The present invention relates to the field of footwear. More particularly, the invention relates to a shoe with an ornamental connector for connecting the shoe straps together, which is easily interchangeable by the wearer.

Background of the Invention

Widespread open footwear and shoes, particularly women's shoes, consist of a base for supporting the foot and an array of straps with loop edges, for securing the foot to the base. Many of these shoes are styled footwear, where the straps are tied together by an ornamental connector, for enhancing the appearance of the shoe, while maintaining its function. The ornamental connector may be of a variety of colors and materials, such as fabric, leather or a synthetic material, in combination of decorated metallic parts which allow easy wearing and removing. The metallic parts often include buckles, which are designed to receive the loop ending each strap and hold it in place, as long as the wearer wears the shoe.

US 2006/0174514 discloses a shoe with a changeable upper (straps) portion, which comprises a base for supporting a foot and an upper (straps) portion of the shoe for securing the foot to the shoe base. The shoe base includes a front left side integrated loop for securing the upper (strap), a front right side integrated loop for securing the upper (strap), a rear left side integrated loop for securing the upper (strap) and a rear right side for securing the upper (strap). Each integrated loop has a securing "clip" mechanism for securing the upper (straps) portion to the shoe base. However, in order to keep the straps together, each loop is inserted into a ring through a narrow opening, for preventing the loop from being released while the wearer wears the shoe. This narrow opening may scratch the straps and damage them during insertion. Also, the loops are free to move along the perimeter of the ring while the wearer walks, they provide an unstable engagement between the foot and the shoe. In addition, the moving ring can find the right angle with respect to the strap that will cause the ring to disconnect from the strap unexpectedly.

USP 4,450,633 discloses a shoe forming assembly which comprises a sole constructed and adapted to underlie the foot of a wearer and means for releaseably connecting the sole to the foot of the wearer, including anchoring means attached to a side edge of the sole adjacent the toe end and a strap with means on its end, for releaseable connection to the sole carried fastening means. Each anchoring means comprises a strip of rigid material which is elongated longitudinally of the sole with a first part connected to the edge wall of the sole, and a second part extending upwardly from the first part and curved outwardly of the sole from the first part. Each strap has at its end a ring which is elongated in the direction of the sole and is sufficiently long to pass over the second part of the anchoring means and is formed of material of such diameter that it will be received below the outwardly curved part of the anchoring means. However, the means for releaseably connecting the sole to the foot of the wearer can be fastened only if the wearer's foot is located above the sole. Otherwise, it should be stored as a separate part and may be lost. Also, the jewelry ornament is positioned at the crossed relation junction, which renders the visual effect limited.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a shoe with an ornamental connector for connecting the shoe straps together, which is easily interchangeable by the wearer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a shoe with an ornamental connector for connecting the shoe straps together, which ensures an unstable engagement between the foot and the shoe while the wearer walks.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds. Summary of the Invention

The present invention is directed to an interchangeable ornamental connector for connecting shoe straps together, which comprises :

a) an arrangement of three or more upper straps (e.g., Y shaped or T shaped) attached to each other, each strap ending with a hook assembly adapted to receive one of the straps loop extending upwardly from the sole of the shoe and to allow easy engagement and disengagement of the loop; and

b) one or more ornaments fixedly attached to the arrangement, for enhancing the esthetic appearance of the shoe,

where the hook assembly includes :

b. l) a proximal end, to which an upper strap of the ornamental connector is connected and a distal end to which a strap loop is inserted, the distal end having a hook which is connected to one side of the proximal end with an opening at the opposite side of the proximal end, thereby forming a groove for receiving and securing the strap loop, the hook is ending with an essentially vertical cog with height being essentially equal to the thickness of the strap, for preventing the strap loop from being released from the groove as a result of applied lateral forces, the formed groove further comprises an upper projection followed by an opposing lower projection being displaced deeper into the groove, for causing a predetermined deformation in the inserted strap loop. The upper straps may be attached to each other by nailing or by stitching.

The hook assembly may be connected to an upper strap by soldering, via a metallic adaptor that is inserted into a mating indentation formed therein.

The arrangement may include a decorated lateral upper strap, for connecting between the loops of lateral straps.

The present invention is directed to a shoe with straps loop extending upwardly from the sole of the shoe, comprising:

a) an interchangeable ornamental connector for connecting the shoe straps together, the connector consisting of an arrangement of three or more upper straps attached to each other, each strap ending with a hook assembly adapted to receive one of the straps loop extending upwardly from the sole of the shoe and to allow easy engagement and disengagement of the loop;

b) one or more ornaments fixedly attached to the arrangement, for enhancing the esthetic appearance of the shoe,

where the hook assembly includes :

b. l) a proximal end, to which an upper strap of the ornamental connector is connected and a distal end to which a strap loop is inserted, the distal end having a hook which is connected to one side of the proximal end with an opening at the opposite side of the proximal end, thereby forming a groove for receiving and securing the strap loop, the hook is ending with an essentially vertical cog with height being essentially equal to the thickness of the strap, for preventing the strap loop from being released from the groove as a result of applied lateral forces, the formed groove further comprises an upper projection followed by an opposing lower projection being displaced deeper into the groove, for causing a predetermined deformation in the inserted strap loop.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood through the following illustrative and non -limitative detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

Fig. la shows a perspective view of an ornamental connector to be engaged with a shoe sole, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figs. 2a-2c are perspective views of different configurations of the hook assembly for allowing easy engagement and disengagement of strap loops, according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. lb shows a cross-sectional view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, during initial insertion of the loop of the central strap into its corresponding hook assembly!

Fig. lc shows a cross-sectional view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, after almost full insertion of the loop of the central strap 12c into its corresponding hook assembly!

Fig. Id shows the orientation of ornamental connector after almost full insertion into a corresponding hook assembly! Fig. le shows a cross-sectional view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, after full insertion of the loop of the central strap 12c into its corresponding hook assembly!

Fig. If shows a side view of the hook assembly, after full insertion;

Fig. lg shows the orientation of ornamental connector after full insertion;

Fig. 3 shows a shoe with a T shaped ornamental connector which an arrangement of a decorated lateral upper strap, connecting between the loops of straps; and

Figs. 4 and 5 show a side and top views of the shoe with a T shaped ornamental connector, shown in Fig. 4, respectively.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

Fig. la shows a perspective view of an ornamental connector to be engaged with a shoe sole, according to an embodiment of the invention. The shoe 10 (a sandal in this example) consists of a sole 11 with three straps 12a, 12b and 12c, where each strap is extending upwardly from sole 11 and ending with a loop (portion). When the wearer wears the shoe 10, he places strap 12c (which is the central strap) at the bottom of the spacing between the hallux and the long toe and the rear part of his foot between straps 12a and 12b.

The ornamental connector 13, proposed by the present invention consists of a Y shaped arrangement of upper straps 14a, 14b and 14c which are attached to each other (e.g., by nailing or stitching). Each strap is ended with a unique hook assembly 15, which is adapted to receive one of the loops 16 of straps 12a- 12c. Ornamental connector 13 preferably includes several ornaments 17, in order to enhance the esthetic appearance of the shoe 10. Once all loops are inserted into their corresponding hooksl5, the shoe 10 is complete and can be worn. Each hook assembly 15 is adapted to allow easy engagement and disengagement of the loop 16, as will be explained later on. Hence, the wearer can easily replace the ornamental connector 13 with another connector that is decorated differently (e.g., by carrying different type of ornaments, having different colors etc.), to thereby change the appearance of the shoe whenever he likes.

Figs. 2a-2c are perspective views of different configurations of the hook assembly for allowing easy engagement and disengagement of strap loops, according to an embodiment of the invention. Looking first at Fig. 2a, the hook assembly 15 includes a proximal end 21 to which an upper strap of ornamental connector 13 is connected (in this case, an essentially rectangular opening 22 for receiving the strap loop 16) and a distal end 23 to which a strap loop is inserted. The distal end is designed to have a hook 24 which is connected to one side of the proximal end 21 with an opening at the opposite side of the proximal end 21, thereby forming a groove 25 for receiving and securing the strap loop 16. Hook 24 ends with an essentially vertical cog 26 with height of slightly more than the strap's thickness, for preventing the strap loop from being released from the groove 25 as a result of lateral forces, applied when the wearer walks. The formed groove further comprises an upper projection 27 essentially in the middle, followed by an opposing lower projection 28, which is displaced deeper into the groove 25. Both projections cause a predetermined deformation in the inserted strap loop, in order to increase the grasping stability of hook 24 and resistance to applied forces.

Fig. 2b shows a perspective view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, with a different proximal end 22, to which an upper strap of ornamental connector 13 is stitched via an array of holes 29a.

Fig. 2c shows a perspective view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, with a different proximal end 22, to which an upper strap of ornamental connector 13 may be connected by soldering, e.g., via a metallic adaptor that may be inserted into a mating indentation 29b. Fig. lb shows a cross-sectional view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, during initial insertion of the loop 16 of the central strap 12c into its corresponding hook assembly 15. Easy insertion is allowed by holding the central strap 12c in place and slideably displacing hook assembly 15 from right to left.

Fig. lc shows a cross-sectional view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, after almost full insertion of the loop 16 of the central strap 12c into its corresponding hook assembly 15. Fig. Id shows the orientation of ornamental connector 13 at this stage.

Fig. le shows a cross-sectional view of the hook assembly of Fig. 2a, after full insertion of the loop 16 of the central strap 12c into its corresponding hook assembly 15. Fig. If shows a side view of the hook assembly 15, after full insertion. Fig. lg shows the orientation of ornamental connector 13 at this stage. It can be clearly seen from Fig. le that after full insertion, the threaded strap 16 is deformed by the opposing projections 27 and 28, while its left edge is fully blocked by vertical cog 26. The same process is repeated by the wearer, for engaging the remaining hook assemblies 10 to their corresponding strap loops 16. This ensures a very stable and reliable connection of ornamental connector 13, to sole 11, which can stand vertical and lateral forces that are applied by straps 12a- 12c while walking with the shoe 10. When the wearer wishes to replace the ornamental connector 13 with a different (substitute) one, all he has to do is to lift the edge of each strap above its corresponding vertical cog 26 and to easily pull it out of the groove 25. Then he can engage the three hook assemblies 15 of the substitute ornamental connector 13.

Fig. 3 shows a shoe with a T shaped ornamental connector 13 which an arrangement of a decorated lateral upper strap 40, connecting between the loops of straps 12a and 12b. This shoe also includes a rear strap 41, for further securing the shoe to the foot of the wearer.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a side and top views of the shoe with a T shaped ornamental connector, shown in Fig. 3, respectively.

The above examples and description have of course been provided only for the purpose of illustrations, and are not intended to limit the invention in any way. As will be appreciated by the skilled person, the invention can be carried out in a great variety of ways, employing more than one technique from those described above, all without exceeding the scope of the invention.