Patent Abstract:
An article of footwear including an outsole, an upper attached to the outsole and a heel portion attached to the outsole and movably connected to the upper. The heel portion is movable between a support position, where the heel portion is substantially transverse to the outsole, and a mule position, where the heel portion is substantially parallel to the outsole. A cushioning heel pad is attached to an outer surface of the heel portion, where the heel pad has a designated thickness and contacts and supports a user&#39;s heel when the heel portion is in the mule position.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A mule is a type of shoe that typically has a closed toe and is backless or has no strap around the heel. These types of shoes are designed for a foot to easily slide into or out of the shoe. Such shoes are desirable because the slip-on style is convenient as it takes a short time to put the shoes on with no buckles or shoelaces to tie, and mules can be worn with any style of dress from casual to formal. 
     Mule-type shoes, however, are not typically worn for activities, such as sports, that involve running, jumping, climbing and quick starting and stopping motions. One reason is that mule-type shoes are not convenient or useful for such activities because the shoes can easily fall off of a person&#39;s foot or feet during these activities. Thus, most athletic shoes used for sports, running and other similar activities have a closed heel to securely hold the shoes on a person&#39;s feet. Many people that wear mule-type shoes, therefore, typically have to carry a pair of closed heel shoes with them to change into if they are going to be doing athletic activities such as sports. Needing an extra pair of shoes for such activities can be burdensome and inconvenient, as well as expensive. 
     Additionally, many people manually convert regular closed heel shoes into mule-type shoes by forcibly smashing the heel downward against the footbed with their feet. In particular, children will forcibly bend the heel down so that they can easily slip their closed heel shoes on and off their feet without having to spend time tying their shoelaces or securing straps. Forcibly bending the heels down on shoes that are not constructed to be bent down causes the material forming the heels to deteriorate and lose support, ultimately destroying the shoes. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     An article of footwear is provided that has a foldable heel portion with a cushioning heel pad that provides comfort and support to a user&#39;s heel when the heel portion is moved downward against a footbed to convert the article of footwear to a mule. 
     In an embodiment, an article of footwear is provided that includes an outsole, an upper attached to the outsole and a heel portion attached to the outsole and movably connected to the upper. The heel portion is movable between a support position, where the heel portion is substantially transverse to the outsole, and a mule position, where the heel portion is substantially parallel to the outsole. A cushioning heel pad is attached to an outer surface of the heel portion, where the heel pad has a designated thickness and contacts and supports a user&#39;s heel when the heel portion is in the mule position. 
     In another embodiment, an article of footwear is provided that includes an outsole, a footbed placed on an upper surface of the outsole and an upper attached to the outsole and enclosing the footbed. The upper defines a foot entry opening and includes a heel portion that is movable between a support position, where the heel portion is substantially transverse to the footbed and supports a back portion of a user&#39;s heel, and a mule position, where the heel portion is substantially parallel to the footbed. A pillow-shaped heel pad is attached to an outer surface of the heel portion, where a user&#39;s heel contacts and is supported by the heel pad when the user&#39;s foot presses against the outer surface of the heel portion and moves the heel portion to the mule position. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a rear perspective view of the present article of footwear having a foldable heel with the heel portion in the support position. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of the article of footwear of  FIG. 1  with the heel portion in the mule position. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the article of footwear shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a fragmentary cross-section view of the heel portion taken substantially along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a rear perspective view of the article of footwear of  FIG. 1  where a user&#39;s foot is inserted into the article of footwear with the heel portion in the support position. 
         FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view of the article of footwear of  FIG. 1  where a user&#39;s foot is inserted into the article of footwear with the heel portion in the mule position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-6 , the present article of footwear includes a foldable heel portion having a cushioning heel pad that provides support and comfort to a user&#39;s heel when the heel portion is folded downward to form a mule-type shoe. 
     The article of footwear or shoe generally designated  10 , includes an upper  12  connected to an outsole  14 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the upper  12  includes a front end  16  and a rear end  18  that are connected by opposing sides  20 . The sides  20  extend to the rear end or heel portion  18  and are joined together by stitching or any suitable connector or connection method. The front end  16  of the upper  12  is generally made of a non-stretchable material portion  21  that extends from a toe portion  22  and along the sides  20  of the upper. The non-stretchable material portion  21  is preferably a polyester air mesh or sandwich mesh material but may be any suitable material or combination of materials. 
     The upper  12  also includes a flex portion  24  that is made of a stretchable material extending down a center area of a top surface of the upper and along the sides  20  to the rear end or heel portion  18 . The flex portion  24  is connected to the non-stretchable material portion  21  of the upper by cross-stitching. It should be appreciated that other types of stitching and other suitable connection methods may be used to connect the flex portion to the non-stretchable material portion. The stretchable material of the flex portion  24  is preferably a laminated stretchable mesh material such as a Lycra® material but may be any suitable material or combination of materials. 
     The toe portion  22  of the upper  12  includes a toe cap  26  made of a suitable durable material such as rubber. Two quarter pieces  28  extend from the toe cap  26  and along the sides  20  of the upper  12 . Each quarter piece  28  includes a generally triangular member  30  having a front edge  32  and a rear edge  34  where the rear edge slants at a designated rearward angle downwardly to the outsole  14 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the quarter pieces  28  are made of a combination of a relatively rigid mesh material and a durable material such as rubber, a PU coated synthetic leather or leather. Each quarter piece  28  is attached to the upper  12  by stitching or other suitable connectors or connection methods. At least two eyelets  36  are attached to the triangular portions  30  and are used to secure one or more shoelaces  38  to the shoe. The eyelets  36  are preferably made of a metal such as stainless steel but may be made out of any suitable material. Each eyelet  36  defines an opening  40  for receiving and securing the shoelaces  38  to the upper  12 . 
     Each side  20  of the front end  16  of the upper  12  includes overlapping shoelace straps  42  where ends  44  of the straps are secured to the upper  12  by stitching and form a loop  46  at an inner end. To help secure the shoelaces  38  to the shoe  10 , a front shoelace guide  48  is attached to a front end  50  of the flex portion  24  and a rear shoelace guide  52  is attached to a rear or opposing end  54  of the flex portion. The rear shoelace guide  52  has a U-shape and is connected at spaced ends  56  to the flex portion  24  by stitching. The opposing end or U-shaped portion  58  of the rear shoelace guide  52  is not fixedly attached to the upper  12  so that the opposing end  58  can be lifted upwardly away from the flex portion  24  to allow the shoelace or shoelaces  38  to be inserted through an opening  60  defined by the rear shoelace guide  52 . The U-shaped portion  58  of the rear shoelace guide  52  includes a loop and hook-type connector  60  such as Velcro® that secures the U-shaped portion  58  to the flex portion  24 . One or more shoelaces  38  are inserted through the front shoelace guide  48 , each of the loops  46  formed by the shoelace straps  42 , the eyelets  36  on the quarter pieces  28  and the opening  62  of the rear shoelace guide  52  in a criss-cross pattern. The shoelaces  38  are tightened by simply pulling on the ends of the shoelaces and then locking the shoelaces in position using a tightener  64 . The tightener  64  includes a release button  66  which enables a user to move the tightener upwardly and downwardly along the shoelaces to respectively tighten and loosen the shoelaces  38  relative to the upper  12 . 
     A lower portion  68  of each quarter piece  28  extends from a bottom end  70  of one of the quarter pieces around the heel portion  18  to the bottom end  70  of the opposing quarter piece as shown in  FIG. 1 . The stretchable material of the flex portion  24  that extends along the sides  20  of the shoe also extends around the periphery of the heel portion  18 . Next to the flex portion  24  is a non-stretchable material section  72  that extends from generally the middle of the heel portion  18  to a foot entry opening  74 . Cross-stitching or other suitable stitching is used to connect the stretchable and non-stretchable materials together at the heel portion  18 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-4 , a cushioning heel pad  76  is attached to the heel portion  18  by stitching and extends from a point below the foot entry opening  74  to the quarter piece  28 . The cushioning heel pad  76  has a pillow shape with a designated thickness for providing support and comfort to a user&#39;s foot as described below. Preferably, the designated thickness of the heel pad  76  is greater than a thickness of the heel portion  18  as best shown in  FIG. 4 . It is contemplated that the heel pad  76  may have any suitable thickness for cushioning and supporting a user&#39;s heel. The cushioning heel pad  76  may be molded or formed from a single material such as a cold press, compression molded Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), and have a designated thickness or be formed from a combination of materials where at least one of the materials is a cushion-type material such as a foam, EVA or rubber. The heel pad  76  is stitched to the heel portion  18  and helps to hold the abutting ends of the upper  12  together. In the illustrated embodiment, the heel pad  76  extends from a point below the foot entry opening  74  to the quarter piece  28 . In another embodiment, the heel pad  76  extends from the foot entry opening  74  to the outsole  14 . 
     A liner  78  made of a flexible or stretchable material is stitched on an inner surface  80  of the upper  12  and extends from the foot entry opening  74  to a strobel  82  connected by stitching to the outsole. The liner  78  is preferably made of a generally stretchable material such as a thin neoprene foam but may be any suitable material. The shoe  10  also includes a removable footbed  84  that is positioned on top of the strobel  82  and has a size and shape conforming to a size and shape of the internal portion of the shoe. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the positioning of the non-stretchable material portion  21  next to or adjacent to the flex portion  24  on each side of the heel portion  18  forms flexible areas, flexible lines or bending zones  86  that enable the heel portion  18  to be folded inwardly toward the footbed  84 . Specifically, when the heel portion  18  is folded inwardly, the opposing sides of the heel portion fold along the respective flexible area or bending zone  86  between the non-stretchable portion  21  and flexible portion  24 . Thus, the heel portion  18  can be folded inwardly and downwardly onto the footbed  84  as best shown in  FIG. 3  to form a mule shoe. In this position, the cushioning heel pad  76  on the outer surface of the heel portion  18  now forms part of the footbed  84  such that when a user&#39;s foot is inserted into the foot entry opening  74 , it contacts and rests on top of the heel pad. 
     As stated above, the cushioning heel pad  76  is formed or molded to have a designated thickness to act as a cushion for providing enhanced comfort and support for a user&#39;s heel when they are wearing the present shoe as a mule. It is contemplated that the size and shape of the cushioning heel pad  76  may be changed to accommodate different sizes of feet and to provide more comfort and support to a user&#39;s heel such as to the rear and sides of the heel. The heel pad  76  may also extend from the foot entry opening  74  down to the quarter piece  28  or be any other suitable size to adjust the cushioning and support provided by the heel pad. 
     To raise and move the heel portion  18  from the mule position ( FIG. 2 ) to the upright or support position ( FIG. 1 ), a user grabs a loop  88  attached to the heel portion  18  and pulls upwardly and rearwardly on the loop. This pulling motion causes the heel portion  18  to move upwardly and outwardly away from the footbed  84  and back to the support position. 
     As described in the above embodiments, the cushioning heel pad  76  of the present shoe  10  provides a significant amount of cushioning, comfort and support for a user&#39;s heel when a user is wearing the shoe as a mule. It should be appreciated that the present shoe  10  may include one or more cushioning heel pads  76 . It should also be appreciated that the heel pad  76  may be any suitable size or shape and can be made with any suitable thickness to enhance the cushioning, comfort and support provided by the heel pad on a user&#39;s foot. 
     While a particular embodiment of the present article of footwear has been described herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0