FULLY PADDED FORMAL SHOE

Abstract

A method and apparatus of affixing padding, or a padding alternative, or a buffer material, to the interior and entirety of a formal shoe is disclosed, capable of being adapted to a plurality of formal shoe designs, including but not limited to women's, men's, and youth boots, mules, wedges, loafers, and various other shoes, in order to prevent the discomfort commonly associated with said wearing, while preserving the aesthetic appeal of a formal shoe, as well as providing maximum comfort for long periods of wear, dramatically reducing likelihood of the user experiencing sore foot regions, specifically bruised toes, cut heels, and bunions and blisters and without having to place any additional, temporary, or ancillary padded inserts into a formal shoe.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

U.S. Provisional 62/365,789

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None

SEQUENCE LISTING

None

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION (FOI)

This present disclosure relates generally to the apparatus and method of creating padded men's or women's formal/heeled or high heeled shoes referred and disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent 62/365,789. More specifically, this invention relates to an integrated shoe design which includes specific padding adapted for comfort when worn for long periods of time, especially suitable for use in heeled or high heel shoes. The aim is to create a comfortable formal and heeled shoe so that the wearer can comfortably walk, stand, dance, utilize or otherwise wear a heeled shoe with a formal design for extended periods of time while maintaining an aesthetically appealing appearance and without having to place any additional, temporary, or ancillary padded inserts into the shoe.

BACKGROUND

Shoes are generally categorized into two categories, casual and formal. Casual shoes are primarily designed for comfort while formal shoes prioritize aesthetic appeal over comfort. Formal shoes, regardless of gender designation, are notoriously uncomfortable, in part because most formal shoes lack any padding on the interior of the shoe or any padding alternative. It is a common problem that formal shoes can be generally uncomfortable, especially when worn for long periods of time or during certain activities. This problem is exacerbated by the design and construction of formal shoes which are generally focused on aesthetics rather than comfort and thus can cause the user pain, ranging from minimal discomfort to physical damage. The term formal, heeled, high heels, or other related terms in the context of this application refers specifically to any footwear where such heel is one inch or higher and can be used interchangeably. These terms specifically exclude footwear commonly referred to as “flats” that possess no heel as well as informal types of shoes such as running shoes, athletic shoes, or the like. Women commonly remove their heeled shoes at work and prolonged events, such as weddings, as a result of this discomfort, reducing the aesthetic utility of the chosen women's footwear.

Multiple designs, inserts, and other methods for attempting to solve this general problem in women's heeled and formal shoes have been attempted through various prior art. However, most, if not all the methods attempted are focused on the sole of the shoe, or specific padding for problem areas of the foot that may be inserted temporarily in the shoe or are similarly padded shoes subsequently limited to non-heeled shoes.

For example, Poleck U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,699 discloses a padded shoe insert designed to cushion the impact of the increased stressed placed on the ball of the foot when wearing a shoe with heels exceeding two inches. This disclosure adds padding to the sole of a shoe. However, Poleck 699 ignores the discomfort associated with variable straps, the toe-box or vamp, the toppling, the counter and other portions of women's formal shoes commonly associated with women's shoes. Formal shoes are often designed to fit tightly. As an insert, the addition of material to the sole of a shoe causes additional pressure to be applied to a user's foot exacerbating discomfort. Additionally, Poleck 699 does not disclose a method of tailoring the insert to provide comfort to the vast multitude of variable heeled shoe designs.

Other prior art discloses similar padding features, but limited to one portion of a shoe designed for a particular purpose. For example, Arbour U.S. Pat. No. 6,705,026 discloses a dance shoe with a padded toe-box to protect the user, especially when executing a “sur le pointe” dance step. This prior art also fails to provide padding for the entirety of any shoe and does not contemplate the difficulty with respect to women's formal shoes.

More generally, other types of formal shoes commonly incorporate padding into their design. For example, Shepherd U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,542 discloses an athletic shoe that encloses a user's foot to provide support and cushion for athletic activity. However, Shepherd 542 fails to disclose a method for applying cushioning to a fashionable shoe with variable part not commonly included in athletic shoes.

Several attempts have been made to apply padding to women's formal shoes. For example, Scholl U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,588 discloses a women's shoe that incorporates padding behind a non-snag lining by cementing the plurality of layers via glue instead of stitching. However, Scholl 588 does not disclose a method of applying such padding to the entirety of a women's shoe, and Scholl 588 does not discuss or disclose claims regarding padding for a heeled shoe and the specific comfort issues women's formal shoes present to a user.

It is an object of the present invention to disclose a design and method to incorporate padding into the entire aspect of a heeled shoe, providing an increased level of comfort and usability that surpasses the standard paradigm of use for women's formal shoes while simultaneously preventing physical damage to a user's foot because of the comprehensive padding.

SUMMARY

This present disclosure has overcome the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art by implementing a design and method for interior padding the entirety of variable designed formal shoes while maintaining the formal shoe's exterior aesthetic value.

This present disclosure as originally disclosed in US Provisional 62/365,789 and revised in this disclosure to include: a padding material of variable thickness and a method for affixing said padding material to a plurality of parts of a formal men's and more specifically women's formal shoe. As someone skilled in the art will fully comprehend a women's formal shoe is comprised of a plurality of parts. In a woman's formal shoe, the shoe is typically comprised of three main parts: a heel; a sole; and an upper. A heel is fixed to the rearward portion of a sole as to elevate the rearward portion of the shoe, affixed to the sole at an intersection called a seat. A shoe sole transverses the entire length of a shoe consisting of an insole, a layer of material covering the portion of a sole between a wearer's foot and the sole, and an outsole, an exposed part of a sole revealed underneath the shoe. An upper refers to the material that covers a wearer's foot above a sole. An upper may be comprised of a vamp, the section that covers a wearer's foot from the front of a shoe to the quarter; a toe-box, an extra layer of material over a vamp extending from the front of a shoe to cover a portion of the wearer's foot; a quarter, the section that covers the heel to cover and support the rear of the foot located approximately above the seat; and a plurality of straps or varying combinations thereof. Circumnavigating the upper is a topline which refers to the edge of the upper in-between the external and internal portion of the upper.

Heeled and high heeled formal shoes cause discomfort in two primary ways; first a wearer puts a large amount of load bearing pressure on the ball of the wearer's foot due to the angle created by the heel; and second, by friction and/or pressure between the varying parts of a men's formal or woman's formal shoe and the wearer's foot when a formal shoe is used for walking, standing, and/or dancing.

While many forms of formal shoe padding target the first problem by adding removable padded inserts for the sole of a heeled shoe or incorporating similar padding into the original construction of the sole, this padding only alleviates portions of discomfort and ignores the clear majority of men's and women's formal shoe parts. Because of the variability of design of especially for women's formal shoes, a standard padding insert is not well suited to pad against the plurality of shoe portions without compromising the aesthetic value of a formal shoe. Shoe padded inserts typically do not work well in heeled shoes as space is limited and they cause added pressure to other areas of the foot. Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to disclose a design and method of incorporating varying levels of padding to the entirety of a men's and woman's formal shoe, including but not limited to a vamp, a toe-box, a quarter, a topline, and straps to increase comfort and maintain aesthetic value associated with women's formal shoes. In addition to increasing comfort, the padding provides tangible health benefits by preventing the formation of aberrant skin malformations such as bunions. Few people have two feet that are exactly the same size. Most will see some difference between the left and right foot. In street shoes, or event ballet slippers, these differences might not be apparent. In pointed shoes or closed toe shoes, on the other hand, the fitting is so snug that even small differences become more noticeable. When shoes are fitted to the larger foot, adjustments need to be made to the smaller foot's shoe to make sure that the smaller foot's shoe isn't too loose. To do this, external padding needs to be added to the smaller shoe. The element of adding padding affixed to the interior and entirety of said formal shoe adds to the functional nature as it will improve the way women will walk in a formal shoe by making them more stable as the shoe is more fitted/secure to the foot preventing the smaller foot to slip out of the shoe.

The padding used for this present disclosure can include any suitable padding material, commercially available and fit to purpose for this invention. Specific examples of said padding is disclosed therein, which are commonly, but not limited to the common practice in the shoe industry or limited by any result of technological advances in padding material, used in the art of making and producing heeled shoes. For example, the padding material can be foam rubber, memory foam, gel compound, cotton, open-cell foam or closed-cell foam covered by a thin layer of material that may be moisture absorbing and designed to prevent undue friction from the user's activity in a heeled shoe. The padding material preferably has a high degree of resiliency and excellent shock absorption properties while minimizing the width of such padding as to maintain the aesthetic appeal of a formal shoe.

The present disclosure of formal shoe with padding affixed to the interior and entirety of said formal shoe is capable of being adapted to a plurality of formal shoe designs, including but not limited to boots, mules, wedges, loafers, and various other women's heeled shoes or men's formal shoes currently known or that may be envisioned by technological advances. Heeled shoes, of various types, may be embodiments of this disclosure to fit the purpose of preventing discomfort commonly associated with said wearing, while preserving the aesthetic appeal of formal shoe, as well as providing maximum comfort for long periods of wear, dramatically reducing likelihood of the user experiencing sore foot regions, specifically ball of foot pain, bruised toes, cut heels, and bunions and blisters.

Additionally, the present disclosure of a padded formal shoe that may have an embodiment with padding only in certain and specific sections of the interior of the shoe. The preferred embodiment will include padding in the entirety of the interior of either men's or women's formal shoes, but this embodiment may include a combination of padding in specific interior sections considered problem areas or “hot spots” within a shoe's interior that cause pain or discomfort to the user. The specific formal shoe design may only accommodate certain areas of the interior of a formal shoe to be padded and thus only require an embodiment with partial padding.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following written specification, claims and disclosure drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the padded woman's formal shoe embodying the principles of the present invention as an illustrative example of the apparatus and method.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the padded woman's formal shoe with certain key features identified for specification.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the padded woman's formal shoe illustrating a certain embodiment of the apparatus and method of the current disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

This present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings and figures, in which like reference numerals are used to indicate identical or functionally similar elements. References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, that every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

The following examples are illustrative, but not limiting, of the present invention. Other suitable modifications and adaptations of the variety of conditions and parameters normally encountered in the field, and which would be apparent to those skilled in the art, are within the spirit and scope of the invention. The original disclosure of the present invention in U.S. Provisional 62/365,789 and now revised in this application disclosure for a formal shoe with padded elements described in multiple embodiments.

In a formal shoe, the shoe is typically comprised of three main parts: a heel 1; a sole 2;

and an upper 3. As previously discussed, prior art discloses providing varying levels of padding for women's formal shoes for a sole 2 only, while ignoring an upper 3. An upper may be comprised of a vamp, the section that covers a wearer's foot from the front of a shoe to the quarter; a toe-box, an extra layer of material over a vamp extending from the front of a shoe to cover a portion of the wearer's foot; a quarter, the section that covers the heel to cover and support the rear of the foot located approximately above the seat; and a plurality of straps or varying combinations thereof. As seen in FIG. 1, the present invention discloses a method of providing padding materials suitable for formal shoes on all portions of a vamp. Here, padding is provided for the straps 4, the quarter 5, a modified toe-box 6, as well as the entirety of the insole 7.

A padding material 8 of variable thickness and a plurality of layers is affixed to appropriate locations by individual manufacturers depending on the particular design of the women's formal shoe. As seen in FIG. 2., the padding material 8 design is highly modifiable in both levels of thickness and number of layers. In the preferred embodiment, the padding material 8 will be comprised of a minimum of three layers, the first layer 9 serves as an adhesive or anchor point of the padding material to the desired heeled shoe portion. The second layer 10 will be comprised of material designed to absorb impact force as well as provide a comfortable fit when wearing the women's formal shoe. The third layer 11 will be comprised of a material designed to reduce friction between the wearer's points of contact and the portion of a formal shoe directly affected.

This padding material 8 is affixed to the portions of the women's formal shoe where the wearer's skin will come into contact with the women's formal shoe. For example, as seen in FIG. 3., the straps 4 have the padding material 8 attached to the side of the straps 4 that will come into direct contact with the wearer's foot. Similarly, the modified toe-box 6 will have padding material 8 attached to the inward facing portion to provide padding where the wearer's foot will come into contact with the modified toe-box 6. An embodiment may include a strap 4 without similar padding if said strap does not come in direct contact with the user's foot or leg to result in uncomfortable friction. The inclusion of a padded strap 4 option will be variable dependent on the design and implementation of the padding for various embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for producing a fully or partially padded men's or women's formal shoe where a heel measures one inch or greater in height to reduce an impact and discomfort of a user's foot, a method comprising the steps of:

obtaining a suitable padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, fit to purpose for a formal shoe to enhance the aesthetic appeal, with the padding or alternative material affixed to the entire in area of a formal shoe, wherein the padding or alternative material is made of a resilient or disposable material depending on the embodiment;

preparing a formal shoe's interior for adhesive application;

applying adhesive to all interior surfaces of a formal shoe;

affixing the appropriate padding or alternative buffer material to entire interior surface of a formal shoe; and

finishing the production of a padded formal shoe to coincide with the aesthetic themes, specifically, cleaning excess adhesive, color matching, stitch completion, and any other action required to complete shoe process.

2. The method recited in claim 1 wherein padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, has a thickness within the range of one centimeter or thicker, depending on embodiment design.

3. The method recited in claim 1 wherein a shoe's padding or padding alternative, or buffer material, is constructed of one of the materials selected from the group consisting of foam rubber, memory foam, gel compound, cotton, open-cell foam or closed-cell foam, in addition to any other padding material that may, or may not, be available for use due to technological advances, also covered by a thin layer of material that may or may not be moisture absorbing and designed to prevent undue friction from the user's foot.

4. The method recited in claim 1 wherein a formal shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is constructed of a combination of at least two of the materials selected from the group consisting of foam rubber, memory foam, gel compound, cotton, open-cell foam or closed-cell foam, in addition to any other padding material that may, or may not, be available for use due to technological advances also covered by a thin layer of material that may or may not be moisture absorbing and designed to prevent undue friction from the user's foot.

5. The method recited in claim 1 wherein a formal shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is accurately shaped, curved, and positioned to accommodate and cover the entirety of the inner portion of a formal shoe.

6. An apparatus of a padded women's formal shoe where a heel measures one inch or greater in height to reduce an impact and discomfort of a user's foot, an apparatus comprising of the embodiment of a women's formal shoe with suitable padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, fit to purpose for a shoe to enhance the aesthetic appeal, with the padding affixed to the entire inner area of a shoe, wherein the padding is constructed from various materials disclosed.

7. The embodiments disclosed in claim 6, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, has a thickness within the range of one centimeter or thicker, depending on embodiment design.

8. The embodiments disclosed in claim 6, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is constructed of one of the materials selected from the group consisting of foam rubber, memory foam, gel compound, cotton, open-cell foam or closed-cell foam, in addition to any other padding material that may, or may not, be available for use due to technological advances, also covered by a thin layer of material that may be moisture absorbing and designed to prevent undue friction from the user's foot.

9. The embodiments disclosed in claim 6, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is constructed of a combination of at least two of the materials selected from the group consisting of foam rubber, memory foam, gel compound, cotton, open-cell foam or closed-cell foam, in addition to any other padding material that may, or may not, be available for use due to technological advances also covered by a thin layer of material that may be moisture absorbing and designed to prevent undue friction from the user's foot.

10. The embodiments disclosed in claim 6, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is accurately shaped, curved, and positioned to accommodate and cover the entirety of the inner portion of a formal shoe.

11. The embodiments disclosed in claim 6, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is accurately shaped, curved, and positioned to accommodate and cover the majority of the inner portion of a formal shoe without padding on certain straps pursuant to embodiment design.

12. The embodiments disclosed in claim 6, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is accurately shaped, curved, and positioned to accommodate and cover only certain sections of the inner portion of a shoe to accommodate specific problem areas of the interior shoe pursuant to embodiment design.

13. An apparatus of a padded men's, or women's, or youth's, formal shoe where a heel is considered flat or less than one inch in height to reduce an impact and discomfort of a user's foot, an apparatus comprising of the embodiment of a gender neutral formal shoe with suitable padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, fit to purpose for a shoe to enhance the aesthetic appeal, with the padding affixed to the entire inner area of a shoe, wherein the padding is constructed from various materials disclosed.

14. The embodiments disclosed in claim 13, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, has a thickness within the range of one centimeter or thicker, depending on embodiment design.

15. The embodiments disclosed in claim 13, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is constructed of one of the materials selected from the group consisting of foam rubber, memory foam, gel compound, cotton, open-cell foam or closed-cell foam, in addition to any other padding material that may, or may not, be available for use due to technological advances, also covered by a thin layer of material that may be moisture absorbing and designed to prevent undue friction from the user's foot.

16. The embodiments disclosed in claim 13, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is constructed of a combination of at least two of the materials selected from the group consisting of foam rubber, memory foam, gel compound, cotton, open-cell foam or closed-cell foam, in addition to any other padding material that may, or may not, be available for use due to technological advances also covered by a thin layer of material that may be moisture absorbing and designed to prevent undue friction from the user's foot.

17. The embodiments disclosed in claim 13, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is accurately shaped, curved, and positioned to accommodate and cover the entirety of the inner portion of a formal shoe.

18. The embodiments disclosed in claim 13, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is accurately shaped, curved, and positioned to accommodate and cover the majority of the inner portion of a formal shoe without padding on certain straps pursuant to embodiment design.

19. The embodiments disclosed in claim 13, wherein shoe padding, or padding alternative, or buffer material, is accurately shaped, curved, and positioned to accommodate and cover only certain sections of the inner portion of a shoe to accommodate specific problem areas of the interior shoe pursuant to embodiment design.