Patent ID: 6499234
Filing Date: 2002-12-31
Classification: A43B

Abstract:
A shoe system for providing varied shoe styles for a wearer comprising, in combination:a sole having a top surface and a bottom surface and a generally vertical peripheral side wall therebetween, the sole having a generally horizontal forward region for supporting the forward portion of a wearer's foot including the toes and a rearward region for supporting the rearward portion of a wearer's foot including the heel and a central intermediate region therebetween for supporting the central portion of a wearer's foot including the instep, the sole having a long heel extending downwardly from the rearward region to create a sharply angled central region, the forward region having a hollow zone with a top surface and bottom surface and a side surface therebetween, the top surface having a periphery therearound, the entire sole being fabricated of an essentially rigid transparent plastic thereby enabling light to pass through the various regions; two parallel transverse slots extending through holes in the side walls and through the hollow zone of the sole and across the forward region with two parallel plastic sleeves extending from side wall to side wall defining the slots; one transverse slot extending through a hole in the side walls and through the intermediate region of the sole defining a slot parallel with the two parallel transverse slots; a relatively flat soft resilient pad having a periphery essentially coextensive with the periphery of the top surface and adhesively secured to the top surface of the sole to comfort a wearer's foot during operation and use; and a single strap having opposed ends threaded through the slots for securing a wearer's foot to the pad and sole with the opposed ends of the strap wrapping around a wearer's ankle and terminating in a buckle adjacent to the upper extent of a wearer's ankle for securement purposes, the strap being readily removed from, and coupled to, a sole for allowing a wearer to select a particular strap design for a particular occasion.