U.S. patent application number 09/756726 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-11 for water drainable sole for footwear.
Invention is credited to Lin, Kuo-Qing, Wang, Jui-Te, Wei, Dong-Jie.
Application Number | 20020088140 09/756726 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25758797 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020088140 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wang, Jui-Te ; et
al. |
July 11, 2002 |
Water drainable sole for footwear
Abstract
A sole for footwear includes a sole body having a plurality of
protrusions extending from a top surface of the sole body so as to
support the wearer's foot. A plurality of apertures are defined
through said sole body and located between said protrusions.
Inventors: |
Wang, Jui-Te; (Taichung,
TW) ; Lin, Kuo-Qing; (Taishi Shiang, TW) ;
Wei, Dong-Jie; (Taichung, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE
3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101
ELLICOTT CITY
MD
21043
US
|
Family ID: |
25758797 |
Appl. No.: |
09/756726 |
Filed: |
January 10, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/3B ; 36/141;
36/8.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16B 39/34 20130101;
A43B 5/08 20130101; A43B 7/146 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
36/3.00B ;
36/8.1; 36/141 |
International
Class: |
A43B 005/08 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A sole for footwear comprising: a sole body having a top surface
and a bottom, a plurality of protrusions extending from said top
surface of the sole body and a plurality of apertures defined
through said sole body and located between said protrusions.
2. The sole as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said protrusions
has a rounded top end.
3. The sole as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protrusions are
arcuate plates.
4. The sole as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protrusions are
straight plates.
5. The sole as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a block
extending from said bottom of said sole body.
6. The sole as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of
support members extending from said bottom of said sole body.
7. The sole as claimed in claim 6 wherein each of said support
members has a flat surface on a distal end thereof.
8. The sole as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a skirt flange
extending from a periphery of said sole body and a plurality of
notches defined through said skirt flange.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a sole structure for
footwear and has a plurality of protrusions which support the
wearer's foot and water flows between the protrusions so that the
wearer's foot will not wet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A conventional shoes used in some specific places such as
washrooms where generally have wet floors are usually designed to
have a totally covered toe portion so as to avoid water to access
the wearer's foot. However, these shoes or boots do not have well
ventilation feature so that the feet in the shoes sweat and cause
bad smell. In Asia, there is a drain hole in the floor outside of
the bathtub so that people take shower or clean the floor will wet
the floor and water will drain from the drain hole. In order not to
wet the second user's feet, a pair of shoes will be prepared in the
bathroom so that the users wear the shoes and their feet will not
be wet. However, there is water trapped in recessed area of the
shoes so that the user's feet still get wet.
[0003] The present invention intends to provide a sole of footwear
wherein a plurality of protrusions extend from the surface of the
sole so that water is drained between the protrusions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a sole for footwear and comprising a sole body
having a top surface and a bottom. A plurality of protrusions
extend from the top surface of the sole body and a plurality of
apertures are defined through the sole body and located between the
protrusions.
[0005] The primary object of the present invention is to provide a
sole that has rounded protrusions extending from the top surface of
the sole body so that water flows between the protrusions and the
wearer's foot supported on the protrusions will not be wet.
[0006] These and further objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become more obvious from the following
description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings
which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments
in accordance with the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view to show a sole for footwear of
the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a top plan view to show the sole for footwear of
the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view to show another embodiment
of the sole for footwear of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a perspective view to show another embodiment of
the sole for footwear of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view to show the sole for
footwear of the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 6 is a perspective view to show the bottom of the sole
for footwear of the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 7 is a perspective view to show another embodiment of
the bottom of the sole for footwear of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 8 is a perspective view to show yet another embodiment
of the bottom of the sole for footwear of the present invention,
and
[0015] FIG. 9 is a perspective view to show a further embodiment of
the bottom of the sole for footwear of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the sole for footwear of the
present invention comprises a sole body 10 having a top surface, a
bottom and a skirt flange 100 which extends from a periphery of the
sole body 10 and a plurality of notches 101 are defined through the
skirt flange 100. A plurality of protrusions 11 extend from the top
surface of the sole body 10 and each of the protrusions 11 has a
rounded top end so that water will not stay on the top of the
protrusions 11. A plurality of apertures 12 are defined through the
sole body 10 and located between the protrusions 11. By the sole of
the present invention, water will flow through the notches 101 in
the skirt flange 100. When water comes from top of the sole before
the users wear the sole of footwear, will drain through the
apertures 12 so that no water is trap or stays on the top surface
of the sole body 10.
[0017] FIG. 3 shows that that a block 30 extends from the bottom of
the sole body 10 so as to lift the distance between the top surface
of the sole body 10 and the floor. FIG. 4 shows that the
protrusions 11 may be made to be arcuate plates 13 and/or straight
plates 13.
[0018] FIGS. 6 and 7 respectively show that a plurality of support
members extend from the bottom of the sole body 10 wherein the
support members can be straight ribs 20 as shown in FIG. 6,
cylindrical rods 21 as shown in FIG. 7. Each of the support members
21/20 has a flat surface on a distal end thereof as shown in FIG. 9
so as to have a stable contact relationship with the floor. FIG. 8
shows that the number or density of the support members 21 can be
made to provide a suitable support ability for the load.
[0019] While we have shown and described various embodiments in
accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those
skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without
departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
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