Abstract:
An attachable-detachable accessory for shoes which includes a curved member having first and second arms biased toward each other to enable attachment of the accessory to the heel of a shoe. The curved member carries an appropriate speaker and a digital control medium and a control circuit, therefore along with an appropriate battery and switch control means for activating the digital storage medium to produce desired audio.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates generally to shoes and more particularly to an accessory that hosts cellular, GPS and/or computing technology and also has technology that produces audio signals and which is attachable to and detachable from a shoe. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    For a number of years articles of foot wear have been developed which have incorporated into the foot wear audio devices which provide music or other sound effects. Typically the speakers and the audio circuitry including the appropriate memory devices are built directly into and form a part of the shoe such as being incorporated into the side walls or the tongue of the shoe. Alternatively in some instances the shoe is designed to have formed therein a cavity or a channel which extends into the sole or heel of the shoe and receives a module containing various parts of the audio producing structure. In some instances a pocket or similar receptacle is formed in a side wall of the shoe which retains the module which contains the sound producing audio module. In shoes designed in this fashion where the speaker is mounted either on the tongue of the shoe or within an audio module that is retained in the pocket or other receptacle on the side of the shoe or into a cavity or opening formed in the sole of the shoe, the speakers are extremely limited in size which compromises the sound volume and quality which can be achieved. It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that to produce shoes of this type requires additional manufacturing effort and adds costs and also when the shoe is worn to a degree such that it is no longer wearable and must be discarded then typically the voice producing modules designed and incorporated into the shoe are also discarded along with the shoe. 
         [0003]    There is thus needed an accessory which may be attached to a shoe as desired by the user and that also may be detached when it is not desired to have the audio producing capability or alternatively to move the audio producing capability from one pair of shoes to a different pair of shoes. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    An attachable shoe accessory including a curved member having first and second arms which are biased toward each other and shaped to be received on the heel portion of a shoe, a speaker, a battery, switch means and a digital storage medium and control circuit therefore carried by the curved member such that the control circuit when activated by the switch applies audio from the digital storage medium to the speaker. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a curved member constructed in accordance with the principals of the present invention; 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  illustrates the curved member of  FIG. 1  attached to the heel portion of a shoe; 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  illustrates the curved member of the present invention with a retainer connected thereto; and 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  illustrates the structure of  FIG. 3  incorporated into the shoe of the wearer. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    Referring now more particularly to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a curved member  10  having a first arm  12  and a second arm  14 , which are interconnected together by a bight  16 . The curved member  10  may be constructed of any material desired, however, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention the member  10  is constructed of a flexible molded plastic material such as polyvinylcholoride with the arms  12  and  14  being biased toward each other so that when the curved member  10  is attached to the heel of the shoe of a wearer there is sufficient force to grip the heel portion of the shoe and hold the curved member  10  in place on the heel of the shoe of the wearer. 
         [0010]    The curved member  10  is constructed in such a manner as to carry the various components to produce an audio signal and/or hosts cellular, GPS and/or computing technology. For example as shown schematically in  FIG. 1 , a speaker  18  is attached to the member  10 , such for example, on the interconnection between the arm  12  and the bight  16 . The speaker  18  is mounted in opening provided in the curved member  10  and attached to the curved member  10  by fasteners (not shown), adhesives, being snapped into a groove provided in the curved member, or any other fastening means so that the speaker  18  is securely positioned upon the curved member  10 . It would be recognized by those skilled in the art that a speaker of reasonable size can be carried by the curved member  10  and would thus provide reasonably good volume and quality of audio. 
         [0011]    A digital storage medium and cellular, computing, GPS and the control circuit for the digital storage medium as shown at  20  are attached to the curved member  10 , such for example, as between the arm  14  and the bight  16  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Again the storage medium and the control circuit  20  may be inserted into an opening provided in the curved member  10  or otherwise affixed to the member  10  by being attached by any means desired such as an adhesive, fasteners (not shown), snapped into a groove provided in the curved member, or the like. An appropriate electrical connection  22  is provided between the storage medium and control circuit  20  and the speaker so that the audio produced would be transmitted to the speaker. In order to download the desired audio signal to the digital storage medium there is provided an additional electrical connector  24  which is attached to the digital storage medium contained at  20  and is also be connected to a port  26 . The port  26  is adapted to be connected to a computer or similar other device which would be adapted to download the desired music or other audio signal to the digital storage medium contained at  20 , as would be clearly understood by the skilled in the art. The port may also include additional electrical connections to provide the ability to recharge a battery  28  which is also carried by the curved member  10 . The battery  28  would also be attached to the curved member in any manner desired as above described in conjunction with the speaker and the digital storage medium and control circuit for it. Thus, it may be inserted within an opening provided in the curved member  10  such as in the arm  14  or attached directly thereto. A switch means  30  is also provided to interconnect the battery  28  and the control circuit contained at  20 . The switch means  30  may be any switch means known to the art, such for example, an on/off switch which may be activated by the user or alternatively activated by the application of a force generated by pressure or motion such as the walking or running by the user while , wearing a shoe to which the accessory of the present invention is attached. Additionally and in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the switch means  30  may be remotely controlled by the user in a manner well known to those skilled in the art such as by a transmission of a radio frequency signal or the like. In addition, as part of the control circuit there would be included a volume control and the volume control could also be remotely controlled by the user with an appropriate remote control unit. 
         [0012]    By reference now more particularly to  FIG. 2 , there is illustrated the curved member as shown at  10  in  FIG. 1 , which has been covered by an appropriate material, such as a fabric or a foam plastic or the like which would serve to both hide the various components carried by the curved member  10  and also to protect them from the elements. As is shown in  FIG. 2 , the completed unit  32  is attached to the heel portion of a shoe  34 . The unit  32  may be detachable simply by removing it from the heel of the shoe and thus it can be connected to a computer through the port  26  for the purpose of downloading or changing the audio content on the digital storage medium and also would be connected to the appropriate electrical source to recharge the battery  28 . As can be seen by reference to  FIG. 2 , the completed accessory  32  may easily be attached to or detached from the heel of the shoe and moved thusly from shoe to shoe as desired. 
         [0013]    In some instances it may be desired to more clearly secure the accessory  32  in place on a shoe and assure that even if there are large forces applied to the shoe, such as by running, walking, jumping or the like that the accessory cannot be detached. For this purpose as is shown in  FIG. 3  to which reference is hereby made, there is provided a retainer  36  which is secured to the arms  12  and  14 . As is illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the retainer is a flexible member which includes a central section  38  having a sufficient length to fit it within the shoe and to receive the foot of the user to thus secure the curved member to the heel of the shoe. The retainer  36  may constructed of any material desired, such as fabric or an elastic type material. As is illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the retainer  36  is secured to the cover which is placed around the curved member  10 . 
         [0014]    As is shown in  FIG. 4 , to which reference is hereby made. The retainer fits internally of the shoe such that the foot of the wearer when inserted into the shoe sits upon the central section  38  of the retainer to thus secure the accessory  32  in place on the heel of the shoe. 
         [0015]    In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the control circuit may also include blue tooth technology which would allow the audio stored on the digital control medium to be connected to headphones or ear plugs worn by the user, such for example as shown at  40  in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0016]    There has thus been disclosed an accessory for a shoe which may be attached to the shoe or detached from the shoe and which when activated either manually or remotely produces a desired audio signal which has been stored upon a digital storage medium carried by the accessory and activated by an appropriate control circuit.