Patent Publication Number: US-2006005432-A1

Title: Shoe

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a shoe and more particularly, it relates to a shoe which is easily put on.  
      2. Description of the Background Art  
      An easy wearable shoe is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 11-113609, for example.  
      According to the shoe disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 11-113609, a heel covering part covered by an outside rear end and an inside rear end is provided at a heel part of the shoe, and a band having a fastener is provided at the outside rear end. When the band passes through a band sleeve provided at the inside rear end and it is folded, it comes to a position to be fixed by the fastener.  
      The conventional shoe considering the ease of putting on is constituted as described above. The shoe can be easily put on or taken off by loosing or fastening a band.  
      However, according to the above constitution, it is necessary to loose or fasten the band every time the shoe is put on or taken off, and actually it is not easy to put the shoe on.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe which can firmly hold a foot and can be easily put on or taken off.  
      According to the present invention, a shoe comprises a sole and an upper positioned above the sole and having a height so as to cover up to an ankle. The upper comprises a lower upper including a tongue for covering an instep, right and left side parts having a height so as to cover an anklebone and gradually reduced in height backward, and a rear part which connects the right and left side parts; and a higher upper having a height so as to cover the ankle from a position overlapping with an upper region of the lower upper, one end connected to one side part of the lower upper, a middle region partially and sequentially overlapping with the one side part, the rear part and the other side part of the lower upper, and the other end detachably connected onto the one end.  
      Since the lower upper has the right and left side parts having the height so as to cover the anklebone and gradually reduced in height backward, and the rear part connecting the right and left side parts, the heel part is opened so that the foot can be easily inserted to the sole. Meanwhile, the higher upper is mounted on the lower upper so as to cover the ankle from the position in which it overlaps with an upper region of the lower upper after the foot is put on the sole.  
      As a result, the shoe can be provided which firmly hold the foot and can be easily put on or taken off.  
      Preferably, when the other end of the higher upper is connected to the one end, upper parts of one side part, rear part and the other side part of the higher upper overlapping with the lower upper extend upward from the other end connected to the one end.  
      Further preferably, a dimension of a part in which the higher upper partially overlaps with one side part, the rear part, and the other side part of the lower upper is not less than ½ of a height of the rear part.  
      Still preferably, a connection part connecting the lower upper to the higher upper is provided at a part in which the other side part of the lower upper is partially overlapped, and the connection part is provided on an external surface of the lower upper.  
      Further preferably, the right and left side parts are connected by a connection band. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a shoe whose ankle holding member is developed according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a view taken in the direction of arrows II-II in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a shoe whose ankle holding member is assembled;  
       FIG. 4  is a view taken in the direction of arrows IV-IV in  FIG. 3 ; and  
       FIG. 5  is a view taken in the direction of arrows V-V in  FIG. 3 .  
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanied drawings hereinafter.  FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a baby shoe (for a right foot) according to one embodiment of the present invention in a state before a baby puts it on.  FIG. 2  is a view taken in the direction of the arrows II-II in  FIG. 1 . A shoe for a left foot has the same constitution.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a baby shoe  10  comprises a sole  11  on which a baby foot is put, and an upper which is connected from the sole  11  and positioned above the sole.  
      The upper comprises a lower upper  12  and a higher upper  20 . The lower upper  12  includes a tongue (instep part)  13  which covers an instep of the baby, right and left side parts  14   a  and  14   b  which are gradually reduced in height backward from a position of the instep of the baby, and a rear part  17  which connects the right and left side parts  14   a  and  14   b  at a lower part of a heel. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the right and left side parts  14   a  and  14   b  have a height so as to cover the anklebone  35  (shown by a dotted line in  FIG. 2 ) when the foot of the baby is placed on the sole.  
      A hook and loop fastener  33  which is connected to a hook and loop fastener  31  provided in a heel holding part  22  is provided in the heel direction on the left side part  14   b,  as will be described below.  
      Every hook and loop fastener is provided on an outside (surface) of its mounted surface in the baby shoe  10 .  
      A connection band  15  is provided at a toe to detachably connect the right and left side parts  14   a  and  14   b  to each other.  
      According to the baby shoe in this embodiment, since a heel part of the lower upper  12  can be widely opened, the baby can easily put on the shoe  10 .  
      The higher upper  20  is mounted on a mounting part  16  in the right side part  14   a  of the shoe and extends outside therefrom. The higher upper  20  includes an ankle holding part  21  which covers the right and left sides of the foot and the heel to hold the ankle, and a fixing part  27  provided continuously from the ankle holding part  21  to fix its end part  28  to the shoe  10  in order to hold the ankle by the ankle holding part  21 .  
      The ankle holding part  21  has a height covering from a position overlapping with an upper region of the lower upper  12  to the ankle, and it partially overlaps with the upper portion of right side part  14   a,  the rear part  17 , and the left side part  14   b  in this order from the mounting part  16 .  
      The end part  28  of the fixing part  27  has a hook and loop fastener  32  and this fastener  32  is detachably connected to a hook and loop fastener  34  provided on the opposite side of the illustrated surface as shown by a dotted line in  FIG. 1  in the vicinity of the mounting part  16  of the higher upper  20 .  
      The ankle holding part  21  has the heel holding part  22  surrounding the heel to hold the heel when the foot of the baby is placed on the sole  11  and first and second upper-heel holding parts  23   a  and  23   b  and central upper-heel holding part  24  are provided in an upper part of the heel holding part  22 .  
      The first and second upper-heel holding parts  23   a  and  23   b  and the central upper-heel holding part  24  are separated from the heel holding part  22  by seams as shown by dashed lines in  FIG. 1  so that the whole ankle holding part  21  is cushioned except for the seam part.  
      When the baby puts on the shoe  10 , the baby put its foot on the sole  11  first. Then, the higher upper  20  is moved in a direction shown by arrows in  FIGS. 1 and 2  to cover the ankle of the baby from behind and connect the hook and loop fasteners  31  and  32  to the hook and loop fasteners  33  and  34 , respectively. The connection band  15  connects the right and left side parts  14   a  and  14   b  so as to fit the foot of the baby.  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a state when the baby puts on the shoe  10 .  FIG. 4  is a view taken in the direction of arrows IV-IV in  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 5  is a view taken in the direction of arrows V-V in  FIG. 3 .  
      As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , since the right and left side parts  14   a  and  14   b  are adjustably connected by the connection band  15 , a metatarsal bone of the baby can be retained so that the shoe can fit the foot of the baby.  
      Further, since the first and second upper-heel holding parts  23   a  and  23   b  and the central upper-heel holding part  24  extend upward from the fixing part  27 , the ankle can be sufficiently supported by the ankle holding part  21 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 4 , a dimension t 1  of an overlapping part of a lower end of the higher upper  20  with upper ends of the right and left side parts  14   a  and  14   b  is set so as to be not less than ½ of a height t 2  of the rear part  17 . As a result, the left side part  14   b  and the higher upper  20  do not easily become loose combined with the bonding force between the hook and loop fasteners  31  and  33 , so that the ankle of the baby can be firmly retained.  
      Meanwhile, when the baby takes off the shoe  10 , reverse procedures are taken. That is, the connection band  15  is disconnected and the fastener  32  of the fixing part  27  is removed from the fastener  34  to open the higher upper  20 . Thus, the heel part of the shoe can be widely opened and the heel part of the baby is released, so that the baby foot can be easily pulled out, that is, the shoe is taken off.  
      As a result, there can be provided the shoe which is easily put on or taken off.  
      Although a description has been made of the case where the connection band is provided in addition to the higher upper in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this case and only the higher upper may hold the baby foot.  
      In addition, although a description has been made of the case where the present invention is applied to the baby shoes in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the baby shoes, and the present invention may be applied to shoes for adults or shoes for elderly people.  
      Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above illustrated embodiment. Various kinds of modifications can be added to the illustrated embodiment within the same or equivalent scope of the present invention.  
      The shoe according to the present invention can be advantageously used as a shoe which can be easily put on or taken off since wide opening area can be provided, and the ankle can be held according to a foot size.