| Title of Invention | FOLDING FOOTWEAR |
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| Abstract | Disclosed herein is a foldable footwear that includes sole, a toe end closure and a heel end closure. The sole has at least one pivot that is positioned near the center of the sole along its length. Each of the toe end closure and the heel end closure includes a foldable flexible members and at least one rib for supporting the flexible member. The foldable flexible members of the toe end closure and the heel end closure form an upper part of the foldable footwear. The ribs of the toe end closure and the heel end closure are pivotally attached to the pivot and are capable of pivotal movement about the pivot in order to fold and unfold the flexible member, thereby folding and unfolding the footwear. |
| Full Text | FOLDABLE FOOTWARE TECHNICAL FIELD The subject matter described herein generally relates to footwear and particularly relates to foldable footwear that occupies less space. BACKGROUND The existing shoes are cumbersome to carry when the user is not wearing them as they occupy a lot of space. In case of traveling with limited luggage carrying capacity, it becomes very difficult to carry extra pair of shoes for different purposes like 'sports' or 'party'. Few efforts have been made to make the shoes compact. One of such effort being providing a collapsible footwear with the combination of a collapsible backpack for use in carrying sports footwear. However, the existing collapsible footwear collapses at the backpack and does not collapse totally, hence remains as bulky as a normal shoe and does not fully serve the purpose of being accommodated in verges space. Few existing footwear are structured to be collapsible by making the sole flexible so that a front portion and a rear portion are movably interconnected by an intermediate segment. Footwear of this kind have the sandal configuration of varying style, but cannot be used in shoes as both front portion and back portion in shoes are made up flexible cloth type material to hold the foot tightly and cannot be disposed in at least partially overlying in relation to one another. In existing footwear, an upper part and sole are formed of different flexible materials. The sole of the footwear is rolled, folded, or collapsed onto itself to reduce the volume of the footwear. The folding principle of the footwear has its own drawbacks and does not collapse well to be accommodated in a very small space. The existing modular footwear can be separated into components, which may be interchangeable to provide large number of single use footwear. However such footwear are also not foldable. Thus, there is a need for foldable footwear, which overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks. SUMMARY An object of the present subject matter is to provide footwear that can be folded in a simple manner. Another object of the present subject matter is to provide foldable footwear that is compact and occupies about one third of its original space after folding. Another object of the present subject matter is to provide foldable footwear that is can be folded easily. Yet another object of the present subject matter is to provide cost effective foldabie footwear. Accordingly, the subject matter described herein is directed to foldabie footwear that comprises a toe end closure and a heel end closure, which are capable of being folded along a pivot provided in the sole of the footwear. The toe end closure and the heel end closure includes a foldabie flexible member that forms an upper part of the foldabie footwear and at least one rib for supporting the flexible member. The ribs of the toe end closure and the heel end closure are pivotally attached to the pivot and are capable of pivotal movement about the pivot in order to fold and unfold the flexible member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS: These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 illustrates a side view of foldabie footwear of the present subject matter in the ready to use state. Fig. 2 illustrates a top view of the foldabie footwear of Fig. I in the ready to use state. Fig. 3 illustrates a bottom view of the foldable footwear of Fig. 1 in the ready to use state. Fig. 4,5 and 6 illustrate the folding footwear depicting the method for unfolding the foldable footwear from the folded state to ready to use state. Fig. 7 illustrates a side view of the foldable footwear in the ready to use state depicting the ribs pivotatly mounted at the pivot. Fig. S illustrates a top view of the foldable footwear in the ready to use state depicting a pivot mounted on both the sides of the footwear. DETAILED DESCRIPTION: Fig. 1,2 and 3 illustrate a side view, a top view and a bottom view respectively of foldable footwear 100 of the present subject matter in the ready to use state. The foldable footwear 100 includes a sole 102, a toe end closure 104 and a heel end closure 106. The sole 102 is a rigid member of the foldable footwear 100 and comprises at least one pivot 108 along its length. In one preferred embodiment, the pivot 108 is positioned near the center of the sole 102. The toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 are attached to the sole 102 and form the upper part of the foldable footwear. In the unfolded state, i.e. in the ready to use state, the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 are attached to each other by a fastening means 110. In the present embodiment, the fastening means 110 used to fasten the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 is a Velcro. The fastening means 110 helps to tighten the shoe and to open it as desired. However, any fastening means known in the art can be used in order to ensure the detachable fastening of the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 together in the ready to use state. Each of the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 includes at least one rib 112-1, 112-2, 112-3, 112-4, 112-5, 112-6 and a flexible member 114-1, 114-2. The ribs support the flexible members and are pivotally mounted on the pivot 108, thereby ensuring the pivotal movement of the ribs about the pivot 108. For example and by no way limiting the scope of the subject matter, in one embodiment, the toe end closure 104 includes four ribs 112-1, 112-2, 112-3,112-4 and the heel end closure 106 includes two ribs 112-5,112-6. FOT the sake of this description, the ribs 112-1,112-2,112-3,112-4, 112-5, 112-6 are collectively referred to as 112 and the flexible members 114-1, 114-2 are collective referred to as 114. Further, in one embodiment, a plurality of cleats 116 provided at the bottom of the sole 102 in order to enhance the traction-enhancing characteristics of the foldable footwear 100. Now referring to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, a method for unfolding the foldable footwear 100 from the folded state to ready to use state is depicted. In the folded state, as shown In Fig. 4, the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 are folded and rest on the sole 102, thereby reducing the volume occupied of the foldable footwear 100. In the present embodiment, the foldable footwear 100 occupies about l/3rd of its original volume in the folded state. The ribs 112 of the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 are pivoted to the pivot 108 and can be brought in the unfolded state as shown by the arrows. Fig. 5 shows the intermediate position of the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 between the folded state and the unfolded state. As shown herein, connecting ends of the flexible members 114 of the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 are brought together in the direction shown by arrows in the figure. During such position, the ribs 112 of the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 start rotating about the pivot 108. Once the connecting ends of the toe end closure 104 and the heel end closure 106 are brought in contact with each other, these are connected with each other by means of the fastening means 110 as shown in Fig. 6. In this position, the foldable footwear 100 is in the unfolded or ready to use state and can be worn by the user. Fig. 7 and 8 illustrate a side view and a top view of the foldable footwear 100 in the ready to use state depicting the pivots 108-1,108-2 mounted on both the sides of the foldable footwear 100. For the sake of this description, the pivots 108-1, 108-2 are collectively referred to as 108. The ribs 112 are attached to the pivots 108 and are capable of pivotal movement about the pivot 108. The pivots 108 of the present subject matter are provided near the center of the sole 102 along its length. However, in another embodiment, the pivots 108 can be provided along the center of the sole 102 of the foldable footwear 100. The ribs 112 in combination with the flexible members 114 forms a cage like structure in order to accommodate the feet of the user during ready to use state of the foldable footwear 100. In different embodiments, the ribs 112 can be made of different materials, such as plastic or Eastover. Further, the flexible members 114 can be made up of the same or different materials as obvious to a person skilled in the art. The ribs 112 support the flexible member 114 that is made up of a soft, nylon material or cotton based cloth material that forms the aesthetic outer of the top of the footwear. The ribs 112 further support a thick fabric made up of soft material that is disposed on the inner side of the flexible member for snugly holding the foot of the user. Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined. I/We Claim: I. A foldable footwear comprising: a sole having at least one pivot, said pivot being positioned near the center of the sole along its length; a toe end closure and a heel end closure, each of the toe end closure and the heel end closure comprises a foldable flexible member that forms an upper part of the foldable footwear and at least one rib for supporting the flexible member, said ribs of the toe end closure and the heel end closure being pivotally attached to the pivot and are capable of pivotal movement about the pivot in order to fold and unfold the flexible member. 2. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ribs and the flexible member form a cage like structure for accommodating the feet of the user during ready to use state of the foldable footwear. 3. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible member comprises a soft fabric made up of nylon or cotton. 4. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ribs on the toe end closure and on the heel end closure support a thick fabric made up of soft material and disposed on the inner side of the flexible member for snugly holding the foot of the user. 5. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ribs on the toe end closure and on the heel end closure are made up of plastic or elastomer. 6. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein four ribs are provided in the toe end closure and two ribs are provided in the heel end closure. 7. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the toe end closure and the heel end closure are attached to each other by fastening means during ready to use state of the foldable footwear. 8. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 7, wherein the fastening means includes Velcro. 9. The foldable footwear as claimed in claim 7, wherein a pivot is provided on both sides of the foldable footwear. 10. A foldable footwear as herein above described in the specification with reference to the accompanying drawings. |
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| Patent Number | 271326 | |||||||||
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| Indian Patent Application Number | 1134/CHE/2008 | |||||||||
| PG Journal Number | 08/2016 | |||||||||
| Publication Date | 19-Feb-2016 | |||||||||
| Grant Date | 17-Feb-2016 | |||||||||
| Date of Filing | 08-May-2008 | |||||||||
| Name of Patentee | Tata Elxsi Ltd. | |||||||||
| Applicant Address | ITPB ROAD,WHITEFIELD, BANGALORE 560 0048 | |||||||||
Inventors:
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| PCT International Classification Number | A43B 3/00 | |||||||||
| PCT International Application Number | N/A | |||||||||
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PCT Conventions:
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