Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ARTICLE FOR FOOTWEAR THAT PREVENTS WEARER'S FOOT FROM
SLIPPING OUT OF FOOTWEAR
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which
is subject to
copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile
reproduction by
anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the
Patent and Trademark
Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights
whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a detachable footwear article, particularly
pertains to a footwear
article which secures a wearer's foot to footwear that does not have adequate
support over the
top of the foot and provides aesthetic changes to the footwear at the same
time.
BACKGROUND
Footwear comes in an enormous variety of styles, designs and shapes to achieve
its original
protective function and to satisfy fashion conscious consumers to coordinate
variety of outfits
and dress occasions. Due to exquisite shoe designs or individual feet does not
always fit
standard shoe size perfectly, wearers very often encounter footwear slipping
off the back of their
heels when walking. Also, a continuous slippage causes chafing and blister
formation on the
wearer's heels resulting further discomfort and irritation. Therefore, there
is a need for a
footwear article that affords security and comfort to the wearer, while
providing a changeable
aesthetic appearance to meet wearer's desire to match different outfits or
dress occasions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The objective of the present invention is to provide an article for footwear
that prevents a
wearer's foot from slipping out of the footwear due to design of the footwear
or the wearer's foot
being slightly too small. The footwear article of the present invention also
provides aesthetic
changes to the footwear to allow matching of different outfits and dress
occasions.
In one aspect, the present invention is a footwear article that wraps around
top of a wearer's foot
and dorsal portion of footwear. In one aspect, the present article comprises
an elongated member
and an aesthetic member. The elongated member comprises a first end and a
second end, and an
inner surface proximal to the wearer's foot and an outer surface distal to the
wearer's foot. The
aesthetic member comprises a first end and a second end, and an inner surface
configured to
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removably secure to said outer surface of said elongated member via an
attachment means and
an outer surface distal to said elongated member. The first and second ends of
said elongated
member are joined together via a connecting means, encircling the wearer's
foot in the footwear.
The elongated member further comprises a length adjusting means for length
adjustment of the
present footwear article to accommodate a range of circumferences of different
sizes of foot in
footwear.
In another aspect, the first and second ends of the elongated member removably
secure to the
two lateral sides of topline of footwear and wraps around the top of the
wearer's foot.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of the footwear article in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a rear view of the footwear article in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the footwear article in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the footwear article in accordance with
another embodiment of
the present invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the elongated member with a
length adjustable
means of the present invention when not being worn (FIG. 5a) and being worn
with the aesthetic
member attached thereon (FIG. 5b).
FIG. 6 illustrates various exemplary embodiments of the aesthetic member and
attachment
means of the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates a sheath slide on the heel of a shoe of one embodiment of
the present invention.
FIG. 8 illustrates arrangement of the elongated member and the aesthetic
member according to
another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference is made in detail to the presently preferred of the present
invention, which serves to
explain the principles of the invention. The embodiments or examples disclosed
herein are
described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice
the invention, and it is to
be understood that other embodiments may be utilized, and that changes may be
made without
departing from the spirit of the present invention. Non-limiting embodiments
of the present
invention will be exemplarily described below with reference to the accompany
drawings.
The present invention is an article for footwear called ShuSpendaTM, which
provides operative
and aesthetic appearance functionalities to footwear. The present invention is
a detachable
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article for a footwear that prevents a wearer's foot from slipping out of the
footwear due to
design of the footwear or the wearer's foot being slightly too small. The
footwear article of the
present invention also provides aesthetic changes to the footwear to allow
matching of different
outfits and dress occasions.
In one embodiment, the present footwear article comprises an elongated member
110 and an
aesthetic member 120 (FIGs 1-4). The elongated member comprises a first end
111 and a second
end 112, and an inner surface 113 proximal to the wearer's foot and an outer
surface 114 distal to
the wearer's foot (FIG. 5). Referring to FIG. 6a-6b, the aesthetic member
comprises a first end
121 and a second end 122, and an inner surface 123 configured to removably
secure to said outer
surface of said elongated member via an attachment means 130 and an outer
surface 124 distal to
said elongated member. The aesthetic member is configured to secure on top of
the elongated
member. The aesthetic member may cover the elongated member entirely or
partially.
Referring to FIG. 5, the first and second ends 111, 112 of said elongated
member are joined
together via a connecting means 140 forming an enclosed loop-like
configuration in order to
encircle the top of a foot and dorsal portion of footwear. Depending on the
types of footwear, the
dorsal portion of footwear can be any one part of a counter, quarter, shank,
heel or outer sole
portion of footwear. The ends of said elongated member may be joined
permanently by
connecting means, such as stitching and gluing or any other means as would
apply by one skilled
in the art. The ends of said elongated member may be joined by separable
connecting means. In
certain embodiment, the elongated member may be a one piece member or may
comprise two
separate pieces. In another embodiment, the elongated member may be worn alone
without the
elongated member. The elongated member of the present invention further
comprises a length
adjusting means 150 for length adjustment of the present footwear article to
accommodate a
range of circumferences of different sizes of foot in footwear. Examples of a
length adjusting
means for use in the present invention may be a cord adjuster, a buckle, a
slide or any other
suitable means as known in the art.
In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 7, the first and second ends 111, 112
of the elongated
member are linked to a sheath 160. Said sheath is hollow for insertion of the
heel portion of
footwear. The sheath may be decorative and is designed to slide on to heels
and to fit around the
heel portion. The two ends of the elongated member may be secured to said
sheath by permanent
or separable connecting means known in the art. In one embodiment, the sheath
is a semi-
circular, wherein the semi-circular sheath is positioned around the heel. In
yet another
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embodiment, the sheath may be made from a bendable material to permit the
sheath to be shaped
according to the shape and size of the heel. In another embodiment, a ring
secures around the
heel of footwear.
In another embodiment, the elongated member further comprises a bridging body.
The first and
second ends of the elongated member may be linked by the bridging body. The
bridging body is
generally decorative of any shapes or design. The bridging body may be a metal
or non metal
plate with decorative designs or logos engraved or printed thereon.
In yet another embodiment, the first and second ends of the elongated member
of the present
invention are secured to the two opposite lateral sides of the topline of
footwear. The topline is a
common term used in the art referring to the periphery of the opening of the
footwear where the
foot enters.
The present invention may be worn with any types of footwear as desired by a
wearer. The
footwear may be one that does not have adequate support over the top of the
foot or the wearer's
feet is slightly too small for the footwear. The present invention can be used
with different types
of footwear including, but are not limited to, stiletto heels, pump, wedges,
mules or flats. The
present invention, when being worn, wraps around top of the foot only or with
the dorsal portion
of the footwear in accordance with various embodiments of the present
invention.
It should be understood that individual members or components of the present
invention can be
made of any types of materials in various sizes, shapes, colors, designs as
appropriate by those
skilled in the art without departing the overall concept of the subject
invention.
The elongated member and the aesthetic member may be leather, imitation
leather, elasticized
fabric, elasticized cord, silicone, rubber, metal, non-metal or any other
types of materials. The
number of types of materials of the elongated member and aesthetic member is
not confined to
one. A combination of two or more different materials may be used therein to
achieve a desirable
functional and aesthetic changeable footwear article without affecting the
overall concept of the
present invention. The elongated and aesthetic members are generally long and
rectangular;
however, any suitable shapes, such as band, chain, ring, regular or irregular
shapes can be used
by one skilled in the art. As shown in FIGs. 1-3, the elongated member is a
rectangular band
made of fabric or a rectangular silicone band (FIGs. 2-3). The aesthetic
member is detachable
and can be replaced with a desirable design (FIGs. 1 and 3). FIG. 4
illustrates that the elongated
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member composes of a combination of two different materials (silicone band
(covered by
aesthetic member 120) and a metal chain 110).
The elongated member is configured to an enclosed loop-like structure to
encircle the footwear
5 and the foot in one embodiment or is configured to secure to both
opposite lateral sides of topline
of a footwear in another embodiment via the connecting means. Attachment means
of the present
invention functions to detachably anchor the aesthetic member onto the
elongated member.
Attachment means and connecting means may be applied in the present invention
include, but
are not limited to, hooks, buttons, snaps, Velcro , magnets, clips, clasps,
lobster clasps, rings,
buckles, or any other suitable means as is known in the art. The types of
connecting or attaching
means in the present invention does not confined to one. A combination of
different types of
connecting and attaching means may be used depending on the elongated member
and aesthetic
member as would readily appreciated by a skilled artisan. In another
embodiment, the connecting
means and/ or the attachment means is a clip. The clip comprises a front side
and a back side,
which are secured together to form a hinge. The front and back sides may be
manufactured as a
one-piece article or two integral parts. More specifically, the interior of
the front and back sides
comprise non-slip grip surface (e.g. silicone/rubber) or any other suitable
material for gripping
and securing to the lateral sides of the footwear. For example, the interior
of the clip may
comprise complementary teeth for gripping. Furthermore, exterior of the clip
or any other
suitable connecting means may also be decorated.
In exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the elongated member is an
elasticized cord
with a cord adjuster acting as a length adjusting means (FIG. 5a). FIG. 5b
shows the present
footwear article having an elasticized cord as the elongated member, a cord
adjuster as
connecting means and a removable aesthetic member attached to the elongated
member. The
removable aesthetic partially covers the elongated member.
FIG. 6 demonstrates various materials being used as the aesthetic member
having different
attachment means. The aesthetic member can include two clasps at the first and
second ends
thereof (FIG. 6a); two Velcro at the first and second ends thereof (FIG. 6b);
two pairs of
buttons at the first and second ends thereof (FIG. 6c) and a Velcro strap
along the aesthetic
member entirely (FIG. 6d).
FIG. 7 illustrates the two ends of the elongated member are linked via a
sheath. The sheath
slides on to the heel on a shoe and also plays a decorative role. A permanent
ring connection
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arrangement is illustrated herein, however, any other types of connecting
means may be used as
known by one skilled in the art.
FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of the present footwear article. The
elongated member
110 comprises a loop at each of the first and second ends thereof In this
illustrative embodiment,
the aesthetic member 120 is configured to threads through the loops of the
elongated member
and forms an enclosed footwear article to encircle the wearer's foot and the
footwear via a
second attachment means 170, such as Velcro . In this exemplary embodiment,
the aesthetic
member is permitted to anchor onto the elongated member with or without
attachment means
130 as desired by one skilled in the art.
Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the art can,
based on the description
herein, modify the present invention without departing the spirit of the
present invention and
utilize the present invention to its fullest extend.
