GB2538967A

GB2538967A - Reconfigurable footwear item

Info

Publication number: GB2538967A
Application number: GB1509422.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Cronin Denys
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-06-01
Filing date: 2015-06-01
Publication date: 2016-12-07
Also published as: GB201509422D0

Abstract

A reconfigurable footwear item (10) is disclosed, convertible between a high-heeled shoe and a lower-heeled shoe for wearing while travelling to a venue or driving, for example. The item comprises a sole (11) and a heel (14). A deformable elongate member (25) is arranged to engage with the heel to allow adjustment of the relative position of the front (11a) and rear (11b) portions of the sole. The heel portion may be replaced to alter the height of the shoe. The elongate member may attach to the heel by a wedge (42) inside a cavity. The front portion of the sole may comprise discrete pivotable portions which are caused to pivot by a boss (28) attached to the elongate member when the height of the shoe is altered. The heel may be lockably arranged with the sole by a biased locking member (21) and may have a button (23) which when actuated disengages the sole from the elongate member (25). The heel portion may have a series of slots allowing items to be stored therein.

Description

Reconfiqurable Footwear Item

FIELD

The present invention relates to a reconfigurable footwear item and an assembly for such a footwear item.

BACKGROUND

Footwear items typically comprise a sole and a heel which extends to the underside of the sole at the rear thereof, to raise the rear of the sole with respect to the front of the sole. So-called "high heel" shoes however, which are often the favoured footwear items of women, raise the rear portion of the sole with respect to the front of the sole. The size of the heel is typically used to make the wearer appear taller, however, large heels are found to severely limit the wearer's ability to perform a variety of functions, such as drive a car, descend staircases, walk for prolonged periods or walk on uneven terrain, for example.

High-heeled shoes force the wearer to walk predominantly on the balls of their feet. As a result, the wearers' toes often become constricted at the front of the shoe, and the muscles in the lower legs of the wearer remain tense for long periods, which can strain the muscles. Moreover, since the wearer does not securely plant their feet on the ground when walking in high heel shoes, then it is common for the wearer to trip or fall.

In light of the above, it is common for women for example, to wear shoes with a low heel or no heel, such as trainers, while travelling to a venue or driving for example, and to change their footwear for high heel shoes on arrival.

Aspects and embodiments were conceived with the foregoing in mind.

SUMMARY

A footwear assembly in accordance with the first aspect may be used to assemble a footwear item such as a shoe, a trainer or any item that is used to protect feet when a wearer is travelling on foot over a surface.

Viewed from the first aspect, there is provided a footwear assembly comprising: a sole portion comprising a deformable elongate member comprising a first end coupled to a first part of the sole portion and a second end coupled to a second part of the sole portion; a heel portion comprising a sole engaging portion at a first end, the sole engaging portion arranged for complementary engagement with the second end of the deformable member to enable an adjustment in the relative position of the second end of the sole portion relative to the first end of the sole portion.

A footwear assembly in accordance with the first aspect enables the adjustment in the sole of a footwear item comprising that assembly. The adjustment is by an amount that is proportional to the length of the heel portion and enables a footwear item to be assembled which has an adjustable heel that can be easily adjusted. For example, the footwear assembly may form part of a shoe that is to be worn by a wearer over a range of terrains and environments. The terrain in one environment may make a longer heel portion uncomfortable which motivates the need to change the heel portion to one which is shorter. A footwear assembly in accordance with the first aspect means that the heel portion can be easily changed to enable the necessary adjustment to take place.

A footwear assembly in accordance with the aspect provides footwear which provides an adjustment in the sole portion proportional to an increase in the height of the heel portion. This addresses the problem of providing footwear which responds to a change in heel height, predominantly where a wearer is forced to walk on the ball of their foot as the footwear assembly in accordance with the first aspect reduces the need to constrict a wearers toes and the general forefoot area.

The use of a deformable member reduces the number of moving parts necessary to enable an adjustment in the height of a footwear assembly. The reduction in the number of moving parts means the mechanism for adjusting the height of the footwear assembly is less prone to breaking and is simpler to manufacture. The deformable member may deform due to flexing. That is to say, the deformable member may be, at least in part, a flexible member.

The deformable member will resiliently deform responsive to the adjustment in the relative position of the second end of the sole portion relative to the first end of the sole portion. Any suitable material can be used for the deformable member.

The second end of the deformable member may comprise a wedge portion arranged to engage with the sole engaging portion at the first end of the heel portion.

A wedge portion means a portion shaped like a wedge. That is to say, the portion extends from a first end where it is narrow in depth to a second end where it is substantially wider.

The use of a wedge portion provides a simple means by which the deformable member can engage with the sole engaging portion. The sole engaging portion may engage with the second end of the deformable member at a distance from a first side of the sole engaging portion proportional to the amount of adjustment in the relative position of the second end of the sole portion relative to the first end of the sole portion when the sole engaging portion is in complementary engagement with the second end of the flexible member.

This causes the first end of the deformable member to be moved towards the second part of the sole portion by an amount proportional to the height of the heel portion.

The first part of the sole portion may comprise first and second discrete portions which are pivotable about the coupling between the first part of the sole portion and the first end of the deformable member responsive to movement of first end of the deformable member towards the second part of the sole portion.

This provides the effect that the movement of the first end of the deformable member towards the second part of the sole portion causes the first and second discrete portions to pivot about the coupling to change the shape of the first part of the sole portion proportional to the change in height of the heel portion.

This means that the sole portion is adjusted responsive to the adjustment in the relative position of the second end of the sole portion relative to the first end of the sole portion. This means that a footwear item comprising the footwear assembly responds to a change in relative position of the respective first and second ends of the sole portions in that the first end can change shape which is useful as when, say, a high-heeled shoe is being worn, the front of the wearers foot broadens which needs to be accommodated. This means that conditions that can be developed due to ill-fitting shoes, such as blisters and plantar fasciifis, can be mitigated against.

The sole engaging portion may comprise a trapezoidal portion comprising a sloping part which slopes in a generally downwardly direction relative to the first end of the heel portion.

A wearable item comprising at least one member comprising at least a first arm for engagement with the heel portion may also be provided. Such a wearable item may be a watch, a necklace, an earring or a keyring. The first arm may be two or more arms each for engagement with a respective heel portion.

The heel portion may be arranged to store an object therein.

The sole engaging portion may be offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the heel portion.

The heel portion may be arranged to lockably engage with the sole portion.

The lockable engagement of the heel portion and the sole portion may operate against a member which is biased into a first locking position wherein, when the heel portion is in complimentary engagement with the sole portion, the member protrudes into the sole portion to retain the sole portion into engagement with the heel portion.

The heel portion may comprise an upstanding flexible member arranged to flex responsive to movement into engagement between the heel portion and the sole portion to be received inside a recess formed inside the sole portion to enable the sole portion to retain the heel portion in the sole portion.

The sole portion may comprise a button which, when actuated, causes the sole portion to become disengaged from the deformable member.

The heel portion described in relation to any aspect above may comprise a series of slots (not shown) in which are stored items such as cutlery, tools such as a screwdriver or a wrench, or a canister of gas which may be a self-defence gas. Responsive to pressing a corresponding button on the heel portion, the heel portion causes the thing in a slot to be ejected from the slot for use by the wearer.

DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a shoe according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2a is a sectional view of the shoe illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 2b is an exploded view of the shoe illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 2c is an exploded sectional view of the engagement between upper and lower heel portions; Figure 2d is a sectional view along a section C-C' of the upper and lower heel portions in engagement; Figure 2e is a sectional view of the channel inside upper heel portion; Figure 2f is a sectional view of upper heel portion and lower heel portion in accordance with the embodiment; Figure 3 is a top end view of a sole of the shoe illustrated in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a view of a plurality of heel portions that may be used on a shoe as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 illustrates a shoe 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Although the example of a shoe is given, the following can apply to any item of footwear such as, and not limited to, a trainer, a pump or a safety shoe.

The shoe 10 comprises an upper 12, a heel 14 and a sole 11 attached to the upper 12. The shoe also comprises a front floor contacting portion 13. The heel 14 extends outwardly relative to the sole 11 and is attached to the sole 11 using any suitable method of doing so.

The upper 12 may be made from any suitable material including, but not limited to, leather, satin, suede and canvas and any mixtures or compositions thereof. The upper may comprise a single, monolithic piece of material or may comprise several pieces of the same or of different materials, attached to one another to form the upper.

The term upper 12 is a term generally accepted in the field of footwear items to refer to the part of the shoe that covers at least the toes, the top of the foot and the back of the heel. The upper is generally attached to the sole using, for example, an adhesive or stitching.

The heel 14 comprises a first heel portion 14a and a second heel portion 14b. In order to aid the clarity of description, we will refer to the first heel portion 14a as a lower heel portion 14a and we will refer to the second heel portion 14b as an upper heel portion 14b.

The sole 11 is resiliently biased in a flattened position in which the first lla and second 11b sole portions representing respective first and second ends of the sole extend in substantially the same plane aside from a minor deviation that may be caused by the presence of a lower heel portion 14b of a length of approximately 40mm. Angle a represents the angle between first portion 11a and the second portion 11 b.

We will now describe, with reference to Figures 2a to 2f and 3, how the heel can be adjusted to change the angle e, that is, to adjust the relative position of the first lla and second llb sole portions.

The sole 11 also comprises upper 11c and lower 11d sole portions. Upper 11c and lower 11d sole portions are clearly illustrated in exploded form in Figure 2b.

Sole 11 comprises a channel 24 that accommodates a a flexible member 25 that flexes within the channel to enable the relative position of the first 11a and second 11 b sole portions to be adjusted relative to one another.

Flexible member 25, at a first end, comprises a boss 28 that is moveable inside a first cavity 40. Boss 28 is coupled to the first sole portion 11a. At a second end, flexible member 25 comprises a wedge 26 that is moveable inside a second cavity 42.

The upper heel portion 14a of heel 14 is attached to second portion of sole 11 b. The upper heel portion 14a tapers downwardly towards a lower heel portion 14b when the upper heel portion 14a and lower heel portion 14b. The lower heel portion 14b comprises a rubber cap 16 disposed at a distal end thereof to provide the wearer (not shown) with grip between the lower heel portion 14b and the surface across which the user is moving, i.e. a floor.

The lower heel portion 14b comprises a trapezoidal portion 31 at its upper end. The trapezoidal portion 31 is shaped to correspond with wedge 26 to bring about complementary engagement between the wedge 26 and the lower heel portion 14b to enable the relative orientation between the first sole portion 11a and the second sole portion 14b to be adjusted. . The trapezoidal portion 31 comprises a wedge cut out 32 that is shaped to accommodate the wedge 26 when it is engaged by the trapezoidal portion 31. The lower heel portion 14b comprises a barb 18 which is arranged to locate within a slot 19 at a location disposed adjacent the trapezoidal portion 31 when the lower heel portion 14b and the upper heel portion 14a are in complementary engagement. The barb 18 is arranged to lock the lower heel portion 14b to the upper heel portion 14a in order to minimise any rotational movement of the lower heel portion 14b relative to upper heel portion 14a. The effect of minimising such rotational movement of the lower heel portion 14b relative to the upper heel portion 14a is that the lower heel portion 14b is likely to remain in place and not come loose when in use on a wearer's foot.

The lower heel portion 14b comprises a metal spine along its length (not shown) to provide it with structural strength and structural integrity.

The lower heel portion 14b comprises a recess 20 which extends into the trapezoidal portion 31. The recess is arranged to receive a locking member 21 from a channel 22 disposed within the upper heel portion 14a. The locking member 21 is arranged to align with the recess 20 when the trapezoidal portion 31 is engaged with the wedge 26. The channel 22 extends into the upper heel portion 14a from a rear surface thereof and the member 21 comprises a keyway which is resiliently biased outwardly of the channel 22 into an aperture 17 in the upper heel portion 14a where the trapezoidal portion 31 is received. The biasing of the keyway is by any suitable means. The biasing of the member into the aperture 17 means that the lower heel portion 14b is retained in the aperture 17.

The retention of the lower heel portion 14b in the aperture 17 means that the position of the second sole portion 11b relative to the first sole portion 11a is adjusted. In this example, this means that the lower heel portion 14b enables the height of the heel on the shoe 10 to be adjusted.

The lower heel portion 14b may be arranged to store objects therein.

Such objects may include, for example, cutlery such as a knife or a fork or another instrument for eating or self-defence weaponry such as a personal attack alarm or pepper-spray. The lower heel portion 14b may also be configured to store a wider range of items such as a socket set, a screwdriver, a spanner or a wrench.

The lower heel portion 14b may be attachable to a wearable item such as, for example, an item of jewellery to enable the wearer to conveniently store multiple heel portions and to enable the wearer to conveniently locate multiple heel portions if a change of heel portion is required at short notice.

Member 21 can be moved against the resilient bias by actuation of actuator 23. Responsive to actuation of actuator 23, the member 21 can be moved against the bias of the keyway to enable the member 21 to move along channel 22 to enable the lower heel portion 14b to be released. The release of the member 21 causes the wedge 26 to be disengaged from the trapezoidal portion 31.

Optionally, member 21 may be attached to a spring (not shown) which biases the member 21 into a first protruding position wherein the member 21 protrudes outwardly of the channel 22 and into aperture 17. Responsive to insertion of the lower heel portion 14b into the aperture 17, the member 21 is pushed back against the bias introduced by the spring into a second recessed position which causes the actuator 23 to actuate. During insertion of the lower heel portion 14b into the aperture 17, a recess 50 in the lower heel portion 14b comes into alignment with the member 21 which provides the member 21 with a space in which to move back into the first protruding position wherein the member 21 protrudes into the recess 50 to retain the lower heel portion 14b in a locked position inside the aperture 17. The member 21 is arranged to align with the recess 50 when the trapezoidal portion 31 is engaged with the wedge 26 To release the lower heel portion 14b from its locked position inside the aperture 17, the wearer can actuate the actuator 23 to move the member 21 from its first protruding position against the bias of the spring backwards into the second recessed position to enable the lower heel portion 14b to be released from its locked position inside the aperture 17.

When the lower heel portion 14b is retained in the aperture 17, the wedge 26 engages with the trapezoidal portion 31.

Optionally, and in reference to Figures 2c and 2d, the lower heel portion 14b may comprise an upstanding trapezoidal portion 60 comprising cut out portion 64.

Lower heel portion 14b may comprise an upstanding flexible member 66 comprising a wedge shaped boss 68 at a first end. Flexible member 66 is attached to the remainder of lower heel portion 14b at a second end.

Upper heel portion 14a comprises a member 70 which is biased into a recessed position inside a recess 72. Member 70 is wedge shaped at a first end to compliment the wedge shaped boss 68 at the first end of upstanding flexible member 66.

When lower heel portion 14b is inserted into aperture 17 inside upper heel portion 14a to bring the lower heel portion 14b into engagement with wedge 26, the flexible member 66 responds to the aperture 17 by flexing into the cut out portion 64 to enable the lower heel portion 14b to be fed into the aperture 17.

When boss 68 is aligned with recess 72, the boss 68 is permitted to move and flexes back to its original position causing the boss 68 to sit inside the recess 72 in the position illustrated in Figure 2d. This provides the effect that the lower heel portion 14b is locked into position inside the aperture 17.

Figure 2d illustrates the locked position of lower heel portion 14b inside the aperture 17 in cross-sectional view along line C-C'.

Responsive to movement of movement of member 70 against the bias, flexible member 66 is caused to flex again to enable the lower heel portion 14b to move along the aperture 17 and therefore be removed from the aperture 17 and released from the locked position inside aperture 17. The member 21 is arranged to align with the recess 20 when the trapezoidal portion 31 is engaged with the wedge 26 We now describe another optional feature of the channel 22 which enables the lower heel portion 14b to be locked in position inside the aperture 17. This is described with reference to Figure 2e.

Member 21 is coupled to a rod 80 which moves between first and second positions in a channel 82 to move member 21 between a recessed position and a protruding position.

Responsive to the insertion of lower heel portion 14b into aperture 17, member 21 is moved from the protruding position to the recessed position. The coupling between member 21 and rod 80 causes rod 80 to move inside the channel 82.

The rod 80 comprises a staggered groove 84 comprising a first 88a and second 88b level where a ball bearing 86 is held when the member 21 is in the protruding position.

The channel 82 also comprises a staggered groove 90 comprising a first 92a, a second level 92b and a third level 92c. Staggered level 92c is much lower than second level 92b.

Staggered groove 84 is substantially longer than staggered groove 90.

When the member 21 is in the protruding position, the second 88b level of the staggered groove 84 is aligned with the near most end (relative to the member 21) of the staggered groove 90. As member 21 is moved from the protruding position to the recessed position, rod 80 is moved along channel 82 in a first direction until it meets the third level 92c of the staggered groove 90. The movement of the rod 80 pushes ball bearing 86 against the third level 92c to cause it to be pushed out of the second level 88b of the staggered groove 84 onto the first level 88b of the staggered groove 84. At this point, the first level 88b of the staggered groove 84 is aligned with the second level of the staggered groove 90 to define a conduit 94 in which the ball bearing 86 can move. The continued movement of the rod 80 causes ball bearing 86 to move along the conduit 94 in coalescence with the rod 80 until it meets the far most end (relative to the member 21) of the staggered groove 90 and the far most end is aligned with the end of the first level 88a of staggered groove 84 which causes the ball bearing 86 to lodge against the staggered groove 90 as the space between the staggered groove 84 and staggered groove 90 will not be sufficient to enable movement of the ball bearing 86. This causes the ball bearing 86 to be locked in the lodged position against the staggered groove 90 which prevents the member 21 from moving back from the recessed position. The locking is enabled by the force imparted on the member 21 by the lower heel portion 14b When the member 21 is aligned with recess 50, the member 21 is caused to move from its recessed position into the recess 50 into its protruded position, this causes rod 90 to move in a second direction opposite to the first direction to release the ball bearing 86 so that it can again move in the conduit between the staggered groove 84 and the staggered groove 90 until the movement of the causes ball bearing 86 to move back into the second level 88b of the staggered groove 84 until the second level 88b is aligned with the near most end of the staggered groove 90 where the ball bearing is held in place and the member 21 is held in the protruded position to maintain the engagement between the lower heel portion 14b and the member 21.

The member 21 is arranged to align with the recess 50 when the trapezoidal portion 31 is engaged with the wedge 26 Actuator 23 is coupled to rod 90 to enable the wearer to move the member 21 between the protruding and recessed positions, i.e. to enable the wearer to unlock the lower heel portion 14b from within the aperture 17 inside upper heel portion 14a.

We now describe with reference to Figure 2f another optional feature to bring the lower heel portion 14b into engagement with the wedge portion 26.

In another optional feature, wedge 26 may comprise an annular cavity 100 extending therethrough to accommodate a shaft 106 comprising a button 102 at a first and which is attached to a spring 108 at a first end of the spring 108, an annular portion 104 attached to the spring 108 and attached to the periphery of cavity 100 wherein the annular portion 104 enables shaft 108 to pass through responsive to a wearer pressing button 102 to move plate 160 in a direction out of the wedge portion 26.

Trapezoidal portion 31 comprises a cam portion 110 which is chamfered at a lower end 122.The cam portion 110 forms part of shaft 124 A locking ball 112 sits substantially inside a recess 114 formed in trapezoidal portion 31 but protruding out of the recess 114 by an amount sufficient to establish contact with the inner wall of aperture 17 formed in the upper heel portion 14a. The locking ball 112 is initially in a first position where it sits outside of the cam portion 110.

Cam portion 110 forms part of a shaft 124 is attached at one end to the base 120 of lower heel portion 14b by a spring 118 which extends around a shaft 200 and is movable inside the cavity 116.

When lower heel portion 14b is inserted inside upper heel portion 14a, the shaft 124 is inserted inside aperture 17 which forces the locking ball 112 backwards into the recess 114 into a position where it engages the chamfered lower end 122 of the cam portion 110. The engagement between the lower end 122 of the cam portion 110 and the locking ball 112 and the weight of the locking ball forces the shaft 124 downwards against the spring 118. In this position, a first radial end 126 of the locking ball 112 is sat inside cam portion 110 and a second radial end 128 of the locking ball 112 is adjacent to the recess 114.

As the trapezoidal portion 31 moves inside the aperture 17, the locking ball 112 is held in this position until recess 114 reaches alignment with recess 130 formed inside the upper heel portion 14a. The upper heel portion 14a and the lower heel portion 14b are arranged so that when recess 114 reaches alignment with recess 130, the trapezoidal portion 31 engages wedge 26 to bring the lower heel portion 14b and the upper heel portion 14a into engagement to adjust the relative orientation of first sole portion 11a and second sole portion 11 b.

Recess 130 defines one end of a cavity 132 in which a shaft 134 is movable. Shaft 134 is attached at a first end to a first plate 136 and attached at a second end to a second plate 138. First plate 136 is attached at a first side to a spring 140 which is also attached to an annular plate 142 intermediate the first plate 136 and the second plate 138 comprising a central aperture 144 through which shaft 134 moves.

Upper heel portion 14a comprises a cavity 148 extending throughout at least part of the length of the upper heel portion 14a. A shaft 146 is movable inside the cavity 148. Shaft 146 is attached at a first end to a first plate 150 which is attached to a spring 152 which is attached to an annular plate 154 comprising a central aperture 156 through which shaft 146 moves. Shaft 146 is attached at a second end to a second plate 158. The movement of the second plate 158 will cause the movement of first plate 150. Initially the first plate 150 is in a position where it constrains the movement of plate 138.

As the trapezoidal portion 31 moves inside the aperture 17 and alignment is reached between recess 114 and recess 130, barb 18 locates in slot 19 to prevent the rotational movement of the lower heel portion 14b when it is in engagement with the upper heel portion 14a. The combined action of the locking ball 112, the shaft 134 and the shaft 146 enable a lockably releasable engagement to take place between the lower heel portion 14b and the upper heel portion 14a.

As the barb 18 locates in slot 19, the barb 18 causes the plate 158 to move upwardly to subsequently push the plate 150 along the plate 138 due to the connection between plate 150 and the plate 158 along shaft 146. As plate is pushed along the plate 138, plate 150 stops constraining the movement of plate 138. Lower heel portion 14b is dimensioned appropriately to ensure that as the barb locates in slot 19, the alignment between recess 114 and recess 130 is reached. When this alignment is reached, locking ball 112 moves back to its first position where its second radial end 128 protrudes from recess 114. The protrusion of second radial end 128 out of the recess 114 causes the second radial end 128 to push into recess 130.

As locking ball 112 pushes into recess 130 this causes the second radial end 128 to push on plate 136 which, due to the connection of plate 136 to plate 138 along shaft 134, causes plate 138 to move and it is enabled to do this by the movement of plate 150. This causes compression of spring 140 as it is attached to annular plate 144. This also causes the plate 138 to move outwards into cavity 148 to restrict the movement of plate 150 which has now moved along plate 138 to cause spring 152 to stretch. This causes spring 152 to be held in a stretched out state as it is connected to annular plate 154 and the movement of plate 150 causes the spring 152 to be stretched relative to annular plate 154.

The dimensions of the trapezoidal member 31 mean that when locking ball 112 pushes into recess 130 the engagement between the wedge 26 and the trapezoidal member 31 has taken place. The movement of the locking ball 112 into the position where it pushes into recess 130 causes the shaft 116 to move out of the cam portion 110 which, due to the spring 118, causes the shaft 116 to move back to its original position before locking ball 112 was engaged with the cam portion 110.

The protrusion of the locking ball 112 into the recess 130 means that movement of the lower heel portion 14b out of engagement with the upper heel portion 14b is inhibited.

In order to release the lower heel portion 14b out of engagement with the upper heel portion 14a, the wearer presses button 102, the movement of the button 102 causes the movement of plate 160 out of cavity 100 and into cavity 116 inside trapezoidal portion 31 due to the alignment between cavity 100 and cavity 116 when the lower heel portion 14b is held inside upper heel portion 14a. The movement of plate 160 into trapezoidal portion 31 causes shaft 124 to move against the spring 118. This movement causes the cam portion 110 to align with recess 114 to enable the movement of the locking ball 112 back into the cam portion 110. The button 102 will then return to its original position due to the resilience of spring 108. The length of shaft 106 is sufficient to mean that the release of the lower heel portion 14b out of engagement with the upper heel portion 14a can only be enabled if the wearer deliberately presses the button 102 and does not just accidentally release the lower heel portion 14b from shoe 10.

The movement of the locking ball 112 back into the cam portion 110 means that plate 136 is released and moves back towards recess 130. This releases the compression in the spring 140 and causes plate 138 to move due to the connection of plate 138 to plate 136 along shaft 134. The movement of plate 138 will release spring 152 from its stretched out state and enable it to return to its compressed state which, due to the connection between plate 150, to which spring 152 is attached, and plate 158 along shaft 146 will cause plate 158 to move sharply to eject barb 18 from its position inside slot 19 and cause the lower heel portion 14b to quickly disengage from upper heel portion 14b.

The effect of this is that responsive to the wearer pressing button 102, the lower heel portion 14b will effectively shoot out of engagement with upper heel portion at a speed which is increased relative to the release mechanism described in relation Figures 2a to 2e.

We will now describe, with reference to Figure 4, how the lower heel portion 14b can enable different adjustments to be made to the relative position of the first 11 a and second 11 b sole portions.

Figure 4 illustrates first 16a, second 16b, third 16c and fourth 16d lower heel portions. We start from fourth 16d lower heel portion. Fourth heel portion 16d comprises at one end trapezoidal portion 31d. A sloping part 50d of trapezoidal portion 31d slopes downwardly with respect to a front side 52d.

Fourth lower heel portion 16d is smaller in length than first 16a, second 16b and third 16c lower heel portions. The sloping part slopes downwardly from a point immediately coincidental with the top of front side 52d.

Each of first 16a, second 16b, third 16c, and fourth 16d lower heel portions may comprise any of the features described in reference to Figures 2a to 2f.

It can be seen from Figure 4 that the respective sloping parts, 50a, 50b, 50c and 50d of the first, second, third and fourth lower heel portions, 16a, 16b, 16c, and 16d are positioned respectively further away from the top of the respective front side 52a, 52b, 52c and 52d. This provides the effect that the wedge 26 is positioned further back from the respective front side with increasing height of the respective heel portion. That is to say, the distance from the respective front side 52a, 52b, 52c and 52d increases in proportion to the length of the respective lower heel portion 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d. This provides the effect that the wedge portion 26 is retained in the respective trapezoidal portion 31a, 31 b, 31c and 31d at a distance proportional to the height of the heel portion.

The increased distance from respective front side 52a, 52b, 52c and 52d causes the respective wedge portion to be pulled back further in proportion to the height of the respective lower heel portion. The pulling back of the wedge portion 26 causes the remainder of the flexible member 25 to be pulled back proportional to the amount by which the wedge portion 26 is pulled back.

Enabling the use of multiple heel portions in this way means that a footwear item can be provided which is highly reconfigurable and enables a footwear item to be used over a variety of terrains.

Referring now to Figure 3, the pulling on the flexible member 25 due to the positioning of the wedge portion 26 causes the boss 28 to move inside the first cavity 40 in a direction away from the first sole portion 11a and towards the second sole portion 11 b. The boss 28 is coupled to the first sole portion 11a. The first sole portion 11a comprises two discrete sub-portions, lie and 11f which are pivotally connected to the coupling between the first sole portion 11a and the boss 28.

The first and second sub-portions 11e, 11f are show in plan view in Figure 3 and are pivotally coupled to each other, directly or indirectly, by at least one pin 29 or, alternatively, at least one clip, which extends between the first and second sub-portions 11e, llf and which is coupled to the upper and lower sole layers 11c and 11d. Accordingly, the divergent profile of the boss 28 between the sub-portions 11e, llf and the coupling of the boss 28 to the first and second sub-portions 11e and llf causes the first and second sub-portions lle and 1 1 f to rotate about the pin 29 to adjust the profile of the first sole portion 11a to enable the first sole portion lla to accommodate the expansion in of the forefoot caused by the increased heel height.

To accommodate the expansion of the forefoot, the pin 29 causes the discrete sub-portions 11e and llf to pivot due to the coupling between the first and second sub-portions 11e and llf and the boss 28. This provides the effect that the front of the shoe 10 can widen proportional to the increase in height of the lower heel portion 14b. This means the shoe 10 responds to the change in shape of the feet that is caused by the increased height in the lower heel portion 14b. This provides mitigation against problems that can be due to ill-fitting shoes and also mitigation against problems associated with the use of heeled shoes.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Footwear assembly comprising: a sole portion comprising a deformable elongate member comprising a first end coupled to a first part of the sole portion and a second end coupled to a second part of the sole portion; a heel portion comprising a sole engaging portion at a first end, the sole engaging portion arranged for complementary engagement with the second end of the deformable member to enable an adjustment in the relative position of the second end of the sole portion relative to the first end of the sole portion.
2. Assembly according to Claim 1 wherein the second end of the deformable member comprises a wedge portion arranged to engage with the sole engaging portion at the first end of the heel portion.
3. Assembly according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the sole engaging portion engages with the second end of the deformable member at a distance from a first side of the sole engaging portion proportional to the amount of adjustment in the relative position of the second end of the sole portion relative to the first end of the sole portion when the sole engaging portion is in complementary engagement with the second end of the deformable member.
4. Assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the first end of the sole portion comprises first and second discrete portions which are pivotable about the coupling between the first part of the sole portion and the first end of the deformable member responsive to movement of first end of the deformable member towards the second part of the sole portion.
5. Assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the sole engaging portion is a trapezoidal portion comprising a sloping part which slopes in a generally downwardly direction relative to the first end of the heel portion.
6. Assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the sole engaging portion is offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the heel portion.
7. Assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the heel portion is arranged to lockably engage with the sole portion.
8 Assembly according to Claim 7 wherein the lockable engagement of the heel portion and the sole portion operates against a member which is biased into a first locking position wherein, when the heel portion is in complimentary engagement with the sole portion, the member protrudes into the sole portion to retain the sole portion into engagement with the heel portion.
9. Assembly according to Claim 7 wherein the heel portion comprises an upstanding flexible member arranged to flex responsive to movement into engagement between the heel portion and the sole portion to be received inside a recess formed inside the sole portion to enable the sole portion to retain the heel portion in the sole portion.
10. Assembly according to Claim 1 wherein the sole portion comprises a button which, when actuated, causes the sole portion to become disengaged from the deformable member.
11. Footwear item comprising a footwear assembly according to any of claims 1 to 10.
12. Footwear assembly as substantially hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 4.
13. Footwear item as substantially hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 4.
14. Wearable item comprising at least one member comprising at least a first arm for engagement with a heel portion according to any of Claims 1 to 9.
15. Wearable item of Claim 12 wherein the at least one member comprises two or more arms for engagement with respective heel portions according to Claims 1 to 8.
16. A heel portion according to any of Claims 1 to 8 arranged to store an object therein.