Shoe incorporating a wedge and a sole

The present patent application for industrial invention relates to a new model of shoe characterized in that it incorporates a wedge and a sole.

"Pre-assembled" shoes are known, being produced with an old traditional manufacturing process, according to which the upper is "pre- assembled" onto an intermediate sole, with the help of a last, before being coupled with the corresponding sole.

More precisely, according to such a technique, the upper, i.e. the part of the shoe surrounding the foot on the side and on top, is prepared at first. The upper is opened in lower position, i.e. along the entire perimeter of the foot, being adapted to be assembled onto said intermediate sole, under which the walking sole is applied.

As already mentioned, the pre-assembly of the upper onto the intermediate sole is made with the help of a last (consisting in a model that reproduces the three-dimensional shape of a foot), whereon the upper is inserted. Then, the lower edges of the upper are ironed, turned up and fixed under the borders of said intermediate sole, which is previously centered and fixed in the center of the foot of said last. Finally, the sole is glued and sewn under said intermediate sole.

With the arrival of bottoms obtained from molding plastic or rubber materials, such as for example polyurethane or thermoplastic rubber, shoe designers have been able to give the strangest and most extravagant shape to the sole, sometimes with very high thickness, given the low specific weight and high elasticity of said hot molded materials.

Bottoms with higher thickness are defined as wedges, and are normally provided with a high body, the upper border of which has a slightly undulating profile ascending from point to heel, whereas the walking sole normally has a planar profile, wherein the typical arch of the foot is completely missing or slightly accentuated at the most. Evidently, the use of a wedge considerably increases the height of the person wearing the shoe, same as with typical women's shoes with high tapered heels. Nevertheless, shoes with high tapered heels are extremely uncomfortable, since they impose a forward-inclination to the foot, in which the heel of the foot is raised from the ground by several centimeters (sometimes more than ten), and toes rest onto the ground.

Instead, when using a wedge-type bottom, both the heel and toes are raised from the ground by approximately the same distance, imposing a minor, almost natural forward-inclination to the foot. On the other hand, the presence of said large massive wedge impairs the aesthetics of the shoe.

FR 243221 discloses a shoe that comprises a wedge, an upper and an intermediate sole positioned between wedge and upper. The wedge has a plurality of small blind lightening holes and is not provided with a large cavity adapted to receive a sole. Such a wedge is certainly not adapted to receive a sole and the lightening holes of said wedge do not provide any ventilation inside the shoe.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the drawbacks of the prior art by disclosing a shoe that incorporates a wedge and a sole, which is versatile and able to use interchangeable soles.

Another purpose is to disclose such a shoe incorporating a wedge and a sole, which is able to provide ventilation inside the shoe.

An additional purpose is to provide such a shoe incorporating a wedge and a sole, wherein the wedge is not visible at the observer's eyes.

These and other objectives have been achieved by the shoe of the present invention, the characteristics of which are disclosed in the first independent claim, whereas preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the depending claims.

The shoe of the invention comprises an upper, a sole and a wedge positioned between upper and sole.

The wedge has a large cavity opened in lower position and extending for nearly the entire length and width of the wedge, The cavity of the wedge is adapted to receive a portion of the sole according to male-female coupling mode.

Said cavity of the wedge is provided with suitable depth in order to obtain a reduced thickness of the wedge under the foot, in such manner that the portion of wedge under the foot is capable of being deformed during walking.

The advantages of the invention are evident, since it provides interchangeable coupling between sole and wedge.

These advantages are additionally accentuated when a shock- absorbing massaging sole is used, providing massage and shock-absorption for the foot during walking.

Moreover, said advantages are further accentuated when ventilation holes are obtained in the wedge to provide for ventilation inside the shoe. In such a case the shock-absorbing massaging sole acts as pump for shoe ventilation.

For explanatory reasons the description of the shoe of the invention continues with reference to the attached drawings, which only have an illustrative, not limiting value, wherein:

- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the shoe of the invention; - Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the shoe of Fig. 1 with a vertical longitudinal plane cutting the shoe from heel to point;

- Fig. 3 is a sectional view as Fig. 2 showing the sole detached from the wedge in an exploded view;

- Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 3, except in that it shows the wedge detached from the upper;

- Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a detail of Fig. 4.

Referring to the aforementioned figures, the shoe of the invention is disclosed, being generally indicated as (A). The shoe (A) comprises an upper (1 ), a sole (2) and a wedge (3) positioned between upper (1 ) and sole (2), The upper (1 ) is shaped as a bag. The upper (1 ) is closed on the bottom with a sheet (4) of suitable material, such as for example fabric or leather. Said sheet (4) has perimeter borders (4a) and the upper has perimeter borders (1 a). The perimeter borders (4a) of the sheet are preferably joined to the perimeter borders (1 a) of the upper (1 ) by means of a first seam (C1 ) (see Fig. 5).

The upper (1 ) comprises a lower hanging perimeter edge (5). The perimeter edge (5) of the upper forms a perimeter skirt (G). The perimeter skirt (G) has height higher than the thickness of the wedge (3).

According to specific requirements, said perimeter skirt (G) can be made with the same material and same color as the upper (1 ), or with the same material and different color, or with different material and color compared to the upper (1 ).

The perimeter skirt (G) is joined with the upper (1 ) by means of a second seam (C2) (see Fig. 5) that joins the perimeter edge (5) of the upper with the perimeter borders (4a and 1 a) of sheet (4) and upper (1 ).

As shown in Fig. 5, the perimeter skirt (G) has an upper border (5a) that is folded in such manner to conceal said seams (C1 , C2).

In any case, the perimeter edge (5) of the upper is folded, turned up and fixed, preferably glued, under the wedge (3) in order to be tightened between wedge (3) and sole (2).

In view of the above, when the manufacturing process of the shoe (A) is completed, the wedge (3) is covered and concealed completely by the perimeter skirt (G), which only leaves an external lateral portion of the sole (2) uncovered.

If the upper (1 ) is provided with a perimeter decorative band (F1 ), a person looking at the shoe (A) will also see a second decorative band composed of the perimeter skirt (G), which may have a different color and/or material compared to the with respect to the upper (1 ).

According to the present invention, the wedge (3) has a large cavity (30) opened in lower position and extending for nearly the entire length and width of the wedge, The cavity (30) is adapted to receive a portion of the sole (2) according to male-female coupling mode. The depth of the cavity (30) is such to obtain a reduced thickness of the wedge (3) under the sheet (4) of the upper. In this way the part of wedge under the foot is capable of deforming during walking.

The sole comprises a side (2a) with suitable plate-like shape, adapted to come in contact with the ground. A plurality of soft flexible protuberances (2b) project upwards from the side (2a) of the sole. The protuberances (2b) of the sole have height equal to the depth of the cavity (30) of the wedge. In such manner the protuberances (2b) are received in the cavity (30) of the wedge.

Given the fact that the thickness of the wedge (3) is reduced, under the foot, the protuberances (2b) are adapted to deform elastically under the weight of the foot, in order to generate a shock-absorbing and micro- massaging effect during walking.

The sole (2) is advantageously obtained from injection molding of synthetic materials.

The wedge (3) is molded with light-weight, soft flexible materials, preferably polyurethane.

The wedge (3) has a plurality of vertical through holes (30a) disposed at least on the front of the foot.

The sheet (4) of the upper is provided with a plurality of vertical through holes (40) disposed at least on the front of the foot and adapted to be aligned with the through holes (30a) of the wedge.

In this way the cavity (30) of the wedge is in communication with the interior space of the shoe.

The provision of said holes (30a and 40) allows for air flow from the cavity (30) inside the shoe and vice versa, when the cavity (30) is coupled with the sole (2) because the deformation of the protuberances (2b) of the sole creates an air pumping effect inside the cavity (30) between the side (2a) of the sole and the deformable thickness of the wedge.

Evidently, during walking, the air contained in said cavity (30) of the wedge undergoes a pumping action at every step. During walking there is a first air ejection step from said cavity (30) of the wedge, with forced air transfer inside the shoe, and a second air extraction step from the interior space of the shoe towards the cavity (30) of the wedge.