US-20260123708-A1 - DEPLOYABLE FOOTWEAR AND METHOD OF ALTERING A CONFIGURATION OF A COLLAPSIBLE SOLE TO A COMPACT FORM

US20260123708A1US 20260123708 A1US20260123708 A1US 20260123708A1US-20260123708-A1

Abstract

A deployable footwear with a collapsible sole and a method for changing its configuration. The sole is made up of a top sheet, a bottom sheet, and one or more support elements in between. It can be compressed into a compact form by folding these elements, which brings the top and bottom sheets closer together. To erect the sole for wear, a stopper element can be used to hold the support elements in an open, stable position. The footwear may also have a removable upper portion. The application also details an alternative design using a telescopic sole with nested segments, as well as a removable folded sheet with a zig-zag or rhombus pattern for internal support.

Inventors

Nir Daniel
Galia DANIEL

Assignees

Nir Daniel

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251008

Claims (20)

1 . A collapsible footwear comprising: a collapsible sole having a top sheet and a bottom sheet, the top sheet and the bottom sheet configured to reversibly assume a corrugated shape; a plurality of corrugations formed in the collapsible sole, the plurality of corrugations including interior folds and exterior folds; a plurality of lateral elements connecting the interior folds to the exterior folds; a longitudinally extending channel formed between an anterior portion and a posterior portion of the collapsible sole, the longitudinally extending channel further formed between the top sheet and the bottom sheet; at least one stopper element insertable into the longitudinally extending channel; wherein the collapsible sole is reversibly transitionable between a collapsed configuration and an erected configuration.
2 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein in the erected configuration, the at least one stopper element is insertable into the longitudinally extending channel and stabilizes the collapsible sole in an open conformation such that the top sheet and the bottom sheet assume an essentially straight shape.
3 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein in the collapsed configuration, the longitudinally extending channel is collapsible such that the plurality of lateral elements are disposable adjacently to one another.
4 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein in the erected configuration, an angle formable between the interior folds and the exterior folds is an essentially straight angle.
5 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein in the collapsed configuration, an angle formable between the interior folds and the exterior folds is an essentially acute angle.
6 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein the at least one stopper element embodies a shape of an extendible telescopic cylindrical assembly.
7 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein the longitudinally extending channel extends along an entire length of the collapsible sole.
8 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , further comprising a removable top part.
9 . The collapsible footwear of claim 8 , wherein the removable top part comprises a plurality of connecting elements connectable with the collapsible sole for reversibly connecting the collapsible sole with the removable top part.
10 . The collapsible footwear of claim 9 , wherein the collapsible sole comprises a plurality of securing apertures, each securing aperture receivable of a corresponding connecting element of the removable top part.
11 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein the collapsible sole comprises an exterior surface and an interior surface, both the exterior surface and the interior surface comprising the plurality of corrugations.
12 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein the at least one stopper element is disposable between the top sheet and the bottom sheet.
13 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein in the erected configuration, the top sheet and the bottom sheet assume an essentially planar shape.
14 . The collapsible footwear of claim 8 , wherein the removable top part is readily connectable to and disconnectable from the collapsible sole.
15 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein the collapsible footwear is transportable in a compact form when in the collapsed configuration.
16 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein the at least one stopper element comprises a plurality of stopper elements, each stopper element insertable into the longitudinally extending channel.
17 . The collapsible footwear of claim 1 , wherein the collapsible sole is stabilizable in the erected configuration by the at least one stopper element preventing collapse of the longitudinally extending channel.
18 . A collapsible footwear comprising: a collapsible sole embodying a telescopic assembly, the telescopic assembly comprising a plurality of structural segments; each structural segment of the plurality of structural segments comprising an anterior portion and a posterior portion; each structural segment comprising a longitudinally extending channel formed between the anterior portion and the posterior portion and between a top side and a bottom side of the structural segment; wherein the collapsible sole is reversibly transitionable between a collapsed configuration and an erected configuration; wherein in the collapsed configuration, the anterior portions of adjacent structural segments are disposable adjacently to each other and the posterior portions of adjacent structural segments are disposable adjacently to each other, with the structural segments telescopable within adjacent structural segments.
19 . The collapsible footwear of claim 18 , wherein in the erected configuration, the plurality of structural segments are spaceable apart from each other such that the posterior portion of each structural segment is spaceable apart from the posterior portion of an adjacent structural segment, and the anterior portion of each structural segment is spaceable apart from the anterior portion of an adjacent structural segment.
20 . The collapsible footwear of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of structural segments comprises five structural segments including a first structural segment, a second structural segment, a third structural segment, a fourth structural segment, and a fifth structural segment.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD In general, the present invention pertains to the art of collapsible sole for collapsible footwear. In particular, the invention relates to a collapsible sole and method of altering a configuration of a collapsible footwear in a compact form configured for transportation. BACKGROUND ART It is believed that the current state of the art is represented by the following patent literature: U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,986,895, 8,011,119, 6,895,693, 10,750,818, CN111053322 and KR200351287. U.S. Pat. No. 10,986,895 from the same co-inventors that is believed to represent the closest prior art discloses a compressible footwear that may include a compressible sole and a compressible upper part that is mechanically coupled to the compressible sole. The compressible sole consisting essentially of multiple compressible cells that are made of a flexible material and have top openings and bottom openings. The multiple compressible cells span over at least a majority of the compressible sole and are configured to undergo a compression while substantially maintaining a thickness of the compressible sole. U.S. Pat. No. 8,011,119 discloses a personally adjustable footwear with at least one sole layer including: a toe portion, a heel portion, and an intermediate portion. The intermediate portion has openings passing vertically through the layer so that the intermediate portion is elastically flexible to allow relative longitudinal displacement of the toe portion and the heel portion to vary a length of the layer without significant variation in a thickness of the layer. A retention mechanism selectively fixes the toe and heel portions in any of a number of relative positions. Also disclosed are implementations with insertable and removable segments, and with elongated elements sliding in channels. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following summary of the invention is provided in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects and features of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention and as such it is not intended to particularly identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented below. The invention was made in view of the deficiencies of the prior art and provides systems, methods and processes for overcoming these deficiencies. According to some embodiments and aspects of the present invention, there is provided a collapsible footwear configured for transportation in a compact form including: a collapsible sole including: a top sheet, extending essentially across entire surface area of the sole; a bottom sheet, extending essentially across entire surface area of the sole; a plurality of lateral support elements, extending between the top sheet and the bottom sheet, in which the lateral support elements extend essentially along an entire width of the sole; a plurality of laterally extending channels formed in-between the lateral support elements and in-between the top and bottom sheets; a plurality of top hinge elements operationally connecting the top sheet and the plurality of lateral support elements of the collapsible sole, in which the top hinge elements are configured to sustain a partial rotation of the plurality of lateral support elements relative to the top sheet; a plurality of bottom hinge elements operationally connecting the bottom sheet and the plurality of lateral support elements of the collapsible sole, in which the bottom hinge elements are configured to sustain a partial rotation of the plurality of lateral support elements relative to the bottom sheet; at least one stopper element disposable between the upper sheet and the bottom sheet; in which the collapsible sole is characterized by reversibly assuming: a collapsed configuration, in which the plurality of laterally extending channels is essentially collapsed and the top sheet is at least one member selected from the group consisting of: in a proximity to the bottom sheet and spaced apart from the bottom sheet; an erected configuration, in which the at least one stopper element stabilizes the plurality of laterally extending channels in an open conformation, whereas the top sheet is at least one member selected from the group consisting of: spaced apart from the bottom sheet and includes a straight planar form; at least one top part, selected from the group consisting of: a collapsible top part; a removable top part. In some embodiments, the at least one top part is the removable top part, further includes a plurality of connecting elements, configured for readily connecting the collapsible sole with the at least one top part. In some embodiments, the at least one stopper element disposable between the upper sheet and the bottom sheet embodies at least one shape selected form the group consisting of: a rectangular shape, line