U.S. patent application number 10/167885 was filed with the patent office on 2003-12-18 for article of footwear.
Invention is credited to Walton, Gerry.
Application Number | 20030230007 10/167885 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29732282 |
Filed Date | 2003-12-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030230007 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Walton, Gerry |
December 18, 2003 |
Article of footwear
Abstract
An article of footwear is shown having a bottom exposed surface
with a number of threaded bores. An interchangeable sole element
can be affixed to the bottom surface of the foot receiving member
by means of threaded metal studs. The studs are sized and
positioned with respect to the lower surface of the sole elements
to allow the tips of the studs to extend beyond the lower surface
of the sole element for a distance in the range of 2 to 5
millimeters to provide improved traction and support.
Inventors: |
Walton, Gerry; (Mineral,
TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Charles D. Gunter, Jr.
Whitaker,Chalk, Swindle & Sawyer, LLP
301 Commerce St.
3500 City Center Tower II
Ft. Worth
TX
76102
US
|
Family ID: |
29732282 |
Appl. No.: |
10/167885 |
Filed: |
June 12, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/15 ;
36/7.6 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B 3/128 20130101;
A43B 13/26 20130101; A43B 5/08 20130101; A43B 13/36 20130101; A43B
5/18 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
36/15 ;
36/7.6 |
International
Class: |
A43B 003/10 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An article of footwear, comprising: a foot receiving member
having an upper, foot receiving region and a lower sole region, the
lower sole region having a bottom, initially exposed surface
defined by a periphery, the bottom surface having a plurality of
threaded bores located therein, said bores having mouth regions
extending downwardly from the bottom surface of the sole region and
generally perpendicular thereto; an interchangeable sole element
having an upper surface and a lower surface and a peripheral edge,
the peripheral edge of the sole element being sized to generally
mate with the periphery of the bottom surface of the sole region,
the sole element having a plurality of bores which communicate the
upper and lower surfaces thereof and which are positioned to be in
alignment with the threaded bores of the lower sole region when the
interchangeable sole element is aligned with the lower sole region;
a plurality of threaded studs sized to pass through the bores in
the interchangeable sole element and to threadedly engage the
threaded bores in the bottom surface of the sole region to thereby
affix the interchangeable sole element to the sole region of the
foot receiving member, the studs having a height which is defined
between an inner extent and an outer tip, the studs being sized and
positioned with respect to the lower surface of the sole element to
allow the tips thereof to extend beyond a plane defined by the
lower surface of the sole element for a distance in the range from
2 to 5 millimeters.
2. The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein the foot receiving
member is a sandal having a sole plate region which is received
about the shoe or boot of a wearer.
3. The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein the foot receiving
member is itself a boot.
4. The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein the foot receiving
member is itself a portion of a hip wader.
5. The article of footwear of claim 1 wherein the foot receiving
member is itself a portion of a chest wader.
6. The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein the studs which are
used to attach the interchangeable sole element to the bottom
surface of the sole region are sized and positioned with respect to
the lower surface of the sole element to allow the tips thereof to
extend beyond the plane defined by the lower surface of the sole
element for a distance in the range from 3 to 4 millimeters.
7. An article of footwear, comprising: a foot receiving member
having an upper, foot receiving region and a lower sole region, the
lower sole region having a bottom, initially exposed surface
defined by a periphery, the bottom surface having a plurality of
threaded bores located therein, said bores having mouth regions
extending downwardly from the bottom surface of the sole region and
generally perpendicular thereto; an interchangeable sole element
having an upper surface and a lower surface and a peripheral edge,
the peripheral edge of the sole element being sized to generally
mate with the periphery of the bottom surface of the sole region,
the sole element having a plurality of bores which communicate the
upper and lower surfaces thereof and which are positioned to be in
alignment with the threaded bores of the lower sole region when the
interchangeable sole element is aligned with the lower sole region;
a plurality of threaded studs sized to pass through the bores in
the interchangeable sole element and to threadedly engage the
threaded bores in the bottom surface of the sole region to thereby
affix the interchangeable sole element to the sole region of the
foot receiving member, the studs having a height which is defined
between an inner extent and an outer tip; wherein the studs have
flared heads at the tips thereof, the flared heads being located in
recesses provided in the lower surface of the sole element, whereby
the tips of the studs extend beyond a plane defined by the lower
surface of the sole element for a distance in the range from 2 to 5
millimeters, the positioning of the studs allowing the studs to
first penetrate a walking surface, then followed by the attached
sole element contacting the walking surface, to thereby provide
additional traction and support for a wearer.
8. The article of footwear of claim 7, wherein the tips of the
studs extend beyond the plane defined by the lower surface of the
sole element for a distance in the range from 3 to 4
millimeters.
9. The article of footwear of claim 7, wherein the interchangeable
sole element is formed of felt with recesses formed by heat
impressing the felt at selected locations.
10. The article of footwear of claim 7, wherein the interchangeable
sole element is a rubber bob sole in which a rubber platform is
built up on the lower surface of the sole element on which the
flared head of the studs rest, whereby the tips of the studs extend
beyond the plane defined by the lower surface of the
interchangeable sole element for a distance in the range from 2 to
5 millimeters.
11. The article of footwear of claim 7, wherein the foot receiving
member is a sandal having a sole plate region which is received
about the shoe or boot of a wearer.
12. The article of footwear of claim 7, wherein the foot receiving
member is itself a boot.
13. The article of footwear of claim 7, wherein the foot receiving
member is itself a portion of a hip wader.
14. The article of footwear of claim 7, wherein the foot receiving
member is itself a portion of a chest wader.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to shoe sole
construction for footwear and, specifically, to an interchangeable
sole element which works in cooperation with threaded studs to
provide additional traction and support for a wearer.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Various types of shoe sole constructions are known in the
prior art for providing additional traction and support for wearers
engaged in a variety of activities. For example, in fishing and
other water related activities, the user often wears a sandal, boot
or wader and must traverse slippery rocks and gravel and may also
encounter moving water. Accordingly, conventional fishing waders
are usually provided with integrally molded gripping soles for the
purpose of supporting a user under slippery conditions. Fly fishing
boots and sandals have been provided with felt soles to improve
traction. Shoes or boots with traction improving roles are also
used in industrial areas, for example, in roofing tasks. It is
generally recognized in the industrial and sporting industries,
that no single sole design will provide the best traction under all
conditions. As a result, a large number of anti-slipping devices
have been devised for attachment to the soles of shoes, boots and
the like for providing improved traction when needed.
[0005] Certain of the prior art designs featured outer soles which
were worn by persons over regular footwear. For example, it has
been known for some time to design anti-slip outer soles that are
provided with cleats. This is generally been done in the form of
sandals or some other type of clip-on or tie-on device that is
attached beneath the sole portion of regular footwear. Customarily
such attachment is accomplished by means of straps. However, in
other cases, the attachment means employed included toe or heel
hoods or caps.
[0006] One non-slip sandal in issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,090, to
Smith, and features a sole plate made from a semi-flexible material
which utilizes fabric straps or laces attached to the sole plate to
secure a sandal to a shoe or boot of the wearer. The Smith patent
provides interchangeable cleats or studs for different traction
surfaces and also provides a replaceable layer of synthetic foam
material on the bottom of the sole plate which can be secured into
position by means of "Velcro."
[0007] Despite the above described advances in the art, a need
exists for an improved shoe sole construction which can be adapted
to a variety of types of footwear to provide improved traction and
support under a variety of conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The article of footwear of the invention includes a foot
receiving member having an upper, foot receiving region and a lower
sole region. The lower sole region has a bottom, initially exposed
surface defined by a periphery. The bottom surface also has a
plurality of threaded bores located therein. The bores have mouth
regions extending downwardly from the bottom surface of the sole
region generally perpendicular thereto.
[0009] An interchangeable sole element is provided having an upper
surface, a lower surface and a peripheral edge. The peripheral edge
of the sole element is sized to generally mate with the periphery
of the bottom surface of the sole region. The sole element has a
plurality of bores which communicate the upper and lower surfaces
thereof and which are positioned to be aligned with the threaded
bores of the lower sole region when the interchangeable sole
element is aligned with the lower sole region.
[0010] A plurality of threaded studs are sized to pass through the
bores in the interchangeable sole element and to threadedly engage
the threaded bores in the bottom surface of the sole region to
thereby affix the interchangeable sole element to the sole region
of the foot receiving member. The studs have a height which is
defined between an inner extent and an outer tip. The studs are
sized and positioned with respect to the lower surface of the sole
element to allow the tips thereof to extend beyond a plane defined
by the lower surface of the sole element by a distance in the range
from 2 to 5 mm.
[0011] The foot receiving member can be a sandal having a sole
plate region which is received about the shoe or boot of a wearer.
The foot receiving member can also be a boot itself, a portion of a
hip wader or a portion of a chest wader each of which employs the
improved sole construction of the invention.
[0012] Additional objects, features and advantages will be apparent
in the written description which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 shows an article of footwear of the invention in
exploded fashion illustrating the attachment of the interchangeable
sole element with the foot receiving member.
[0014] FIG. 2 is an isolated view of a portion of the sole element
of FIG. 1 showing its attachment with a metal stud.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the assembled article of footwear
of FIG. 1.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a side, cross-sectional view of a portion of the
sole element and foot receiving member of the article of footwear
of FIG. 3.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a side view of the assembled article of footwear
of FIG. 3.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a side, cross-sectional view of a portion of
another interchangeable sole utilized in the article of footwear of
the invention.
[0019] FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a bob sole element.
[0020] FIGS. 8A and 8B are top and side views respectively of the
metal stud used to secure the sole element to the foot receiving
member of the invention.
[0021] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines IX-IX in
FIG. 7.
[0022] FIG. 10 is a view of a wearer utilizing chest waders having
the improved sole construction of the invention.
[0023] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of one version of the foot
receiving member of the invention showing the strap construction
thereof.
[0024] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the sandal of FIG. 11 in
place over the boot of a wearer, the boot being shown in dotted
lines.
[0025] FIG. 13 is a side, perspective view of a traditional boot
employing the improved sole construction of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] Turning to FIG. 1 there is shown an article of footwear
designated generally as 11. The article of footwear, in this case a
sandal, includes a foot receiving member 13 having an upper, foot
receiving region 15 and a lower sole region 17. The lower sole
region 17 has a bottom, initially exposed surface 19 defined by a
periphery 21. The bottom surfaces 19 has a plurality of threaded
bores 23 located therein. As shown in FIG. 2, each bore 23 has a
mouth region 25 which extends downwardly from the bottom surface of
the sole region 17 along an axis 27 generally perpendicular to the
surface 17.
[0027] FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of an interchangeable sole
element 29 having an upper surface 31 and a lower surface 33 and a
peripheral edge 35. The peripheral edge 35 of the sole element 29
is sized to generally mate with the periphery 21 of the bottom
surface 19 of the sole region 17. The sole element 29 has a
plurality of bores 37 which communicate the upper and lower
surfaces 31, 33 thereof and which are positioned to be in alignment
with the threaded bores 23 of the lower sole region 17 when the
interchangeable sole element 29 is aligned with the lower sole
region.
[0028] A plurality of threaded studs 39 are sized to pass through
the bores 37 in the interchangeable sole element 29 and to
threadedly engage the threaded bores 23 in the bottom surface 19 of
the sole region 17 to thereby affix the interchangeable sole
element to the sole region of the foot receiving member. As shown
in FIG. 4, the studs have a height "h" which is defined between an
inner extent 41 and an outer tip 43. As will be described in
greater detail, the studs are sized and positioned with respect to
the lower surface 33 of the sole element 29 to allow the tips 43
thereof to extend beyond a plane defined by the lower surface of
the sole element for a distance in the range of 2 to 5 millimeters,
preferably 3 to 4 millimeters. With reference to FIG. 4, "d"
represents the distance between the tip 43 and the plane of the
lower surface 33.
[0029] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled article of
footwear with the sole element 29 secured to the sole region 17 by
means of a plurality of of threaded studs 39.
[0030] Various techniques can be employed to achieve the desired
positioning of the stud tips relative to the plane of the lower
surface 33 of the sole element. For example, in the embodiment of
the invention of FIG. 1, the interchangeable sole element 29 is
formed of conventional felt material. However, the felt material
has recesses 47 (FIGS. 2 and 4) formed therein. The recesses may be
formed by heat impressing the felt in such a way as to allow the
stud to sit recessed within the felt by a depth sufficient to allow
the stud tip 43 to extend beyond the top of the felt by 3 to 4
millimeters in the most preferred case.
[0031] FIGS. 5-9 illustrate another embodiment of the
interchangeable sole element which features a rubber "bob" sole.
The sole element 50 again has recesses 57 and threaded studs 49 for
attaching the sole element to the front recurring member.
[0032] The rubber bob sole, as shown in FIG. 6, features a
plurality of outwardly extending protuberances 55 which extend
beyond an inner plane 57 of the sole element. As shown in FIG. 7,
the protuberances 55 can be arranged in a variety of patterns to
provide the desired degree of traction. In order to provide the
desired recessed effect for a bob sole, it is necessary to build up
a rubber platform on top of the sole inner plane 57 upon which the
tip of metal stud rests, thereby extending the tip of the stud
beyond the outer plane (45 in FIG. 6) of the interchangeable sole
element by 3 to 4 millimeters in the preferred example. The amount
of rubber added to build up the rubber platform is illustrated as
"t". The distances "d," in FIG. 6 is approximately 3 to 4
millimeters.
[0033] FIG. 11 illustrates one form of the article of footwear of
the invention which features a foot receiving member 60 in the form
of a sandal. The sandal 60 has a sole plate 59 with an upstanding
heel member 61 and a toe region 63 for receiving a wearer's foot. A
series of straps are utilized to retain the foot receiving member
about the wearer's foot. In this case, two straps 65, 67 are
utilized. Strap 65 is permanently sewn to an opening 69 in the toe
region of the foot receiving member and passes first through a clip
71 and then out an opening 73 provided in the heel member 61.
Similarly, strap 67 is permanently sewn within an opening 75 in the
toe region 63 and extends first through a clip 77 and then through
an opening 79 provided in the heel member 61. Commercially
available bayonet fastening elements 81, 83 are used to secure to
secure the straps about the ankle and foot of the wearer. FIG. 12
illustrates the foot receiving member 60 in place over the boot of
a wearer with the boot being shown in dotted lines.
[0034] Although the invention has been generally described with
respect to a wear over sandal (shown in FIG. 11), it will be
understood that the improved sole construction could be employed on
a traditional boot such as the boot 85 shown in FIG. 13. The
improved sole element 86 is held in place by means of threaded
studs (not shown) as previously described. The improved sole
construction could also be utilized with a hip wader or chest wader
such as the wader shown as 87 in FIG. 10. The improved soles are
shown as 88 in FIG. 10.
[0035] An invention has been provided with several advantages.
Existing metal studded footwear has been developed to provide
improved traction. However, the improved sole construction of the
invention provides interchangeable soles that work in conjunction
with metal studs to provide even more traction and stability. The
interchangeable soles are designed in such a way that, when
attached to the bottoms of sandals, boots or waders, the metal
studs are allowed to extend beyond the outer plane of the sole by
approximately 2 to 5 millimeters. This degree of clearance allows
the stud to penetrate a surface, followed by the attached sole, so
that additional traction and support are achieved. The
interchangeable soles can be provided in a variety of
configurations including conventional felt and custom designed
rubber bob soles. The soles are quicky and easily interchangeable
by means of threaded metal studs which are received within mating
bores in the bottom surfaces of the foot receiving member. The
interchangeable sole construction can be employed in wear-over
sandals or in traditional types of footwear such as hunting and
hiking boots, fishing waders, and the like.
[0036] While the invention has been shown in only one of its forms,
it is not thus limited but is susceptible to various changes and
modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.
* * * * *