Site News  |   Monitor Keywords  |   Monitor Archive  |   Organizer  |   Account Info  |

Footwear seam construction and method of manufacturing same

Footwear seam construction and method of manufacturing same description/claims

This application claims priority from U.S. Prov. App. Ser. No. 60/868,512 filed Dec. 4, 2006, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. This application also claims priority from U.S. Ser. No. 11/758,651 filed Jun. 5, 2007 which in turn claims priority from U.S. Prov. App. Ser. No. 60/803,979 filed Jun. 5, 2006, the contents of each of which are also herein incorporated fully by reference.

FIG. 17

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to footwear and a method of manufacturing same. In particular, the invention relates to a shoe construction having an outsole and upper of footwear stitched together along the forefoot area and glued together along the middle area of the footwear.

2. Discussion of the prior art

The human foot is a combined structure of base and lever, supporting and balancing the body's weight while standing, as well as raising and moving the body. The anatomy of the foot is very complex, but well studied and well know to the shoe industry. Generally, footwear designers tend to construct shoe models that are both comfortable and durable. In addition, of course, the shoes have to be aesthetically appealing and follow the fashion trends.

When even one part of the foot becomes damaged, it can affect every other part of the foot and lead to problems. In very general terms, normal or neutral feet tend to roll off the center of the forefoot (front part of the foot). This motion is associated with substantial stresses upon the forefoot that gradually decrease as the foot rolls towards the heel. Accordingly, in use, if the shoe design ignores both the anatomical and mechanical particularities of the foot, the front of the shoe, if it is not sufficiently reinforced, may wear out rather soon and if not also well designed will appear unattractive. On the other hand, if the shoe has an overly rigid construction, it creates an uncomfortable environment for the foot.

One effort to streamline both the construction of the shoe design and secure the mechanical requirements of the shoe can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,792 to Kaiser, the entire contents of which are herein fully incorporated by reference. In Kaiser, there is provided a flexible shoe sole member having a lip member extending fully about the top surface. An upper member is then fit, right side in, about the sole such that the upper circumscribes the lip of the sole. Then the upper is secured to the outer wall of the lip and the inner wall of the lip is folded inward and the entire sole flipped right-side-out so as to present a desirable seam surface and a smooth juncture between sole and upper member. Unfortunately, this reference fails to recognize the variants and requirements within the design and construction fields as will be appreciated by one of skill in the art having considered the present disclosure in detail.

In summary, the problems of commercially available manufacturing methods for shoe gluing include at least the following:

Poorly constructed glue joints that easily separate.

Difficult to functionally adhere toe box constructions.

Delicate designs more suitably adapted to hand stitching construction techniques are costly and time consuming.

Non-adaptability of the present glue-joint and stitching construction techniques.

The design aspect is particularly important to consider for fashion conscious woman. Typically, the outsole of the shoe is stitched to the rest of the shoe parts so as to provide a reliable structure capable of withstanding high stresses during use. However, stitching may add to the overall unappealing and bulky look of the shoe and may well create discomfort in use, when stitching is rubbing on a foot portion. Furthermore, as a technological operation, the stitching may be time- and labor-ineffective.

A need therefore exists for footwear that has a reinforced front portion capable of withstanding high stresses while providing the footwear with elegance.

Another need exists for a shoemaking process that is time- and labor-effective.

The inventive footwear seam construction and method for manufacturing same meets these proposed needs and multiple variants are provided. In non-technical parlance the phase blind-seam may be employed or stitch and turn depending upon the feature of construction being discussed. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the inventive method includes juxtaposing an upper with an outer surface of an outsole or with the outer surface of a member extending from tan outsole (attached by stitching, gluing, or other construction). The outsole may be made by a variety of molding methods and has an outer surface and an inner surface and may be generally planer in alternative aspects (as will be discussed). The outer surface is provided with a peripheral edge provided by extending the outer surface or by attaching a secondary outsole member or alternatively called a secondary upper portion. In the juxtaposed position also considered an inside-out position, the inner face of the peripheral edge and the forefront bottom portion of the upper overlap one another. Once the overlapping position is established, the upper is turned upside down over the periphery of the outsole and ends up facing the inner surface of the outsole.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

• What Is a Patent?
• What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?
• What Is a Copyright?
• Patent Laws