US20160058104A1

US20160058104A1 - Footwear kit and method for production of the kit

Info

Publication number: US20160058104A1
Application number: US14/786,660
Authority: US
Inventors: Edson Matsuo
Original assignee: Grendene SA
Current assignee: Grendene SA
Priority date: 2013-04-26
Filing date: 2013-06-07
Publication date: 2016-03-03
Also published as: WO2014172762A1; EP2989919A4; BR102013010221A2; BR102013010221B1; EP2989919A1

Abstract

A footwear kit including an amount of feet with a first visual feature distinct from the amount of shoe feet and with a second visual element, where the footwear can be defined by an odd number of feet, and where one of the foot comprises opposite direction to the other, and a process for producing of the kit.

Description

STATEMENT OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application is the US National Phase of International Application No. PCT/BR2013/000198 having an international filing date of 7 Jun. 2013, which claims priority on Brazilian Patent Application No. 102013010221-0 having a filing date of 26 Apr. 2013.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field
The present invention describes a kit comprising shoes and a process for its production. The present invention is in the field of footwear and fashion industry and design.
2. Prior Art
The footwear industry has great interest in developing solutions, whether technical or fashion and design, to overcome the process of limitations and or upgrade products according to the new trends, to provide improvements to users.
Concern regarding the adornment of the feet is constant in this industry, the footwear in many cultures have been and are synonymous with social position and economic status indicators. With the variation in trends of styles of shoes, there are a lot of people who have or need more than one pair of shoes in order to remain fashionable, and to be able to match the shoes with their clothes.
Given this need, it is noted that there is a technical deficiency when referring to solutions that allow a greater number of possible visual/aesthetic combination between the shoes. Currently, the only way combinations are increased is by acquiring more than one pair of shoes, or the customization of the same, or making a large investment to achieve a high number of combinations.
From the searched literature, documents were not found suggesting or anticipating the teachings of the present invention, so that the solution proposed here possesses novelty and inventive activity in relation to the prior art.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the problem of providing a greater number of combinations of footwear without the need to acquire an excessive amount of pairs of shoes and without involving excessive costs for the acquisition of several pairs of shoes. Furthermore, the present invention solves the problem of personalized footwear.
Thus, the present invention, through its concept and embodiments disclosed throughout the description, allows a greater number of shoes combinations to be possible with a reduced number of shoe acquisitions. The present invention also allows cost savings to the end consumer, who buys shoes, and allows the producer or the seller to have a kit that allows a lot of combinations and stock savings (as the kit enables sales comprising fewer feet).
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a kit comprising footwear, comprising an amount of feet with a first visual feature distinct from the amount of feet with a second visual element.
In a preferred embodiment, the kit comprises:

at least one foot with an opposite direction to the other foot;
the number of feet with a first orientation different from the number of feet with a second orientation; and
the feet of the same orientation having at least one distinct visual element among them.

In one embodiment the shoe comprises at least:

a. an upper;
b. a sole; and
wherein the uppers and/or soles of feet having the same orientation comprises at least one visual element distinct from each other.

In one embodiment the upper is switchable.
In one embodiment the amount of the feet included in the kit is an odd number.
In one embodiment, all the feet comprise at least one visual element distinct from each other.
In one embodiment, the number of feet is equal to 3.
In one embodiment, the number of feet is equal to 4.
In one embodiment, the number of feet is equal to 5.
In one embodiment, the number of feet is equal to 6.
In one embodiment, the number of feet is equal to 7.
In one embodiment said kit is for the end-user.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process of producing a kit, comprising the steps of including in a kit an amount of feet with a first visual element distinct of the amount of feet with a second visual element.
In one embodiment the process of producing a kit comprises the steps of including in a kit:

at least one foot with opposite direction to the other foot;
the number of feet of a first orientation different from the number of feet with a second orientation; and
the feet of the same orientation comprising at least one distinct visual element among them.

In one embodiment, the shoe comprises at least:

an upper;
a sole; and
wherein the uppers and/or soles of feet having the same orientation comprises at least one visual element distinct from each other.

In one embodiment, the upper is exchangeable.
These and other objects of the invention will be immediately appreciated by those skilled in the art and by companies with interests in the sector, and will be described in sufficient detail to its reproduction in the description below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention with simple upper, of the flip flops type.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention with the upper composed by two strips.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a novel kit comprising shoes in order to increase the number of possible combinations with the user's clothing, but without result in a greater cost when compared to the purchase of two pairs of footwear.
In the present invention, each foot of the footwear comprises at least one upper and one sole, in which the shoe comprises the sole and the upper, which is defined as the top of the foot protection, and provides support for the foot of the user.

Shoes Orientation

The kit comprising shoes, in one embodiment, is defined by shoes for three feet, and they may comprise non-defined orientation, i.e., being able to contain both the right foot and the left foot. The shoe may further comprise an orientation (left or right) defined in at least a contrary direction to the other, according to FIGS. 1 and 2. More specifically, the footwear is preferably a slipper.
The kit according to FIGS. 1 and 2, when comprising a fixed upper has two possible combinations of use by the user. However, when using exchangeable uppers, the kit of FIG. 1 allows four types of possible combinations, whereas the kit of FIG. 2 allows 8 kinds of possible combinations. This occurs because of using an upper composed of two strips in the second embodiment, thus, increasing the number of possible combinations.

Attachment of the Upper to the Sole

The attachment of the uppers to the soles can be performed in various ways, such as: using fixtures, and bonding or fitting. Also, when using an upper of a switchable type composed of two strips, the strips of the same foot are not interchangeable among themselves, since they have different lengths.

Visual Element

In the context of this invention the visual element shall be considered as any surface treatment, ornamental, texturing, embossing, gluing or design elements that is on the footwear. Furthermore, one can understand the same as the effect provided by the use of different materials and its surface features, such as a matt or glossy surface.

End-User kit

In one embodiment, said kit is designed for the end-user, which can be understood as final consumer who uses the shoes in this kit. Thus, it can be noted that the technical effect of this kit, although inherently present when the kit is viewed or purchased by the intermediate segments, has to have a greater effect customized to the end-user's hands, which can make use of the numerous combinations and customization allowed by the present invention.

Combinations of Footwear

Upper Attached to the Sole

The number of possible combinations of a kit having an odd number of feet, where the upper is fixed to the sole and in which:

at least one foot has opposite direction to the other; and
the feet of the same orientation have at least one distinct visual element between them, can be found according to equation 1 below:

C=D×E [E.1]
where:

C: number of combinations
D: number of right direction feet
E: number of left direction feet

Thus, it is noted that the greater the number of feet in the kit, the greater the number of combinations that it provides. Particularly, it is interesting to note that the same number of combinations could only be achieved by the prior art when in possession of an even number of pieces of footwear, i.e. would be necessary to buy more feet to achieve the same number of combinations that this kit provides.
The same principle applies for when the number of feet in the kit is even and one skilled in the art can easily conceive of such a formula.

Upper Switchable to the Sole

The number of possible combinations of a kit having an odd number of feet, where the upper is switchable in relation to the sole and wherein:

at least one foot has opposite direction to the other; and
the feet of the same orientation have at least one distinct visual element between them, can be found according to equation 2 below:

C=S ₁×Cab₁ ×T ₁ +S ₂×Cab₂ ×T ₂ [E.2]
where:

C: number of combinations
s1: number of right direction soles
cab1: number of right direction uppers
t1: type of right direction upper
s2: number of left direction soles
cab2: number of left direction uppers
t2: type of left direction uppers

The value of the parameter related to the type of upper (t) is defined according to the type of upper being equal to 1 for a single type upper strip (FIG. 1), and equal to 2 for a double type upper strip (FIG. 2).
Again, we note that the number of combinations increases due to the increase in the number of parts of the footwear and with the differentiation of the visual elements of the same foot shoes. More surprising is the fact that occurs when compared with the prior art, where a greater number of shoes (pairs) is necessary to obtain the same number of combinations.
The same principle applies for when the number of feet in the kit is even and one skilled in the art can easily conceive of such equation.
Finally, it is part of the inventive concept is the possibility of performing a combination of different types of uppers, i.e. a type of foot has a fixed upper and a foot having another type of switchable upper. Still, it appears that there may be a greater number of exchangeable strips of uppers in other embodiments, thereby further increasing the number of possible combinations.
The examples shown here intends only to exemplify one of the many ways of performing the invention, but without limiting the scope thereof.

EXAMPLES

Example 1—Upper Attached to the Sole

In an embodiment of the present invention there is provided a fixed upper footwear to the soles. So, this is part of a kit having 3 shoes, two right-footed (footwear A and B) and one left-footed (footwear C), where the footwear A has the same sole but with an upper with a distinctive visual element of B, and footwear C has visual element of the soles and an upper identical to that of A.
Thus, it is noted that the number of combinations that can be achieved is 2, that is, the use of only three feet can achieve the same number of feet combinations as when buying 4 feet, or two conventional pairs. Additionally, for a condition in which the foot is not set as to the side of the foot, by acquiring three feet, it is equivalent to the same number of feet of combinations buying 6 feet, or three pair of conventional counterparts.

Example 2—Switchable Upper

In an embodiment of this invention with a changeable upper, which can be alternated with the soles of another of the same orientation. So, this is part of a kit having 3 shoes, two right-footed (draft A and B) and one left-footed (footwear C), where the footwear A has the same sole but with an upper with a distinctive visual element of B, and footwear C has visual element of the soles and an upper identical to that of A.
Thus, it is noted that the number of combinations that can be achieved is 4, i.e. the use of only 3 feet achieves a greater number of combinations of feet than to buy 4 feet.
Those who are skilled in the art will understand the disclosure presented herein, and may reproduce the invention described in the embodiments and other variations which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A footwear kit, comprising a first amount of feet with a first visual element distinct from a second amount of feet with a second visual element.

2. The footwear kit according to claim 1, further comprising:

at least one foot having a first orientation opposite to a second orientation of another foot;

the number of feet of the first orientation is different from the number of feet with the second orientation; and

the feet of the same orientation comprising at least one distinct visual element among them.

3. The footwear kit according to claim 2, wherein the footwear comprises at least:

a) an upper; and

b) a sole,

wherein the uppers and/or soles of feet having the same orientation comprises at least one visual element distinct from each other.

4. The footwear kit according to claim 3, wherein the upper is switchable.

5. the footwear kit according to claim 1, wherein the amount of the feet included in the kit is an odd number.

6. The footwear kit according to claim 1, wherein each feet of the kit comprises at least one distinctive visual element different from the others.

7. The footwear kit according to claim 1, wherein the number of shoe feet is equal to 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.

8. The footwear kit according to claim 1, wherein it is an end-user's kit.

9. A process of producing a footwear kit comprising the steps of including in the kit a first amount of shoe feet with a first visual element distinct from a second amount of feet with a second visual element.

10. The process of producing a footwear kit according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of including in the kit:

11. The process of producing a footwear kit according to claim 10, wherein the footwear comprises at least:

a) an upper; and

b) a sole,

12. The process of producing a footwear kit according to claim 11, wherein the upper is switchable.