BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

This invention relates generally to footwear, and more particularly to a shoe that enables the toes, ball, and heel of the user's foot to directly contact the ground or other desired surface (e.g., studio floor, surfboard, or other surface), to allow for optimum balance, movement and proprioception (sensory input).

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART:

The prior art teaches a wide range of foot wear that are suitable for various activities.

Lindsay, U.S. 2004/0261289, teaches a yoga sandal with a sole portion, an elastic foot covering portion, and a rear strap portion. The sole portion is flexible, thin and has a non- slip surface that makes contact with the floor. The sole portion covers both the arch and the ball area of the user's foot, but not the toe and heel areas. The elastic foot covering portion is attached to the sole portion at each side edge of the sole so that the foot covering portion fits snuggly on the top central portion of the user's foot. The strap portion is attached to the rear edge of each side of the elastic foot covering so that the strap can retain the user's foot within the sandal. While this reference teaches a sandal that covers the arch and leaves the heel exposed, it also covers the ball of the foot, and does not engage the user's toe(s).

Song, U.S. 7,682,326, teaches a foot protection device adapted to protect a user's feet when training and playing fighting games. The device includes an upper and an exterior cover for covering the bottom of the foot. The exterior cover covers most of the bottom of the foot, but includes an anterior hole over the ball of the foot, and a posterior hole over the heel. The toes are mostly covered, and toe holes are provided so that the ends of the toes extend out of the device and are not covered. While this reference teaches holes for the heel and ball of the foot, the toe portion covers the toes and is connected with the arch cover, except for the hole. A similar device is also shown in Luedecke, U.S. 7,739,810.

Logan, U.S. 8,240,066, teaches an arch support device that elevates the midsection of the foot. The device does not cover the metatarsus or heel, and is attached to the foot by lateral straps or equivalents. The device does not engage the toes.

Hergenroeder, U.S. 5,205,071, teaches a surfing sandal that includes an instep pad adapted to extend across the instep at the top of the foot and a traction surface adapted to extend across the bottom of the foot between the heel and the ball of the foot. An ankle strap holds the pad and sole rearward while a toe strap holds the pad and sole forward. Importantly, the device is attached to the big toe with a connector; however, the connector extends across the ball of the foot, beneath the foot, rather than from the top of the foot connected to the upper.

The prior art teaches various forms of footwear. However, the prior art does not teach a shoe having the unique construction as claimed below. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below. The present invention provides a shoe having a main body, an ankle strap, and a toe loop connected to the main body with a toe strap. The main body wraps around the instep of the foot and the arch of the foot, without covering the ball of the foot, the heel, or the toes. The ankle strap is attached at its ends to the main body and extends around the back of the foot above the heel for constraining the main body from forward movement. The toe loop surrounds one of the toes. The top strap connects the toe loop with the main body from above the foot, the top strap extending over the instep for constraining the main body from rearward movement, without covering the ball of the foot or the toes. In one embodiment, the shoe has four contact areas on the foot which allows the shoe to stay in place: 1. toe or toes, 2. metatarsal area / instep area, 3. arch area under the foot, and 4. heel area on the back of the foot. This allows the user to have contact of the exposed toes, ball, and heel area of the foot with any desired surface. This makes the shoe desirable to perform a wide variety of activities such as yoga, Pilates, dance, gymnastics, surfing, and other types activities in which the user can benefit because the toes, ball, and heel areas of the foot can be in natural contact with the surface. A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a shoe having advantages not taught by the prior art.

Another objective is to provide a shoe that contacts the foot in four locations, the toe, the instep/metatarsal area, the arch, and the heel.

Another objective is to provide a shoe that contacts the instep or metatarsal area of the foot and the arch of the foot, without covering the toes, the ball area of the foot, or the heel area of the foot. A further objective is to provide a shoe that is lightweight, comfortable, and is in close, snug contact with the foot to not interfere with the physical activities of the user.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In such drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a shoe according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIGURE 2 is a top plan view thereof; FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a rear elevational view thereof; FIGURE 5 is an inner side elevational view thereof; FIGURE 6 is an outer side elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 7 is an inner side view of a second embodiment of the shoe; FIGURE 8 is an outer side view of a third embodiment of the shoe;

FIGURE 9 is a bottom plan view of a fourth embodiment of the shoe; and FIGURE 10 is a bottom plan view of a fifth embodiment of the shoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a shoe 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The shoe 10 is useful for a wide range of physical activities, and has the unique construction of leaving a ball 18, a heel 20, and toes 24 of a wearer's foot 12 uncovered, while covering at least some of an instep 14 and an arch 16 of the wearer's foot 12. This construction is discussed in greater detail below.

For purposes of this application, we discuss various parts of the wearer's foot 12, including not only the instep 14 (defined, for purposes of this application, the dorsum of the wearer's foot 12 which faces upwardly when the person is standing, including the area over the instep bone and the metatarsal bones, but excluding the phalanges) and the arch 16 (defined, for purposes of this application, the portion of the planum of the wearer's foot 12 located between the heel 20 and the ball 18 of the foot, the planum being the portion of the foot that faces downwardly when the person is standing). The ball 18 of the foot is formed generally under a base of the first metatarsal bone of the wearer's foot 12. The heel 20 refers the region positioned generally under the calcaneous bone, and a back 22 of the foot is the portion above and behind the heel 20 and talus (i.e., the location of the Achilles tendon). The toes 24 are formed by the phalanges, and include a first toe (i.e. big toe) 26 and four smaller toes 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d. Since the general construction of the foot is known in the art, this is not discussed in greater detail herein.

Various additional views of the shoe 10 are provided, to more fully disclose this embodiment of the invention. FIGURE 2 is a top plan view thereof; FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view thereof; FIGURE 4 is a rear elevational view thereof; FIGURE 5 is an inner side elevational view thereof; and FIGURE 6 is an outer side elevational view thereof.

As shown in Figs. 1-6, the shoe 10 includes a main body 30 that wraps around the instep 14 of the foot and the arch 16 of the foot, without covering the ball 18 of the foot, or the heel 20, or the toes 26. In this embodiment, the main body 30 is in the form of a sleeve having a leading edge 32 and a trailing edge 34 that are separated by a width W great enough to cover a majority of the instep 14 and the arch 16 of the foot. For purposes of this application, the term "majority" shall be defined to mean over 50%. In one alternative embodiment, not shown, the main body may be in the form of two sections or "ears" which wrap under the arch of the foot to rejoin again on top of the instep to tie in a bow or otherwise fasten or are fastened in that area. In alternative embodiments, other constructions known in the art may be used, and some further examples are discussed in greater detail below.

As shown in Figs. 1-6, the shoe 10 further includes an ankle strap 40 attached at its ends 42 to the main body 30 and extending around the back 22 of the foot above the heel 20. The ankle strap 40 functions to constrain the main body 30 from forward movement. The ankle strap 40 may be a single piece construction that is integral with the main body 30, as illustrated, or may be one or more separate pieces that are attached with fasteners 52 or other devices. In other embodiments, it may have alternative constructions, and one particular alternative embodiment is discussed in more detail below. As shown in Figs. 1-6, the shoe 10 further includes a toe loop 44 that surrounds one of the toes 24. In the present embodiment, the toe loop 44 is a single loop that wraps around the base of the big toe 26. In an alternative embodiment, it may loop around one or more of the other toes 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d, or may include multiple loops, each around one or more toes.

Critically, a top strap 46 connects the toe loop 44 with a portion of the main body 30 that is above the foot for constraining the main body 30 from rearward movement. The top strap 46 only extends over the instep 14 (i.e., the dorsum of the wearer's foot 12), without covering the ball 18 of the foot or the toes 26. The outer side 15 of the foot 12 (adjacent toe 29d) and the inner side 19 adjacent the ball 18 are also left uncovered, with only the toe loop 44 forming the front of the shoe 10, which only covers a de minimus part of the base of the big toe.

Prior art teaches footwear typically covers the ball 18 of the user's foot, and usually covers all of the metatarsal area of the bottom of the foot; however, the shoe 10 of the present invention teaches away from the prior art, and teaches leaving the front of the foot, and in particular the ball 18 of the foot and most of the toes, uncovered, including the sides 15 and 19. In the present embodiment, the entirety of the metatarsal area of the foot is left uncovered, as are the phalanges except for the toe loop 40, which is only connected to the main body 30 on the top of the foot.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1-6, the toe loop 44 is in the form of a single strip of material which extends to form a leading edge 32 of the main body 30. In alternative embodiments, it may be of different construction, it may be attached to the main body 30 in any manner known in the art, including but not limited to an integral construction, sewing, loops, hooks and loops, snaps, or any form of fasteners known in the art, either permanently or removably. The invention is not limited to the embodiments illustrated or discussed in particular, but also includes alternative or equivalent arrangements known in the art.

The invention further includes a method for covering a wearer's foot 12 using the above described shoe 10, or a similar or an equivalent construction. The method comprises the steps of providing the shoe 10 described above, and wrapping the main body 30 around the instep 14 of the foot and the arch 16 of the foot, without covering the ball 18 of the foot, the heel 20, or the toes 26. This is typically performed by sliding the main body 30 over the toes 24 and then up onto the foot until the main body 30 is positioned between the heel 20 and the ball 18 of the foot.

The toe loop 44 is positioned around one (or alternatively more than one) of the toes 24 such that the top strap 46 is positioned above the foot, and such that no portion of the shoe 10 covers the ball 18 of the foot. This step may be performed concurrently with sliding the main body 30 into place, or, if the toe loop 44 includes a fastener 52 (not shown), it may be so positioned after the main body 30 is in place.

Finally, the ankle strap 40 is positioned around the back 22 of the foot, above the heel 20, for constraining the main body 30 from forward movement. This may be performed by lifting the ankle strap 40 up over the heel 20; alternatively it may be fastened in place around the back 22 of the foot with a fastener 52, as discussed below. Yet further alternative methods may also be utilized, according to the teachings of those skilled in the art. FIGURE 7 is an inner side view of a second embodiment of the shoe 50. As shown in this embodiment, the shoe 10 may further include a fastener 52 that removably connects two portions 54 of the ankle strap 40 so that the ankle strap 40 may be unfastened for removing the shoe 10. In this embodiment, the shoe 10 further includes an ankle cover 56 that extends upwardly from the ankle strap 40 to surround the wearer's ankle 13. This construction may be included for decorative purposes, or it may be provided for other reasons, e.g., to include additional warming and/or support to the ankle 13 of the user during physical activities. FIGURE 8 is an outer side view of a third embodiment of the shoe 60. In the embodiment of Fig. 8, the main body 30 and the ankle 13 strap are formed from a main strap 62, and include a lower strap 64 that extends laterally across the arch 16 of the foot, connected at its ends 66 with side portions 68 of the main strap 62.

FIGURE 9 is a bottom plan view of a fourth embodiment of the shoe 70. In the embodiment of Fig. 9, the lower strap 64 includes a pair of longitudinally spaced straps 72. FIGURE 10 is a bottom plan view of a fifth embodiment of the shoe 80. In the embodiment of Fig. 10, the lower strap 64 includes a pair of crossed straps 82. Obviously, those skilled in the art may devise alternative embodiments within the scope of the present invention, and such alternatives should be considered within the scope of the present invention.

As used in this application, the words "a," "an," and "one" are defined to include one or more of the referenced item unless specifically stated otherwise. The terms "approximately" and "about" are defined to mean +/- 10%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms "have," "include," "contain," and similar terms are defined to mean "comprising" unless specifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in the specification provided above is hereby defined to include similar and/or equivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would be considered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of the present patent application. While the invention has been described with reference to at least one particular embodiment, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments, but rather the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.