US20140230279A1

US20140230279A1 - Foot Wear System

Info

Publication number: US20140230279A1
Application number: US14/136,801
Authority: US
Inventors: Jeff Risner
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-12-20
Filing date: 2013-12-20
Publication date: 2014-08-21

Abstract

A decorative interchangeable foot wear system having interchangeable components.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to a decorative interchangeable foot wear system having a sole usable as a sandal, “flip-flops”, “clogs”, shoes, slippers, dress shoes, boots and other types of foot wear, and more specifically to a foot wear system with interchangeable components and method of using the same. It can be used as a system for raising funds for charity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Foot wear having a post that goes between a user's large toe and proximate toe and allows for straps that fit around the wearer's foot and the foot wear have been utilized for a long time. One popular embodiment is referred to as “flip-flops”. While these foot wear items are often inexpensive, popular and stylish they are often marketed and purchased with the basic understanding that they are disposable, they do not have interchangeable components, the style cannot be changed based upon what a user is wearing and they provide little protection for wearer's foot other than their soft soles, which are easily punctured or pierced. One of the drawbacks with “flip flops” (shoe skeletons), sandals and the like is that the sole is often an elastomeric, soft material.
Despite the prior art, there is still a need for additional foot wear systems which comprise interchangeable components, more resistant and puncture or pierce “proof” soles, and other ways to decorate the “shoe skeletons”, for example fasteners, structural support, coverings and decorations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art by providing foot wear systems which comprise interchangeable components, for example fasteners, structural support, coverings and decorations.
Consequently, the following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention. Its purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as to preclude the more detailed description that is presented later.
Accordingly it is a primary object of the present invention to provide foot wear that can be modified based upon interchangeable components.
Another embodiment, for example another object of the present invention provides more puncture or pierce resistant soles.
Another embodiment, for example, of the present invention comprises other ways to decorate the shoe skeletons, clogs, etc., for example fasteners, sole structural support, coverings and decorations.
It is an object of the present invention to provide foot wear that has interchangeable wire webbing support structures.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide greater foot protection and support.
It is an object of the present invention to provide foot wear can be changed from casual slip-ons to more formal shoes.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide foot wear that can be changed from hardly covering up the upper foot, to partly covering the upper foot, to covering either half of the foot or to fully enclose the foot, for example.
It is another object of the invention to provide foot wear where the upper surface material can be changed, for example from canvas, to plastic, to rubber, to leather, etc.
Another object of the invention is to provide foot wear wherein the foot wear outer and inner color(s) can be interchanged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an upper left perspective view of a multi-strapped shoe skeleton of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system;

FIG. 2 is an upper left perspective view of a first cover component of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system;

FIG. 3 is an upper left perspective view of a shoe skeleton of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system with hook and loop adhesive backed connection straps mounted to the outside of a sole;

FIG. 4 is an upper left perspective view of a first cover component of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system with hook and loop adhesive backed connection straps on a shoe skeleton;

FIG. 5 is an upper left perspective view of a shoe skeleton of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system with snap studs;

FIG. 6 is an upper left perspective view of a third cover component of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system with snap buttons;

FIG. 7 is an upper left perspective view of a shoe skeleton of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system;

FIG. 8 is an upper left perspective view of a half cover component of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system;

FIG. 9 is top view of a foot wear system, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is bottom view of a foot wear system, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 11 is front view of a foot wear system, according to some embodiments; and

FIG. 12 is rear view of a foot wear system, according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One or more implementations of the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. The gear assembly of the present invention is adapted to supply a variety of amusing, educational, and therapeutic devices which do not currently exist.
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an upper left perspective view of an embodiment 100 of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system. In this embodiment there are five straps 102 as an upper support 116 wherein strap first ends 106 are fixedly attached to a sole 114. Strap second ends 108 are attached together and attached to a thong 110. In this embodiment multi-strapped component 100, the straps in this configuration act as the upper support 116 for helping to engage a user's foot bottom to the sole 104.
Although the embodiment 100 utilizes the five straps as the upper support 116 they could be replaced, for example by materials comprising wire mesh, shape memory metal, plastic and/or cloth webbing, a metal plate, a silicone dome, one or more straps or a combination thereof, known by one of skill in the art.
Referring now the FIG. 2 is an embodiment 200 of a cover 202 that is configured to be placed over and non-fixedly attached to the upper support 116 (FIG. 1). The cover 202 as shown is a molded component, however the cover 202 can be unmolded, such as fabric, duct tape, netting, webbing and other materials known by one of skill in the art. In addition, cover materials of the cover 202 outer surface 204 and inner surface 206 can be molded and/or unmolded fabric, plastic, silicone, adhesives, combinations thereof and other materials known by those of skill in the art.
FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment 300 of a “flip-flop” type of foot wear 302 with hook and/or loop material 304 placed around a sole outer surface 306 of a sole 314 of the foot wear. In addition, hook and loop material can be placed in any location on the outside of the shoe, including a bottom of the sole (not shown). However, other materials can be used comprising glue, snaps, zippers, tape, pins or combinations thereof to non-fixedly attach materials and components.
Referring now the FIG. 4 is an embodiment 400 of a cover 402 that is configured to be placed over and attached to the upper support 116 (FIG. 1). The cover 402 as shown has a cover outside surface 404 and an inside surface 406 and is a molded component with hook and/or loop material 410 attached to the inside surface 406, however the cover 402 can be unmolded, such as fabric, duct tape, netting, webbing and/or unmolded fabric, plastic, silicone, adhesives, combinations thereof and other materials known by those of skill in the art and other materials known by one of skill in the art.
FIG. 5 illustrates yet another embodiment 500 of a “flip-flop” type of foot wear 502 with snap eyelet/studs 504 placed around the outer surface of a sole 508 and straps 510 of the foot wear. Referring now to FIG. 6 it is another embodiment 600 of a cover 602 that is configured with button/sockets 610 on an inside surface 606 and an outside surface 608 to be placed over the corresponding eyelet/studs 504 (FIG. 5) and snapped/attached to the “flip-flop” type of foot wear 502 (FIG. 5). The cover 602 as shown is a molded component, however the cover 602 can be unmolded, such as fabric, duct tape, netting, webbing and other materials known by one of skill in the art. Although the cover 602 in this embodiment 600 is one piece, a cover can comprise numerous pieces/patches that can be assembled together using fasteners of various types, as known by those of skill in the art. The pieces/patches can comprise various combinations of leather, plastic, silicone, fabrics, netting, metals, decorations, duct tape, various colors, various textures and other materials known by one of skill in the art.
FIG. 7 illustrates yet another embodiment 700 of a “flip-flop” type of foot wear 702. Referring now to FIG. 7 illustrated is an upper left perspective view of a two-strap component of a decorative interchangeable foot wear system 702. In this embodiment there are two straps 704, as opposed to five straps 102 as an upper support 116 in FIG. 1, wherein strap first ends 706 are fixedly attached to a sole 710. Second strap ends 708 are attached together and to a single thong 712. In this embodiment 700, the straps 704 in this configuration act as an upper support 716 for helping to engage the user's foot bottom to the sole 710.
Referring now to FIG. 8 it is an embodiment 800 of a half cover 802 that is to the “flip-flop” type of foot wear system 702 (FIG. 7). A cover 802 as shown is a molded component, however the cover 802 can be unmolded, such as fabric, duct tape, netting, webbing and other materials known by one of skill in the art. Although the cover 802 in this embodiment 800 is one half piece, a cover can comprise numerous pieces/patches that can be assembled together using fasteners of various types, as known by those of skill in the art. The pieces/patches can comprise various combinations of leather, plastic, silicone, fabrics, netting, metals, decorations, duct tape, various colors, various textures and other materials known by one of skill in the art.
Referring now to FIG. 9-12 is embodiment 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 of a foot wear system illustrating various material covers of various colors shown as different cross hatching. Embodiments 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 illustrate top, bottom, front and rear views respectively. The covers as shown comprise molded components fabric, duct tape, netting, webbing and other materials known by one of skill in the art. The covers can comprise numerous pieces/patches that can be assembled together using fasteners of various types, as known by those of skill in the art. The pieces/patches can comprise various combinations of leather, plastic, silicone, fabrics, netting, metals, decorations, duct tape, various colors, various textures and other materials known by one of skill in the art.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain preferred embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (assemblies, devices, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a similar manner to the term “comprising”.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A decorative interchangeable foot wear system, comprising:

a shoe skeleton;

a top portion of the shoe skeleton;

a sole;

a cover configured to non-fixedly attach to the shoe skeleton, the sole or a combination thereof; and

the sole is non-fixedly connected to the shoe skeleton.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the cover and the skeleton and the cover are configured to non-fixedly attach to each other utilizing, hook and loop, glue, snaps, zippers, tape, pins, duct tape, netting, webbing or combinations thereof.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the shoe skeleton comprises strap components configured of wire mesh, shape memory metal, leather, plastic and/or cloth webbing, a metal plate, a silicone dome or a combination thereof.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the cover is configured to place over and non-fixedly attached to an upper support of the shoe skeleton.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the cover is molded, unmolded, fabric, plastic, silicone, adhesives, duct tape, netting, webbing or combinations thereof.

6. The system of claim 1, where in the cover and the shoes skeleton are configured to non-fixedly attached together using hook and loop, glue, snaps, zippers, tape, pins or combinations thereof.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the shoe skeleton comprises straps were in the straps comprise metal mesh, wire, elastomeric members, fabric or combinations thereof; and wherein the shoe skeleton comprises metal, fabric, elastomeric materials, rubber, or combinations thereof.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the cover is configured to be made of comprising black, white, red, blue, yellow or combinations thereof; and

the shoes skeleton sole comprises metal, rubber, silicon rubber, elastomeric materials or combinations thereof.

9. A shoe system that is configured as a kit, where in the kit comprises a shoe skeleton, a cover, and decorative components.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the decorative elements comprise fabric, duct tape, netting, webbing, molded and/or unmolded fabric, plastic, silicone, adhesive, hook and loop, glue, snaps, zippers, tape, pins, jewels; and

a shoe skeleton comprising straps configured of wire mesh, shape memory metal, leather, plastic and/or cloth webbing, a metal plate, a silicone dome or a combination thereof.

a cover that comprises numerous pieces/patches that can be assembled together using fasteners;

the pieces/patches comprise leather, plastic, silicone, fabrics, netting, metals, decorations, duct tape, various colors, various textures or combinations thereof.