Conjoined two piece lateral and medial rear closing shoe vamp
This invention describes a functional change in shoe vamp design and use from a traditional lace, tongue vamp to a conjoined two-piece lateral and medial vamp and is comprised of a sole, upper textile materials fitted around the entire length, width of the; an expanded ankle collar, a vamp medial piece and vamp lateral piece wherein the vamp medial piece is opened and overlaps the vamp lateral pierce to rearwardly close the shoe. The separate lateral and medial vamp pieces are fitted and stitched together around the sole first at the sole rear and then intersecting at a pivoting stitch point on the front of the vamp. A pivoting stitch point on the front of the vamp is configured to allow the medial vamp piece to open upward and close rearward along a line linearly drawn from the stitch point thru the externally mounted lateral clip A medial vamp piece, when open expands both the shoe opening to accept a variety of devices, plates, specific volume, and the ankle collar allowing for a non-obstructed, direct step pathway into the shoe providing optimal structural support without need of additional supporting straps, tongues, or cross-braces. The linear alignment of a sewn-in externally mounted medial piece clip fastener and ladder latch and an externally mounted sewn-in lateral piece clip accept the ladder latch in several provided ladder holes serving as a tensioner in pulling the medial vamp piece over the lateral vamp piece rearwardly in shoe closure. The conjoined medial piece clip fastener and lateral piece clip mechanically fasten together in a rearward facing direction toward the sole to minimize the shoe opening and close the ankle collar, utilizing the ladder latch holes in fixed positions for shoe structural stability during dynamic movements.
This utility patent application and claims have been researched against the USPTO database of prior art patents with respect to non-laced shoe upper configurations and maintains that the present conjoined two-piece lateral and medial rear closing shoe vamp embodiments (as diagramed) are innovative, non-obvious and which functionally change both the configuration of the vamp pattern and the use of an athletic sport shoe as it relates to opening, stepping into, closing adjusting and stepping out of the shoe. It is illustrated herein that the current innovation speaks emphatically to a unique non-obvious sport shoe upper vamp configuration with a secondary delineation on the various types of currently marketed closing mechanisms whether they be of metal, dials, Velcro, magnets, or other such devices that are readily used in footwear design today. Due to this innovative change in athletic, sport shoe upper vamp configuration, athletic shoes now become widely useful to those with limited mobility, rehabbing from an injury, illness, surgery, and those that have manual dexterity issues tying shoes.
BACKGROUNDThe present invention relates to a change in the methods of opening, stepping into, closing, adjusting, and stepping out of an athletic, sport shoe as a result of a change in the functional configuration of a sport shoe vamp from traditional tongue-laces design to a conjoined two-piece lateral and medial rear closing vamp. The overlapping two vamp pieces close on the side of the shoe toward the rear of the shoe taking the pressure off the top of the foot where all nerves are located. This allows the foot to breath and perform better in various physical movements.
Most athletic, sport shoes are tightened by a fastening system such as shoelaces or Velcro straps on top of a tongue for protection. These straps hold the foot in place, pulling the toes together and use a padded tongue to protect the top of the foot from the downward lace pressure. The present design does not require additional straps, cross-braces to keep the foot in place or necessitate a traditional shoe tongue for protection because the foot is wrapped with one piece of material and held in place by the force of the rearward, downward inter-locking ladder latch on the lateral side of the shoe.
Traditional shoe front tongue and lacing has been an inexpensive commonly used solution to closing sport and athletic shoes but is problematic for those with manual dexterity issues, lack of lace tying knowledge, troubles bending over due to recovery from back, hip, knee issues, being overweight or having a temporary limited mobility issue. This discourages exercise and is counter-productive to efforts to daily exercise, physical movement, and improvement of mental wellbeing. Getting in/out of shoes, tying laced shoes, and getting proper fit for even basic walking are non-trivial issues at all ages of shoe wearing experience. The present vamp construction allows a direct step pathway into the shoe on the ground, simple quick one hand closing, adjustability with predictable results at the same tension every time and saves shoe life by preventing a step down on the outer ankle collar which damages the integrity of the shoe.
Generally, when allowed and which is natural during load bearing exercises, the foot will splay about 15% in width and toes push forward, pulling the heel upward out of the shoe. Many current shoe designs fail to accommodate such dynamic foot movements, cause heel slippage, don't allow the foot to breath due to top-down lace pressure and often cause toenail damage.
Further, most shoe designs require significant physical dexterity and require significant time to be secured to the foot with the right tension to keep the shoe on. Hence wearing and/or changing shoes can be challenging for those with use of only one hand from a stroke, those with foot plates, devices to keep the foot in place from dropping due to motor skill issues and competitive sportsmen participating in timed competitions requiring shoe changes, such as triathlons.
It is therefore apparent that an urgent need exists for athletic footwear that is easy to step into, close, adjust and step out of without causing anxiety or challenging the user physically and mentally. This present improved configured two piece shoe vamp allows the user to widely open the shoe to accommodate the foot with a variety of conditions, plates, devices, can be fastened and removed quickly and permits the foot to function properly and comfortably during any exercise without undue pressure on the foot.
SUMMARYTo achieve the foregoing and in accordance with the present invention, and methods for opening, stepping into, closing, adjusting, and stepping out of an athletic, sport shoe, a conjoined two-piece medial and lateral shoe vamp with side, rearward and downward mechanical inter-locking closing is provided.
In one embodiment, the two-piece vamp is shown open on the top with the expanded ankle collar and shoe opening that provide for various foot types, plates, and specific volume. The circumference of the shoe opening is maximized and at the same time positions the foot over the shoe center for proper fit.
In another embodiment, the vamp is shown to pivot on a single stitch point on the front of the vamp and close towards the rear along a line drawn linearly from the stitch point thru the externally mounted lateral clip piece to the rear of the sole. This downward, rearward closing method keeps the foot in place and secures the heel during vigorous movements. Further, this rearward inter-locking mechanics of the medial vamp over the externally mounted clips, enables wrapping of the foot, minimizes the shoe opening, ankle collar and allows for a customized fit over the top of the foot depending on the structure of the foot with its devices with conditions.
It is critical to understand in the embodiments that the present invention refers specifically to the details of the vamp two-piece configuration, the stitch point, the downward, rearward closing inter-locking mechanics and not focus obsessively on the varying types of devices which can be used to close the shoe. Subsequently, while the various features, methods of shoe opening, closing, adjusting, fitting described herein are produced with a rubber ladder latch, they may be practiced with a plurality of methods including a dial, toggler, Velcro or used without any devices. While there are many prior art shoe inventions that teach no laces to allow slip on or closing a shoe, none embody in combination and total: 1) a change in the function and use of the vamp that configures an expanded ankle collar, 2) a shoe opening with unobstructed, direct step pathway into a shoe and 3) ability to close a shoe quickly, precisely with one hand, keeping the foot properly centered over the shoe center thus optimizing the use of the shoe for physical activity and greatly aiding those with mobility, dexterity issues in tying laces.
In order that the present invention may be more clearly ascertained, some embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to several embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention. The features and advantages of embodiments may be better understood with reference to the drawings and discussions that follow.
The present invention relates to the changes in opening, stepping into, closing, adjustment and stepping out an athletic, sport shoe as a result of the innovative configuration of a conjoined two-piece lateral and medial rear closing vamp. To facilitate discussion,
Referring now to
In
Modifications and additions to the above-described embodiments are possible. For example, fastening systems can also include adjustable Velcro strap(s) for an all or nothing closure and readily obtainable “dials” that have been developed in the past 20 years for incremental adjustments to tightness. Home grown solutions include use of hair tightening bands or certain elastic bands in a double helix position.
Advantageous features of the above-described non-laced slide on athletic shoes provide a complete functional re-configuration of the shoe upper vamp from toe to heel by at least one of (a) providing a seamless connection of two pieces of material on top of the foot allowing no sock wearing and preventing blistering (b) elimination of the constantly slipping sideways tongue, (c) elimination of top laces restricting foot ventilation, (d) providing expansion of the ankle collar and shoe opening to allow for the direct step-in of varying foot conditions, plates and specific volume (e) customized fit over the top of the foot instep by the ladder latch with use of only one hand (f) conjoined lateral and medial vamp pieces which allow the wrapping of the foot instead of pushing down on the top of the nerves with laces providing optimal, natural movement of the dynamic foot under demands of walking, running, cycling, health rehabilitation and constant standing over long periods of time.
While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, there are alterations, modifications, permutations, and substitute equivalents, which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the shoe closing methods and devices of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, modifications, permutations, and substitute equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A non-laced, step-in sport, athletic shoe comprising:
- a sole;
- upper textile materials fitted around the entire length, width of the sole;
- an expanded ankle collar, a vamp medial piece and vamp lateral piece wherein the vamp medial piece is opened and wrapped over the vamp lateral pierce to close the shoe rearward and furthermore,
- the separate lateral and medial vamp pieces are fitted and stitched together around the sole first at the sole rear and then intersecting at a pivoting stitch point on the front of the vamp.
2. A pivoting stitch point on the front of the vamp that is configured to allow the medial vamp piece to open upward and close rearward along a line drawn linearly from the stich point thru the externally mounted lateral piece clip to the rear of the sole.
3. A medial vamp piece, when open, expands both the shoe opening to accept a variety of devices, plates, specific volume, and the ankle collar, allowing for a non-obstructed, direct step pathway into the shoe.
4. The linear alignment of a sewn-in externally mounted medial piece clip fastener with a ladder latch and an externally mounted sewn-in lateral piece clip to accept the ladder latch in several provided ladder holes serving as a tensioner in pulling the medial vamp piece over the lateral vamp piece in rearward shoe closure.
5. Conjoined medial piece clip fastener and lateral piece clip mechanically inter-lock in a rearward facing direction downward toward the sole to minimize the shoe opening and close the ankle collar, utilizing the ladder latch holes in fixed positions for shoe structural stability.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 2, 2021
Publication Date: May 4, 2023
Inventor: Elisha George Pierce (Bend, OR)
Application Number: 17/300,771