Footwear Apparatus

The present invention relates to footwear and especially to informal footwear, such as sandals, which have a plurality of wooden members held together to form the sole and heel portion of the sandal.

In the past, it has been common to provide a wide variety of footwear to cover the feet or portions of the feet of individuals for the protection of the feet. Common footwear today is made of leather, rubber, or synthetic materials, but it has been common in some countries, in the past, to provide wooden shoes. In addition, it has been suggested to make the sole or heels of shoes of wood. Inasmuch as wood or similar materials are not flexible, such footwear can be difficult to walk upon, but wood has been used in recent years to form portions of the heels of women's shoes as well as the bottoms of certain types of sandals. To make wood more flexible, sandals have been provided which have the wood broken into sections, which are held together so that the sections can bend from one to the other. In contrast to these, the present invention is directed towards shoes having a plurality of slats connected similar to tambour doors in which the slats are shaped to form the bottom of the shoe. Each of the slats has a generally square or rectangular cross-section except for the toe and heel portions which are curved to conform to the shoe. The large number of slats can thereby separate over their length by the bending of the flexible material holding the slats together. The flexing of the shoes tends to make a clacking type of noise, which tends to appeal to certain purchasers of shoes. The shoes also allow for a wide variety of uppers to be attached to make a wide variety of sandals from the same sole and heel portions.

A footwear apparatus of the sandal type has a plurality of elongated, wooden slat members, each shaped to support an adjacent member and having a predetermined shape to collectively form a foot support. A pair of end, elongated wooden members are shaped to conform to a toe and heel of a sandal. A flat, flexible connecting member is attached to one side of each of the wooden members to hold the wooden members together in a spaced relationship and to allow a separation of the wooden members when the flexible member is flexed. An upper footwear portion is attached to the flexible connecting member connecting the wooden slats to allow attaching to the foot of a user. The upper footwear portion can have an additional, flexible member covering the original flexible member, to provide additional strength to the shoe. The flexible members may be glued to the wooden slats and to each other with an epoxy or similar adhesive.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sandal in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the sandal in accordance with FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on Line 3--3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a second embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now to the FIGS. 1 through 3 of the drawings, a sandal 10 is illustrated having a plurality of wooden slat members 11 each having the same general cross-section, but each having a different end shape so as to form a generally shoe-sole shape. A toe end slat member 12 has a different cross-section, as does a heel slat member 13 which may be curved to conform to the toe and heel of the sandal. The wooden slats 11 are held together by a flat, flexible portion 14, which may be ordinary duck cloth, leather or a synthetic material, as desired, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The cloth 14 may be held to the slats 11 by a epoxy or similar type adhesive. A sandal upper portion 15 is also shaped to conform to the portion 14 and to the slats 11, 12, and 13, and may be glued to the cloth 14 with an adhesive. This upper member may be made of leather, or of a polymer material, or of any flexible material desired, and may have attached thereto a foot attaching and support portion 16 made of the same material or another material as desired, which can be folded to extend between the flat portions 14 and 15, so as to be glued therebetween when the two are attached to each other. It will, of course, be clear that the flat foot portion 15 and 16 can have any combination of color of material desired, which can be easily modified to provide a variety of sandals attached to the same common base formed from the slats 11, 12 and 13, and flexible connecting material 14. When the bottom 14 and 15 are flexed, such as when walking, the slats 11, 12 and 13, separate as seen in FIG. 2, and can be made to provide a clacking noise by the rapid flexing of the shoes, either on or off the foot. The shoes may be, advantageously, rolled or folded for packing in a bag or for packaging or shipping.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment having the sandal upper portion and flexible binding each having one portion of a hook and loop material, such as velcro, attached thereto with an adhesive. This allows for a quick change of the upper portion 15 to different soles to match different clothing or for color combination. The hook portion 17 is attached to the upper portion 15 and the loop portion 18 is attached to the flexible, binding material 14, or may replace the binding 15 if desired.

It should be clear, at this point, that a sandal has been provided which allows the production of a wide variety of sandals from the same basic combination of wooden slats connected together in a predetermined manner. It should, however, also be clear that other variations and changes are contemplated as being within the scope of the invention, which is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed herein.