Boots – shoes – and leggings – Boots and shoes – Sandals
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-10
2002-12-10
Patterson, M D (Department: 3728)
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Boots and shoes
Sandals
C036S089000, C036S114000, C012S1420MC
Reexamination Certificate
active
06490814
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to a sandal construction and a method for manufacturing the same.
Sandals are available in a wide variety of constructions. Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional sandal
10
includes a strapping system
12
secured to a sole
14
. The sole
14
engages the wearer's foot and forms the wear surface of the sandal
10
. The strapping system
12
secures the sole
14
to the wearer's foot, typically using separate ankle
16
, heel
17
and forefoot
18
straps. The ankle
16
and heel
17
straps are located in the ankle region of the sandal
10
, and are adapted to securely strap about the wearer's heel and ankle. With high performance sandals, it is desirable for the ankle
16
and heel
17
straps to not only secure the sandal
10
to the wearer's ankle, but also to provide lateral ankle support. The ankle
16
and heel
17
straps can be affixed directly to the sole
14
or to conventional support members, typically called posts, extending upwardly on opposite side of the sole
14
. The forefoot strap
18
is disposed in the forefoot region of the sandal
10
, and is adapted to strap over the top of the wearer's foot generally in the ball region of the foot.
The straps are secured to the sole primarily using one of two different construction techniques. The first of these techniques is a stitching technique in which the lower ends of the straps or the posts are stitched directly to the sole. This construction is illustrated in
FIGS. 2A-B
, which show a second sandal
10
′ having a sole
14
′, an ankle strap
16
′, a heel strap
17
′ and a forefoot strap
18
′. As shown, the straps are secured to the sole by a row of stitches
20
. The stitches
20
extends on an angle from the upper surface of the sole
12
to the side surface of the sole
12
(See FIG.
2
B). This technique is relatively inexpensive, however, it may not provide the durability needed for certain applications. Further, this technique is essentially limited to use with strap materials that are capable of being stitched, such as leather, woven or textile straps. This construction technique is not well suited for use with rigid, non-pliable materials. Because of the inherent flexible nature of conventional stitchable materials, stitched ankle strap constructions typically provide little lateral ankle support. In some applications, the stitching is replaced by staples or tacks. In general, these alternative constructions suffer from the same problems as the stitched construction.
A second technique for securing the straps to the sole is an adhesive construction in which the strap ends are cemented or adhesively secured to the sole. A conventional adhesive construction is illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 3
. As shown, the sole
22
includes a midsole
24
and an outsole
26
. In this type of construction, the ankle and heel straps are typically mounted atop a pair of upright portions
28
that extends up from opposite sides of the sole
22
. The upright portions
28
(along with any desired lining material, such as neoprene lining
29
) extend down through slots
32
in the midsole
24
and are adhesively secured to the undersurface
30
of the midsole
24
. The outsole
26
is adhesively secured to the bottom surface of the midsole
24
to form the wear surface of the sole
22
and to entrap the ends of the posts
28
. The adhesive construction generally provides improved durability and is well suited for use with relatively rigid post materials, such as thermoplastic elastomers. Nonetheless, this type of construction still fails to provide the lateral ankle support desired in many applications because the upright portions
28
are subject to significant lateral deflection. To reduce this lateral deflection, efforts have been made to replace or bolster the upright portions
28
with substantially rigid posts, for example, rigid polymeric components that are affixed to and extend upwardly from the sole. The ankle and heel straps can be affixed to the top of the posts or the posts can simply be secured to the upright portions to reduce their susceptibility to lateral deflection. Although an improvement over other conventional constructions in terms of lateral stiffness, conventional post constructions still fail to provide the desired lateral support for many applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aforementioned problems are overcome by the present invention, which provides a sandal having a pair of rigid posts; each affixed to the sole at two distinct and laterally spaced locations. In a preferred embodiment, the posts each have a generally “inverted Y-shape,” with a first leg secured to the sole in a first location and a second leg secured to the sole at a second location laterally spaced from the first location.
In a more preferred embodiment, the inner leg of the post extends through a slot in the sole and is adhesively secured to the undersurface of the midsole while the outer leg extends along and is adhesively secured to the side surface of the sole. The sole may define a recess to receive the outer leg. Securing the outer leg to the side surface of the sole rather than within a second slot provides maximum spacing between the inner and outer legs, and hence increases stability.
The present invention provides a durable sandal construction that is easily manufactured using conventional apparatus. The laterally spaced, two-point attachment of the sandal posts provides the sandal with significant lateral ankle support. The present invention also provides aesthetic benefits by permitting the post to extend down over the side surface of the sole.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be readily understood and appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2407556 (1946-09-01), Kleven
patent: 2417776 (1947-03-01), Neunuebel
patent: 2715285 (1955-08-01), Del Vecchio
patent: 3323233 (1967-06-01), Scholl
patent: 3800444 (1974-04-01), Young
patent: 5423134 (1995-06-01), Bagnaia et al.
patent: 5533278 (1996-07-01), Stein
patent: 5802738 (1998-09-01), Ferniani
patent: 5896684 (1999-04-01), Lin
patent: D417947 (1999-12-01), Lavertue et al.
patent: D422402 (2000-04-01), Lavertue et al.
patent: 6256906 (2001-07-01), Matis et al.
patent: 2595213 (1987-09-01), None
Merrell Outdoor Footwear—Spring 1999, pp. 18 and 19.
Merrell Sandals—Spring, Summer 1996.
Merrell Fall 1994 Sandals.
Merrell Outdoor Footwear—Fall 1997.
Merrell—Spring 1993.
Merrell Outdoor Footwear—Fall 1999, pp. 22 and 23.
Merrell Outdoor Footwear—Spring 1998.
Merrell 1995.
Merrell Outdoor Footwear—Fall 1998.
Patterson M D
Warner & Norcross & Judd LLP
Wolverine World Wide Inc.
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