Footwear with expansion joint

Abstract

Footwear includes a sole and an upper comprising an unlaced shaft for covering a portion of the lower leg of the wearer. The shaft includes a forward and rearward portions secured together at substantially vertically extending seams at lateral sides of the upper. An expansion joint is provided in the shaft and is adapted to expand a local circumference of the shaft at the expansion joint when the wearer's foot passes through the shaft at the expansion joint to ease putting the footwear onto the wearer's foot and removing the footwear from the wearer's foot. The illustrated expansion joint includes a substantially vertical slit located along the seam between the forward and rearward portions and an elastic material secured to an inner side of the shaft and covering the slit for preventing passage of undesirable solid materials through the slit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]Not ApplicableSTATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH[0002]Not ApplicablePARTIES TO JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT[0003]Not ApplicableREFERENCE TO APPENDIX[0004]Not ApplicableFIELD OF THE INVENTION[0005]The field of the present invention generally relates to footwear and, more particularly, to footwear including a unlaced shaft for covering a portion of the wearer's leg.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0006]Removing certain types of footwear such as, for example, cowboy boots and work boots from a wearer's foot is often difficult because of their intended snug fit. Putting such footwear on can almost as difficult. In some instances, the wearer must enlist the assistance of another individual to pull the boot from the wearer's foot. If assistance is not available, wearers often remove them by applying a downward force on the heal of the footwear with their other foot to allow the wearer to withdraw their foot from its footwear. This procedur...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]Disclosed are footwear that overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art described above. Disclosed is footwear for covering a foot and a portion of a lower leg of a wearer. The footwear comprises, in combination, a sole and an upper comprising an unlaced shaft for covering the portion of the lower leg of the wearer. An expansion joint is provided in the shaft and is adapted to expand a local circumference of the shaft at the expansion joint when the wearer's foot passes through the shaft at the expansion joint to ease putting the footwear onto the wearer's foot and removing the footwear from the wearer's foot.

[0009]Also disclosed is footwear for covering a foot and a portion of a lower leg of a wearer. The footwear comprises, in combination, a sole; and an upper comprising an unlaced shaft for covering the portion of the lower leg of the wearer. The shaft comprises a forward and rearward portions secured together at substantially vertically extending seams at lateral sides of the upper. An expansion joint is provided in the shaft and is adapted to expand a local circumference of the shaft at the expansion joint when the wearer's foot passes through the shaft at the expansion joint to ease putting the footwear onto the wearer's foot and removing the footwear from the wearer's foot. The expansion joint comprises a substantially vertical slit located along the seam between the forward and rearward portions and which is normally closed and opens in a horizontal direction to expand the circumference of the shaft when the wearer's foot passes through the shaft at the expansion joint.

Problems solved by technology

Removing certain types of footwear such as, for example, cowboy boots and work boots from a wearer's foot is often difficult because of their intended snug fit.

Putting such footwear on can almost as difficult.

While this procedure may be effective, it is often difficult because the heal area of most footwear have a very small edge or surface against which the downward pressure can be applied.

While the boot jack may be helpful, it is not always effective because the boot may slip from the recess as the foot is attempted to be withdrawn.

Also, the boot jack can scuff or damage the heal area of the boot.

Further, a boot jack may not be available at the location the wearer wants to remove their footwear.

While these attempts may be somewhat effective they either damage the footwear, are not very effective in removing the footwear, and / or adversely affect the appearance of the footwear.

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