Adjustable Footbed Assembly for an Article of Footwear

Abstract

A removably insertable footbed assembly for adjusting sizing of an article of footwear is provided, wherein the footbed assembly adjusts the volume available within the cavity of the article of footwear. The footbed assembly comprises: a) an upper component having a heel region, a midfoot region, and a forefoot region, and having an upper and lower surface, wherein the lower surface of the forefoot region, the midfoot region, or both have at least one attachment element for releasably attaching a lower component; and b) a lower component having a midfoot region and a forefoot region, and having an upper and lower surface, wherein the upper surface of the midfoot region, the forefoot region, or both have at least one attachment element such that the lower component is releasably attachable to the upper component. Also provided are articles of footwear comprising an adjustable footbed assembly; kits including an upper component and several lower components; and methods for fitting footwear to an individual's foot by using an adjustable footbed assembly or component thereof.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 083,581 filed Jul. 25, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates generally to an article of footwear, and relates more specifically to an adjustable footbed assembly for an article of footwear.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The size of the human foot varies greatly from one individual to another, and even from one foot to the other foot on the same individual. The variation may be in terms of the measurement of foot length, forefoot length, forefoot width, forefoot girth, and / or heel width, for example. The most significant variation observed, however, is in the forefoot width and girth measurements in individuals with the same foot length. Accordingly, a standard shoe of particular length is unlikely to properly fit all individuals with that particular foot length. When a shoe...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Accordingly, a standard shoe of particular length is unlikely to properly fit all individuals with that particular foot length.

When a shoe fits improperly (i.e., too tight or too loose), it often causes discomfort, potentially causing rubbing, irritation, and blisters.

Shoes that have been custom made for a particular individual are unlikely to cause such undesirable effects, but such custom-made shoes are often very expensive and not necessarily an option for the general consumer.

However, this approach creates significant expense and complexity for the footwear company because it must manufacture, stock, and distribute more stock keeping units for each type of shoe.

Because each stock keeping unit requires its own set of molds, increasing the number of stock keeping unit imposes an additional capital and time investment on the part of the manufacturer.

Furthermore, many of the manufacturers accommodate variations in width only by creating shoe upper patterns with a larger girth, rather than making adjustments to sole of the shoe.

Therefore, the resulting footwear still may not provide the desired comfortable fit.

However, these adaptations only affect the girth provided by the shoe upper, and therefore, the resulting footwear may not provide the desired comfortable fit.

In addition, such adaptations are not suitable for use with many shoe styles.

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