1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toddler shoes, and more particularly to toddler shoes with squeakers that can be turned on or off.
2. Background and Related Art
Toddlers are young children who are in the process of learning to walk. Parents of toddlers often wish to protect their children's feet, and may use shoes to do so. Shoes may also serve an ornamental purpose. Some toddler shoes may include a squeaker or other noisemaker, commonly in the heel portion of the sole of the shoe. The squeaker or other noisemaker provides aural feedback to the toddler when the toddler walks, which is believed to encourage toddlers to walk and further serves to alert nearby adults as to the location of the child.
Existing shoe designs that incorporate squeakers or other noisemakers have certain problems. While the squeaker or other noisemaker can be fun or assistive at times, it can be distractive and unwanted at others. If the squeaker or other noisemaker is not removable, parents or caregivers can find the noise tiresome over time, or inappropriate in certain circumstances. Some manufacturers have turned to making the squeaker or other noisemaker removable. Having the squeaker or other noisemaker removable, however, may affect the functional characteristics of the shoe, potentially leading to instability or other problems.
A toddler shoe having a squeaker or other air-powered noisemaker (collectively “squeaker”) is described. The squeaker is selectively active in that the squeaker can be turned on or off. The squeaker can be turned on or off without removing the squeaker from the shoe, and because the squeaker remains in the shoe, the functional characteristics of the shoe are unaffected by the on or off state of the squeaker.
The objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
A description of embodiments of the present invention will now be given with reference to the Figures. It is expected that the present invention may take many other forms and shapes, hence the following disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not limiting, and the scope of the invention should be determined by reference to the appended claims.
A toddler shoe having a squeaker or other air-powered noisemaker is described herein with reference to the Figures. In the description and claims, the term “squeaker” refers to a squeaker as commonly used in toddler shoes, or any other similar air-powered noisemaking device wherein noise is made by the movement of air driven by the walking motion of the shoe wearer. The squeaker is selectively active in that the squeaker can be turned on or off. The squeaker can be turned on or off without removing the squeaker from the shoe, and because the squeaker remains in the shoe, the functional characteristics of the shoe are unaffected by the on or off state of the squeaker.
The air reservoir 12 may be manufactured of any of a variety of durable flexible materials, including a variety of plastic materials. The air reservoir 12 is placed in the sole of the shoe, so as to be located approximately centered beneath the heel of the wearer's foot when the shoe is worn. In this way, when the wearer's heel strikes the ground, the weight of the wearer forcibly expels the air from the air reservoir 12 through an outlet 14 thereof. When the user's weight is removed from the heel of the shoe, the pressure on the air reservoir 12 is removed, and as the air reservoir 12 is biased to the normally inflated state, the bias causes the air reservoir 12 to draw air back in through the outlet 14 (or through a separate inlet) as the air reservoir 12 is reinflated in preparation for the wearer's next step.
As the air passes in and/or out of the air reservoir 12, it passes through a double-chambered air tunnel 16. The air tunnel 16 serves to guide the air as it flows in and out of the air reservoir 12. The air tunnel 16 also serves to secure and contain a reed 18 within a first chamber 20 of the air tunnel 16. The second chamber 22 of the air tunnel 16 is empty. Thus, when air flows in at least one direction through the first chamber 20 of the air tunnel 16, the reed 18 is activated by the air, causing a noise (e.g. the squeak) to be generated, but when air flows through the second chamber 22 of the air tunnel 16, the reed 18 is not activated and no noise is generated. The air tunnel 16 may be formed of any appropriate material, including any of a variety of plastics, and will generally be substantially rigid or at least significantly more rigid than the air reservoir 12.
As may be seen in
As the squeaker 10 is assembled, the reed 18 is located in and affixed to one end of the first chamber 20 of the air tunnel 16, and then the end of the air tunnel 16 having the reed 18 therein is inserted into and/or affixed to the outlet 14 of the air chamber 12. The other end of the air tunnel 16 is covered by a cap 24. The cap 24 is approximately oblong in shape has an inner broad opening 26 and an outer narrow opening 28. In one embodiment of the cap 24, between the inner broad opening 26 and the outer narrow opening 28, the cap 24 has a cover portion having internal dimensions slightly smaller than the inner dimensions of the inner broad opening 26 and somewhat larger than the inner dimensions of the outer narrow opening 28. In another embodiment of the cap, a slight circumferential ridge is formed on the inner surface of the cap 24 between the inner broad opening 26 and the outer narrow opening 28.
In fashions such as these, when the cap 24 is assembled to the air tunnel 16, a space is formed between the inner surface of the outer narrow opening 28 and the end of the air tunnel 16. This space is occupied by a disk-shaped cover 30. The cover 30 is sized and configured to be more or less snugly contained within the space between the inner surface of the outer narrow opening 28 and the end of the air tunnel 16, but to be capable of sliding movement within the oblong space thus formed, such that the cover 30 may be moved between a position substantially obstructing the outer end of the first chamber 20 of the air tunnel 16 and a position substantially obstructing the outer end of the second chamber 22 of the air tunnel 16. The position of the cover 30 thus serves to determine whether the squeaker 10 is on or off. When the cover 30 is positioned over the first chamber 20, the squeaker 10 is off, and when the cover 30 is positioned over the second chamber 20, the squeaker 10 is on.
Alternatively, the cap 24 may be sized to be wider than the cap 24 shown in
The cover 30 may include an indentation or even a small hole to permit manipulation of the cover 30 from outside the shoe using an object with a moderate point, such as a standard ballpoint pen. Because the cover 30 is larger than the outer narrow opening 28, there is little to no chance that the cover 30 could be dislodged from the squeaker 10 when the squeaker 10 is assembled and located in the shoe, so there are no small loose objects that could become choking hazards.
The functionality of the squeaker may be illustrated with reference to
While the foregoing description discusses an example of a toddler shoe having a dual-chamber air tunnel 16 and a cover 30 that selectively covers one of the first chamber 20 and the second chamber 22, other embodiments are envisioned. For example, the air tunnel 16 could be modified to have more than two chambers, and the cover 30 could be modified to cover the opening of one or more than one available chamber. Alternatively, multiple covers 30 could be provided. Differing reeds could be located in the various chambers, and the movement of the cover 30 or covers 30 could vary between shutting off the squeaker 10 entirely, allowing a first noise to sound, allowing a second noise to sound, allowing multiple noises to sound, etc. according to the number of chambers and associated noisemakers.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20160242495 A1 | Aug 2016 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62118873 | Feb 2015 | US |