Children's sandal having replaceable soles

Abstract

A child's sandal system, wherein the each sandal has removable and interchangeable soles that may be attached to a permanent upper sole, where the bottom of the removable soles has any desired textured graphical design, such as an animal paw print or the like. A removable ornamental design may be added to an upper portion of the sandal, on top of a wearer's foot. This system allows a child to choose from any number of available soles and ornamental designs to be attached to a single pair of sandals or flip-flops. The designs on the underside of the removable soles are formed and shaped so that a child walking on a soft surface would leave footprints similar to the sole design. The removable soles may be attached to the underside of the upper sole by using hook and loop fasteners, threaded screws members, snaps, or any other suitable means. Similarly, the ornamental design members may be attached to the upper portion of the sandals by snaps, hook and loop fasteners, or any other suitable means. An optional informational message providing information regarding the theme or subject matter of the ornamental design and the graphical design on the removable sole may also be included.

Description

[0001] This patent application is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 131,405, filed Apr. 24, 2002, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 513,866, filed Feb. 28, 2000, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,869.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention described and claimed herein relates generally to sandals and flip-flop types of footwear. More specifically, the present invention includes a child's sandal, having removable and interchangeable soles that may be attached to a permanent upper sole, where the removable soles have any desired graphical design, such as an animal paw print or the like. A removable ornamental design may be added to an upper portion of the sandal, on top of a wearer's foot, to correspond to the underside of the removable sole. For instance, if the underside of the removable sole includes a design that resembles a bear claw track, then the removable ornamental desig...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a sandal with a removable sole member that may be easily interchangeable and replaceable with other removable sole members when one sole becomes worn out.

[0012] Another important object of the present invention is to provide a sandal for children, having a removable sole that includes any desired graphical design and shape on a bottom portion thereof, such as a bear track, so that a child may leave a footprint resembling any desired animal track or other graphical representation on a soft surface.

[0014] Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a footwear system, where a child may select the type of footprint that he or she would like to leave behind on a soft surface by selecting a particular removable sole to attach to the bottom portion of a sandal.

[0016] Another important object of the present invention is to provide a sandal with a removable sole member that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and which overcomes some of the problems associated with other types of footwear having removable soles. These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent with a reading of the following specification, the drawings, and the appended claims.

Problems solved by technology

None of the prior art, however, discloses a child's sandal having a removable sole member that includes a desirable graphical portion formed on a bottom thereof, such as a bear claw track or the like, together with a removable ornamental design member that may be removably attached to an upper member, such as the likeness of a bear's head and face.

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