Abstract:
For wearing apparel, piping in a predetermined pattern comprising transparent hollow tubing secured to the wearing apparel and rods of various colors removably inserted in said tubing whereby the color effect of the wearing apparel may be changed by selectively interchanging the color rods in the tubing.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/631,911 filed Nov. 30, 2004. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to improvements in athletic shoes and more specifically to a piping design characterized by novel features of construction and arrangement including means for selectively changing the appearance or color of the piping.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     In the past, athletic shoes from different sporting goods companies tended to generally to look alike or have a basic similar appearance. In recent times there has been a trend toward more stylish multi-colored designs. These different and distinctive designs are associated with the more well recognized sports personalities and by reason of this association enhance the sales of the athletic shoes sponsored by these well known personalities. It is noted, even though shoes are stylish and multi-colored, the color design is fixed and cannot be selectively changed. In other words, these unusual colorful designs are identifiable with a specific sports personality and the fixed color scheme does not serve any functional feature of the athletic shoe.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel athletic shoe arrangement wherein the design of the shoe and particularly the colors of the design may be selectively varied by the user.  
         [0005]     Another object of the present invention is to provide an athletic shoe characterized by novel features of construction and arrangement including a piping configuration on the surface of the shoe which is made of a transparent material and color rods which may be selectively threaded into the piping which are selected from one of a plurality of color rods of different colors.  
         [0006]     The present invention therefore, provides an athletic shoe which is of attractive design and where the user can selectively vary the color scheme to match and/or contrast with other colors worn by the user. By the interchangeability of the color rods, the user can choose for example to adopt the school colors when using the athletic footwear as a participant on a team or as a cheerleader for a particular school. The user can then change the colors when the user wants to wear the shoes for another function where the choice of the color rods will be dictated by the ensemble or other wearing apparel of the user.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     These and other objects of the present invention and the various features and details of the operation and construction thereof are hereinafter more fully set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0008]      FIG. 1 . is a perspective view of an athletic shoe incorporating the selectively changeable piping feature of the present invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a right side elevational view of the shoe assembly;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the shoe incorporating piping in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the shoe;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is left side elevational view of the athletic piping shoe in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a view from the rear of the shoe;  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is front elevational view of the piping shoe in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the shoe as viewed from the rear of the shoe;  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  is an enlarged fragmentary view of the portion of the shoe circled in  FIG. 8 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 10  is a fragmentary view similar to  FIG. 9  showing the latch overlying one end of the front piping;  
         [0018]      FIG. 11  is a fragmentary view similar to  FIG. 10  showing the color rod being withdrawn;  
         [0019]      FIG. 12  is a fragmentary view of the back portion of the shoe circled in  FIG. 8 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 13  is a view similar to  FIG. 12  with the rear latch in an open position;  
         [0021]      FIG. 14  is a view showing the piping rod being withdrawn; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 15  is a transverse sectional view taken on lines  15 - 15  of  FIG. 14  showing the base of the tubing underlying the upper material of the shoe to secure the tubing in place by stitching.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]     Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated a shoe incorporating a novel ornamental piping arrangement in accordance with the present invention generally designated by the numeral  10 . The shoe is of a generally conventional construction comprising a sole  12 , an upper portion  14  and a tongue  16 . The upper portion u-shaped cut out portion  15  and a series of openings  18  for a conventional shoe lace  20 ;  
         [0024]     In accordance with the present invention, the shoe is provided with a novel ornamental feature including flexible tubing generally designated by numeral  30  secured to the upper of the shoe in a preselected pattern and color rods  32  are mounted in the tubing which can be selectively changed thereby presenting different color arrangements. As illustrated in  FIGS. 2-7  inclusive, the flexible tube-color rod assembly is mounted on the upper  14  in two (2) generally parallel lines L 1  and L 2  on either side of the u-shaped opening  15  from a point near the foot opening  34  in the shoe downwardly to the toe at the point  36 . The flexible tube-color rod assembly is also mounted on the heel area in a gently curved pattern running from the mid-sole on one side upwardly around the heel adjacent the foot opening and extending to the mid sole on the opposite side of the shoe. This arrangement is generally designated as L 3 .  
         [0025]     The tubular member as best illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 9  is preferably made of a transparent plastic material and comprises a base  40  and a hollow tubular member  42  of circular cross section extending upwardly from the base  40  and of a size to accommodate the color rod  32 . The base  40  may be secured to the shoe, for example, by stitching the extended flange portions  44  of the base  40  to the shoe. Note that the shoe material M overlies the flanges  44  and the stitching S secures the tubular member to the shoe exterior. In the present instance, the heel assembly comprises two sections  43  and  45  and separate rods  44  for each section and a tab  50  which overlies the juncture  47  of the two heel sections  43  and  45  and locks with a velcro pad  52  on the shoe so it can be released when desired to replace the color rods in the heel. A similar flap or tab  52  is provided on the upper ends of the Sections L 1  and L 2  for the same purpose. If desired, the tab  52  may simply overlie the end of the color rod and not be secured.  
         [0026]     Assume that the user wants to change color rods to from those now in the athletic shoe, the user simply releases the velcro tabs  52  at the inner ends of the piping L 1  and L 2  and simply takes the color rod and pulls it out of the tubing and replace it with a different color. The same procedure is followed for changing the color rod in the heel of the shoe. It is noted that even though the heel color rods are shown as separate elements, they may be one continuous element which is threaded from opposite ends into the tubing which is split to create a gap G adjacent the center of the heel portion as shown in  FIG. 8 . Of course, separate color rods for the heel portion offer more variety to the extent that the color rod on one side can be one color and the color on the other side may be of a contrasting different color. The typical school colors are a combination of two colors and where the user desires to match the shoe piping colors with those of the school the separate left and right heel and toe piping facilitates two color designs.  
         [0027]     Even though a particular embodiment of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not intended to limit the invention and changes and modifications may be made therein wither the scope of the attached claims.