Showing posts with label footwear. Show all posts

Monday, September 23, 2024

Oh, patents! Kizik Mars Roamer

If you could ever roam the red planet, you might enjoy the feeling of walking on marshmallows with Kizik Mars Roamers. Kizik Mars Roamers are the latest, foam-flex, no-hands, collapsable-heel, slip-on shoes. The ornamental aspects of the Mars Roamers are patented. The US design patent, USD1029459S1, titled Shoe was awarded on June 4, 2024.

Below, the patent Figure 1 shows a side perspective view of the shoe. An image of the marketed Kizik Mars Roamer, in the color Moon Dust, is also included.

Below, a YouTube video advertising for the Kizik Mars Roamer.

Reference

Kizik (website)

www.kizik.com

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Oh, patents! Kiziks lattice heel design (2)

Another US design patent, USD1038607S1, titled footwear, was awarded for a more crisscrossed design of the Kizik, compressible lattice, spring-back heel technology. This design, comprising increased crisscrossing, designated the Internal Cage™, is actually hidden inside the heel portion of the corresponding Kizik footwear models. The patent was awarded on August 14, 2024.

Below, the patent Figure 1 depicts a left view of the latticed heel structure for footwear, together with an image of an embodiment of the hidden technology, for the marketed Kizik Lima model, in the color grey for men. The dotted lines on the Figure 1 drawing indicate the portion of the design that is unprotected by the patent. As a result, the protected design might be used on a variety of models with different uppers.

Reference
KIZIK (website)
www.kizik.com

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Oh, patents! Spinning shoes

Copyright © Françoise Herrman
Do you wear Skechers Jazz Hands spinning shoes when you dance? If not, perhaps that you should try!

WIPO Patent WO2012121741 was awarded for an invention titled “Spinning shoes”, and assigned to Skechers. These shoes have a pivot point, that is, a pivoting assembly inserted into the forefoot of the shoe sole. This enables you to spin and twirl vertically on the tips of your toes when you shift your weight to the forefoot of the shoe!

The assembly inside the sole is flush with the outsole, so that it is not visible from the side (as traditional roller skates), and the shoes look like regular casual sports footwear, which you can wear to walk about as usual.

To spin like a ballerina or twirl like a Dervish, you will need to shift your weight to the front of the shoe.

Below is the abstract of the Skechers Spinning shoe and a copy of Figure 1 extracted from the invention cover sheet.

Abstract WO2012121741

A spinning shoe having an upper and sole member in which the sole member has a spinning assembly In the forefoot. The spinning assembly is placed within a recess in the forefoot region of the sole member. Thus, the user may walk about wearing a normal shoe and then by simply placing their weight on the forefoot region, they may spin about on a vertical axis.

Now you can pirouette and twirl without the squished and aching toes…!

Oh, patents! Twinkle shoes for kids

My little neighbors, the three sweetest little girls --8, 6 and 5 years old-- have the coolest twinkle shoes! Their little shoes

light-up when they hop, skip and jump! The lights twinkle in

different colors, and it is very cute to see!

Of course this made me wonder who the manufacturer could

be, and whose invention this was.
The footwear is Skechers and the patent for the twinkle lights

is US2011271558.

This patent, assigned to Skechers, is also one

among hundreds, since Skechers is a public, billion dollar, global manufacturer of footwear with more than 3000 shoe styles for men, women and children, marketed in more than 120 countries worldwide, via more than 900 stores!

Below is the abstract of patent US2011271558 titled “Lighted panel for an article of

footwear” and one of the drawings.

Abstract US2011271558

A lighted panel in combination with an article of footwear wherein the lighted panel includes a translucent display panel, a foam sheet, at least one primary light diffuser, and a reflective sheet that together act to illuminate and distribute light uniformly throughout, the translucent display panel without any concentrated points of light.

Twinkle, twinkle little shoes, now you too know what they are!...

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Oh, Patents! Saucony® strike pad soles!

Copyright© Françoise Herrmann
To absorb the shocks of repetitive impact when feet strike with the ground, Saucony® has developed a strike pad sole technology with a slight (8 mm) elevation of the heel compared to the forefoot. The strike pad is strategically positioned in the heel only section of the shoe, or extending from the heel to the forefoot, and strategically crescent-shaped, with a patented thickness ranging from about 5 mm to 40 mm that decreases in a variety of gradual, linear, non-linear or exponential ways, or in step.Together with the strike pad, the heel to toe drop-geometry is designed to better align the runner’s gait, including ankles, calves, knees, quadriceps and/or hamstrings in a position to better receive the forces from striking the ground.

Although this technology is illustrated for running shoes, the scope of this patented technology extends beyond running, and is envisioned for all types of footwear, including but not limited to boots, sandals, flip-flops, clogs, etc…Accordingly, the title of the invention is simply “Footwear”.

Here are patent drawings of the strike pad design and sole, as well as of the marketed 2013 Saucony® Hurricane sole and upper designs.

[US2013019497]
Saucony® Hurricane 15

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Oh Birkenstocks! (DE4235261 – 1994)

On April 21, 1994, Karl Birkenstock was awarded German patent, DE4235261, for: Footwear in form of sandals, shoes, slippers, mules, trainers or clogs - has upper consisting of interlocking strips of material with matching cut out parts and attachments, considerably widening the scope of the invention. And, according to the Figures (I do not read German…), the sandal looks very much like a modern iteration of your beloved, corky cumfy Berkies….

Oh Birkenstocks! (US3722113 – 1973)

What’s your favorite shoes? Birkenstocks are cult shoes, made in Germany, since 1774! (1774? Yes, that’s without a typo…!) This is a Birkenstock family-owned business for 230 years, toiling for perfection in the contour of soles. The first Birkenstock Patent, US3722113, was granted March 3, 1973 to Karl Birkenstock, for an Article of Footwear, which looked much like massage footwear in 1973....

An article of footwear has uppers which may [be] in form of straps, and a sole of yieldable elastomeric material which is provided at least on its upper and, according to some embodiments, on its lower surface with projections which extend substantially normal to the general plane of the respective surface. The projections may be of different length. [US3722113]

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Oh Patents! - Geox Amphibiox! (3)

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A WATERPROOF AND VAPOR-PERMEABLE SHOE AND SHOE OBTAINED WITH THE METHOD

"The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a waterproof and vapor-permeable shoe. [...]Traditionally, vapor-permeable shoes are those which use natural materials such as leather or equivalent products, which however, in the presence of rain or bad weather, because of their vapor-permeable properties, do not ensure good waterproofing and indeed absorb rather easily water which can penetrate also through the stitched seams used for assembly." [WO2008119683]

Oh Patents! - Geox Amphibiox (2)

Geox Amphibiox by Geox! The waterproof footwear that breathes through micropores and defies all notions about "holes in your shoes"... Patented amphibiox technology for waterproof and vapor-permeable shoes.

Oh Patents! - Geox Amphibiox! (1)

Got smelly feet? No sweat! Geox has patented shoes with sole and upper that “breathe” and by the same token “defy the notion of holes in your shoes”! Geox’s patented technology incorporates a perforated outsole that lets the steam generated by sweaty feet out of your shoes, while remaining waterproof. The inside membrane, also attached to the upper shoe, is wick-away with micropores larger than vapor molecules to let the steam out, but also small enough to prevent water droplets from coming in. This ingenious shoe is then capable of regulating the microclimate inside your shoes! Here is a picture of the cutest Geox pump with an amphibiox sole!

This patent titled: METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A WATERPROOF AND VAPOR-PERMEABLE SHOE AND SHOE OBTAINED WITH THE METHOD was awarded to Linda Muller, a Swiss inventor, and then assigned to Geox SpA, an Italian company, which manufactures both shoes and clothing with the breathing "Amphibiox" technology.

And for all those patent-savvy pros of the NYU Patents Translation course, who can now crack the alphabet soup patent codes. This patent was originally awarded in Switzerland as CH00538.07, then filed and awarded under the PCT as WO2008119683 and the EPC as EP2131691, and with the USPTO as US2010/0115792.J

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Wow patents! - Crocs!

Crocs^TM are made of a proprietary closed-cell foam resin called Croslite^TM. This makes Crocs^TM lightweight, ergonomic and odor-resistant. Crocs^TM has sold 200 million pairs of Crocs^TM in 90 countries since 2002. The company celebrated 1 billion USD in annual sales in 2011. Crocs^TM was awarded utility patent US 6993858 on 02 -07 2006 for an invention called:Breathable footware pieces . The patent covers all parts of the clog including the ventilator openings, the contoured base section, the Croc^TM rivets, the foldable strap on Classic Crocs^TM, and the injection molding manufacturing process.

Breathable footware pieces: “Among other things, the present invention provides various footwear pieces, and methods for manufacturing such pieces. In various cases, the footwear pieces are molded from a lofted material. Further, in various cases, the footwear pieces include liquid conductors formed around ventilators, or openings in the upper of the footwear piece. Such liquid conductors operate to disperse liquids away from a foot inserted in the footwear piece.” US6993858