P/00/009A Section 29 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 INNOVATION PATENT SPECIFICATION Invention Title: IMPROVED FOOTWEAR Applicant: 0 & S Holdings (Vic) Pty Ltd The invention is described in the following statement: 1 IMPROVED FOOTWEAR The present invention generally relates to footwear. The invention has particular application in relation to boots such as gumboots, and will herein generally be 5 described in that context. It is to be appreciated, however, that the invention may relate to other types of footwear. The foot contains more bones than any other single part of the body. Though it has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in relation to vastly varied terrain and 10 climate conditions, the foot is still vulnerable to environmental and industrial hazards. A vast range of footwear has been developed to protect the foot from a broad range of hazards. One commonly available type of footwear is the gumboot. The term 'gumboot" as used in this specification is to be understood to be 15 interchangeable with any one of the following terms: Wellington boot, rubber-boot, wellies, topboot, barnboot, muckboot or rainboot. Gumboots are waterproof boots that are generally just below knee-high, but can be longer or shorter if required. Gumboots are very common and necessary for a range 20 of vastly diverse industrial and other applications. These include gumboots for heavy industry with an integrated reinforced toe, protection from mud and grime in mines, chemical spills in chemical plants, to high standard hygiene requirements for food processing plants, operating theatres and state-of-the-art dust-free clean rooms for electronics manufacture. 25 Gumboots were traditionally manufactured from rubber. Indeed, some gumboots are still manufactured from rubber. The use of rubber is less than ideal because it necessitates the boots being hand made, which makes them relatively expensive to produce. Further, being manufactured from rubber means that the resultant boot is 30 relatively inflexible and therefore can be uncomfortable to wear. Thus, the advent of alternative materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a halogenated polymer, has gained favour in the manufacture of gumboots. cl-C> 2 PVC is, in many respects, preferred to rubber because PVC gumboots don't need to be made by hand, thus bringing about manufacturing cost savings. PVC gumboots are also generally far more flexible and therefore more comfortable when compared to their rubber counterparts. 5 Gumboots with reinforced toes are desirable, and increasingly necessary in many applications such as the mining and manufacturing industries involving the threat of toe crush injuries. Unfortunately, however, many existing gumboots do little to protect other important parts of the wearer's feet and lower legs. For example, most existing 10 gumboot designs do little to protect the metatarsal region of the foot from crush or impact injuries. Several existing gumboots designs do offer some form of protection to the metatarsal portion of the wearer's feet. Generally, however, these designs may be considered 15 aesthetically poor, with bulky looking protective portions later applied to the upper portion of the molded boot in order to provide protection for the wearer's foot. Unfortunately, these existing designs can vary in the level of coverage of and protection for the metatarsal portion of the wearer's foot. Undesirably, they also often provide less than satisfactory protection for the lower leg of the wearer, which can 20 also be susceptible to impact injuries. An Australian and New Zealand Design Standard exists in relation to the protection of the metatarsal portion of the foot. The relevant standard is AS/NZS 2210.3:2009, specifically Section 6.2.6. Unfortunately, many existing gumboot designs fail to meet 25 this standard. The discussion of acts, materials, devices, articles and the like above is included in this specification solely for providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters formed part of the prior art 30 base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in Australia before the priority date of each claim of this application. It would be desirable to provide improved footwear. 3 It would be particularly desirable to provide a gumboot having improved protection for a wearer's foot specifically the metatarsal portion of the foot. It would also be desirable to provide a gumboot having improved protection of the 5 lower leg of the wearer. Summary of the Invention According to the present invention, there is provided footwear including an upper portion and a sole portion. The upper portion is connected to the sole portion. The 10 upper portion includes a reinforcement rib provided thereon. The reinforcement rib extends across the upper portion from (or proximate) a lateral region of the footwear to (or proximate) a medial region of the footwear. The reinforcement rib includes a generally upwardly facing surface. The footwear further includes a toecap portion extending across a forward end of the upper portion, with the reinforcement rib 15 located proximate a rear edge of the toecap portion. The rib is integrally formed with the upper portion. In a preferred form, a plurality of reinforcement ribs extends across the upper portion from proximate a lateral region of the footwear to proximate a medial region of the 20 footwear. It is envisaged that the ribs may be spaced apart, with a forward rib located proximate the rear edge of the toecap portion and a rearward rib located towards a rear end of the footwear. Desirably, the provision of a plurality of ribs allows for a substantial portion of the metatarsal portion of the wearer's foot to be covered and thus protected from crush and impact injuries. Moreover, the provision of a plurality of 25 spaced apart reinforcement ribs is desirable because the gaps between the ribs provide a degree of flexibility to the upper portion of the footwear, which, in turn, makes the footwear relatively comfortable to wear. In a preferred form, the footwear is in the form of a boot, such as a gumboot. In such 30 an embodiment, the footwear preferably has a lower leg portion with a forwardly facing shin portion. The footwear preferably also includes at least one further reinforcement rib extending across the shin portion from (or proximate) a lateral region of the shin portion to (or proximate) a medial region of the shin portion. 'rI---c 4 It is envisaged that the footwear could be molded from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), although it is possible that another material or combination of materials will be used in the construction thereof. 5 If the footwear is molded then, most preferably, the reinforcement rib is integrally formed with the upper portion during the molding process. The present invention may also relate to a method of manufacture of footwear of the type generally referred to above. 10 The method of manufacture may include the footwear, preferably a gumboot, being molded in a one-piece construction, with PVC granules poured into a mold cavity and heated. Once the molded boot has been formed and sufficiently cooled, it may then be removed from the mold. It is to be appreciated that the molded boot includes one 15 or more integrally formed reinforcement ribs provided thereon, with the ribs formed during the boot molding process. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The particularity of the drawings is to 20 be understood as not limiting the preceding broad description of the invention. Figure 1 is a side view of footwear according to one form of the present invention. Figure 2 is a plan view of the footwear illustrated in Fig.1. 25 Referring to Figures, there is illustrated footwear in the form of a gumboot 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The gumboot 10 is of a molded one-piece construction and is manufactured from 30 polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The gumboot 10 has an upper portion 12 and a sole portion 13. The upper portion 12 is integrally formed with the sole portion 13. The sole portion 13 has a treaded underside 15. The sole portion 13 is preferably constructed to provide piercing cfle-t 5 resistance, to reduce the likelihood of the wearer standing on a sharp object that could pierce the sole portion 13 and injure the wearer's foot. The upper portion 12 includes a plurality of integrally formed reinforcement ribs 5 14,16,18 provided thereon. The reinforcement ribs 14,16,18 are also manufactured from PVC, and extend across the upper portion from (or proximate) a lateral region 20 of the boot 10 to (or proximate) a medial region 22 of the boot 10. The ribs 14,16,18 are integrally formed with the gumboot 10 during the molding stage. The ribs 14,16,18 are spaced apart, and each rib 14,16,18 includes a generally upwardly facing surface 10 24. The ribs are specifically designed to strengthen the upper portion 12 of the boot 10, and provide increased protection to the metatarsal region of the wearer's foot. The boot 10 includes a protective toecap portion 26 extending across a forward end 28 of the upper portion 12. The toecap portion 26 includes additional protection for the 15 wearer's toes by virtue of the strengthening ribs 26a,26b provided about the forward end of the toecap portion 26. The forward reinforcement rib 14 is located proximate a rear edge 30 of the toecap portion 26. 20 The gumboot 10 includes a lower leg portion 32. The lower leg portion 32 includes a forwardly facing shin portion 34, with additional reinforcement ribs 36, 38,40,42 provided thereon. The reinforcement ribs 36,38,40,42 are integrally formed with the gumboot 10 during the molding stage. The reinforcement ribs 36,38,40,42 extend 25 across the shin portion 34 from proximate a lateral region 44 of the shin portion 34 to proximate a medial region 46 of the shin portion 34. Additional, integrally formed and relatively thin ribs 48,50,52,54,56,58 extend transversely across the boot between respective ribs 14,16,18, 36,38,40,42. Ribs 30 48,50,52,54,56,58 provide additional protection of the metatarsal area of the wearer's foot and the wearer's shin in addition to that provided by ribs 14,16,18,36,38,40,42. The ribs 14,16,18,36,38,40,42,48,50,52,54,56,58 are substantially evenly spaced. cft.m--> 6 The spaced arrangement of the ribs 14,16,18,36,38,40,42,48,50,52,54,56,58 provides a relatively flexible and therefore comfortable boot 10, compared with many existing gumboot designs incorporating additional protection for the metatarsal region of the wearer's foot, and/or the shin portion of the wearer's leg. At the same time, the 5 combined coverage of the ribs 14,16,18,36,38,40,42,48,50,52,54,56,58 ensures that any undesired load or impact on the top portion of the boot, or to the shin portion of the boot is spread across the boot, thus reducing the likelihood of injury being sustained by the wearer. 10 It is to be appreciated that each of the ribs 14,16,18,36,38,40,42,48,50,52,54,56,58 in effect provides an increased thickness to the boot 10, thereby providing additional protection for the wearer. The number of ribs 14,16,18,36,38,40,42,48,50,52,54,56,58, and the specific shape 15 of each rib may be varied from that illustrated in the drawings. The heel portion 60 of the boot 10 includes three integrally formed strengthening ribs 62,64,66 for protecting the heel of the wearer's foot. The heel portion 60 also includes a lug or spur 68 to assist in removing the boot 10 from the wearer's foot. 20 An outwardly scalloped lateral ankle portion 70 is provided on the boot to protect the lateral (or outside) portion of the wearer's ankle. It is to be appreciated that the portion 70 isn't of increased thickness when compared to the immediately surrounding portion of the boot. Instead, the portion 70 is scalloped outwardly to provide additional 25 freedom of movement about the wearer's ankle. The scalloped shape of portion 70 also provides increased strength to this portion of the boot 10. A similar arrangement may be provided on medial side of the boot 10 to protect the medial (or inner) side of the wearer's ankle. 30 Advantageously, the applicant has determined that their footwear (specifically their gumboot 10) in accordance with the present invention provides a high degree of protection to the metatarsal portion of a wearer's foot. <flck,-CS 7 Desirably, the present invention also covers and protects a substantial portion of the wearer's lower shin portion. The present invention further addresses a problem with some existing gumboot 5 designs, by ensuring that no substantial gap is provided between the toe portion of the boot 10 and the reinforcement rib 14 immediately behind toe portion, which would otherwise compromise the protection offered by the boot 10. The present invention meets the relevant metatarsal safety standards in Australia and 10 New Zealand, that being Design Standard AS/NZS 2210.3:2009, Section 6.2.6 in relation to the protection of the metatarsal portion of the wearer's foot. The boot 10 is relatively flexible and lightweight, and so is comfortable to wear. 15 It is also relatively aesthetic when compared to many existing gumboot designs offering metatarsal protection. Finally, it is to be understood that the various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be introduced into the construction and arrangement of the parts 20 previously described without departing from the spirit or ambit of this invention. cfM-me 8