Patent Publication Number: US-2003230007-A1

Title: Article of footwear

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates generally to shoe sole construction for footwear and, specifically, to an interchangeable sole element which works in cooperation with threaded studs to provide additional traction and support for a wearer.  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art  
       [0004] Various types of shoe sole constructions are known in the prior art for providing additional traction and support for wearers engaged in a variety of activities. For example, in fishing and other water related activities, the user often wears a sandal, boot or wader and must traverse slippery rocks and gravel and may also encounter moving water. Accordingly, conventional fishing waders are usually provided with integrally molded gripping soles for the purpose of supporting a user under slippery conditions. Fly fishing boots and sandals have been provided with felt soles to improve traction. Shoes or boots with traction improving roles are also used in industrial areas, for example, in roofing tasks. It is generally recognized in the industrial and sporting industries, that no single sole design will provide the best traction under all conditions. As a result, a large number of anti-slipping devices have been devised for attachment to the soles of shoes, boots and the like for providing improved traction when needed.  
       [0005] Certain of the prior art designs featured outer soles which were worn by persons over regular footwear. For example, it has been known for some time to design anti-slip outer soles that are provided with cleats. This is generally been done in the form of sandals or some other type of clip-on or tie-on device that is attached beneath the sole portion of regular footwear. Customarily such attachment is accomplished by means of straps. However, in other cases, the attachment means employed included toe or heel hoods or caps.  
       [0006] One non-slip sandal in issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,090, to Smith, and features a sole plate made from a semi-flexible material which utilizes fabric straps or laces attached to the sole plate to secure a sandal to a shoe or boot of the wearer. The Smith patent provides interchangeable cleats or studs for different traction surfaces and also provides a replaceable layer of synthetic foam material on the bottom of the sole plate which can be secured into position by means of “Velcro.” 
       [0007] Despite the above described advances in the art, a need exists for an improved shoe sole construction which can be adapted to a variety of types of footwear to provide improved traction and support under a variety of conditions.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008] The article of footwear of the invention includes a foot receiving member having an upper, foot receiving region and a lower sole region. The lower sole region has a bottom, initially exposed surface defined by a periphery. The bottom surface also has a plurality of threaded bores located therein. The bores have mouth regions extending downwardly from the bottom surface of the sole region generally perpendicular thereto.  
       [0009] An interchangeable sole element is provided having an upper surface, a lower surface and a peripheral edge. The peripheral edge of the sole element is sized to generally mate with the periphery of the bottom surface of the sole region. The sole element has a plurality of bores which communicate the upper and lower surfaces thereof and which are positioned to be aligned with the threaded bores of the lower sole region when the interchangeable sole element is aligned with the lower sole region.  
       [0010] A plurality of threaded studs are sized to pass through the bores in the interchangeable sole element and to threadedly engage the threaded bores in the bottom surface of the sole region to thereby affix the interchangeable sole element to the sole region of the foot receiving member. The studs have a height which is defined between an inner extent and an outer tip. The studs are sized and positioned with respect to the lower surface of the sole element to allow the tips thereof to extend beyond a plane defined by the lower surface of the sole element by a distance in the range from 2 to 5 mm.  
       [0011] The foot receiving member can be a sandal having a sole plate region which is received about the shoe or boot of a wearer. The foot receiving member can also be a boot itself, a portion of a hip wader or a portion of a chest wader each of which employs the improved sole construction of the invention.  
       [0012] Additional objects, features and advantages will be apparent in the written description which follows.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0013]FIG. 1 shows an article of footwear of the invention in exploded fashion illustrating the attachment of the interchangeable sole element with the foot receiving member.  
     [0014]FIG. 2 is an isolated view of a portion of the sole element of FIG. 1 showing its attachment with a metal stud.  
     [0015]FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the assembled article of footwear of FIG. 1.  
     [0016]FIG. 4 is a side, cross-sectional view of a portion of the sole element and foot receiving member of the article of footwear of FIG. 3.  
     [0017]FIG. 5 is a side view of the assembled article of footwear of FIG. 3.  
     [0018]FIG. 6 is a side, cross-sectional view of a portion of another interchangeable sole utilized in the article of footwear of the invention.  
     [0019]FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a bob sole element.  
     [0020]FIGS. 8A and 8B are top and side views respectively of the metal stud used to secure the sole element to the foot receiving member of the invention.  
     [0021]FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines IX-IX in FIG. 7.  
     [0022]FIG. 10 is a view of a wearer utilizing chest waders having the improved sole construction of the invention.  
     [0023]FIG. 11 is a perspective view of one version of the foot receiving member of the invention showing the strap construction thereof.  
     [0024]FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the sandal of FIG. 11 in place over the boot of a wearer, the boot being shown in dotted lines.  
     [0025]FIG. 13 is a side, perspective view of a traditional boot employing the improved sole construction of the invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0026] Turning to FIG. 1 there is shown an article of footwear designated generally as  11 . The article of footwear, in this case a sandal, includes a foot receiving member  13  having an upper, foot receiving region  15  and a lower sole region  17 . The lower sole region  17  has a bottom, initially exposed surface  19  defined by a periphery  21 . The bottom surfaces  19  has a plurality of threaded bores  23  located therein. As shown in FIG. 2, each bore  23  has a mouth region  25  which extends downwardly from the bottom surface of the sole region  17  along an axis  27  generally perpendicular to the surface  17 .  
     [0027]FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of an interchangeable sole element  29  having an upper surface  31  and a lower surface  33  and a peripheral edge  35 . The peripheral edge  35  of the sole element  29  is sized to generally mate with the periphery  21  of the bottom surface  19  of the sole region  17 . The sole element  29  has a plurality of bores  37  which communicate the upper and lower surfaces  31 ,  33  thereof and which are positioned to be in alignment with the threaded bores  23  of the lower sole region  17  when the interchangeable sole element  29  is aligned with the lower sole region.  
     [0028] A plurality of threaded studs  39  are sized to pass through the bores  37  in the interchangeable sole element  29  and to threadedly engage the threaded bores  23  in the bottom surface  19  of the sole region  17  to thereby affix the interchangeable sole element to the sole region of the foot receiving member. As shown in FIG. 4, the studs have a height “h” which is defined between an inner extent  41  and an outer tip  43 . As will be described in greater detail, the studs are sized and positioned with respect to the lower surface  33  of the sole element  29  to allow the tips  43  thereof to extend beyond a plane defined by the lower surface of the sole element for a distance in the range of 2 to 5 millimeters, preferably 3 to 4 millimeters. With reference to FIG. 4, “d” represents the distance between the tip  43  and the plane of the lower surface  33 .  
     [0029]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled article of footwear with the sole element  29  secured to the sole region  17  by means of a plurality of of threaded studs  39 .  
     [0030] Various techniques can be employed to achieve the desired positioning of the stud tips relative to the plane of the lower surface  33  of the sole element. For example, in the embodiment of the invention of FIG. 1, the interchangeable sole element  29  is formed of conventional felt material. However, the felt material has recesses  47  (FIGS. 2 and 4) formed therein. The recesses may be formed by heat impressing the felt in such a way as to allow the stud to sit recessed within the felt by a depth sufficient to allow the stud tip  43  to extend beyond the top of the felt by 3 to 4 millimeters in the most preferred case.  
     [0031] FIGS.  5 - 9  illustrate another embodiment of the interchangeable sole element which features a rubber “bob” sole. The sole element  50  again has recesses  57  and threaded studs  49  for attaching the sole element to the front recurring member.  
     [0032] The rubber bob sole, as shown in FIG. 6, features a plurality of outwardly extending protuberances  55  which extend beyond an inner plane  57  of the sole element. As shown in FIG. 7, the protuberances  55  can be arranged in a variety of patterns to provide the desired degree of traction. In order to provide the desired recessed effect for a bob sole, it is necessary to build up a rubber platform on top of the sole inner plane  57  upon which the tip of metal stud rests, thereby extending the tip of the stud beyond the outer plane ( 45  in FIG. 6) of the interchangeable sole element by 3 to 4 millimeters in the preferred example. The amount of rubber added to build up the rubber platform is illustrated as “t”. The distances “d,” in FIG. 6 is approximately 3 to 4 millimeters.  
     [0033]FIG. 11 illustrates one form of the article of footwear of the invention which features a foot receiving member  60  in the form of a sandal. The sandal  60  has a sole plate  59  with an upstanding heel member  61  and a toe region  63  for receiving a wearer&#39;s foot. A series of straps are utilized to retain the foot receiving member about the wearer&#39;s foot. In this case, two straps  65 ,  67  are utilized. Strap  65  is permanently sewn to an opening  69  in the toe region of the foot receiving member and passes first through a clip  71  and then out an opening  73  provided in the heel member  61 . Similarly, strap  67  is permanently sewn within an opening  75  in the toe region  63  and extends first through a clip  77  and then through an opening  79  provided in the heel member  61 . Commercially available bayonet fastening elements  81 ,  83  are used to secure to secure the straps about the ankle and foot of the wearer. FIG. 12 illustrates the foot receiving member  60  in place over the boot of a wearer with the boot being shown in dotted lines.  
     [0034] Although the invention has been generally described with respect to a wear over sandal (shown in FIG. 11), it will be understood that the improved sole construction could be employed on a traditional boot such as the boot  85  shown in FIG. 13. The improved sole element  86  is held in place by means of threaded studs (not shown) as previously described. The improved sole construction could also be utilized with a hip wader or chest wader such as the wader shown as  87  in FIG. 10. The improved soles are shown as  88  in FIG. 10.  
     [0035] An invention has been provided with several advantages. Existing metal studded footwear has been developed to provide improved traction. However, the improved sole construction of the invention provides interchangeable soles that work in conjunction with metal studs to provide even more traction and stability. The interchangeable soles are designed in such a way that, when attached to the bottoms of sandals, boots or waders, the metal studs are allowed to extend beyond the outer plane of the sole by approximately 2 to 5 millimeters. This degree of clearance allows the stud to penetrate a surface, followed by the attached sole, so that additional traction and support are achieved. The interchangeable soles can be provided in a variety of configurations including conventional felt and custom designed rubber bob soles. The soles are quicky and easily interchangeable by means of threaded metal studs which are received within mating bores in the bottom surfaces of the foot receiving member. The interchangeable sole construction can be employed in wear-over sandals or in traditional types of footwear such as hunting and hiking boots, fishing waders, and the like.  
     [0036] While the invention has been shown in only one of its forms, it is not thus limited but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.