WO2012168956A1

WO2012168956A1 - Easily put on shoe

Info

Publication number: WO2012168956A1
Application number: PCT/IT2012/000171
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giovanni Zago
Original assignee: Giovanni Zago
Priority date: 2011-06-06
Filing date: 2012-06-06
Publication date: 2012-12-13
Also published as: ITPN20110042A1

Abstract

A shoe equipped with three interacting elements that consist of a thin blade of stainless spring steel (4) placed at the rear and shaped according to the heel, a tongue (2) containing a semi-rigid insert, and an elastic joint (3) placed along the sides of the upper, the purpose of said elements being to widen the mouth of the upper and help the foot enter the shoe, without the aid of external accessories.

Description

DESCRIPTION

"Easily put on shoe"

Putting on a shoe is an operation we learn when we are children and perform countless times in our lives.

It is an apparently easy thing to do, but as we get older, it may become annoying and uncomfortable.

Whether it is because of the weight we put on with age or improper lifestyles, or because of muscle pains due to a lack of body movement, the action of bending over to put on shoes is something we do every day, but is bothersome, which is true not only for the elderly.

The shoe industry has offered few innovations in this regard, as it has done nothing since the moccasin was created more than a century ago.

The latter model of shoe was derived from footwear used by certain Indian populations in North America. However, even though it is simple and has no laces, the moccasin does not solve the problem completely because its soft, yielding heel area often deforms as the shoe is put on, thus forcing the user to perform additional manual operations anyway.

In the invention dealt with herein, one of the most important goals is to prevent this from happening by creating a shoe with a stiff yet flexing heel, which puts itself easily on whether or not it has laces, and which is characterized by one or more of the following, interacting components:

A. in the heel area - a flexing frame consisting of a thin blade of stainless spring steel that is contoured according to the shape of the heel, with its horizontal end anchored to the sole and its vertical end free to flex longitudinally like a spring and positioned in such a way that it contacts the heel of the foot when the shoe is put on, so that the heel pushes the end and flexes it rearwards;

B. inside the tongue - an insert in a semi-rigid material, preferably anchored to the upper and free to adapt anatomically to the upper ridge of the foot, whose function is to prevent the tongue from moving laterally or folding over onto itself and thus interfering with the entry of the foot as it slides into the shoe;

C. along the sides of the upper - at least one joint made of elastic material, which extends and/or widens when the shoe is put on and increases the size of the mouth in the upper.

The state of the art shows several previous attempts at similar inventions, such as:

EP 1 593 315 Ronald Ehtreiber

DE 10 2004 005288 Florian Meyer

US 2005/039348 Francis Raluy

EP 1 059 044 Peter Niggli

WO 97\37556 Dan Ahlstroem WO 92X03943 Martin Muranyi

AT 6 841 U1 Shoe Fashion Group Lorenz AG

US 2 452 649 Charles Graves but none of these specifies:

that the heel area of the shoe contains a frame consisting of a thin blade ' of spring steel that is longitudinally placed and anchored to the sole;

that this frame consists of a "single" piece that is bent and anatomically contoured according to the shape of the heel;

that the horizontal end of the aforementioned frame is anchored to the sole, and the vertical end coincides with the top of the heel area in the upper, so that the frame systematically contacts the heel area of the foot every time the shoe is put on.

Spring steel is a very strong material whose chemical composition is

distinguished by a significant amount of silicon, which endows it with the ability to deform elastically under load without suffering plastic alterations.

The material provides the kind of durability over time that is suited for this type of application and offers the advantage of being inexpensive and also easy to transform.

It has a high resistance to fatigue, even when stressed repeatedly, and its modulus of elasticity enables it to deform under low pressure, such as the pressure exerted by a foot entering a shoe.

Because of its toughness and durability, it is preferable to plastic or a composite material; however, there are situations in which it cannot be used, such as in activities (work, tourism, etc.) in which the user must regularly go to places or frequent environments (airports, banks, hospitals, etc.) where electronic control systems (body scanners, metal detectors) that are sensitive to metals operate or are active.

In these situations, the shape of the frame may remain the same, and the material used to build it can be replaced by other, synthetic types that are equivalent, but cannot be detected by the aforementioned safety systems, such as certain types of plastics produced with special moulds (such as injection moulds). These materials are commonly known as technopolymers

(polycarbonates, polyamides, polyacetic resins, etc.) and may be either simple or filled (with additives; that is, with special inert mixtures that improve its

physical/mechanical properties, such as glass, talc, carbon, etc.) or composites (fiberglass, carbon fiber, polyamides such as Kevlar, etc.).

The main advantage of this invention is that shoes can be made that can be put on easily and without the use of external accessories such as shoehorns.

The second advantage is being able to do so without bending the body - even while standing with the torso erect.

An additional advantage is being able to put the shoes on and take them off anywhere and in a practical, completely discreet manner. A final, yet equally important advantage is being able to choose freely one's preferred model of shoe and no longer be limited to "moccasin"-type shoes, which have an excessively sporty look because they lack laces and because the uppers have a particular type of construction, so they are poorly suited to elegant, socially significant settings.

These and other advantages will be more evident with the aid of the attached tables of diagrams.

TABLE 1 (Fig. 1) Shows the shoe (1 ) in the unused state and the arrangement of the basic components according to the invention; that is, the tongue (2), the elastic joint (3) and the frame (4).

Fig. 2 Shows the shoe (11) in a simulated action of being put on, with the foot (12) entering the shoe and being aided in the operation by the combined action of the frame (13), which is flexing rearwards to widen the mouth of the upper; the elastic joint (14) which is stretching; and the tongue (15), which is curving upwards without folding onto itself.

TABLE 2 (Fig. 3) Shows a view in perspective of the shoe (21 ) according to the invention, in which the basic components are depicted: the frame (22) with the top (23) covered with plastic; the tongue with reinforcement (24) inside; and the elastic joints (25) positioned laterally on the upper.

Fig. 4 Shows a variation of the invention in which the frame (31) has a round cross-section, is bent like a spring, and has a plastic covering (32) over the top.

Fig. 5 Shows the invention in which the frame (41 ) consists of a single piece that acts both as the frame and as the insert in the tongue.

Claims

An easily put on shoe with flexible heel and tongue, characterized in that it includes the following components acting together:

a. a frame (4 ) located in the heel area, which is contoured three

dimensionally and anatomically into an L shape according to the form of the heel, and which consists of a thin blade of stainless spring steel, with the horizontal end anchored to the sole and the vertical end free to flex longitudinally, said vertical end having its top coinciding with the heel area of the upper so that both ends together can systematically meet the heel of the foot as the shoe is being put on, and be pushed and made to flex longitudinally by the heel to widen the mouth of the upper and aid the final phase of the entry of the foot into the shoe;

b. a tongue that is joined to the upper and containing an insert made of semi-rigid material (2), which can adapt to the curved shape of the upper ridge of the foot, the purpose of said insert being to stiffen the tongue longitudinally and prevent it from interfering with the action of putting on the shoe by moving, changing position or folding onto itself;

c. an insert (3) made of fabric and/or other elastic material placed

along at least one of the sides of the upper, which is stretched by the longitudinal flexing of the frame to widen the mouth of the upper and assist the foot during the final phase of entry into the shoe.

The shoe according to claim 1 , characterized in that the anatomical frame 4 is made of thermoplastic material.

The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the anatomical frame 4 is made of prestressed steel.

The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the anatomical frame 4 consists of a single piece.

The shoe according to claim 1 , characterized in that the anatomical frame

31 has a round cross-section and the shape of a spring.

The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the anatomical frame

22 is partially and/or completely covered with thermoplastic material (Fig.

3).

The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the anatomical frame is made of a composite material (carbon fiber, Kevlar, etc.).

The shoe according to claim 1 , characterized in that the frame (41 ) is anatomically shaped according to the entire length of the foot (Fig. 5).