FOOTWEAR INCLUDING SOUND EMITTING, ILLUMINATING AND IMPRINT FORMING FEATURES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to footwear, and more particularly, to footwear including a sound emitting feature, an illuminating feature and an imprint forming feature having a common theme.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Manufacturers of footwear, such as shoes, sneakers, slippers, sandals, boots, etc., continually seek ways to make everyday footwear decorative, interesting or unique. For example, footwear has been offered that is brightly colored, multi-colored, or includes eye-catching decals, symbols, logos or patches. Footwear manufacturers have also produced footwear that emit sound, or that illuminate. Footwear, and in particular slippers, that embody a caricature of the head or body of an animal has also been produced. Footwear, and in particular running shoes, sneakers and hiking boots, is also available that includes a sole having a decorative and/or functional pattern. Furthermore, devices have been made that attach to the foot of a person, or to a shoe worn by a person, that leave an imprint in soft surfaces, such as sand, snow, mud or loose dirt. For example, US Patent No. 6,080,033 to Fladwood et al. discloses a toy that is worn on a person's foot to generate exaggerated footprints of a man or animal. Similarly, US Patent No. 6,398,126 to Pitchford teaches an auxiliary sole that is attached to the shoe or boot of a person engaged in hunting. The auxiliary sole leaves an imprint of an animal track on the ground and dispenses an animal scent as a hunter walks.

[0003] Children, especially toddlers and younger children, enjoy playing with toys that emit sound, or that illuminate with brightly colored lights. It is widely believed that encouraging children to play or interact with toys and other objects that provide multi-sensory stimuli helps to develop their inquisitiveness and creativity. Children are also known to enjoy walking through water, sand, snow, mud or loose dirt in shoes, sneakers or boots in order to leave behind footprints. The footprints reflect at least a portion of the pattern formed on the soles of the child's shoes, sneakers or boots. Accordingly, footwear manufacturers are beginning to incorporate different sound emitting features, illuminating features and imprint forming features into footwear designed for children, and especially for toddlers and younger children.

[0004] Despite the apparent knowledge of the availability of various footwear including either a sound emitting feature, an illuminating feature or an imprint forming feature, to date no manufacturer is known to have combined all of these novelty features into the same footwear product. Furthermore, to date no manufacturer is known to have produced footwear including sound emitting, illuminating and imprint forming features having a common theme. Thus, there exists a need for footwear that includes a sound emitting feature, an illuminating feature and an imprint forming feature. There exists a further and more specific need for footwear that includes sound emitting, illuminating and imprint forming features having a common theme. More particularly, there exists a specific need for footwear including a sound emitting feature, an illuminating feature and an imprint forming feature having a common theme that provide multi-sensory stimuli to toddlers and younger children. The present invention satisfies these long felt, but as yet unresolved needs.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In one aspect, the present invention provides an article of footwear that includes a sole and an upper operably attached to the sole. The article of footwear further includes a plurality of novelty features selected from the

group consisting of a sound emitting feature, an illuminating feature and an imprint forming feature. In one embodiment, the article of footwear includes a sound emitting feature disposed on the upper and an illuminating feature disposed on the upper, wherein the sound emitting feature and the illuminating feature have a common theme. In another embodiment, the article of footwear includes a sound emitting feature disposed on the upper and an imprint forming feature disposed on the sole, wherein the sound emitting feature and the imprint forming feature have a common theme. In yet another embodiment, the article of footwear includes an illuminating feature disposed on the upper and an imprint forming feature disposed on the sole, wherein the illuminating feature and the imprint forming feature have a common theme.

[0006] In another aspect, the present invention provides an article of footwear including a sole and an upper operably attached to the sole. The article of footwear further includes a plurality of novelty features having a common theme. In one embodiment, the article of footwear includes a sound emitting feature disposed on the upper and an illuminating feature disposed on the upper. In another embodiment, the article of footwear includes a sound emitting feature disposed on the upper and an imprint forming feature disposed on the sole. In yet another embodiment, the article of footwear includes an illuminating feature disposed on the upper and an imprint forming feature disposed on the sole. In yet another embodiment, the common theme relates to characteristics of a living or extinct creature selected from the group consisting of a sound representative of the living or extinct creature, a caricature representative of the living or extinct creature, and an imprint representative of the footprint or track formed by the living or extinct creature in a soft surface.

[0007] In yet another aspect, the present invention is an article of footwear including a sole and an upper operably attached to the sole. The article of footwear includes a sound emitting feature disposed on the upper and an imprint forming feature disposed on the sole. The sound emitting feature

includes a power source, a speaker electrically connected to the power source, and a switch for activating the speaker to emit a predetermined sound. The imprint forming feature includes at least one projection extending outwardly from the sole a sufficient distance so as to be operable for forming a predetermined pattern in a soft surface. Preferably, the sound emitting feature and the imprint forming feature have a common theme. Preferably, the common theme relates to characteristics representative of a living or extinct creature, or an inanimate item or object. In a preferred embodiment, the predetermined sound is a sound representative of the living or extinct creature and the predetermined pattern is an imprint representative of the footprint or track formed by the living or extinct creature in a soft surface. The article of footwear may further include an illuminating feature having the common theme. In a more particular embodiment, the sound emitting, illuminating and imprint forming features have a common theme relating to characteristics representative of an animal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] An article of footwear including novelty features selected from a sound emitting feature, an illuminating feature and an imprint forming feature having a common theme according to the present invention is best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures described below.

[0009] Fig. 1A is a front perspective view showing an article of footwear in accordance with the present invention including an exemplary sound emitting feature and an exemplary illuminating feature.

[0010] Fig. 1 B is an enlarged view of a portion of the article of footwear of Fig. 1A depicting the illuminating feature in greater detail.

[0011] Fig. 2A is a schematic diagram of the sound emitting feature of Fig.1A.

[0012] Fig. 2B is a schematic diagram of the illuminating feature of Fig. 1A.

[0013] Fig. 3A is a top plan view of the article of footwear of Fig. 1A showing the upper and an alternative location for the illuminating feature on the upper.

[0014] Fig. 3B is a bottom plan view of the article of footwear of Fig. 1A showing the sole and an exemplary imprint forming feature on the sole.

[0015] Fig. 3C is a side elevation view of the article of footwear of Fig. 1A showing the sole and a portion of the upper.

[0016] Fig. 4 is an environmental perspective view depicting the article of footwear of Fig. 1A being worn by a toddler or younger child with the imprint forming feature of Fig. 3B forming an imprint in a soft surface.

[0017] Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the imprint depicted in Fig. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Referring to the drawing figures wherein identical reference numerals denote the same elements throughout the various views, an article of footwear, indicated generally at 10, is shown in Fig. 1. The article of footwear 10 may any clothing accessory worn by a child or adult to cover and protect feet. By way of example only, the article of footwear may be a shoe, sneaker, slipper, sandal or boot. In the specific, yet merely exemplary embodiments shown and described herein, the article of footwear is a shoe typical of that worn by a toddler or younger child. However, the inventive concepts of the present invention may easily be applied to any type, kind, style or variety of article of footwear intended to be worn by an individual, or even an animal, of any age, size or sex. Regardless, the article of footwear (also referred to simply as shoe) 10 shown and described herein comprises a sole portion 12 and an upper portion 14 operably attached to the sole in any conventional manner. The present invention is not intended to be limited in any manner by the size, shape, construction and specific manner in which the

upper 14 is attached to the sole 12. Therefore, details regarding the size, shape, construction and manner of attachment of the exemplary embodiments shown herein will not be discussed in further detail.

[0019] As shown, the shoe 10 comprises a sound emitting feature 20 disposed on the upper 14, an illuminating feature 30 disposed on the upper 14, and an imprint forming feature 40 (Fig. 3B and Fig. 3C) disposed on the sole 12. The shoe 10 includes at least two of these novelty features 20, 30, 40 in any combination. For example, the shoe 10 may comprise only the sound emitting feature 20 and the illuminating feature 30. Alternatively, the shoe 10 may comprise only the sound emitting feature 20 and the imprint forming feature 40. Alternatively, the shoe 10 may comprise only the illuminating feature 30 and the imprint forming feature 40. In a more preferred embodiment, however, the shoe 10 comprises all three novelty features 20, 30, 40. In a most preferred embodiment, the shoe 10 comprises all three novelty features 20, 30, 40 and the features have a common theme. This latter embodiment is considered to be the best mode of practicing the invention known to the inventor at this time.

[0020] As used herein, "a common theme" is intended to mean that the sound emitting feature 20, the illuminating feature 30, and the imprint forming feature 40 each provide a sensory stimulus, and in particular sound, sight (appearance), or touch (feel), that relates to the same thing, such as a living or extinct creature, or an object or item of manufacture. Examples include an animal (e.g. panther, tiger, lion, elephant, giraffe, bear, dinosaur, etc.); a bird (e.g. crow, rooster, owl, etc.); an insect (e.g. mosquito, bee, cricket, etc.) or a vehicle (e.g. motorcycle, car, train or airplane, etc.). One specific example is an article of footwear 10 wherein the sound emitting feature 20 emits the sound of a racecar, the illuminating feature 30 illuminates one or more headlights depicted on an image of the racecar affixed to the footwear, and the imprint forming feature 40 is operable to form an imprint of a tire tread (e.g. a tire track) on the ground. By way of further example, the specific embodiments of the article of footwear 10 shown and described herein include

a sound emitting feature 20, an illuminating feature 30, and an imprint forming feature 40 having a common theme, wherein the common theme relates to characteristics that are representative of a living creature; namely a panther. However, the specific embodiments shown and described herein are provided for purposes of illustration, and should not be construed as limiting the intended scope of the invention in any manner.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 1A and Fig. 3A, the sound emitting feature 20 is configured in the shape of the paw of a panther. However, the sound emitting feature 20 may be configured in any shape that represents, depicts, or is reminiscent, of a panther. For example, the sound emitting feature 20 may be configured in the shape of the body of a panther, or alternatively, in the shape of the head of a panther. Regardless, the sound emitting feature 20 emits a predetermined audible sound that is characteristic of a panther. For example, the sound emitting feature 20 may emit an audible sound that is representative of a panther, such as a growl or roar. The sound emitting feature 20 may be configured as a patch, decal, applique or such and affixed, for example by an adhesive or by sewing, onto the upper 14 of the shoe 10. The sound emitting feature 20 may be located in any convenient location on the upper 14, for example at the upper end of the tongue 15 as illustrated in Fig. 1A, or alternatively, at the lower end of the tongue 15. The sound emitting feature may also be located on one or both sides 16 of the upper 14.

[0022] Any suitable means for generating and projecting an audible sound may be used in conjunction with the sound emitting feature 20. Numerous such means are well known to those skilled in the art and need not be described herein in great detail. However, for purposes of enabling one or ordinary skill to make, use and practice the invention, a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of a sound emitting feature 20 according to the invention is shown in Fig. 2A. As shown, the sound emitting feature 20 comprises a power source (e.g. conventional watch battery) 22, a speaker (e.g. amplifier) 24 electrically coupled to the power source, and switch means 26 electrically coupled to the power source and to the speaker for generating

the predetermined sound. In a particular embodiment, the switch means 26 may be a pair of electrical contacts that are biased apart such that when the switch means is depressed, the contacts engage to complete an electrical circuit between a sound generator and the speaker 24. These components are well known and are commonly integrated together onto a printed circuit board (PCB) referred to as a "sound chip" 28. Suitable sound chips 28 are commercially available from a variety of sources and are used extensively in such devices as toys and stuffed animals.

[0023] As shown in Fig. 1A, Fig. 1 B and Fig. 3A, the illuminating feature 30 is configured in the shape of the body of a panther. However, the illuminating feature 30 may be configured in any shape that depicts, or is reminiscent, of a panther. For example, the illuminating feature 30 may be configured in the shape of the head of a panther, or alternatively, in the shape of the paw of a panther. Regardless, the illuminating feature 30 illuminates a light source 31 on at least a portion of the illuminating feature. As depicted in Fig. 1A, the illuminating feature 30 illuminates a light source 31 positioned on the eyes of the panther when the feature 30 is configured in the shape of the body or the head of a panther. Alternatively, illuminating feature 30 may illuminate the outline of the body, the head or the paw of the panther. The light source 31 may be white, colored or multi-colored, and may be steady or flashing. The illuminating feature 30 may be configured as a patch, decal, applique or such and affixed, for example by an adhesive or by sewing, onto the upper 14 of the shoe 10. The illuminating feature 30 may be located in any convenient location on the upper 14, for example on one or both sides 16 of the upper as illustrated in Fig. 1A, or alternatively, at the lower end of the tongue 15 as illustrated in Fig. 3A. The illuminating feature 30 may also be located at the upper end of the tongue 15 in place of the sound emitting feature 20.

[0024] Any suitable means for activating light source 31 may be used in conjunction with the illuminating feature 30. Numerous such means are well known to those skilled in the art and need not be described herein in great detail. However, for purposes of enabling one or ordinary skill to make, use

and practice the invention, a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of an illuminating feature 30 according to the invention is shown in Fig. 2B. As shown, the light source 31 of the illuminating feature 30 comprises a power source (e.g. conventional watch battery) 32, and a light emitting diode (LED) 34 electrically coupled to the power source. These components are well known and are sometimes integrated together onto a printed circuit board (PCB) referred to as an "LED chip" 38. Suitable LEDs and LED chips are commercially available from a variety of sources and are used extensively in such devices as consumer electronics and games.

[0025] As shown in Fig. 3B and Fig. 3C, the imprint forming feature 40 is at least partially configured in the shape of the paw of a panther. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, configuring the imprint forming feature 40 in the shape of the paw of a panther is especially advantageous in order to permit a person wearing the shoe 10 to form imprints 50 of a panther's footprint (i.e. panther tracks). However, the imprint forming feature 40 may be configured in any shape that depicts, or is reminiscent, of a panther. For example, the imprint forming feature 40 may be configured in the shape of the body of a panther, or alternatively, in the shape of the head of a panther. Regardless, the imprint forming feature 40 forms an imprint 50 when a person wearing the shoe 10 walks on a soft surface, such as sand, snow, mud or loose dirt, or alternatively, walks through water and immediately thereafter walks on a hard surface, such as asphalt or concrete.

[0026] Any suitable means for forming an imprint on a soft surface may be used in conjunction with the imprint forming feature 40. Numerous such means are well known to those skilled in the art and need not be described herein in great detail. However, for purposes of enabling one or ordinary skill to make, use and practice the invention, a preferred embodiment of an imprint forming feature 40 according to the invention is shown in Fig. 3B and Fig. 3C. As shown, the imprint forming feature 40 comprises a plurality of projections 42 extending outwardly from the underside 13 of the sole 12 of the shoe 10. The projections 42 collectively define a mirror image of the outline of the paw

of a panther and extend outwardly from the underside 13 of the sole 12 sufficiently so that the projections 42 form the imprint 50 of the panther paw in the soft surface. Similarly, the projections 42 will form an imprint 50 on a hard surface when the underside 13 of the sole 12 of the shoe 10 is wet. In this example, the imprint forming feature 40 further comprises additional projections 44 that collectively define a mirror image of a desired design or logo (i.e. KID TRAX™). The projections 44 extend outwardly from the underside 13 of the sole 12 of the shoe 10 sufficiently to form the imprint 50 of the design or logo in the soft surface, or alternatively, on the hard surface.

[0027] As depicted in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the imprint forming feature 40 forms the imprint 50 of the paw 52 of a panther when a child wearing the shoe 10 walks on a soft surface. The imprint forming feature 40 also forms the imprint of the design or logo 54 (i.e. KID TRAX™) as the child walks on the soft surface. As will be readily appreciated by comparing the underside 13 of the sole 12 of the shoe 10 shown in Fig. 3B with the imprint 50 of the design or logo 54 depicted in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the imprint forming feature 40 must be positioned on the underside 13 of the sole 12 in mirrored relation to the desired orientation of the imprint 50 formed on the soft surface, or alternatively, on the hard surface. Furthermore, the projections 42, 44 of the imprint forming feature 40 must extend outwardly from the underside 13 of the sole 12 of the shoe 10 sufficiently to form the desired imprint 50 with the desired clarity and distinctiveness. However, the projections 42, 44 should not extend outwardly enough to interfere with the desired walking and running functions of the shoe 10. For this reason, it is advantageous (but not absolutely necessary) that the projections 42, 44 encompass a significant portion of the underside 13 of the sole 12 of the shoe 10. For example, the projections 42, 44 may encompass at least about 50% of the underside 13 of the sole 12.

[0028] The foregoing has described exemplary embodiments of footwear including a sound emitting feature, an illuminating feature and an imprint forming feature, and more particularly, sound emitting, illuminating and imprint

forming features having a common theme. While particular embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications thereto can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and the best mode for practicing the invention are provided for the purpose of illustration only and not for the purpose of limitation.