Patent ID: 7127837
Filing Date: 2006-10-31
Classification: A43B,A43C

Abstract:
1. A shoe comprising: a sole: an upper defining a quarter, a collar, and a vamp having a toe cap, said quarter being permanently attached to said sole and only unilaterally continuous with said vamp, said vamp being split from and extended to overlap said quarter down one side of said upper, from the collar to the sole, and said upper being horizontally split along said sole starting in a start position on the vamp in the area for the ball of the big toe, running along the toe cap, and reaching, in an end position, to where the vamp is split from the quarter, said upper being made of a flexible material said vamp is; a zipper provided along said horizontal split, extending from the start to the end position, such that said zipper lies substantially in only a single plane, said zipper having a pull-tab functioning to close the split between the vamp and the quarter; a first hook-and-pile fastener provided on said pull-tab; and a second hook-and-pile fastener complementary to said first hook-and-pile fastener, provided on said quarter alongside where said vamp splits from said quarter; the shoe therein structured so that the shoe can be fastened securely onto the wear's foot in a single-stroke, in-plane operation of zipping said vamp from the start position onto the sole to close said vamp over the wearer's foot, and on reaching the end position, closing the pull-tab onto said quarter to engage said first and second hook-and-pile fasteners, thereby closing said vamp completely onto said quarter along the split therebetween, without zipping in any direction orthogonal or oblique to said single plane in which said zipper lies.