Novelty footwear item with flask
A novelty footwear construction includes a cassette-like heel component which is sandwiched between a mid-sole and an outsole for supporting the heel of a user, and wherein the heel component includes an upper retainer, a lower retainer, and a hollow flask for supporting the heel of a user and for providing the user with a source of fluid refreshment.
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This invention relates generally to novelty items and more particularly to a novelty footwear item which includes a heel construction flask for reinforcing heel support and for providing a user with a source of liquid refreshments as needed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA new and improved novelty footwear construction includes a base outsole, a top mid-sole, and a unique and novel reinforced heel construction having a hollow chamber with a plurality of curved shaped reinforcement ribs disposed throughout its structure and a combination inlet/outlet that permits a user to fill the hollow chamber with liquid refreshments and then drinks as desired without significantly changing the heel support provided by the footwear.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA new and improved novelty footwear construction includes a cassette-like heel component which is sandwiched between a mid-sole and an outsole for supporting the heel of a user, and wherein the cassette-like heel component includes an upper retainer and a lower retainer for positioning and helping to secure in place within the heel support area a hollow flask which provides the user with a source of fluid refreshment.
The above-mentioned features and steps of the invention and the manner of attaining them will become apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to
Considering now the novelty footwear item 10 in greater detail with reference to
Considering now the top strap assembly 12 in greater detail with reference to
Considering now the bottom or sole assembly 14 in greater detail with reference to
As best seen in
The bottom assembly 14 in top plane view as best seen in
Considering now the flask assembly 24 in greater detail with reference to
As best seen in
Considering now the top mid-sole 22 in greater detail with reference to
While the mid-sole 22 has been describes as being composed of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is should be understood by those skilled in the art, that the mid-sole 12 may be composed of a wide variety of flexible materials, such as thermoplastic, thermosetting polymer compounds, foam polyurethane plastic or foam rubber. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is a preferred material because of its hardness and density which provides the user with a relatively soft cushioning like platform that facilitates foot comfort.
Considering now the bottom or outer sole 26 in greater detail with reference to
Considering now the outer sole 26 in still greater detail with reference to
Also since the bottom surface of the outer sole 26 is highly visible, the bottom surface of the outer sole 26, as best seen in
In order to assist the user in determining the amount of liquid refreshment or fluid remaining in the flask 60, the bottom of the outer sole 26 includes an integrally formed gauge 28 as best seen in
Although in the preferred embodiment of the present invention the gauge is described as being molded into the bottom outsole 26, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a gauge slot could be provided in the bottom outsole 26 so the gauge could be glued into the slot as a separate part. Therefore there is no intention of limiting the scope of the present invention to an integrally formed gauge.
Considering now the flask assembly 24 in greater detail with reference to
Considering now the flask 60 in still greater detail with reference to
As best seen in
The boss member 194 as best seen in
It should also be understood by those skilled in the art, that the large exit hole 192 is also an important feature of the novelty footwear 10. More specifically, the presence of the large exit hole 192 allows: 1) the flask 60 to be easily filled with liquid and 2) helps avoid fluid entrapment within the flask 60 as it is being emptied. As best seen in
Considering now the cap 100 in greater detail with reference to
As noted earlier, the ribs of the retainers 82 and 84 respectively, correspond in shape, size and layout to the respective recess areas of the flask 60. More specifically, the rib area of retainer 82, indicated generally at 86, corresponds to the recesses 199′, while the rib area of retainer 84, generally indicated at 86′, correspond in shape and location to the recesses 199. This is an important feature of the novel footwear 10 because it allows the flask 60 to be sandwiched between the retainers 82 and 84 respectively to provide a cassette-like structure that transfers weight loads, prevents the flask 60 from being crushed under such weight loads and provides the user with a firm heel support that is free of any indication an unpleasant tactile sensation created by the ribs and recesses. More particularly, since the outer surfaces of the retainers 82 and 84 are smooth planar like surfaces, they are seamless surfaces to the user, helping to provide the heel of the user with a smooth flat sturdy heel support platform.
Considering now the rib area 86 of retainer 82 in greater detail with reference to
Considering now the first rib configuration area 180 in greater detail with reference to
Considering now the second rib configuration area 181 in greater detail with reference to
Considering now the third rib configuration area 183 in greater detail with reference to
As the rib configurations of retainer 84 are the mirror image of the rib configurations of retainer 82, they will not be described hereinafter in greater detail, except to mention that they are identified with the same reference characters as associated with retainer 82, but with primes added to distinguish them from the ribs of retainer 82.
Considering now the outer sole 26 in still greater detail with reference to
As best seen in
It is evident that there are additional embodiments and applications of the new and improved novelty footwear item which are not disclosed in this detailed description, but which would clearly fall with the scope of said invention. For example, although in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the foot strap 12 is described as having a plurality of integrally connected front anchoring straps, such as the anchoring straps 96-97, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, that the anchoring strap may comprise a single strap, as opposed to a pair of front anchoring straps. In a similar manner although the footwear 10 is illustrated as a sandal, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that outher types and kinds of footwear could also be utilized to include such a novelty flask item. For example, the novelty footwear could be configured in the form of a shoe, such as the shoe 210 as illustrated in
Claims
1. A novelty footwear construction, comprising:
- a bottom outsole;
- a top mid-sole; and
- a heel support structure, said heel support structure including a hollow chamber sub-divided by a plurality of curved maze-like channels for providing a heel support network between a portion of said bottom outsole and a portion of said top mid-sole.
2. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 1, wherein said hollow chamber is further subdivided by at least a pair of straight leg channels disposed individually between pairs of curved maze-like channels for further providing said heel support network between said portion of said bottom outsole and said portion of said top mid-sole.
3. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 2, wherein said hollow chamber is resilient and flexible to provide the heel of a user with comfortable support.
4. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of curved maze-like channels and said straight leg channels cooperate to help define a path from one end of said hollow chamber to another end of said hollow chamber.
5. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 4, wherein the one end of said hollow chamber is a combination inlet/outlet for the ingress and egress of liquid of a sufficient volume to fill said hollow chamber.
6. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 5, wherein said curved maze-like channels and said straight leg channels are barriers.
7. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 6, wherein said hollow chamber has an outer boundary and wherein said curved maze-like channels are curved inwardly away from said outer boundary.
8. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 7, wherein said hollow chamber has an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein said upper surface in non-planar and wherein said lower surface is planar.
9. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 8, wherein said upper surface is raised at about said combination inlet/outlet to provide arch support for the foot of the user.
10. A novelty footwear construction, comprising:
- a cassette-like heel component sandwiched between a mid-sole and an outsole, wherein said heel component includes an upper retainer, a lower retainer, and a hollow flask.
11. A novelty footwear construction according to claim 10, wherein said hollow flask is a partitioned flask having no stop points for preventing the free flow of fluids within said flask to and from a fluid access point.
12. A novelty footwear construction according to claim 11, wherein said partitioned flask includes at least one set of spaced apart curved partitions for helping to define a generally circular central heel support area at a rear portion of said flask.
13. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 12, wherein said partitioned flask includes at least another set of spaced apart curved partitions.
14. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 13, wherein said at least one set of spaced apart curved partitions and said at least another set of spaced apart curved partitions are spaced from one another by a set of straight leg partitions.
15. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 14, wherein a front portion of said flask slopes upwardly and away from said another set of spaced apart curved partitions for forming an arch; and
- wherein said arch terminates at a threaded spigot defining said fluid access point.
16. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 15, wherein said one set of spaced apart curved partitions and said at least another set of spaced apart curved partitions are disposed at locations within said flask to provide a balance between maximum fluid storage capacity and maximum heel support.
17. The novelty footwear construction according to claim 16, wherein said flask has a periphery; and wherein said one set of spaced apart curved partitions and said at least another set of spaced apart curved partitions are disposed at about said periphery for providing said periphery with sufficient support to substantially prevent edge collapse under the weight of a user.
18. A novelty item, comprising:
- a fluid dispensing flask having a dispensing portion in a generally rectangular shape and a heel support portion in a generally semi-circular shape;
- said flask having a series of spaced apart volume marking for providing a visual indication of the quantity of fluid disposed within said flask;
- said flask being sandwiched between an upper retaining member and a lower retaining member for forming a heel component; and
- wherein said heel component is sandwiched between an upper mid-sole and an outer sole for helping to define a footwear member.
19. The novelty item according to claim 18, wherein said outer sole includes a gradient for providing a user with an indication of a remaining fluid volume within said flask.
20. The novelty item according to claim 19 wherein said gradient has a series of spaced apart gradient markings; and
- wherein said gradient markings are disposed in alignment with said series of spaced apart volume markings.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 25, 2007
Publication Date: May 15, 2008
Applicant: South Cone, Inc. (Carlsbad, CA)
Inventors: John Michael Eades (San Diego, CA), James Darr Burress (Del Mar, CA), Michael Gass (Encinitas, CA), Ryan William Quinn (San Diego, CA), Andrew Wickstrom (San Diego, CA), Joel Steven Barrie (Cardiff, CA), Brett D. Ritter (Del Mar, CA), Eric Simmons (San Diego, CA), Nicholas Aniko Mann (Cincinnati, OH), Philip Harper Ceccarelli (San Diego, CA)
Application Number: 11/904,257
International Classification: A43B 13/00 (20060101);