Patent Publication Number: US-9408434-B2

Title: Footwear

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 102207227, filed on Apr. 19, 2013. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a footwear, more particularly to a footwear suitable for water sports and/or water activities. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A conventional shoe for wading as disclosed in Taiwanese Patent No. 373450 includes a sole, an upper integrated with a top portion of the sole, and an anti-slipping mat integrated with a bottom portion of the sole. If the upper and the anti-slipping mat are glued to the sole, the glue will gradually lose its adhesive strength after the conventional shoe has been soaked in water, thus shortening the service life of the conventional shoe. If the upper and the anti-slipping mat are to be sewn to the sole, due to the overall thickness of the conventional shoe, the sewing process would be rather difficult. 
     Another conventional shoe for wading as disclosed in Taiwanese Patent No. M377900 includes an insole that is stacked on and fixed to a top portion of an outsole with adhesive which will also gradually lose its adhesive strength after the conventional shoe has been soaked in water, thus shortening the service life of the conventional shoe. If sewing is used instead, the result is similar to that of the conventional shoe previously mentioned. Therefore, these conventional shoes could only be made into “flip-flops,” limiting the functionality and wearing stability thereof, especially during water sports and/or activities, where the conventional shoe is likely to slide off a user&#39;s foot and possibly get lost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a shoe that can eliminate the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art. 
     According to the present invention, there is provided a footwear suitable for water sports/activities that includes an outsole, an insole and an upper. 
     The outsole includes an annular peripheral portion, a plurality of support portions and an annular inner ridge. The annular peripheral portion has a hole-defining surface. The support portions respectively extend in directions substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the shoe, are each connected at two ends to the annular peripheral portion, and cooperate with the hole-defining surface of the annular peripheral portion to define a plurality of block-receiving holes. The annular inner ridge protrudingly extends from the hole-defining surface of the annular peripheral portion into the block-receiving holes. 
     The insole includes an insole body formed with an annular outer groove and a plurality of wearproof blocks connected to the insole body. The insole is formed with a plurality of embedding grooves between adjacent pairs of the wearproof blocks. The insole body is supported by the support portions and the annular peripheral portion with the annular inner ridge received fittingly in the annular outer groove, the support portions received respectively and fittingly in the embedding grooves, and the wearproof blocks received respectively and fittingly in the block-receiving holes. The upper is fixed on the outsole. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a partly exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a footwear suitable for water sports according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partly exploded sectional view of the preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is an assembled sectional view of the preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a partially enlarged view of  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the preferred embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a preferred embodiment of a footwear according to the present invention includes an outsole  10 , an insole  20  and an upper  30 . 
     The outsole  10  includes an annular peripheral port ion  11 , a plurality of support portions  13 , and an annular inner ridge  113 . 
     The annular peripheral portion  11  has a hole-defining surface  111 . The support portions  13  respectively extend in directions substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the footwear, are each connected at two ends to the annular peripheral portion  11 , and cooperate with the hole-defining surface  111  of the annular peripheral portion  11  to define a plurality of block-receiving holes  141 . The annular inner ridge  113  protrudingly extends from the hole-defining surface  111  of the annular peripheral portion  11  into the block-receiving holes  141 . One of the support portions  13 A that is disposed proximate to a middle section of the annular peripheral portion  11  is greater in size than the remaining one(s) of the support portions  13 B. Each of the support portions  13 B protrudes downwardly from the bottom side of the annular peripheral portion  11  and from the support portion  13 A. 
     Further referring to  FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 , the insole  20  includes an insole body  21  that is formed with an annular outer groove  211 , and a plurality of wearproof blocks  22  that are connected to the insole body  21 . The insole body  21  is made of a soft and comfortable material whereas the wearproof blocks  22  are made of wear-resistant material. The insole  20  is formed with a plurality of embedding grooves  23  between adjacent pairs of the wearproof blocks  22 . The insole body  21  is supported by the support portions  13  and the annular peripheral portion  11  with the annular inner ridge  113  received fittingly in the annular outer groove  211 , the support portions  13  received respectively and fittingly in the embedding grooves  23 , and the wearproof blocks  22  received respectively and fittingly in the block-receiving holes  141 . In this embodiment, the insole body  21  and the wearproof blocks  22  of the insole  20  are made of different materials and are molded as one piece. 
     In this embodiment, each of the embedding grooves  23  has two inner recessed portions  231  respectively concaved in forward and rearward directions such that the embedding groove  23  has a restricted opening at a bottom side of the insole  20 . Each of the support portions  13  includes two engaging protrusions  133  that respectively and protrudingly extend in the forward and rearward directions and that respectively and embeddingly engage the inner recessed portions  231  of the respective one of said embedding grooves  23 . 
     In addition, the insole  20  is further formed with a plurality of first draining holes  24  extending through the insole body  21  and through the wearproof blocks  22 . The support portions  13  of the outsole  10  are formed with at least one first through hole  132 , and the insole body  21  is further formed with at least one second through hole  212  registered with and in spatial communication with the first through hole  132 , thus cooperatively forming at least one second draining hole  25  in the insole  20 . 
     The upper  30  is fixed on the outsole  10 , and includes an annular bottom piece  31  sewn to the bottom side of the annular peripheral portion  11 , a connecting piece  32  sewn to the support portion  13 A and connected to the annular bottom piece  31 , and an upper piece  33  connected to the annular bottom piece  31  and disposed above the annular peripheral portion  11 . 
     Before the insole  20  is assembled to the outsole  10 , the annular bottom piece  31  and the connecting piece  32  of the upper  30  are sewn to the annular peripheral portion  11  and the support portion  13 A. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , to assemble the insole  20  and the outsole  10 , the insole  20  is pushed downward such that the insole body  21  is supported by the support portions  13  and the annular peripheral portion  11 , that the annular inner ridge  113  is received fittingly in the annular outer groove  211 , that the support portions  13  are received respectively and fittingly in the embedding grooves  23 , and that the wearproof blocks  22  are received respectively and fittingly in the block-receiving holes  141  as previously described, thereby firmly assembling the outsole  10 , the insole  20 , and the upper  30  together to form the footwear. It is worth mentioning that, while the upper  30  is sewn onto the outsole  10  in the preferred embodiment, the same may also be combined to the outsole  10  in alternative ways, such as being tied, embedded (not shown). 
     Accordingly, the advantages of the present invention are summarized as follows:
         A) Due to the embedding coupling between the wearproof blocks  22  and the block-receiving holes  141 , between the support portions  13  and the embedding grooves  23 , and between the annular inner ridge  113  and the annular outer groove  211 , the insole  20  is easily secured onto the outsole  10 . Therefore, no adhesive is needed for the assembly of the footwear of this invention, no unglue would occur, and longer service life is provided.   B) The thickness of the annular peripheral portion  11  of the outsole  10  may be kept small to permit easy sewing of the upper  30  to the annular peripheral portion  11  without jeopardizing the engagement between the insole  20  and the outsole  10 .   C) Unlike the prior art, the footwear of this invention is not limited to a flip-flop. Therefore, the upper  30  can be made to cover a majority of a foot of a user to prevent the footwear from falling off.