Shoe Having Decorative Lighting

Abstract

An illuminated shoe having a detachable heel containing a concealed battery. A fastener for the heel on the body of the shoe serves to limit the movement of an on and off switch arm. The concealed battery powers the illuminating member on the shoe body.

Description

A number of proposals are present in the prior art for illuminated footwear including battery-powered circuits and various lighting arrangements. The difficulty with all of these prior art devices has been complexity of construction and consequently costs too great to justify manufacturing. Standard footwear designs have not lent themselves readily to incorporation of the prior art illuminating means. On and off switching arrangements are either nonexistent or cumbersome.

It is the objective of the present invention to completely overcome these difficulties and to provide illuminating means for footwear which is entirely practical, economical, sturdy and simplified. Other objectives will be apparent during the course of the description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention with the heel portion thereof in vertical section.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary exploded elevational view of the toe portion of the shoe and lighting means.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a socket opening in the heel of the shoe used for anchoring the heel.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals designate like parts, the numeral 10 designates a shoe in its entirety which may be constructed from conventional materials including leather and plastic and whose particular shape or design may vary within the scope of the invention. The shoe includes the usual upper 11 having a suitable sole 12 and a tubular seam 13 is provided extending entirely around the top edge of the upper 11. A vertical heel seam 14 is also formed at the rear of the shoe in accordance with conventional practice.

A readily removable heel 15 is provided whose detailed construction will be described and these above-described components coact with the illuminating means which form the actual subject matter of the invention.

The heel 15 constitutes a unit having a top thin plate 16 fixed thereto and received slidably within knuckles 17 at the opposite sides of another plate 18, anchored to the bottom of the heel portion of the shoe upper. This construction enables the heel 15 to be easily slid onto or off of the shoe upper as when the battery is to be replaced.

The heel 15 has an internal vertical battery compartment 19 adapted to contain a small dry cell battery 20 having one terminal thereof in electrical contact with a metallic spring element 21 in the bottom of the compartment 19, in turn electrically connected with a wire 22 leading upwardly along one side of the battery, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7. The other terminal 23 of the battery is at its top, near the top of the compartment or chamber 19.

A switching arm or blade 24 has its rear end portion pivoted by an element 25 to a part of the slide plate 16 and this arm has a forward handle extension 26 disposed immediately in front of the heel 15 and closely beneath the instep portion of the shoe so as to be conveniently located and yet substantially concealed and away from contact with obstructions. The extension 26 is downwardly offset from the remainder of the arm 24 as best shown in FIG. 1. The arm 24 has a notch 27 in one side thereof adjacent the battery terminal 23 so that the switch arm will be fully out of contact with this terminal when the the arm is in an "off" position, as shown in FIG. 7. When shifted to the "on" position, the arm 24 will move over the contact 23 and engage the same electrically as best shown in FIG. 2.

The "on" and "off" positions of the switch arm 24 are positively established by the coaction of an arcuate slot 28 formed in the arm and a quick release pin fastener 29 which serves also to releaseably anchor the heel 15 to the shoe upper so that it will not be accidentally dislodged from the flanges 17 if the heel strikes some obstruction during walking. As shown, the fastener 29 has a head 30 above the plate 18 and has a cross pin 31 for releasable engagement in a locking cavity 32, FIG. 6, at the bottom of a passage 33 in the heel 15 which receives the shank of the fastener 29. The passage 33 also has side grooves 34 which allow the cross pin 31 to enter the locking cavity 32 when the fastener 29 is applied to positively connect the heel to the shoe. Were it not for the fastener 29, the heel could slide out of the flanges 17 upon striking some obstruction during walking. As explained, the fastener 29 also forms a convenient "off"-"on" limit stop for the pivoted switch arm 24 by virtue of the slot 28. It should be understood that other forms of fasteners may be employed if desired, although the present fastener is a convenient quick release device and entirely practical. The head 30 of the fastener is covered and concealed by a protective layer 35 in the insole, FIG. 1.

The arm 24, when in contact with the terminal 23, completes an electrical circuit through the plate 18 having a wire 36 electrically connected therewith. These two wires pass upwardly through the heel seam 14 of the shoe and one wire extends forwardly through the tubular seam 13 along each side of the shoe at its top, one of the wires being shown in FIG. 3.

At the front of the tubular seam 13 and the front of the foot receiving opening, FIG. 4, the wires 22 and 36 emerge and carry a socket connector 37 adapted to receive a light bulb 38 whose terminals cause the light bulb filament to be in series with the wires 22 and 36 leading from and to the battery 20 in a simple series circuit containing a manual "off"-"on" switch afforded by the arm 24. The socket element 37 has a tongue 39 projecting beneath a small strap 40 conveniently formed by slitting the shoe upper. Other arrangements may be employed for anchoring the socket connector 37 to the shoe, such as a separable snap fastener or the like. The socket 37 and light bulb may be of the screw-threaded type, bayonet slot type, or other known arrangements. A preferably translucent decorative piece 41 of any preferred design frictionally fits over the light bulb 38 to complete the decorative assembly.

It should be apparent that a number of modifications, not shown, are possible within the scope of the invention. Plural decorative lights may be provided along the seam 13 connected similarly to a string of Christmas tree lights. The size and shape of the battery may be altered in accordance with various heel styles. The entire heel with battery could be provided as a throwaway unit. However, in all cases, the invention will be characterized by the simplified and convenient "on"-"off" switch construction and the circuit wires extending in a concealed manner through the existing seam. The advantages of the invention and its economies should now be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. An illuminated shoe comprising a shoe body portion, a heel unit separable from the body portion and having a battery receiving cavity, cooperating slide plates on the heel unit and body portion enabling the heel unit to be quickly detached from the body portion and applied thereto, a fastener element lockably engaging the slide plates so that they will not shift while in engagement, and a pivoted switch arm on the heel unit having a slot receiving the fastener element and forming a limit stop therewith for said arm, said arm in one limiting position contacting one terminal of a battery adapted to be held in said cavity and in the other limiting position being out of electrical engagement with the battery terminal, and illuminating circuit means on the shoe connected in series with the battery and pivoted switch arm.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the illuminating circuit means comprises a pair of wires connected with the terminals of the battery, and a tubular seam extending around the foot receiving opening of the shoe receiving said wires and said wires emerging from said seam at a selected point and a light bulb socket element connected with said wires at their point of emergence.

3. The structure of claim 2, and separable means for anchoring the socket element to the body portion of the shoe.

4. The structure of claim 3, and a decorative element engageable over the socket element and the light bulb adapted to be contained therein.

5. The structure of claim 1, wherein said cooperating slide plates comprise a flat slide plate on the top of the heel unit and a fixed plate on the bottom of the body portion having knuckles at opposite sides thereof to receive edge portions of the flat slide plate, said plates being apertured to receive said fastener element and said fastener element being generally at right angles to said plates.

6. The structure of claim 5, wherein the heel unit is provided in its top with an opening for the fastener element and includes a locking portion and said fastener element is a quick release fastener including a cross pin engageable within the locking portion to prevent accidental separation of the heel unit and shoe body portion.

7. An illuminated shoe comprising a shoe body portion, an illuminating unit on said body portion including wiring, a heel unit detachably secured to the body portion and having a concealed cavity for a storage battery, said wiring adapted for connection with the terminals of a storage battery within said cavity, an on and off switch arm pivoted to the heel unit and having a handle extension projecting forwardly of the heel unit and lying in a generally horizontal plane close to and below the instep portion of the shoe, said arm adapted in one position thereof to engage a terminal of the battery and complete in illuminating circuit and in another position to open said circuit, and a quick release fastener for the heel unit on said body portion engaging said switch arm and forming a limit stop therefor in at least one direction of movement of the arm.