HYGIENIC SANDAL

NU-PIED HYGIENIQUE

English Abstract

A sandal is formed of a main shoe sole with one or more straps for
engaging over the foot of the wearer and has an upstanding edge rim defining a

shallow receptacle in the upper surface of the main shoe sole. An inner sole
portion
of flat foam is shaped to match the receptacle as an insert therein and has
sufficient
stiffness to remain flat in the receptacle without attachment of the inner
sole portion
to the main sole portion. A flexible fabric sock is wrapped around the inner
sole
portion so as to cover the upper surface thereof and to wrap around a
peripheral
edge thereof with an opening in the sock on the underside of the inner sole
portion
allowing the sock to be removed from the inner sole portion for washing and
for
replacement after washing.

French Abstract

Le nu-pied est formé d'une semelle principale ayant une ou plusieurs sangles pour y glisser le pied et un rebord vertical définissant un espace creux sur la surface supérieure de la semelle principale. Une portion de semelle intérieure en mousse plate est formée pour correspondre au creux comme une insertion et présente une rigidité suffisante pour rester plate dans le creux sans être fixée à la portion de semelle intérieure de la portion de la semelle principale. Une chaussette en tissu souple entoure la portion de semelle interne de sorte à couvrir la surface supérieure et entourer un rebord périphérique et comporte une ouverture en dessous de la portion de la semelle intérieure permettant à la chaussette d'être retirée de la portion de semelle intérieure pour être lavée et replacée après le lavage.

Claims

CLAIMS: 7
1. A sandal comprising:
a main shoe sole shaped to receive the foot of a wearer thereon and
having an upper surface and a ground engaging bottom surface;
a shoe upper formed of one or more straps for engaging over the foot
of the wearer, the or each of the straps being attached to the main shoe sole
to hold
the main shoe sole in place on the foot, leaving open areas between the straps
for
exposure of the foot of the wearer;
the main shoe sole having an upstanding edge rim defining a shallow
receptacle in the upper surface of the main shoe sole;
an inner sole portion having an upper surface and a lower surface and
a peripheral edge which shaped to match the receptacle as an insert therein
and to
underlie the foot of the wearer so that the foot contacts primarily the upper
surface of
the inner sole portion;
the inner sole portion being formed of a flat layer which remains flat in
the receptacle without attachment of the inner sole portion to the main sole
portion;
and a flexible fabric sock wrapped around the inner sole portion so as
to cover the upper surface thereof and to wrap around a peripheral edge
thereof with
an opening in the sock on the underside of the inner sole portion allowing the
sock to
be removed from the inner sole portion for washing and for replacement after
washing.

8
2. The sandal according to claim 1 wherein the inner sole is
resilient.

3. The sandal according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the inner sole

portion is formed of a foamed material.
4. The sandal according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the
inner sole portion is of constant thickness.
5. The sandal according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the

opening in the sock is elastic so that it is tightened when released to lie
wholly on the

underside of the inner sole portion.
6. The sandal according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the
edge rim extends continuously around the main shoe sole.
7. The sandal according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the

edge rim has at least parts thereof which are higher than the upper surface of
the

inner sole portion.

Description

CA 02514808 2005-08-08
HYGIENIC SANDAL
This invention relates to a sandal construction which includes a washable
sock for improved hygiene.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Maintaining footwear hygienic and odour free is an ongoing problem for
many persons which has lead to the development of many powders and shoe
inserts
which absorb moisture to maintain the footwear dry and to reduce or prevent
the growth
of bacteria which often produce odour. This is a common requirement in
athletic
footwear and many constructions are being provided.
In regard to sandals, despite the fact that the foot is usually open to the
atmosphere, extended wear of sandals can lead to collection of moisture and
bacteria
on the construction of the sandal which leads to the growth of odour forming
bacteria.
This has remained an ongoing problem despite the fact that the open
construction of the
sandal should avoid such problems due to the ability if the structure to dry
in the open
ai r.
This is particularly prevalent when the wearer is not wearing socks which
can be of course readily removed and washed.
One particular advantage of sandals type footwear is that the foot is open
so that socks are often undesirable.
One constructions of footwear is shown in US Patent 6,430,845 (NODA)
issued August 13, 2002 which relates to an indoor slipper. primarily designed
for
Japanese cultural use which includes an inner slipper section and an outer
slipper

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section where one wraps over the other. This does not however relate to
sandals so it
provides no solution to the on goi9ng hygienic problem with sandals.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the invention to provide an improved sandal which may
alleviate the hygiene problems prevalent with such footwear.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a sandal
comprising:
a main shoe sole shaped to receive the foot of a wearer therean and
having an upper surface and a ground engaging bottom surface;
a shoe upper formed of one or more straps for engaging over the foot of
the wearer, the or each of the straps being attached to the main shoe sole to
hold the
main shoe sole in place on the foot, leaving open areas between the straps for
exposure of the foot of the wearer;
the main shoe sole having an upstanding edge rim defining a shallow
receptacle in the upper surface of the main shoe sole;
an inner sole portion having an upper surface and a lower surface and a
peripheral edge which shaped to match the receptacle as an insert therein and
to
underlie the foot of the wearer so that the foot contacts primarily the upper
surface of
the inner sole portion;
the inner sole portion being formed of a flat layer which has sufficient
stiffness to remain flat in the receptacle without attachment of the inner
sole portion to
the main sole portion;
and a flexible fabric sock wrapped around the inner sole portion so as to

CA 02514808 2005-08-08
cover the upper surface thereof and to wrap around a peripheral edge thereof
with an
opening in the sock on the underside of the inner sole portion allowing the
sock to be
removed from the inner sole portion for washing and for replacement after
washing.
Preferably the inner sole is resilient such as formed of a foamed material.
Preferably the inner sole portion is of constant thickness so that it can be
readily formed by cutting from a sheet of the foamed material.
Preferably the opening in the sock is elastic so that it is tightened when
released to lie wholly on the underside of the inner sole portion.
Preferably the edge rim extends continuously around the main shoe sole,
although it may be restricted to certain areas of the periphery merely to hold
the inner
sole portion in place against sliding side to side for forward to back.
Preferably the edge rim has at least parts thereof which are higher than
the upper surface of the inner sole portion so as to properly hold the inner
sole portion
in place within the receptacle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a sandal according to present invention.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the sandal of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a transverse cross sectional view of the sandal of Figure 1.
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the different figures.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the figures it is shown a sandal construction generally indicated at 10
including a main shoe sole 11 which carries an upper 12 in the following party
of straps
13, 14 and 15 which are attached to the main shoe sole and extend over the
sole for
attachment to the foot of the wearer.
In example shown there are three straps including a heel strap and two
straps to extend over the arch and the toe area of the foot respectively
however it would
be appreciated that this design of sandal can be used in the present invention
which
may include only a single strap over the toe area or may include more than the
single
strap as required by the wearer.
The main shoe sole 11 includes a sole plate 16 with a bottom surface 17
for engaging the ground. The main sole includes the upper section 18 attached
to the
sole plate 16 so that the straps can be located between the sole plate and the
main
body 18 by suitable adhesives or other fastening which hold the strap in
place.
An innersole portion 20 is located on the top surface 21 of the main shoe
sole. The inner sole portion is formed by a flat sheet of a foamed material so
as to
provide a constant thickness across its length and width and to provide some
resilience
under the foot of the wearer. Around the flat resilient sheet forming the
inner sole
portion is wrapped a sock 22 of a washable fabric. Thus the sock 22 provides
an upper
layer 23 on the top surface 24 of the inner sole portion and a bottom layer 25
below the
bottom surface 26 of the inner sole portion. The bottom layer 25 has a hole or
opening
27 located wholly underneath the inner sole portion 20 and dimensioned so that
it is
contained on the underside of the inner sole portion. An elastic band 27A is
provided

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around the hole or opening 27 either by the provision of an additional elastic
element or
simply by the elastic nature of the fabric itself which allows the opening 27
to be
stretched to extract the sock from over the exterior of the inner sole
portion.
The inner sole portion 20 is shaped to define a peripheral edge 30 which
matches substantially the shape of the outer sole 11. The outer sole 11 as
best shown
in Figure 2 is formed with a peripheral rib 32 which surrounds a receptacle 33
which is
recessed form a top edge 34 of the rib 32. The receptacle 33 is a flat bottom
surface
defining an upper surface of the main shoe sole. The rib 32 is shaped so that
it
coincides with the outside surface 35 of the main body 18 and on the inside is
chambered or inclined as indicated at 36 so that the width of the rib increase
slightly
towards the base of the receptacle 33. The peripheral edge 30 of the inner
sole portion
20 is shaped to fit against the incline surface 36 so that it is prevented
form moving side
to side or forward to back within the receptacle. The selection of the foam
forming the
inner sole portion is such that it is relatively stiff so it cannot buckle or
crease under
forward and backward or side to side forces from the foot of the wearer. Thus
the
tendencies for the inner sole portion to remain flat and it cannot slide over
the main sole
due to the raised rib around the full periphery of the sole and it cannot
buckle due to its
own stiffness. However otherwise it remains unattached to the main sole and
this can
be readily removed simply by lifting the inner sole portion out of the
receptacle 33 so
that the washable sock can be readily removed and readily replaced by a clean
sock.
The use of the washable sock over the inner sole portion allows the sock
to be washed regularly to remove any collections of bacteria or moisture. Thus
the inner
sole can be kept free from odour forming bacteria without the necessity of the
wearer

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covering the whole of the foot with a the sock since the sock is instead
carried on the
inner 'sole portion.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above
described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made
within the
spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope,
it is
intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be
interpreted
as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Representative Drawing