Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6675499?dq=6,998,619
Timestamp: 2014-03-11 14:47:10
Document Index: 472730048

Matched Legal Cases: ['art.\n19', 'art.\n20', 'art.\n21', 'art.\n22', 'art.\n23', 'art.\n24', 'art.\n25', 'art.\n26', 'art.\n27', 'art.\n35']

Patent US6675499 - Shoe sole structures - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA shoe sole particularly for athletic footwear for supporting the foot of an intended wearer having multiple rounded portions formed by midsole component as viewed in a frontal plane of the sole when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition. The rounded portions approximate the structure...http://www.google.com/patents/US6675499?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6675499 - Shoe sole structuresAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6675499 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/974,794Publication dateJan 13, 2004Filing dateOct 12, 2001Priority dateAug 30, 1989Fee statusLapsedAlso published asUS6662470, US6729046, US7168185, US20020014020, US20020014021, US20020023373, US20040134096Publication number09974794, 974794, US 6675499 B2, US 6675499B2, US-B2-6675499, US6675499 B2, US6675499B2InventorsFrampton E. Ellis, IIIOriginal AssigneeAnatomic Research, Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (99), Non-Patent Citations (15), Referenced by (1), Classifications (18), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetShoe sole structuresUS 6675499 B2Abstract A shoe sole particularly for athletic footwear for supporting the foot of an intended wearer having multiple rounded portions formed by midsole component as viewed in a frontal plane of the sole when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition. The rounded portions approximate the structure of and support provided by features of the human foot. The rounded portions are located proximate to important structural support areas of an intended wearer's foot on either or both sides of the shoe sole or the middle portion of the shoe sole, or at various combinations of these locations. The midsole component also includes an indentation in the sole midtarasal portion, as viewed in a sagittal plane, and midsole component extends into a sidemost section of the sole and above a lowermost point of the midsole component, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an uploaded condition.
What is claimed is: 1. An athletic shoe sole for supporting a foot of an intended wearer, the shoe sole comprising:
a sole inner surface; a sole outer surface; the sole surfaces of the athletic shoe together defining a sole medial side, a sole lateral side, and a sole middle portion between the sole sides; the sole comprising a heel portion at a location substantially corresponding to a heel of the intended wearer's foot, a forefoot portion at a location substantially corresponding to a forefoot of the intended wearer's foot, and a midtarsal portion at a location between the heel and forefoot portions; the heel portion having a lateral heel part at a location substantially corresponding to the lateral tuberosity of the calcaneus of the intended wearer's foot, and a medial heel part at a location substantially corresponding to the base of the calcaneus of the intended wearer's foot; the midtarsal portion having a lateral midtarsal part at a location substantially corresponding to the base of a fifth metatarsal of the intended wearer's foot, and a main longitudinal arch part at a location substantially corresponding to the longitudinal arch of the intended wearer's foot; the forefoot portion having a forward medial forefoot part at a location substantially corresponding to the head of the first distal phalange of the intended wearer's foot, and rear medial and lateral forefoot parts at locations substantially corresponding to the heads of the medial and lateral metatarsals of the intended wearer's foot; at least three rounded portions, each formed by midsole component, each of said rounded midsole portions being located between a convexly rounded portion of an inner surface of the midsole component and a concavely rounded portion of an outer surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, the convexity of the convexly rounded portion of the inner surface of the midsole component existing with respect to a section of the midsole component located adjacent to the convexly rounded inner surface portion, and the concavity of the concavely rounded portion of the outer surface of the midsole component existing with respect to an inner section of the midsole component located adjacent to the concavely rounded outer surface portion; the concavely rounded portion of the outer surface of each of said rounded midsole portions extends at least from a level corresponding to a height of a lowest point of the inner surface of the midsole component to at least a lowermost point of the outer surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; an outer sole; each of said rounded midsole portions being located at a different position on the sole, the different positions comprising positions near to at least one of the medial heel part, lateral heel part, forward medial forefoot part, rear medial forefoot part, rear lateral forefoot part, lateral midtarsal part, and main longitudinal arch part; the sole having a lateral sidemost section being located at a location outside of a straight vertical line extending through the shoe sole at a lateral sidemost extent of the inner surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; the sole having a medial sidemost section being located at a location outside of a straight vertical line extending through the shoe sole at a medial sidemost extent of the inner surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; a midsole part extends into the sidemost section of the sole side at the location of each of said rounded midsole portions, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; each said midsole part further extends to above a level corresponding to a lowest point of the midsole component inner surface of the same sole side, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; at least part of a midsole component in the sole midtarsal portion comprises an indentation relative to a straight line between a lowermost part of the midsole component outer surface of a heel portion and a lowermost part of the midsole component outer surface of a forefoot portion, as viewed in a shoe sole sagittal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; and said shoe sole has a heel portion thickness that is greater than a forefoot portion thickness, as viewed in a shoe sole sagittal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition. 2. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the midsole component outer surface of the indentation is substantially convexly rounded, as viewed in a shoe sole sagittal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, the convexity existing with respect to an inner section of the midsole component located adjacent to the convexly rounded outer surface of the indentation.
3. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least four said rounded midsole portions.
4. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least five said rounded midsole portions.
5. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least six said rounded midsole portions.
6. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least seven said rounded midsole portions.
7. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the lateral midtarsal part, another said rounded midsole portion is located at the rear lateral forefoot part, the sole having an indentation between the lateral midtarsal part and rear lateral forefoot part rounded midsole portions for forming a first flexibility axis in the sole, said indentation being viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
8. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the lateral heel part, another said rounded midsole portion is located at the lateral midtarsal part, and an indentation is located between said rounded midsole portions for forming a flexibility axis in the sole, said indentation being viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
9. The shoe sole of claim 1, further comprising an indentation in the shoe sole adjacent to one said rounded midsole portion, as viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
10. The shoe sole of claim 9, wherein the indentation is a first indentation, and the shoe sole comprises a second indentation, such that the first indentation is located anterior to one said rounded midsole portion and the second indentation is located posterior to one said rounded midsole portion, all as viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
11. The shoe sole of claim 10, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the heel portion of the shoe sole, the first indentation is located on a lateral side of the shoe sole anterior to the rounded midsole portion located at the heel portion, and the second indentation is located on a medial side of the shoe sole anterior to the rounded midsole portion located at the heel portion, all as viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
12. The shoe sole of claim 1, further comprising at least three tapered portions each having a thickness that decreases gradually from a first thickness to a lesser thickness, as viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, said thickness of each of said tapered portions being measured from the inner surface of the midsole component to the outer surface of the shoe sole, and each of said tapered portions being located at a location on the shoe sole corresponding to a location of each of the rounded midsole portions.
13. The shoe sole of claim 12, wherein at least part of the outer surface of each of said tapered portions is formed by midsole component and is concavely rounded, as viewed in the shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, the concavity existing with respect to an inner section of midsole component located adjacent to the concavely rounded outer surface of the tapered portion formed by midsole component.
14. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least four said rounded midsole portions.
15. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least five said rounded midsole portions.
16. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least six said rounded midsole portions.
17. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein the shoe sole comprises at least seven said rounded midsole portions.
18. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein each said at least one rounded midsole portion encompasses substantially all of its respective part.
19. The shoe sole of claim 18, wherein each said rounded midsole portion encompasses substantially only said respective part.
20. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the lateral midtarsal part.
21. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the main longitudinal arch part.
22. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the medial heel part.
23. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the rear medial forefoot part.
24. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the rear lateral forefoot part.
25. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the lateral heel part.
26. The shoe sole according to claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the forward medial forefoot part.
27. The shoe sole according to claim 13, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the rear medial forefoot part and another said rounded midsole portion is located at the rear lateral forefoot part, the sole forming a groove between said rounded midsole portions, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
28. The shoe sole of claim 13, wherein the shoe sole further comprises, at the location of each said rounded midsole portion, a second tapered portion having a thickness that decreases gradually from a first thickness to a lesser thickness, as viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition
29. The shoe sole of claim 28, wherein at least part of the outer surface of each said second tapered portion is formed by midsole component and is concavely rounded, the concavity being determined relative to an inner section of the midsole component adjacent to the concavely rounded outer surface portion of each said second tapered portion, as viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
30. The shoe sole of claim 12, wherein each said convexly rounded portion of the midsole component inner surface extends to an inner surface sidemost extent of said midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is unloaded and in an upright condition.
31. The shoe sole of claim 12, wherein each said concavely rounded portion of the midsole component outer surface extends from the sole middle portion to an outer surface sidemost extent of said midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is unloaded and in an upright condition.
32. The shoe sole of claim 12, wherein each said concavely rounded portion of the midsole component outer surface extends from above a lowest point of the midsole component inner surface at least to a lowermost point of the midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is unloaded and in an upright condition.
33. The shoe sole of claim 12, wherein each said concavely rounded portion of the midsole component outer surface extends to a sidemost extent of the midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is unloaded and in an upright condition.
34. A shoe sole according to claim 1, wherein one said rounded midsole portion is located at the lateral midtarsal part.
35. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the indentation in the midsole component midtarsal area is formed by an area of the midsole component midtarsal area which has a lesser thickness than a thickness of an area of the midsole component adjacent to said indentation.
36. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the outer sole is positioned such that at least a portion of said outer sole is located in each frontal plane cross-section which contains a rounded midsole portion.
37. The shoe sole of claim 12, wherein the thickness of each said tapered portion tapers to zero, as viewed in a horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
38. The shoe sole of claim 28, wherein the thickness of each said tapered portion tapers to zero, as viewed in a horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
39. The shoe sole of claim 38, wherein the thickness of each said second tapered portion tapers to zero, as viewed in a horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
40. The shoe sole of claim 1, wherein a thickness between the inner surface of the midsole component and the outer surface of the midsole component increases gradually from a thickness at an uppermost point of each of said midsole parts to a lesser thickness at a location below the uppermost point of each of said midsole parts, said thickness being defined as the distance between a first point on the inner surface of the midsole component and a second point on the outer surface of the midsole component, said second point being located along a straight line perpendicular to a straight line tangent to the inner surface of the midsole component at said first point, all as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/907,598 filed Jul. 19, 2001, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/734,905, filed Dec. 13, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,439, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/477,954, filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,982, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/376,661, filed Jan. 23, 1995, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/127,487 filed Sep. 28, 1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/729,886 filed Jul. 11, 1991, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/400,714 filed Aug. 30, 1989, now abandoned.
The theoretically ideal stability plane concept as implemented into shoes such as street shoes and athletic shoes is presented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,989,349, issued Feb. 5, 1991 and 5,317,819, issued Jun. 7, 1994, both of which are incorporated by reference, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,429 issued Aug. 13, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,349 issued from U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 07/219,387. U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,819 issued from U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 07/239,667.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In its simplest conceptual form, the applicant's invention is the structure of a conventional shoe sole that has been modified by having its sides bent up so that their inner surface conforms to a shape nearly identical (instead of the shoe sole sides being flat on the ground, as is conventional). This concept is like that described in FIG. 3 of the applicant's 5,317,819 Patent (�the '819 patent�); for the applicant's fully contoured design described in FIG. 15 of the '819 patent, the entire shoe sole�including both the sides and the portion directly underneath the foot�is bent up to conform to a shape nearly identical but slightly smaller than the contoured shape of the unloaded foot sole of the wearer, rather than the partially flattened load-bearing foot sole shown in FIG. 3.
In its simplest conceptual form, the applicant's FIG. 1 invention is the structure of a conventional shoe sole that has been modified by having its sides bent up so that their inner surface conforms to the shape of the outer surface of the foot sole of the wearer (instead of the shoe sole sides being flat on the ground, as is conventional); this concept is like that described in FIG. 3 of the applicant's '819 patent. For the applicant's fully contoured design, the entire shoe sole�including both the sides and the portion directly underneath the foot�is bent up to conform to the shape of the unloaded foot sole of the wearer, rather than the partially flattened load-bearing foot sole shown in FIG. 3 of the '819 patent.
As discussed earlier by the applicant, the critical functional feature of a shoe sole is that it deforms under a weight-bearing load to conform to the foot sole just as the foot sole deforms to conform to the ground under a weight-bearing load. So, even though the foot sole and the shoe sole may start in different locations�the shoe sole sides can even be conventionally flat on the ground�the critical functional feature of both is that they both conform under load to parallel the shape of the ground, which conventional shoes do not, except when exactly upright. Consequently, the applicant's shoe sole invention, stated most broadly, includes any shoe sole�whether conforming to the wearer's foot sole or to the ground or some intermediate position, including a shape much smaller than the wearer's foot sole�that deforms to conform to the theoretically ideal stability plane, which by definition itself deforms in parallel with the deformation of the wearer's foot sole under weight-bearing load.
FIG. 3 shows in a real illustration a foot 27 in position for a new biomechanical test that is the basis for the discovery that ankle sprains are in fact unnatural for the bare foot. The test simulates a lateral ankle sprain, where the foot 27�on the ground 43�rolls or tilts to the outside, to the extreme end of its normal range of motion, which is usually about 20 degrees at the heel 29, as shown in a rear view of a bare (right) heel in FIG. 3. Lateral (inversion) sprains are the most common ankle sprains, accounting for about three-fourths of all.
The Stationary Sprain Simulation Test clearly identifies what can be no less than a fundamental flaw in existing shoe design. It demonstrates conclusively that nature's biomechanical system, the bare foot, is far superior in stability to man's artificial shoe design. Unfortunately, it also demonstrates that the shoe's severe instability overpowers the natural stability of the human foot and synthetically creates a combined biomechanical system that is artificially, unstable. The shoe is the weak link.
FIG. 4 shows that, in complete contrast the foot equipped with a conventional running shoe, designated generally by the reference numeral 20 and having an upper 21, though initially very stable while resting completely flat on the ground, becomes immediately unstable when the shoe sole 22 is tilted to the outside. The tilting motion lifts from contact with the ground all of the shoe sole 22 except the artificially sharp edge of the bottom outside comer. The shoe sole instability increases the farther the foot is rolled laterally. Eventually, the instability induced by the shoe itself is so great that the normal load-bearing pressure of full body weight would actively force an ankle sprain if not controlled. The abnormal tilting motion of the shoe does not stop at the barefoot's natural 20 degree limit, as you can see from the 45 degree tilt of the shoe heel in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5A illustrates that the underlying problem with existing shoe designs is fairly easy to understand by looking closely at the principal forces acting on the physical structure of the shoe sole. When the shoe is tilted outwardly, the weight of the body held in the shoe upper 21 shifts automatically to the outside edge of the shoe sole 22. But, strictly due to its unnatural shape, the tilted shoe sole 22 provides absolutely no supporting physical structure directly underneath the shifted body weight where it is critically needed to support that weight. An essential part of the supporting foundation is missing. The only actual structural support comes from the sharp comer edge 23 of the shoe sole 22, which unfortunately is not directly under the force of the body weight after the shoe is tilted. Instead, the corner edge 23 is offset well to the inside.
As a result of that unnatural misalignment, a lever arm 23 a is set up through the shoe sole 22 between two interacting forces (called a force couple): the force of gravity on the body (usually known as body weight 133) applied at the point 24 in the upper 21 and the reaction force 134 of the ground, equal to and opposite to body weight when the shoe is upright. The force couple creates a force moment, commonly called torque, that forces the shoe 20 to rotate to the outside around the sharp corner edge 23 of the bottom sole 22, which serves as a stationary pivoting point 23 or center of rotation.
FIG. 5B show that the full force of body weight 133 is split at 45 degrees of tilt into two equal components: supported 135 and unsupported 136, each equal to .707 of full body weight 133. The two vertical components 137 and 138 of body weight 133 are both equal to .50 of full body weight. The ground reaction force 134 is equal to the vertical component 137 of the supported component 135.
FIG. 7 illustrates that the extremely rigid heel counter 141 typical of existing athletic shoes, together with the motion control device 142 that are often used to strongly reinforce those heel counters (and sometimes also the sides of the mid- and forefoot), are ironically counterproductive. Though they are intended to increase stability, in fact they decrease it. FIG. 7 shows that when the shoe 20 is tilted out, the foot is shifted within the upper 21 naturally against the rigid structure of the typical motion control device 142, instead of only the outside edge of the shoe sole 22 itself. The motion control support 142 increases by almost twice the effective lever arm 132 (compared to 23 a) between the force couple of body weight and the ground reaction force at the pivot point 23. It doubles the destabilizing torque and also increases the effective angle of tilt so that the destabilizing force component 136 becomes greater compared to the supported component 135, also increasing the destabilizing torque. To the extent the foot shifts further to the outside, the problem becomes worse. Only by removing the heel counter 141 and the motion control devices 142 can the extension of the destabilizing lever arm be avoided. Such an approach would primarily rely on the applicant's contoured shoe sole to �cup� the foot (especially the heel), and to a much lesser extent the non-rigid fabric or other flexible material of the upper 21, to position the foot, including the heel, on the shoe. Essentially, the naturally contoured sides of the applicant's shoe sole replace the counter-productive existing heel counters and motion control devices, including those which extend around virtually all of the edge of the foot.
FIG. 9 illustrates an approach to minimize structurally the destabilizing lever arm 32 and therefore the potential torque problem. After the last point where the constant shoe sole thickness (s) is maintained, the finishing edge of the shoe sole 28 should be tapered gradually inward from both the top surface 30 and the bottom surface 31, in order to provide matching rounded or semi-rounded edges. In that way, the upper surface 30 does not provide an unsupported portion that creates a destabilizing torque and the bottom surface 31 does not provide an unnatural pivoting edge. The gap 144 between shoe sole 28 and foot sole 29 at the edge of the shoe sole can be �caulked� with exceptionally soft sole material as indicated in FIG. 9 that, in the aggregate (i.e. all the way around the edge of the shoe sole), will help position the foot in the shoe sole. However, at any point of pressure when the shoe tilts, it will deform easily so as not to form an unnatural lever causing a destabilizing torque.
The fully contoured shoe sole assumes that the resulting slightly rounded bottom when unloaded will deform under load and flatten just as the human foot bottom is slightly rounded unloaded but flattens under load; therefore, shoe sole material must be of such composition as to allow the natural deformation following that of the foot. The design applies particularly to the heel, but to the rest of the shoe sole as well. By providing the closest match to the natural shape of the foot, the fully contoured design allows the foot to function as naturally as possible. Under load, FIG. 2 would deform by flattening to look essentially like. FIG. 13. Seen in this light, the naturally contoured side design in FIG. 13 is a more conventional, conservative design that is a special case of the more general fully contoured design in FIG. 14, which is the closest to the natural form of the foot, but the least conventional. The amount of deformation flattening used in the FIG. 13 design, which obviously varies under different loads, is not an essential element of the applicant's invention.
For the special case shown in FIG. 13, the theoretically ideal stability plane for any particular individual (or size average of individuals) is determined, first, by the given frontal plane cross section shoe sole thickness(es); second, by the natural shape of the individual's foot; and, third, by the frontal plane cross section width of the individual's load-bearing footprint 30 b, which is defined as the upper surface of the shoe sole that is in physical contact with and supports the human foot sole.
The theoretically ideal stability plane for the special case is composed conceptually of two parts. Shown in FIG. 13, the first part is a line segment 31 b of equal length and parallel to line 30 b at a constant distance(s) equal to shoe sole thickness. This corresponds to a conventional shoe sole directly underneath the human foot, and also corresponds to the flattened portion of the bottom of the load-bearing foot sole 28 b. The second part is the naturally contoured stability side outer edge 31 a located at each side of the first part, line segment 31 b. Each point on the contoured side outer edge 31 a is located at a distance which is exactly shoe sole thickness(es) from the closest point on the contoured side inner edge 30 a.
FIG. 15 illustrates in frontal plane cross section another variation that uses stabilizing quadrants 26 at the outer edge of a conventional shoe sole 28 b illustrated generally at the reference numeral 28. The stabilizing quadrants would be abbreviated in actual embodiments.
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LXVII, No. 6, pp. 4-8.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7325336Nov 16, 2004Feb 5, 2008Asics Corp.Wrestling shoe with separated outer solesClassifications U.S. Classification36/25.00R, 36/88, 36/30.00RInternational ClassificationA43B13/20, A43B13/14, A43B13/18Cooperative ClassificationA43B13/143, A43B13/146, A43B13/18, A43B13/20, A43B13/145, A43B13/148European ClassificationA43B13/14W4, A43B13/14W, A43B13/18, A43B13/20, A43B13/14W2, A43B13/14W6Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 6, 2012FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20120113Jan 13, 2012LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesAug 22, 2011REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedJun 27, 2007FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google