|Publication number||US5996261 A|
|Application number||US 09/252,126|
|Publication date||Dec 7, 1999|
|Filing date||Feb 18, 1999|
|Priority date||Feb 18, 1999|
|Publication number||09252126, 252126, US 5996261 A, US 5996261A, US-A-5996261, US5996261 A, US5996261A|
|Inventors||Mary K. Nelson|
|Original Assignee||Nelson; Mary K.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (7), Referenced by (9), Classifications (10), Legal Events (7)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This invention relates generally to footwear and more specifically to footwear with storage capabilities.
Men, women, and children have always had a need to carry things with them wherever they go. This need was initially met simply by carrying them in their hands, slinging them over their shoulders, or carrying them in containers of some sort.
When clothes came along, pockets were invented and became the ultimate means for men and boys to carry things. Even so, the males of the species found it desirable to maintain a filing system of sorts for storing things in their pockets by resorting to containers such as billfolds and change purses. An added attraction of such containers was the protection provided the more fragile items that were carried about. The males also took advantage of the ubiquitous belt as a carrier of "must have" items such as sun glasses, pocket knives, and sometimes cash.
Pockets in clothes have never become popular with women and girls as a carrying resource. Instead the handbag became the essential accessory for carrying the multitude of different things that females need in living their daily lives. This has worked out well except for those times when it is inconvenient to carry and keep track of a handbag. There appears to be no completely satisfactory solution to this problem. The only options seem to be to cut down on the number of items that must be carried, thereby making the use of a small purse feasible.
Fashion-dictated changes in women's footwear has now provided a way of avoiding the use of any purse at all. It is now quite fashionable for many occasions to wear stylized boots with large heels, rather than the delicate "high heels" customarily the footwear of choice. These large heels provide a new resource for the storage of women's essentials.
The invention is an article of footwear comprising a heel, an outersole, an innersole, and an upper wherein a storage facility is incorporated in an interior part of the article. One type of storage facility consists of a chamber in the heel having at least one opening and a closure for each opening. One type of closure has a push button which, when pushed, causes the closure to be partially or completely ejected from the opening to the chamber. The closure may include a receptacle adapted to receive and hold an object for storage in the chamber.
Another type of storage facility is a pocket on the interior surface of the upper. Still another type of storage facility is a pocket in the innersole with a flap covering the opening to the pocket.
FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of the invention.
FIG. 2 provides a cross-sectional view of the closure to the heel cavity showing the outline of a lipstick attached to the closure.
FIG. 3 is a top view of the innersole showing a flap that covers the entrance to a pocket.
The invention is an article of footwear with a storage chamber in the heel and with one or more pockets on inside surfaces. A preferred embodiment of a boot-type article of footwear is shown in FIG. 1. The boot 1 includes a cylindrical storage chamber 3 within the heel 5, a push-to-release closure 13 within the storage chamber 3, an upper pocket 9 on the inside of the upper 11 of the boot 1, and a lower pocket (not shown) in the innersole.
The cylindrical storage chamber 3 extends from a side surface of the heel 5 to the vicinity of, but not through, the other side surface of the heel. The cylindrical form of the storage chamber 3 is preferred because of the ease of fabrication and also became of the roughly cylindrical form of the objects that may be stored within the chamber. However, there are no limitations to the shape of the chamber 3 except those imposed by the shape of the heel.
A cross-sectional view of the push-to-release closure 13 locked in position within storage chamber 3 in heel 5 is shown in FIG. 2. Closure 13 includes an open cylindrical base 15 into which a replaceable article 17 can be introduced and-held by frictional forces. Likely candidates for being replaceable articles 17 are lipsticks, chapsticks, aspirin in lipstick-shaped containers, etc.
Closure 13 is held within chamber 3 by balls 18, 19 captured in holes 20, 21 and locked into groove 23 by push button 25. The push button 25 is held in the locking position by a disc-shaped elastomer 27. The closure 13 is removed from the chamber 3 by a person pressing on the push button 25 which allows the balls 18, 19 to move out of groove 23. When the push button is 25 is released, coil springs 28, 29, which are exerting forces against pins 30, 31, cause the closure 13 to be pushed partially out of chamber 3. At this point, the person can grip the end of closure 13 and extract it from chamber 3. The springs 28, 29 and pins 30, 31 are prevented from coming out of holes 32, 33 by fixed collars 34, 35.
The closure 13 is returned to the chamber 3 by pushing the push button 25 until the closure 13 is seated in chamber 3 and then releasing push button 25 while holding closure 13 in a seated position.
The upper pocket 9 is formed by sewing three sides of a rectangular piece of lining material to the lining of the upper 11 leaving the top side open. The pocket is provided with a VELCROŽ hook-and-loop type closure 36. The pocket 9 is dimensioned for credit cards, driving license, etc.
A lower pocket 37 is provided by a thin cavity in innnersole 39 of boot 1, as shown in FIG. 3. Pocket 37 is also dimensioned for credit cards and like-sized objects and is located just beneath the arch of the foot. The entry to the pocket is covered by a flap 41 which is flush with the surface of innersole 39. Flap 41 is attached to innersole 39 along line 43.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US654388 *||May 4, 1900||Jul 24, 1900||Frank Diemer||Shoe.|
|US1085254 *||Jan 27, 1914||Safe-deposit shoe-heel.|
|US1751069 *||Feb 19, 1927||Mar 18, 1930||Albert Blain||Footwear|
|US2762134 *||Jul 30, 1954||Sep 11, 1956||Town Edward W||Cushioning insoles for shoes|
|US3631613 *||Aug 10, 1970||Jan 4, 1972||Charles C Brettell||Multiple-use pouch|
|US4516337 *||Nov 4, 1983||May 14, 1985||San Shoe Trading Corp.||Means for displaying a picture or the like in a shoe|
|FR1213038A *||Title not available|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US6289612 *||Jan 21, 2000||Sep 18, 2001||Dorene Jean Kent||Footwear having concealed storage cavity for personal items|
|US7216443||Mar 31, 2005||May 15, 2007||Oakley, Inc.||Elevated support matrix for a shoe and method of manufacture|
|US7661208 *||Apr 12, 2006||Feb 16, 2010||Mckinney Kelye A||Shoe with writing surface|
|US7987619||Aug 2, 2011||Mckinney Kelye A||Shoe with writing surface|
|US20070289160 *||Oct 24, 2006||Dec 20, 2007||David Scott Hansen||Insole With Consumable Element|
|US20090013560 *||Apr 12, 2006||Jan 15, 2009||Mckinney Kelye A||Shoe with writing surface|
|US20100107441 *||Dec 30, 2009||May 6, 2010||Mckinney Kelye A||Shoe with writing surface|
|US20130086819 *||Apr 11, 2013||Elizabeth Anne LeGear||Women's Boot Wallet and Pocket System|
|USD740010 *||Dec 4, 2014||Oct 6, 2015||Nicholas Kirkwood Limited||Heel with studs|
|U.S. Classification||36/136, 36/43|
|International Classification||A43B3/00, A43B21/00|
|Cooperative Classification||A43B21/00, A43B3/0031, A43B3/00|
|European Classification||A43B3/00P, A43B21/00, A43B3/00|
|Jun 3, 2003||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jun 20, 2007||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Nov 30, 2007||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8
|Nov 30, 2007||SULP||Surcharge for late payment|
Year of fee payment: 7
|Jul 11, 2011||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Dec 7, 2011||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|Jan 24, 2012||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20111207