U.S. patent application number 09/750594 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-04 for shoe with a transparent toe cap.
Invention is credited to Tsou, Jen-Chieh, Wu, Yu-Te.
Application Number | 20020083617 09/750594 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25018480 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020083617 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tsou, Jen-Chieh ; et
al. |
July 4, 2002 |
Shoe with a transparent toe cap
Abstract
A shoe has a sole, a vamp and a transparent toe cap. The toe cap
is secured to the vamp at the position corresponding to the toe of
the wearer. With such an arrangement, any person can see through
the toe cap and directly determine whether the shoe fits or not. To
buy a shoe that does not fit is avoided. In addition, a shoe will
have a different appearance when a vamp with a different toe cap is
used. The appearance of the shoe is variable, and the cost for
manufacturing shoes with different appearances is reduced.
Inventors: |
Tsou, Jen-Chieh; (Taichung,
TW) ; Wu, Yu-Te; (Taichug, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Jackson Walker L.L.P.
Attn: Thomas E. Sisson
Suite 2100
112 E. Pecan Street
San Antonio
TX
78205
US
|
Family ID: |
25018480 |
Appl. No.: |
09/750594 |
Filed: |
December 28, 2000 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/8.4 ; 36/112;
36/77R |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B 1/0072 20130101;
A43B 23/081 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
36/8.4 ;
36/77.00R; 36/112 |
International
Class: |
A43B 001/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A shoe comprising: a sole; a vamp secured to the sole for
enclosing a foot of a wearer who wears the shoe; and a transparent
toe cap secured to the vamp at a position corresponding to the toe
of the wearer.
2. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein a recess is defined in
the vamp to securely connect the toe cap.
3. The shoe as claimed in claim 2, wherein the toe cap has an
inverse L-shaped section.
4. The shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein a flange extends from a
top end of the toe cap to connect to the vamp.
5. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein multiple vents are
defined in the toe cap.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a shoe, and more
particularly to a shoe with a transparent toe cap, such that any
one can clearly determine whether the shoe fits the foot of a
wearer or not through the transparent toe cap.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] The purpose of wearing shoes is to protect the feet of the
user or to provide a decorative effect to the user. The
conventional shoe comprises a sole and a vamp. The vamp is mounted
on the sole to enclose the user's foot so as to provide a
protection and a decorative effect to the user. In general, when a
user wants to buy a pair of shoes, he or she always tries the shoes
on first to check whether the shoes fit his or her feet or not.
However, because the conventional vamp is made of an opaque
material, no one can see through the vamp. Thus, to determine
whether the shoes fit his or her feet only depends on the user's
feeling. Many shoe sales people and virtually all untrained people
cannot determine the proper fit for a wearer. Often people buy
shoes that do not fit especially people who cannot fully express
themselves like a child or a person with diminished mental
capacity.
[0005] In addition, the aesthetic appearance of the conventional
shoe always depends to a large extent on the vamp. In other word,
the appearance of a shoe will vary when a different vamp is mounted
on the sole. However, a specific last is required to form a vamp
with a different appearance. The manufacturer must prepare many
different vamps and lasts to manufacture shoes with different
appearances. The cost of manufacturing the shoes increases, and the
variations of the appearances of the shoes are limited.
[0006] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention intends
to provide an improved shoe with a transparent toe cap to mitigate
or obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The main objective of the invention is to provide an
improved shoe with a transparent toe cap for a person to be able to
see through the toe cap. The shoe has a sole, a vamp and a
transparent toe cap. The toe cap is secured to the vamp at a
position corresponding to the toe of the wearer. Accordingly, any
person can see through the toe cap and directly determine whether
the shoe fits or not. To buy a shoe that does not fit is
avoided.
[0008] The other objective of the invention is to provide an
improved shoe with a transparent toe cap, such that a shoe will
have different appearance when a vamp with a different toe cap is
mounted on the sole. The appearance of the shoe is variable, and
the cost for manufacturing shoes with different appearances is
reduced.
[0009] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe with a transparent
toe cap in accordance with the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the shoe
in FIG. 1; and
[0012] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the shoe in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a shoe (10) in accordance
with the present invention comprises a sole, a vamp (12) and a
transparent toe cap (14). The vamp (12) is secured to the sole to
enclose a foot of a wearer. The transparent toe cap (14) is secured
to the vamp (12) at a position corresponding to the toe of the
wearer. In practice, a recess is defined in the vamp (12) to
securely connect the toe cap (14). The toe cap (14) has an inverse
L-shaped section. A flange (142) extends from the top end of the
toe cap (14) to securely connect to the vamp (12) by sewing or
adhesive bonding. Multiple vents (144) are defined in the toe cap
(14) to ventilation to the shoe (10).
[0014] With such a shoe (10), any person can see through the
transparent toe cap (14). When a wearer tries on new shoes (10),
the wearer or another people can directly determine whether the
shoes (10) fits the wearer or not through the transparent toe cap
(14). The parents or another person can help a child or a person
with diminished mental capacity to determine whether the shoes (10)
fit or not. To buy a shoe (10) that does not fit is avoided. In
addition, the parents can determine early when their children have
outgrown their shoes (10). Consequently, excessively tight shoes
(10) can be discarded so that they do not adversely affect the
growth of the feet of a teenage.
[0015] The toe cap (14) is made of plastic or rubber material with
an injection molding process, and the toe cap (14) is easily made
to have different colors. The aesthetic appearance of a shoe (10)
will vary when a toe cap (10) with a different shape or color is
secured to the same vamp (12). The process for manufacturing shoes
(10) with many different appearances is simplified, and the cost
for it is reduced.
[0016] Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the
present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description,
together with details of the structure and function of the
invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be
made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and
arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the
full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in
which the appended claims are expressed.
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