The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 09, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 22, 1994
Robert A Spencer, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A shoe upper is divided into front and back parts which are hinged together at the shoe sole. The hinge may comprise a creased part of the sole or a mechanical hinge. The parts are held in either an open position or a closed position by a tension spring or a rigid element. The spring and element are pivotally secured to the shoe sole so that their longitudinal axis will be above and extend across the rotational axis of the hinge when the shoe is flat. Additionally, the distance between their points of connection will be less than the corresponding length of sole between said points. This will provide a low stress open position and a higher stress closed position. The stress is created by tension in the spring or by the inherent resilience of the shoe sole counteracting the compression force caused by drawing together the points of connection when a user steps into the shoe.