As used in this application, the words “a,” “an,” and “one” are defined to include one or more of the referenced item unless specifically stated otherwise. The terms “approximately” and “about” are defined to mean +/−10%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms “have,” “include,” “contain,” and similar terms are defined to mean “comprising” unless specifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in the specification provided above is hereby defined to include similar and/or equivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would be considered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of the present patent application. While the invention has been described with reference to at least one particular embodiment, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments, but rather the scope of the invention is defined by claims made to the invention.
