Abstract:
A footwear covering system includes a piece of footwear having a sole with a perimeter boundary material and a footwear cover attached to the piece of footwear. The footwear cover includes an attachment device, a sheath attached to the resilient clamp and forming an elongate arcuate cover and indicia on the sheath portraying the face of a character. The attachment device may include a snap-fit connector and/or a resilient clamp with an inner surface with grippers, the resilient clamp being shaped to conform with the perimeter boundary material of the sole of the piece of footwear. The footwear cover may include a battery compartment housing a battery, and in some embodiments the snap-fit connector comprises conductors that establish an electrical connection when the snap-fit connector is mated with a complementary connector on the piece of footwear.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This international patent application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/532,052 filed Sep. 7, 2011 and entitled “Footwear with Lights and Interchangeable Faces.” The contents of this prior application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as if set forth verbatim. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    The following description relates generally to footwear, and more particularly to novelty footwear with lights and novelty footwear with removable and interchangeable faces. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Footwear, in particular footwear for children, can be a costly but necessary clothing item. Due to the fact that children are constantly outgrowing shoes, it becomes expensive to provide a child with a wide variety of shoes that will quickly be outgrown. Accordingly, there is a need for a footwear system that provides a wide variety of shoe appearances without the need for buying multiple pairs of shoes. Ideally, the footwear system would also incorporate lights to provide a more unique appearance. 
         [0004]    Additionally, people of all ages enjoy novelty footwear such as slippers, sandals and other shoes. For example, many people wear novelty slippers with animal or characters faces. However, it is costly to purchase multiple different novelty shoes, in particular if the novelty shoes incorporate lights. Accordingly, there is a need for a footwear system that provides multiple different lighted shoe exteriors without the need for buying multiple pairs of shoes. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    The embodiments disclosed below satisfy these needs. 
         [0006]    The following simplified summary is provided in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the claimed subject matter. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
         [0007]    In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, a foot covering includes a foot receiving enclosure having a sole, side panels and a front panel, and at least two lights attached to the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure. A battery may be mounted to the foot receiving enclosure and connected to an activatable switch which is also connected to the at least two lights for making and breaking an electrical connection between the battery and the at least two lights. Additionally, a face may be formed on the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure, the face having two eyes formed by the at least two lights attached to the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure. 
         [0008]    The activatable switch may include an accelerometer so that the switch is activated when the accelerometer detects an acceleration of the foot covering greater than a threshold acceleration, for example when the user clicks their heels together or collides the foot covering with an object. The lights may be any luminescent device including light emitting diodes and/or fluorescent/phosphorescent material. 
         [0009]    In another embodiment, a foot covering includes interchangeable faces. A foot receiving enclosure has a sole, side panels and a front panel with a face mounting device. At least two light mounts attached to the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure. A battery may be mounted to the foot receiving enclosure and electrically connected to the at least two light mounts. An interchangeable face having two eyes is removably attached to the face mounting device of the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure. One or more lights may be mounted to each of the at least two light mounts on the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure. In particular, the lights may represent eyes or other facial features on the interchangeable face. In other embodiments, the interchangeable face may have two eyes formed by two apertures so that when the interchangeable face is attached to the face mounting device of the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure, the lights mounted to the light mounts on the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure are visible through the apertures of the interchangeable face. 
         [0010]    In other embodiments, the lights mounted to the at least two light mounts on the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure are integral with the interchangeable face. When the interchangeable face is removed from the face mounting device of the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure, the lights are disconnected from the at least two light mounts. The lights may be light bulbs, light emitting diodes, or fluorescent/phosphorescent material. The face mounting device may include a hook and loop fastener, a snap-fit connector, or other suitable fastening or attachment device. 
         [0011]    Another embodiment of a foot covering system with interchangeable faces includes a foot receiving enclosure having a sole, side panels and a front panel with a face mounting device. An interchangeable face is removably attached to the face mounting device of the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure. The interchangeable face includes two eyes formed from two lights attached to the interchangeable face, a battery attached to the interchangeable face and connected to the two lights, and a switch connected to the two lights and the battery for making and breaking an electrical connection between the two lights and the battery. The two lights are light emitting diodes or other luminescent devices. The face mounting device may include a hook and loop fastener and/or a snap-fit connector. 
         [0012]    In another embodiment a footwear covering system includes a piece of footwear having a sole with a perimeter boundary material and a footwear cover attached to the piece of footwear. The footwear cover includes an attachment device, a sheath attached to the resilient clamp and forming an elongate arcuate cover and indicia on the sheath portraying the face of a character. The attachment device may include a snap-fit connector and/or a resilient clamp with an inner surface with grippers, the resilient clamp being shaped to conform with the perimeter boundary material of the sole of the piece of footwear. The footwear cover may include a battery compartment housing a battery, and in some embodiments the snap-fit connector comprises conductors that establish an electrical connection when the snap-fit connector is mated with a complementary connector on the piece of footwear. 
         [0013]    To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the claimed subject matter may be employed and the claimed subject matter is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features may become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1A  is a front view of one embodiment of footwear with front-facing lights and a fluorescent strip. 
           [0015]      FIG. 1B  is a rear view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1A . 
           [0016]      FIG. 1C  is a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1A . 
           [0017]      FIG. 2A  is a front view of one embodiment of footwear with a removable and interchangeable face. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2B  is a rear view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 2C  is a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a bottom view of one embodiment of a detachable cover for footwear, illustrating grippers as attachment devices. 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a bottom view of another embodiment of a detachable cover for footwear, illustrating snap-fit connectors as attachment devices. 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of another embodiment of a detachable cover for footwear, illustrating a retaining clip as an attachment device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, a foot covering includes a foot receiving enclosure that has a front panel. The front panel includes a depiction of a face, for example the face of a cartoon character, animal, or the like. The eyes of the face are formed from lights, in particular light emitting diodes. The foot receiving enclosure also includes a battery for supplying electricity to the lights. Additionally, a switch is disposed between the battery and the lights in order to provide a mechanism for making and breaking an electrical connection between the battery and the lights. A wearer of the foot covering activates the lights forming the eyes of the face on the front of the foot covering by activating the switch. The switch may be, for example, a toggle switch, a button, or the like. Additionally, the switch may include an accelerometer that automatically activates the lights when the foot covering is subjected to sufficient acceleration, for example when a wearer of the foot coverings taps his or her feet together. 
         [0024]    In another aspect of the disclosed embodiments, a foot covering includes a foot receiving enclosure that has a front panel. The front panel of the foot receiving enclosure includes a face mounting device, for example a hook and loop fastener, a snap-fit connector, or the like. The front panel also includes at least two light mounts that are connected to a battery mounted in the foot receiving enclosure. A removable and interchangeable face may be mounted to the face mounting device. The eyes of the interchangeable face may be formed by apertures or by two lights with electrical connectors. If the eyes are formed by apertures in the interchangeable face, then two lights are mounted to the light mounts on the front of the foot receiving enclosure and the two lights are visible through the apertures in the interchangeable face. Alternatively, if the eyes of the interchangeable face are lights with electrical connectors, the electrical connectors of the lights are connected to the light mounts on the front panel of the foot receiving enclosure when the interchangeable face is attached to the front panel. Once the lights on the interchangeable face are so connected, the battery in the foot receiving enclosure provides electricity to the lights. 
         [0025]    In yet another aspect of the disclosed embodiments, a foot covering includes a foot receiving enclosure that has a front pane with a face mounting device to which a removable and interchangeable face may be attached. The interchangeable face includes eyes formed at least in part by two lights. The interchangeable face includes a battery for supplying electricity to the lights, and may also include a switch for making and breaking the electrical connection between the lights and the battery. 
         [0026]      FIGS. 1A-1C  show a first embodiment of footwear with lights that provide a “face” on the front of footwear. Footwear  10  includes sole  102  to which front panel  104  and side panels  105  are attached. In the illustrated embodiment, footwear  10  is a slipper or sandal lacking a covering for the rear portions of the foot and the heel. However, it is to be understood that footwear  10  may be any type of foot-receiving enclosure, including slippers, sandals, athletic shoes, casual or formal shoes, boots, etc. Throughout this disclosure, all types of footwear are interchangeable. For example, in any of the disclosed embodiments, it is to be understood that although only a few styles or types of foot-receiving enclosures are shown, the present disclosure relates to any type of footwear, shoe, sandal, boot etc. 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIG. 1A , footwear  10  also includes lights  106  and light strip  108 . Together lights  106  and light strip  108  form a “face” with two eyes and optional other features such as a nose, mouth or any other facial feature. Lights  106  may be light emitting diodes (LED&#39;s), light bulbs, “glow in the dark” fluorescent or phosphorescent material, or any other light emitting device. Likewise, light strip  108  may be any type of light emitting device including LED&#39;s, light bulbs and fluorescent or phosphorescent material. Examples of glow in the dark materials include, without limitation, zinc sulfide, strontium aluminate and calcium sulfide, as is known by persons of ordinary skill in the art. 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 1B , footwear  10  may also include a light band  110 . For example, as illustrated, where footwear  10  is a slipper or sandal, the rear edge of front panel  104  and side panels  105  may be provided with light band  110  which is formed from a fluorescent or phosphorescent strip, LED&#39;s, light bulbs, or any other light emitting device. Further, footwear  10  may also include padding  112  attached to sole  102  in order to make footwear  10  more comfortable for users. 
         [0029]      FIG. 1C  shows a side view of footwear  10 , which may further include battery compartment  120  which contains a battery for providing electricity to lights  106 , light strip  108  and/or light band  110 . However, it is to be understood that to the extent lights  106 , light strip  108  and/or light band  110  are fluorescent or phosphorescent, no electricity source is required. In the illustrated embodiment, battery compartment  120  is shown in the toe of footwear  10 . However, the precise location of battery compartment  120  is not critical. Battery compartment  120  may be located in the toe, sole or front/side panels of footwear  10  without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Battery compartment  120  may be fabric, rubber, plastic or any other suitable material, but ideally segregates the contents of battery compartment  120  (such as a battery) from the inner enclosure of footwear  10  where the user&#39;s foot is disposed. 
         [0030]    Additionally, footwear  10  may include switch  122 . Switch  122  is connected to both a battery in battery compartment  120  and to one or more of lights  106 , light strip  108  or light band  110  so that when switch  122  is activated, electricity flows to the various luminescent devices. As a pair of footwear  10  (e.g. right foot and left foot) each include switch  122 , a user may activate and deactivate lights  106 , light strip  108  or light band  110  by bringing each shoe/footwear into lateral contact with one another. Switch  122  may be, without limitation, a toggle switch that is activated by physically pressing the inside edges of each shoe/footwear together, or may be a magnetic switch that is triggered by bringing each shoe/footwear into close proximity with each other. Further, switch  122  may include an accelerometer that completes a circuit between a battery in battery compartment  120  and the various luminescent devices when sufficient acceleration is detected, for example when a user “taps” the shoes/footwear together or against another object. 
         [0031]      FIG. 2A  shows an embodiment of footwear with interchangeable covers or faces. Footwear  20  includes foot enclosure  201  and interchangeable cover  203 . Interchangeable cover  203  is a shell or sheath that attaches externally to the front of footwear  20 . As with the previously disclosed embodiments, it is to be understood that footwear  20  may be any type of foot receiving enclosure including any type of shoe, slipper, sandal, boot, etc. Interchangeable cover  203  may include indicia, lights, ornaments, etc. that provide interchangeable cover  203  with the appearance of a face, for example the face of an animal, person or fictional character. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, interchangeable cover  203  may have an animal face with ears, eyes and a nose. Eyes  206  may be indicia such as printed illustrations of eyes, may be lights, or may be apertures. For example, eyes  206  may be LED&#39;s, light bulbs or fluorescent/phosphorescent material. If eyes  206  are apertures in interchangeable cover  203 , interchangeable cover  203  is preferably attached to footwear with built-in lights that are able to shine through the aperture eyes  206  of interchangeable cover  203 . For example, in one embodiment, interchangeable cover  203  could be attached to footwear  10 , previously disclosed above. 
         [0032]    As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , footwear  20  may further include footwear light band  210  and/or cover light band  224 . Both of these light bands may be any type of luminescent device including light bulbs, LED&#39;s and fluorescent/phosphorescent materials. Footwear light band  210  is similar to light band  110  disclosed above and forms an arch over the top of the foot of the user. Cover light band  224  is adjacent the rear edge of interchangeable cover  203 . 
         [0033]    If light band  224  is fluorescent/phosphorescent material, and if lights  206  are fluorescent/phosphorescent material or apertures, interchangeable cover  203  does not require a power supply. However, if either light band  224  or lights  206  are luminescent devices, a power supply must be provided, for example in cover battery compartment  220  which houses a battery connected to lights  206  and/or light band  224 . 
         [0034]    Interchangeable cover  203  also includes attachment devices  226  for attaching interchangeable cover  203  to footwear  20 . Attachment devices  226  may be any type of fastener or gripper including hook and loop fasteners or a male-female snap-fit connector that mates with a complementary connector on sole  202  of footwear  20 . Further, one or more of attachment devices  226  may include a conductive connector so that when interchangeable cover  203  is attached to footwear  20  there is an electrical connection between interchangeable cover  203  and footwear  20 . One application of such an electrically conductive connection between interchangeable cover  203  and footwear  20  is to provide a battery in footwear  20  (as disclosed above with reference to footwear  10 ) instead of inside interchangeable cover  203 . In this example, once interchangeable cover  203  is attached to footwear  20 , any luminescent devices on interchangeable cover  203  such as lights  206  or cover light band  224  may be activated. The switch used to activate the luminescent devices may be of the type disclosed above with reference to footwear  10  and include toggle switches, magnetic switches and acceleration switches. In any embodiment, the lower edge of cover  203  may be flush with the lower edge of sole  202  once cover  203  is installed on foot enclosure  201 . 
         [0035]      FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  5  show other examples of attachment devices  226  for interchangeable cover  203 .  FIG. 3  shows the bottom of one embodiment of interchangeable cover  203 . In this embodiment, the bottom perimeter edge  230  of interchangeable cover  203  includes grippers  226 A. Grippers  226 A are essentially “teeth” or spines that cooperate with sole  202  of footwear  20  to frictionally and removably bind interchangeable cover  203  to footwear  20 . For example, where sole  202  comprises a relatively soft material such as rubber, grippers  226 A bite into sole  202  to hold interchangeable cover  203  in place. To increase the gripping force of grippers  226 A, bottom edge  230  of interchangeable cover  203  may include retaining clip  228  (see  FIG. 5 ). Retaining clip  228  is a resilient generally horseshoe-shaped member that can be spread open to accommodate footwear  20 . Due to the resilient force of retaining clip  228  against sole  202  of footwear  20 , grippers  226 A will gain a better purchase on footwear  20  and therefore interchangeable cover  203  will be held securely in place. 
         [0036]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , another example of attachment devices  226  for interchangeable cover  203  is male snap fit connector  226 B which mates with complementary female connectors on sole  202  of footwear  20 . It is to be understood that the illustrated embodiments of attachment devices  226  are non-limiting and other attachment devices may be used, including hook and loop fasteners, buttons, straps binding the rear edge of interchangeable cover  203  to the user&#39;s heal (or the heal of the footwear  20 ), or any other suitable fastener. For example, if a hook and loop fastener system is used as the attachment device, the hook material may be located on one or more inner surfaces of cover  203  that align with corresponding loop materials on outer surfaces of foot enclosure  201  or sole  202 . Similarly, loop material may be located on one or more inner surfaces of cover  203  that align with corresponding hook materials on outer surfaces of foot enclosure  201  or sole  202 . 
         [0037]    In some embodiments, interchangeable cover  203  includes lights  206  and battery compartment  220  which contains a battery that provides electricity for lights  206  via one or more wires. Battery compartment  220  may be located anywhere on or inside interchangeable cover  203 . For example, battery compartment  220  may be housed in a slit or pocket in cover  203  so that battery compartment  220  is concealed during normal use of footwear  20 , for example in a slit, pocket or other enclosure behind the lights/eyes  206  on cover  203 . Additionally, battery compartment  220  may incorporate one or more child-resistant fasteners to prevent a child user from opening battery compartment  220 . Any type of battery may be used, including disk batteries of the type commonly found in small electrical devices such as cameras or watches. Lights  206  may be activated and deactivated by any means, including an on/off switch or an accelerometer switch that can detect movement and activate lights  206  when footwear  20  is moving, and deactivate lights  206  when footwear  20  has not moved for a predetermined amount of time such as one minute. The same switch may also be used to activate and deactivate other devices connected to the battery in battery compartment  220 , for example a noise emitting device such as a small speaker or audio devices commonly used in greeting cards. In some embodiments, lights and speakers may be activated simultaneously to provide synchronized or programmed lights and sounds. 
         [0038]    The materials used to make the footwear and interchangeable covers disclosed above are not critical. However, in some embodiments, the footwear may have a rubber sole and fabric side and front panels with fabric, felt, rubber or polymeric padding on top of the sole inside the foot receiving enclosure. The interchangeable cover may likewise be made from any suitable material including fabric, plastic, rubber, other polymeric materials such as polyethylene or materials commonly used for costume masks, and may also at least partially comprise fuzz, flocking, metallic or reflective materials. Eyes or lights  206  may be formed from plastic separately from cover  203  and then attached to cover  203  by welding such as sonic or thermal welding, adhesives, or any other suitable means of attachment. 
         [0039]    One of the advantages of the disclosed embodiments is that users may greatly increase the possible appearances of shoes. For example, a user may own one pair of footwear and attach several different interchangeable covers each day. Rather than owning many different pairs of footwear, the user can simply interchange covers for the footwear. This is particularly true for children&#39;s footwear because children quickly outgrow footwear and it quickly becomes expensive to provide a child with many different footwear options that the child will outgrow. Instead of buying new footwear, the child can simply use different interchangeable covers. Further, even as the child grows into larger pairs of footwear, the same interchangeable covers may be used because the interchangeable covers are somewhat universal in size and do not require specific shoe sizes in order to function. However, it is to be understood that the exact size of the interchangeable covers are not critical, and interchangeable covers of any size are within the scope of the present disclosure. 
         [0040]    What has been described above includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the described embodiments are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.