Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FOOTWEAR HAVING A SOLE WITH ~U~P~NT NATERIAL
pl2T~ i~OC~VlsS AND FLEXIBILITY ENHANCING P~r~ES
8p~;l~lcATIoN
BACRGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to footwear, and more
particularly to attachments in the form of a sandal which is
adapted to be worn over other footwear to render it resistant
to slippage on ice or snow.
Various ice gripping, sandal-like, attachments for
footwear are commercially available and have been disclosed in
the patent literature. Examples of such patented devices are
found in the following United States Letters Patent Nos.:
1,032,600 (Grout); 2,361,972 (Smith); 3,214,850 (McNair);
3,516,181 (Jordan); 4,344,238 (Peyser); 4,353,172 (Bryant);
4,525,939 (McNeil et al.); and 4,910,883 (Zock, Jr.). While the
devices disclose in those patents appear generally suitable for
their intended purposes, they never the less appear to leave
something to be desired from various standpoints, such as
simplicity of construction, ease of mounting, removing, and
adjusting.
Various sandals with means for enabling the adjustment
of their mounting straps have been disclosed in the patent
literature, such as the following United States Letters Patent
Nos.: Des. 131,318 (Levin); 2,801,478 (Gilbert); 4,817,302
(Saltsman); 4,869,000 (York); and 4,920,664 (McGregor et al.).
However, none of these sandals discloses a strapping arrangement
which could be used with an ice gripping sole to obviate the
disadvantages of the prior art ice gripping sandals.
The 32 North Corporation of Kennebunk Maine sells an
ice gripping sandal for use on primary footwear under the
trademark STABILICERS. That sandal includes a sole which is
arranged to be secured to the bottom surface of the sole of a
primary boot or shoe by means of two strapping assemblies,
namely, a front or toe strapping assembly and a rear or heel
strapping assembly. The front assembly comprises a
longitudinally extending strap and a transversely extending
strap which are releasably secured together by VELCRO fasteners
to form a toe box for receiving the toe of the primary footwear
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therein to hold it in place. The rear assembly comprises a
strap arranged to be extended over the instep of the primary
footwear from one side of the sole to the other to hold the heel
of the sandal's sole onto the heel of the primary footwear. In
order to prevent the toe portion of the sandal from presenting
a tripping or snagging hazard the toe portion of the sandal's
sole is bent upward. While this arrangement may somewhat lessen
the potential for snagging, it still leaves much to be desired
from this standpoint. This is particularly true since the toe
strapping assembly is not particularly effective for holding the
toe portion of the c~n~ s sole tightly against the toe portion
of the primary footwear's sole.
The sole of the sandal has plural, spaced apart,
chevron-shaped cleats or treads with screws at each end of each
cleat for gripping ice. While the cleats may serve their
desired purpose for gripping ice, the sole of the sandal between
the cleats appears to be susceptible to clogging by adherent
material, e.g., mud.
Thus, a need presently exists for a sandal which
overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.
OBJECT8 OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention
to provide a sandal which overcomes the disadvantages of the
prior art.
It is another object of this invention to provide an
sandal for use on primary footwear to provide slip resistance
therefor and which sandal includes a sole arranged to readily
release soft adherent material therefrom
It is another object of this invention to provide a
sandal includes a mounting strap assembly constructed so that
the sandal can be easily mounted onto the sole of any type of
primary footwear.
8UMMARY OF THE l~v~.,lON
These and other objects of this invention are achieved
by providing a sandal arranged for attachment to the sole of a
primary footwear to provide a desired gripping function. The
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sandal comprises a sole and attachment strap means secured to
the sole for attaching the e~n~l to the primary footwear.
The sole of the sandal has a longitudinal axis, a toe
portion, a forefoot portion, an arch portion, a heel portion,
a medial side, a lateral side, a top side, and a bottom side.
In accordance with one preferred aspect of this
invention the bottom side of the sole comprises a first group
of cleats located in both the toe portion and the forefoot
portion, and a second group of cleats located in the heel
portion. The cleats of the first group extend generally at an
acute angle to the longitudinal axis and define therebetween
plural grooves. Each of the grooves flares in size from the
medial side of the sole of said sandal to the lateral side
thereof to facilitate to ejection of soft adherent material
therefrom. The arch portion of the sole has a plurality of
recesses therein, each of which extends from adjacent the medial
side of the sole to adjacent the lateral side of the sole.
These recesses are confined to a region of said arch portion
immediately adjacent the forefoot portion of the sole to enable
the sole of the sandal to flex readily at that region.
DE~CRIPTION OF THE DRAWING~
Other objects and many attendant features of this
invention will become readily appreciated as the same becomes
better understood by reference to the following detailed
description when considered in connection with the accompanying
drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a conventional boot
having an ice-gripping sandal constructed in accordance with
this invention secured thereto by the sandal's strap assembly
to provide slip resistance for icy surfaces;
Fig. 2 is a lateral side elevational view of the
sandal of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the bottom side of the
sole of the sandal shown in Figs. 1 and 2;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4 - 4 of
Fig. 3;
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Fig. 5 is a medial side elevational view of the sandal
of Fig. 1;
Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6 - 6 of
Fig. 4;
Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7 - 7 of
Fig. 3;
Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the bottom side of the
sole of an alternative embodiment of the sandal shown in Figs.
1 and 2; and
Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9 - 9 of
Fig. 8.
DFT~TT-~n DBSCRIPTION OF THB rK~KRED ENBODIMENT8
Referring now to various figures of the drawing where
like reference numerals refer to like parts there is shown at
20 in Fig. 1, a sandal constructed in accordance with this
invention for securement to any type of conventional footwear
22, e.g., a boot, having a sole 22A and an upper 22B, to render
the boot resistant to slippage on slippery surfaces. In
accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention the
sandal is particularly suited for providing slip resistance on
ice and its sole is particularly constructed for achieving that
end while providing means for automatically effecting the
release of soft materials, e.g., snow, slush, mud, etc., which
would otherwise adhere to the sole.
The sandal 20 basically comprises a strap assembly 24
and a sole 26 having a primary footwear-heel retaining member
28 (Fig. 2) mounted thereon. The sole 26 includes plural groups
of plural cleats on the undersurface thereof. In particular,
a first group of angularly extending cleats 30 are located in
the forefoot region of the sole. The cleats 30 will be
described in detail later. Suffice it for now to state that
they extend at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the
sole and define plural adherent material releasing grooves 32
therebetween. A second group of generally triangularly shaped
cleats 34 are located at the toe region of the sole and define
plural grooves 36 therebetween. The cleats 34 are arranged so
that their rear edges extend along the forward edge of the
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forward-most cleat 30 to define an adherent material release
groove 32 between that cleat and the triangularly shaped cleats
34. Another, albeit larger, generally triangularly shaped cleat
34 is located in the forefoot-arch region of the sole. The
larger triangular cleat 34 is arranged so its front edge extends
along the rearward edge of the rearward-most cleat 30 to define
an adherent material release groove 32 between that cleat and
the larger triangularly shaped cleat 34. A pair of cleats 38
forming a third group are located in the heel region of the sole
and define a groove 40 therebetween. A fourth group of
generally triangularly shaped cleats 42 are located at the
rearmost portion of the heel region of the sole and define
plural grooves 44 therebetween. The cleats 42 are arranged so
that their front edges extend along the rearward edge of the
rearward-most cleat 38 to define an adherent material release
groove 46 between that cleat and the triangularly shaped cleats
42.
As can be seen clearly in Figs. 2 and 5, and as will
be described later, each of the cleats 30, 34, 38, and 42
includes at least one top surface. The top surface is
designated by the suffix letter "A" for each of the cleats and
is disposed in the same plane as the top surfaces of all of the
other cleats of the sole to serve as the ground engaging surface
when the sandal is mounted on the primary footwear. Plural ice
gripping projections in the form of slotted head, metal, screws
are mounted on the cleats so that the head 48 of each screw
projects beyond the plane of the ground engaging surface portion
of each of the cleats, with the threaded shank 50 of each screw
extending into a respective hole in the cleat as shown in Fig.
4.
The strap assembly 24 will be described in detail
later. Suffice it for now to state it comprises a toe strapping
subassembly 50 and a heel strapping subassembly 52. Each
subassembly comprises plural elongated strap members which are
secured to the sole 24 and which cooperate with one another to
enable the sandal 20 to be mounted on the boot 22 so that the
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sole 26 of the sandal is disposed under the sole 22A of the boot
22 as shown in Fig. 1.
The sole 26 of the sandal can be of any conventional
or non-conventional type of construction of any suitable
somewhat flexible and/or resilient material, such as leather,
rubber, plastic, etc., so long as it extends for the entire
length and width of the sole 22A of the primary footwear, e.g.,
the boot 22, on which the SA~Al is to be mounted. Thus, as can
be seen clearly in Fig. 3 the sole 24 of the sandal 20 includes
a front end 26A, a rear end 26B, and a pair of sides, namely,
a medial side 26C and a lateral side 24D. The pair of sides 26C
and 26D are located on opposite sides of the sole's longitudinal
axis .
Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 5 the details of the
toe strapping subassembly 50 and the heel strapping subassembly
52 making up the strap assembly 24 will now be described. To
that end the toe strapping subassembly comprises three elongated
flexible straps 54, 56, and 58 which are connected to the
sAn~l's sole in the toe and forefoot regions. The heel
strapping subassembly comprises two elongated flexible straps
60 and 62 connected to the sandal's sole in the heel region.
The strap 54 of the toe strapping subassembly has one
end 54A fixedly secured to the upper surface of the toe portion
of the sole 24 and another end 54B having a ring 64 secured
thereto. The ring 64 is secured by the end 54 of the strap 54
being extended through the opening in the ring and folded over
itself and sewn together by plural stitches. The strap 56 of
the toe strapping subassembly has one end 56A (Fig. 5) fixedly
secured to the upper surface of the forefoot portion of the sole
adjacent the medial side 26C and extends at an acute angle,
e.g., approximately 45 degrees, to the longitudinal axis of the
sole 26. The strap 56 has a free end 56B including a strip 66
of the hook component of a VELCRO0 fastener mounted on the outer
surface thereof. A cooperating strip 68 of the loop component
of the VELCRO0 fastener is mounted on the outer surface of the
strap 56 toward the intermediate portion thereof. The free end
56B of the strap 56 is arranged to be extended through the
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opening in the ring 54 and folded back over itself so that the
VELCRO~ strips 66 and 68 releasably engage each other, thereby
releasably securing the strap 56 to the strap 54. The strap 58
of the toe strapping subassembly has one end 58A ( Fig. 2)
fixedly secured to the upper surface of the forefoot portion of
the sole adjacent the lateral side 26D and extends at an acute
angle, e.g., approximately 45 degrees, to the longitudinal axis
of the sole 26. The strap 58 has a free end 58B including a
strip 66 of the hook component of a VELCRO0 fastener mounted on
the outer surface thereof. A cooperating strip 68 of the loop
component of the VELCRO0 fastener is mounted on the outer
surface of the strap 58 toward the intermediate portion thereof.
The free end 58B of the strap 58 is arranged to be extended
through the opening in the ring 54 and folded back over itself
so that the VELCRO0 strips 66 and 68 releasably engage each
other, thereby releasably securing the strap 58 to the strap 54.
This action completes the formation of a toe box for receipt of
the toe portion of the primary footwear, e.g., boot 22.
As should be appreciated by those skilled in the art
each of the straps 56 and 58 can be independently releasably
secured to the ring 54, with the length of the strap being
adjustable by merely folding over more or less of the free end
thereof through the ring as is desired. This feature enable the
size and shape of the toe box to be adjusted to conform to the
shape of the toe of the primary footwear. Moreover, the use of
VELCRO0 on the straps enables the size adjustment and securement
to be accomplished quickly and easily.
The heel strapping subassembly 52 comprises the
heretofore identified straps 60 and 62. Each of these straps
is also formed of a flexible material like that forming the
straps of the subassembly 50. AS can be seen in Figs. 1 and 5
the strap 60 has one end 60A fixedly secured to the top surface
of the sandal's sole 26 in the heel region adjacent the medial
side 26C and a free end 60B. AS can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2
the strap 62 has one end 62A fixedly secured to the top surface
of the sandal's sole 26 in the heel region adjacent the lateral
side 26D and a free end 62B on which a buckle 70 is fixedly
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secured. The strap 60 is arranged to be extended over the
instep of the boot 20, as shown in Fig. 1, so that its free end
60B is releasably secured to the buckle 70 of the strap 62,
after the toe strapping subassembly has been secured as
described above, thereby completing the securement of the sandal
on the boot.
The heel retaining member 28 is preferably formed
integrally with the sole 26 and projects upward therefrom at the
end 26B of the sole. The member 28 includes a forward surface
72 which is concave in shape to accommodate the convex rear
surface of the heel of the primary footwear or boot 22. A
plurality of ramp- shaped projections 74 project forward from
the concave surface 72 and are disposed at different heights on
the member 28. Each of the projections 74 includes a planar
bottom surface 76 which is arranged to engage the protruding top
surface edge of the boot's heel. The projections are provided
at different heights on the member 28 in order to accommodate
various boot heel thicknesses. Each of the projections includes
a downwardly extending top surface 78 to enable the boot's heel
to slide thereover when the sandal is mounted on the boot (being
resilient the projections flex somewhat during this procedure),
whereupon the planar bottom surface 76 of one of the projections
74 engages the protruding top surface edge of the boot to hold
it in place.
The top of the member 28 is in the form of a planar
surface 80, which acts as a convenient step upon which the other
foot or ones hand can be placed to pivot the member 28 slightly
to the rear, thereby releasing the engagement between the
projection(s) 74 and the primary footwear's heel when the sandal
is to be removed from the boot. The straps of the strapping
subassemblies 50 and 52 can be undone either prior to or after
the engagement between the projection 74 and the primary
footwear's heel has been accomplished. In any case once the
straps are disconnected and the member 28 pivoted backward
slightly to release the engagement, continued pressure on the
top surface 80 of the member 28 will tend to hold the sandal in
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place on the ground, whereupon the primary footwear can be
readily removed by merely lifting it from the sandal.
Reference should now be made to Figs. 2 - 7 wherein
the details of the soft adherent material releasing grooves and
of some of the cleats will now be discussed. As can be seen
therein each of the grooves 32 flare in size from the medial
side 26C of the sole of the sandal to the lateral side 26D
thereof. In particular, each of the grooves 32 flares linearly
in width and depth from the medial side to the lateral side, so
that the width and depth of the groove at the medial side of the
sole is less than the width and depth of the groove at the
lateral side of the sole. In a preferred embodiment of this
invention the width of each of the grooves 32 at the medial side
is 1/8 inch (3.18 mm) and at the lateral side is 1/4 inch (6.36
mm), while the depth of each of the grooves 32 at the medial
side is 1/4 inch (6.36 mm) and at the lateral side is 1/2 inch
(12.7 mm).
As should be appreciated by those skilled in the art
since the grooves 32 extend at an acute angle to the
longitll~inAl axis of the sole as the wearer walks with the
sandal's mounted on his/her boots, the normal pronation or
rolling action across the forefoot region of the sandal causes
any soft material, e.g., snow, slush, mud, etc., which would
tend to adhere therein is, instead, forced or ejected out. In
this regard that soft material is enabled to flow from the
narrower portion of the grooves at the lateral side of the sole
into the wider portion of those grooves and out the open end of
the grooves at the medial side, whereupon that material is
ejected from the grooves as the foot rolls inward during each
step.
As can be seen in Figs. 2, 3, and 5 the groove 40,
while being of uniform width from the medial side of the sole
to the lateral side thereof, never the less is flared in depth
from the medial side to the lateral side. This arrangement
facilitates the ejection of soft material therefrom during
walking as the foot rolls inward during each step. If desired,
the two grooves 36 between the triangular cleats 34 in the toe
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region may be configured to flare from their inner ends to their
outer ends, i.e., the ends at the edge of the sole, to
facilitate the ejection of soft material therefrom. So too, the
two grooves 44 between the triangular cleats 342 in the heel
region and the groove 46 between those cleats and the cleat 38
in that region may be configured to flare from their inner ends
to their outer ends to facilitate the ejection of soft material
therefrom.
The angularly extending cleats 30 are constructed so
that their outer edges make good contact or engagement with the
ground during walking, notwithstanding the presence of the screw
heads 48 projecting therefrom. To that end each of the cleats
30 includes a pair of generally triangular shaped ends or nubs
whose top surface 3OA makes up the ground engaging surface for
the cleat 30. A respective screw is mounted within each of the
nubs 30A so that its head protrudes therefrom as described
earlier. The portion of each cleats 30 between its nubs 30A is
in the form of a narrow intermediate strip 30B whose top surface
is below the top surface 30A of the nubs as shown in Fig. 4.
This arrangement ensures that the nubs of the cleats engage the
ground before the intermediate strip portions of the cleat.
As can be seen in Figs. 4 and 6 the forward edge of
each cleat 30 tapers downward from its top surfaces 30A and 30B
to the bottom of the groove 32 immediately in front of that
cleat. This tapering surface is arcuate at the point where it
merges with the bottom of the groove 32. The tapering surface
30 of each of the cleats is provided to further enhance good
ground engagement by the nub portions of the cleats, while
channelling any soft material which may tend to adhere onto the
cleat into the associated groove 32 for ejection therefrom
during walking, as described heretofore.
The forward edge of the large triangular cleat 34 includes a
tapering surface 34C similar to recess 30C and that surface
merges with the groove 32 for channelling soft material from the
cleat 34 into that groove for ejection therefrom during walking.
The forward-most transverse cleat 38 is similar in
construction to the cleats 30 and thus includes a pair of
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generally triangular shaped ends or nubs whose top surface 38A
makes up the ground engaging surface for the cleat 38. A
respective screw is mounted within each of the nubs 38A so that
its head protrudes therefrom as described earlier. The portion
the cleat 38 between its nubs 38A is in the form of a narrow
intermediate strip 38B whose top surface is below the top
surface 38A of the nubs. This arrangement ensures that the nubs
of the cleat 38 engage the ground before the intermediate strip
portions of thereof. Moreover, the rearward edge of the cleat
38 tapers downward from its top surfaces 38A and 38 to the
bottom of the groove 40 immediately behind that cleat. This
tapering surface is arcuate at the point where it merges with
the bottom of the groove 40 and is provided to further enhance
good ground engagement by the nub portions of the cleats, while
channelling any soft material which may tend to adhere onto the
cleat into the associated groove 40 for ejection therefrom
during walking.
As can be seen in Fig. 5 the rearmost edge of the
large triangular cleat 34 is designated by the reference numeral
34D and extends perpendicularly from the base of the sole 26 to
serve as a stop surface. In a similar manner the forward-most
edge of the forward-most transverse cleat 38 is designated by
the reference numeral 38D and extends perpendicularly from the
base of the sole 26 to also serve as a stop surface. The two
stop surfaces 34D and 38D are provided to enable a rung of a
ladder (not shown) to be accommodated therebetween when the
sandals of this invention are used by a worker climbing a
ladder, whereupon the particular stop surface being engaged by
the ladder rung grabs onto it to thereby prevent the sandal from
slipping off of the rung.
In Figs. 8 and 9 there is shown an alternative
embodiment of a sandal 20' constructed in accordance with this
invention. The sandal 20' is in all respects identical to the
sandal 20 described heretofore, except for the inclusion of a
plurality of flexibility enhancing grooves (to be described
hereinafter) and plural slots (also to be described
hereinafter). Thus, in the interest of brevity the details of
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the construction and operation of the common components of the
sandals 20 and 20' will not be reiterated herein. Moreover, the
same reference numbers will be given for the common components
of the sAn~ls.
As can be seen in Figs. 8 and 9 the sandal 20'
includes a plurality of recesses 90A, 90B, 90C, 90D, 90E, and
90F located in the arch region of the sole immediately
contiguous with the forefoot portion, i.e., immediately
rearwardly of the rearmost cleat 34. Each of the recesses is
a elongated linear recess of generally V-shaped cross-section,
except that the bottom 92 of each recess is generally planar,
as shown clearly in Fig. 9. Each recess includes one end 94
located closely adjacent the medial side 26C of the sole 26, and
an opposite end 96 located closely adjacent the lateral side 26D
of the sole 26 so that each recess extends substantially the
full with of the sole in the region in which it is located. In
accordance with one commercial embodiment, e.g., an "Extra-Large
Size" sole, of the subject invention, the spacing between the
ends 94 of the recesses at the medial side 26C of the sole of
at least the five front-most recesses is less than the spacing
between the ends 96 of those recesses at the lateral side 26D
of the sole. The width of each of the recesses in that
commercial embodiment is approximately 0.04 inch (1.02 mm), the
depth of each of the recesses is approximately 0.085 inch (2.16
mm). The spacing between the recesses 90A and 90B on the medial
side of the sole is approximately 0.312 inch (7.92 mm), and is
approximately 0.4 inch (10.2 mm) on the lateral side of the
sole. The spacing between the recesses 90B and 90C on the
medial side of the sole is approximately 0.312 inch (7.92 mm),
and is approximately 0.38 inch (9.65 mm) on the lateral side of
the sole. The spacing between the recesses 90C and 90D on the
medial side of the sole is approximately 0.312 inch (7.92 mm),
and is approximately 0.365 inch (9.27 mm) on the lateral side
of the sole. The spacing between the recesses 90D and 90E on
the medial side of the sole is approximately 0.312 inch (7.92
mm), and is approximately 0.345 inch (8.76 mm) on the lateral
side of the sole. The spacing between the recesses 90E and 90F
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on the medial side of the sole is approximately 0.312 inch (7.92
mm), and is approximately 0.312 inch (7.92 mm) on the lateral
side of the sole. Thus, the recesses can be thought of being
in a slightly fan-shaped array.
It should be pointed out that the aforementioned
dimensions are merely exemplary so that the size and spacing of
the recesses may differ depending upon several factors, e.g.,
sole size.
As should be appreciated by those skilled in the art
the recesses 90A - 90F provide an area of reduced thickness of
the sole 20, so that the sole can readily flex thereat. This
ensures that the wearer of the sandal can walk comfortably
therein. In addition the recesses reduce the likelihood of the
sole splitting immediately to the rear of the rearmost cleat 34.
The inclusion of the recesses also facilitates the manufacture,
e.g., injection molding, of the sole by providing pathways for
the material to readily flow through the mold portions forming
the recesses when injected through a mold gate at the toe
portion of the sole.
The toe strapping subassembly 50 and the heel
strapping subassembly 52 are secured to the sole 20 of the
sandal 20' in a different manner than in sandal 20'. To that
end, the sole 26 of the sandal 20' includes plural slots for
securing respective ends of the straps making up the strap
assembly 24. In particular, the sole 26 includes a slightly
arcuate slot 98 extending through the thickness of the sole at
the tip of the toe portion, and a first pair of generally linear
slots 100 and 102 extending through the thickness of the sole
at the medial and lateral sides of the sole adjacent the cleats
34 and 30A, respectively, and a second pair of generally linear
slots 104 and 106 extending through the thickness of the sole
at the medial and lateral sides of the sole adjacent the groove
between the cleats 38.
The three elongated flexible straps 54, 56, and 58 of
the toe strapping assembly are connected to slots 98, 100, and
102, respectively. This is accomplished by extending the end
of these straps through these slots and securing them in place
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14
by any suitable means, e.g., the end of each of the straps which
is extended through its associated slot may be folded over the
edge of the sole and back to itself to form a loop, which is
sewn in place. In a similar manner the ends of the two
elongated flexible straps 60 and 62 of the heel strapping
assembly are connected to the slots 104 and 106 in sandal's
sole in the heel region.
It should be pointed out at this juncture that while
the sandal of this invention has particular utility when worn
over primary footwear, such as the boot shown, the sandal need
not be used in that manner. Thus, the sandal of this invention
can be used as primary footwear itself, i.e., the sandal may be
worn directly on the foot. Moreover, the sandal 20 need not be
constructed to include ice-gripping projections, be they screws
or other types of projections.
In fact, the forefoot region of a sole of any primary
footwear, e.g., a boot, or any footwear to be worn over other
footwear, e.g., an overshoe, can be constructed in accordance
with this invention so that it includes the heretofore described
soft material releasing grooves and associated cleats.
It should also be pointed out at this juncture that
while the preferred embodiment shown in Figs. 8 and 9 includes
six flex-grooves 90A - 90F, the subject invention is not so
limited. Thus, any desired number of grooves can be provided
in a region of the arch area contiguous with the forefoot area,
and the shape of the grooves need not be a flat bottom V-shape.
What is important is that the recesses extend substantially the
full width of the sole in the region in which they are located.
Without further elaboration the foregoing will so
fully illustrate our invention that others may, by applying
current or future knowledge, adapt the same for use under
various conditions of service.
