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US-12616275-B2 - Bendable shoe

US12616275B2US 12616275 B2US12616275 B2US 12616275B2US-12616275-B2

Abstract

A shoe, in particular casual shoe and/or a sneaker for a foot, comprising at least one sole structure, an upper structure, and at least one bending module, wherein the bending module is arranged at least partially within the sole structure, and wherein the sole structure and the bending module are bendable between at least one unbent position and at least one bent position.

Inventors

  • Björn Poëll

Assignees

  • Björn Poëll

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20230509
Priority Date
20220603

Claims (16)

  1. 1 . A bendable shoe for a foot, comprising: at least one sole structure, an upper structure, and at least one bending module, wherein the at least one bending module is arranged at least partially within the at least one sole structure, and wherein the at least one sole structure and the at least one bending module are bendable between at least one unbent position and at least one bent position, wherein the at least one sole structure comprises a front sole portion, a middle sole portion and a rear sole portion, wherein the front sole portion and the rear sole portion are partially separated by a notch, wherein the notch is a slit notch that is laterally visible in a side view of the shoe and extends from an upper side of the at least one sole structure in direction of a lower side of the at least one sole structure for a determined distance, wherein a remaining part of the front and rear sole portions are not separated by the notch, thereby forming a material bridging between the front sole portion and the rear sole portion at a lower, floor-contacting side of the middle sole portion located at an inflection point between the front and the rear sole portions.
  2. 2 . The bendable shoe according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one sole structure is held stably in the unbent position or the bent position by means of at least one bending module.
  3. 3 . The bendable shoe according to claim 1 , wherein the notch is configured to be located approximately at a metatarsal bridge of the foot.
  4. 4 . The bendable shoe according to claim 3 , wherein the notch extends from a medial side to a lateral side of the bendable shoe.
  5. 5 . The bendable shoe according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one sole structure and the upper structure are made of an elastic material.
  6. 6 . The bendable shoe according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one bending module is configured to be arranged in the at least one sole structure approximately at a metatarsal bridge of the foot.
  7. 7 . The bendable shoe according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one bending module comprises at least one front element, at least one rear element and at least one bending element connecting the at least one front element and the at least one rear element.
  8. 8 . The bendable shoe according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one bending element comprises a spring, a compressible material, a flexible material, or a flexible hinge.
  9. 9 . The bendable shoe according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one bending element is bistable.
  10. 10 . The bendable shoe according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one front element of the at least one bending module is arranged anteriorly of the notch in a front sole portion and the at least one rear element of the at least one bending module is arranged posteriorly of the notch in the rear sole portion.
  11. 11 . The bendable shoe according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one bending element is arranged at least partially beneath a ground of the notch.
  12. 12 . The bendable shoe according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one bending element is at least partially embedded in the at least one sole structure.
  13. 13 . The bendable shoe according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one front element and the at least one rear element are aligned to each other in the unbent position so that the at least one bending module is substantially straightened.
  14. 14 . The bendable shoe according to claim 1 , wherein the upper structure comprises a front shoe portion and a heel cap, wherein the front shoe portion and the heel cap are displaceable to each other, when the at least one sole structure and the at least one bending module is bent.
  15. 15 . The bendable shoe according to claim 14 , wherein the heel cap at least partially overlaps the front shoe portion.
  16. 16 . The bendable shoe according to claim 14 , further comprising: a shoe opening formed by the front shoe portion and the heel cap, wherein the shoe opening has a wider opening angle in the bent position than in the unbent position.

Description

The present invention relates to a bendable shoe, in particular casual shoe and/or a sneaker for a foot. In practice, it is known that that in order to slip a foot into a shoe, the respective lace usually have to be loosened so that the shoe opening can be widened enough to allow the foot to slip in; if necessary, with the support of a shoe horn which is placed on the inside of the heel cap. After the foot is positioned inside the shoe, it is necessary that the respective lace is tightened in such a way that the shoe structure lies appropriately against the foot, especially at the level of the back of the foot. The lacing can be secured e.g. by a loop or special stopper elements. Conversely, this means that in order to take off a shoe, the lacing security, such as the loop, must first be loosened as well as the respective lace so that the foot can slip out of the shoe or the shoe opening again. Such a dressing process can be described as laborious and time-consuming, especially if the physical condition of the wearer of the shoe does not or no longer allow unhindered access to his or her own feet. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bendable shoe which is easy and comfortable to put on and take off. This object is solved according to the present invention with a bendable shoe according to the features of claim 1. Correspondingly, a bendable shoe, in particular casual shoe and/or a sneaker for a foot, is provided which comprises at least one sole structure, an upper structure, and at least one bending module. The bending module is arranged at least partially within the sole structure, and the sole structure and the bending module are bendable between at least one unbent position and at least one bent position. The invention is based on the basic idea that a bistable bending module comprising a spring or any other compressible/elastic material and/or a flexible hinge allows, on the one hand, an easy dress procedure of the bendable shoe, when in its bent position, as the shoe opening is widened. On the other hand, the bending module is transferred into its second stable position, namely the unbent position, once the foot exerts a sufficient load to overcome the first stable position, the bent position. In the unbent position, the bendable shoe encloses the foot in such a way that it can be worn without restrictions, i.e. used for walking or running. A stable position may also be a metastable position. It may be further provided that the sole structure is held stably in the unbent position or the bent position by means of the bending module. The bending module is preferably bistable, i.e. it has two stable position one of which is the bent one and the other is the unbent one. In order to be transferred from one of the stable positions to the other, a certain amount of force must be applied to the bending module. It is also conceivable that the sole structure comprises a front sole portion and a rear sole portion, wherein the front sole portion and the rear sole portion are at least partially separated by a notch. The notch between the sole portions facilitates the bent position to be adopted and maintained. However, it is also conceivable that the sole structure does not have a notch if the sole structure is sufficiently elastic or e.g. a tapered material thickness is provided in the area of the metatarsal bridge of the foot forming a hinge area. Furthermore, it is possible that the notch is located at least approximately at the metatarsal bridge of the foot. If the notch is at the level of the metatarsus, the flexible shoe can be bent in such a way that the shoe opening is sufficiently widened to allow the foot to slip in or out. It may be further provided that the sole structure and/or the upper structure are made of an elastic material. An elastic material allows the shape of the sole structure and/or the upper structure to change during bending without damaging the bendable shoe. It is also possible that the bending module is arranged in the sole structure substantially at the metatarsal bridge of the foot. Preferably, the position of the bending module and the notch are aligned to each other so that a bending from one position to the other can be performed without problems. It is also conceivable that the bending module comprises at least one front element, at least one rear element and at least one bending element connecting the front element and the rear element. Thus, the bending module can be integrated into or joint to the front and the rear sole portion. It may further be provided that the bending element is a spring or compressible/elastic material and/or a flexible hinge. The spring may be leaf spring or spring steel or elastic material that is stamped in such a way that it has a stable and a metastable state. A spring (e.g. a steel spring, a plastic spring a rubber or elastomer) is bent by the application of force until it suddenly passes through the metastable state by