Abstract:
A shoe includes a sole unit having a top face, a bottom face and a peripheral wall interconnecting the top and bottom faces. A reinforcement member is attached to at least one of the top face and the peripheral wall. An upper has a bottom open end stitched to the reinforcement member along the length of the reinforcement member. Due to the presence of the reinforcement member, the sole unit can be produced from a wide range of materials without being limited to any particular high tearing strength material.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates to a shoe, more particularly to a shoe which includes a reinforcement member to reinforce a sole unit of the shoe.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional shoe of “Opanka” construction which comprises a midsole  1 , an outsole  2  cemented to the bottom of the midsole  1 , an upper  3  and a lining  4 . The bottom end of the upper  3  is sewn directly to the top of the outer peripheral end of the midsole  1 . Such a shoe construction provides good flexibility. However, in order to be sewn to the bottom end of the upper  3 , the material of the midsole  1  must have a certain level of tearing strength and therefore is limited to a particular high tearing strength material. For example, although EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) and PU (polyurethane) are materials commonly used for making midsoles, only PU can be used for the midsole  1  in order to satisfy the tearing strength required by the midsole  1 . Moreover, while PU provides sufficient strength, it can increase weight and induce the problem of hydrolysis.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     An object of the present invention is to provide a shoe which has an appearance of an Opanka shoe construction and which can be produced from a wide range of light weight materials without being limited to any particular material.  
         [0006]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoe, which has an Opanka construction, but still utilizes the existing flat sole without the need to open a new mold for forming a sole with a flange projecting upward from the top face thereof.  
         [0007]     Accordingly the present invention provides a shoe which comprises: a sole unit having a top face, a bottom face and a peripheral wall interconnecting the top and bottom faces; a reinforcement member attached to at least one of the top face and the peripheral wall; and an upper having a top open end and a bottom open end, the bottom open end being stitched to the reinforcement member along the length of the reinforcement member. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a sectional view of the prior art;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view of a first preferred embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the second preferred embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; and  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of a fourth preferred embodiment according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]     The present invention will be illustrated with reference to FIGS.  2  to  5 , wherein like elements are represented by like reference numerals.  
         [0015]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a first embodiment of the shoe according to the present invention includes a sole unit  50 , a reinforcement member  30  and an upper  40 .  
         [0016]     The sole unit  50  in this embodiment is configured as an outsole and is made of EVA. The sole unit  50  has a top face  51 , a bottom face  52 , a peripheral wall  53  interconnecting the outer ends of the top and bottom faces  51 ,  52 , and a flange  54  extending along the peripheral wall  53  and projecting upwardly from the top face  51 .  
         [0017]     The reinforcement member  30  is formed as a wrapping which is made of a sheeting material which may be fabric, leather, PU, TPU. The reinforcement member  30  includes an inner side  31  and an outer side  32  opposite to the inner side  31 . In this embodiment, the reinforcement member  30  is made of leather or fabric. The reinforcement member  30  extends longitudinally along full length of the flange  54 , and is folded to enclose the flange  54  and has longitudinally extending inner and outer margins  33  and  34  secured respectively to the top face  51  and the peripheral wall  53 . The inner side  31  of the reinforcement member  30  is secured to the top face  51  and the peripheral wall  53  of the sole unit  50  through a gluing process or a hot pressing process.  
         [0018]     The upper  40  has a top open end  41  and a bottom open end  42 . The bottom open end  42  extends along the reinforcement member  30 , is turned outward, and is secured or stitched to the inner margin  33  of the reinforcement member  30  at a side opposite to the top face  51  of the sole unit  50 . In this embodiment, the bottom open end  42  of the upper  40  is sewn to the reinforcement member  30  and the sole unit  50 .  
         [0019]     The above-mentioned construction of the present invention provides the following advantages:  
         [0020]     Since the peripheral wall  53  of the sole unit  50  is reinforced by means of the reinforcement member  30 , since the bottom open end  42  of the upper  40  extends along the inner margin  33 , and since the reinforcement member  30  and the sole unit  50  are attached to each other, even if the sole unit  50  is made of EVA, which cannot be used in the Opanka construction traditionally, due to the arrangement of the reinforcement member  30 , the sole unit  50  can have sufficient tearing strength to permit the bottom open end  42  of the upper  40  to be sewn to the sole unit  50 . Therefore, the sole unit  50  need not be limited to a PU material and will not cause the problem of hydrolysis of the PU material. Any other material, such as EVA or blown rubber may be used to make the sole unit  50 . Moreover, the weight of the shoe according to the present invention can be reduced.  
         [0021]     For manufacturing the shoe of the present invention, the reinforcement member  30  may be firstly attached to the sole unit  50 , and then connected to the upper  40 . Alternatively, the reinforcement member  30  may first be attached, such as by stitching, to the upper  40  and then connected to the sole unit  50 .  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is substantially similar to the first embodiment except for the following differences: As shown in  FIG. 3 , the sole unit  50 ′ of the second embodiment includes a midsole  10  and an outsole  20 . The midsole  10  includes a top face  11 , a bottom face  12 , a peripheral wall  13  interconnecting the top and bottom faces  11  and  12 , and a flange  14  extending along the peripheral wall  13  and projecting upward from the top face  11 . In this embodiment, the midsole  10  is made of EVA. The outsole  20  is glued to the bottom face  12  of the midsole  10 .  
         [0023]     The reinforcement member  30 ′ in the second embodiment includes an inner layer  35  and an outer layer  36  glued to the inner layer  35 . The inner layer  35  is made of leather or fabric, whereas the outer layer  36  is made from a PU material. The inner margin  33  of the inner layer  35  is secured to the top face  11  of the midsole  10  along the length of the outer peripheral end of the top face  11 . The outer margin  34  of the reinforcement member  30 ′ extends to the bottom face  12  of the midsole  10  and is secured between the midsole  10  and the outsole  20 . The bottom open end  42  of the upper  40  extends along the inner margin  33  of the reinforcement member  30 ′, and is turned outward, and is sewn to the reinforcement member  30 ′ and the midsole  10 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  shows a third embodiment of the present invention which differs from the second embodiment in that the bottom open end  42  of the upper  40  is turned outward and then inward before it is sewn to the reinforcement member  30 ′.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a fourth embodiment of the present invention includes an upper  40 , a reinforcement member  30 ″, an outsole  20  and a midsole  10 ′ like the second embodiment. However, the shape of the midsole  10 ′ is different from the midsole  10  of the second embodiment, and the reinforcement member  30 ″ is formed as a strip of substantially L-shaped cross-section. As discussed above, the reinforcement member  30 ″ also can be substantially T-shaped in cross-section. In fact, the shape of the cross-section of the aforesaid strip allows different types of cross-sections and is not limited only to L-shaped or T-shaped. The reinforcement member  30 ″ may be made of any high tear strength material such as PU, rubber, PVC, or TPR. The reinforcement member  30 ″ extends along the peripheral wall  13 ′ of the midsole  10 ′ and is glued to the top face  11  of the midsole  10 ′. The bottom open end  42  of the upper  40  is sewn to the reinforcement member  30 ″ opposite to the top face  11 . In fact, the upper  40  may first be stitched to the reinforcement member  30 ″ and then attached or glued to the midsole  10 ′ and the outsole  20 .  
         [0026]     Apart from achieving the objective and results of the first preferred embodiment, the reinforcement member  30 ″ in the fourth embodiment can provide an outer appearance similar to that of the Opanka construction by merely using the midsole  10 ′ which is flat like the commonly used midsole. As such, it is unnecessary to provide a specially designed midsole such as that shown in  FIG. 1 . In manufacturing, the reinforcement member  30 ″ may be first sewn or stitched to the midsole  10 ′ and then stitched or sewn to the upper  40 . Or, the reinforcement member  30 ″ may be first sewn or stitched to the upper  40  and then sewn or stitched to the midsole  10 ′.  
         [0027]     As described above, the shoe provided with the reinforcement member  30 ″ in the fourth embodiment can have an outer appearance of the Opanka construction. Furthermore, the material of the midsole need not be limited to a particular high tearing strength material, and the weight of the shoe can be reduced.  
         [0028]     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.