Oh, patents! SNEEX stilettos

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

SNEEX stilettos are luxury high-heeled shoes that were designed as comfortable as sneakers. SNEEX stilettos were masterminded by none other than Sara Blakely, the famous founder, and manifold inventor, of SPANX clothing. In Blakely’s own terms: “We put a man on the moon. I’ve been dreaming of designing a comfortable hi-heel since wearing them.” However, like many women, she found herself having to take them off on many occasions, for various reasons.  Thus, SNEEX stilettos incorporate much comfort innovation into their fabrication, in the spirit of SPANX, which boasts an impressive patent portfolio. 

 SNEEX shoes have 3-inch stiletto heels.  They are made in Spain, of premium, supple, napa leather and suedes from Italy and France. Beyond luxury, SNEEX shoes resolve three important problems related to stilettos. First, SNEEX stilettos offer a much more spacious toe box, to resolve the problem of tightly squeezed toes. Secondly, SNEEX stilettos compensate the height of three-inch heels with a platform sole, so that SNEEX stilettos distribute weight in a proportion closer to 50% on the heel and 50% on the ball of the foot, comparable to sneakers, in contrast to an 80% - 20% distribution with traditional stilettos. Finally, SNEEX stilettos, offer no gap on the footbed for supporting the user’s foot, especially under the arch. The result is a stiletto that was designed for “walking, dancing and dreaming!” A stiletto without compromise between style and comfort.

The US design patent, USD1020201S1, titled Shoe, was awarded on April 2^nd, 2024, to Sara Blakely, Jadideah Yarbrough and Sylma  Colon-Otten. The figure drawing on the patent cover page is included below, together with images of The Blake, one of the marketed SNEEX stiletto models.

The patent figure shows right and bottom-up, perspective views of the patented shoe design. On the patent figure, the upper portions of the shoe, within dotted lines, indicate portions of the design uncovered by the patent. Thus, the patent exclusively protects the ornamental features of the SNEEX sole, for a shoe where the uppers and heel may vary. 

References
SNEEX
www.sneex.com
SPANX
www.spanx.com

Oh, patents! Vionic® (high-heel) soles (2)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Vionic® is determined to make one to three-inch high-heel shoes, comfortable, painless and safe. The Vionic® high-heel sole invention, targeting this effort, is recited in the US patent application US20180343965A1, titled Footwear and the manufacture thereof.

Indeed, the prior art potential for high heel-related injuries, recited in the patent, appears truly problematic. Consider, for example, metatarsalgia (inflammation and irritation on the ball of the foot due to altered biomechanics and abnormal weight on the forefoot), Hallus valgus (also termed bunions), neuromas (nerve damage), in particular, Morton’s neuroma causing toe numbness, in addition to the pain of metatarsalgia, and stress fractures arising from repetitive motion.

To resolve the problematic situations of the prior art, the Vionic® high-heel sole design offers both biomechanical and support features, intended to: 

1. distribute pressure from the ground more evenly on the sole of the foot, thereby improving the user’s gait; and 
2. shift some of the weight from toes to heel, thereby reducing forefoot stress, and improving comfort. 

Thus, the Vionic® high-heel soles offer, as shown on the below patent Figure 1, a contoured heel cup (20), raised arch support (30) attached to the insole board (16), a soft forefoot insert (24), a layer of shock-absorbing foam liner (28), and a metatarsal pad (17) (beneath the 2^nd and 4^th metatarsals), each designed with specific material density, thickness, angulation, and hardness, measured via durometer on a Shore C scale of hardness.

For example, the metatarsal pad (17) preferably has a 3 mm thickness at the thickest point, a Shore C value of 28 to 32 and chamfered edges [0022]. In contrast, the heel cup (20),  is part of the injection molded insole board (16) made of relatively rigid, but still flexible, molded material, such as polypropylene, which is then padded with a gel or soft low-density foam with a Shore C value of 28-32. The forefoot insert (24), also called a "plug" because it fills a hollow area (22) of the injection molded insole board (16), is made of gel or low-density material such as ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA).

The abstract of the high heel Vionic® sole invention is included below. The exploded patent Figure 1, showing the Vionic® high heel sole design on a shoe (10), stripped of its side walls and toe-box, with an 80 mm heel (14), and outsole (12), is included above, together with the image of a marketed model of Vonic® shoes manufactured with a  heel height, corresponding to one of the embodiments of the invention.

An insole board for a high-heel shoe, said insole board includes a heel supporting area having a concave heel cup adapted to underlie a heel of the wearer, a medial arch support area adapted to underlie the arch of the wearer's foot and extending toeward of but short of the ball of the wearer's foot, and a forefoot area adapted to underlie the ball of the foot and forefoot of the wearer. The medial arch support area has a raised contour for supporting a portion of a sole of the wearer's foot underlying the wearer's arch, and the forefoot support area includes a hollow having a resiliently deformable material therein. [Abstract US20180343965A1] 

Reference

Vionic® Shoes

https://www.vionicshoes.com

Oh patents! Elissabide’s "hidden" heel

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

How do you attach heels to a pair of soft rope-soled espadrille? This is the problematic situation that FR853164 addresses, that is, one Elissabide’s many espadrille patents granted in 1939!

The solution disclosed in this patent, which is still widely used to date for all heeled or "wedged" espadrilles, is to insert a “hidden” heel that creates the requisite arch while retaining a flat roped sole. Thus, the inventive heel contrasts with conventional solutions consisting in providing  an externally attached and visible heel.

This patent further discloses all the details of the manufacturing process of the internal heel -- made to the requisite height of approx. 1.5 inches; out of wood, particle board, rubber or preferably cork; and cut so that it is tapered or "wedged" under the foot, and hidden from view, once it is bonded on top of a regular rope sole. 

To accommodate the heel within the sole, a strip of material is stitched all around the rope sole (see figure 1 extracted from FR853164), thus forming a receptacle for the heel. The strip is then folded on top of the heel bonded to the sole (see figure 3, also extracted from FR853164). 

The espadrille upper will be manufactured so that it has a profile that matches the shape of the tapered heel within the sole, and then attached using processes of bonding, Blake stitching or reverse stitching known to those skilled in the art.

The scope of the invention extends to varying height of the hidden heel, to varying materials used for the upper, as well as for the strip attached to the sole as a receptacle for the hidden heel, and to varying sorts of soles.

Oh, patents! Heel terminology…

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

You may as well get your heels correctly labeled… There are even more sorts of heels than there are snow types in Eskimo languages!

This post is a tribute to the fashion industry and to shoemaker superstars, like André Perugia and Israel Miller, for example, who added comfort to esthetics, saving many women from the abuses of fetishism.

French definitions and English translations are included in the table below. The numbers refer the above images.

1. talon entonnoir	funnel heel
2. talon aiguille  Talon haut, de plus de 7 cm, et très effilé vers le bas. Il peut atteindre des hauteurs de 15 cm	spike (high) heels
3. talon stiletto  ou talon crayon, talon aiguille très haut qui reste fin jusqu'à la semelle	stiletto or pencil heel (the highest of high heels)
4. talon banane	banana heel
5. talon carré	chunky heel
6. talon compensé  Talon qui se prolonge sous la cambrure pour se raccorder à la semelle. Parfois appelé talon plein ou talon wedge	wedge heel
7. talon semi-compensé  talon compensé dont la surface inférieure sous la cambrure est légèrement creusée	half-wedge heel
8. talon cubain  ou talon quiille talon large, de hauteur moyenne, dont les profils sont rectilignes et dont l’arrière est en pente légère vers l’avant	Cuban heel
9. talon bottier  ou talon rainuré, talon haut et large fait de lamelles de cuir superposées ou donnant cet aspect	stacked heel
10. talon triangle	cone heel
11. talon français Talon plat à gorge incurvée et dont l’arrière est en pente vers l’avant	French heel
12. talon en talus  Talon évasé vers le bas et dont la surface au sol est plus grande que la surface d’emboîtage (inverse du talon abattu)	flare heel, ballroom dance heel
13. talon virgule	comma heel
14. talon Louis XV  Talon haut de profil concave et au surplomb très accentué	Louis heel
15. talon bobine  Talon haut creusé sur son pourtour et évasé vers le bas	spool heel
16. kitten heel  Petits talons aiguille d'une hauteur comprise entre 3,5 et 5 centimètres	kitten heel
17. plateforme	platforms
18. talon plat ou talon bas, talon de faible hauteur dont les faces supérieures et inférieures sont parallèles	low heel
19. talon chiquet  Talon très plat constitué d’une unique lamelle de cuir. Ce type de talon se trouve souvent sur des ballerines par exemple	flat heel
20. talon collant  Talon dont le pourtour est au même niveau que celui de la chaussure	zero-drop heel

References
Dupré, C. (1982) Vocabulaire de la chaussure – Françis –Anglais – Cahier de l’Office de la Langue Française. Québec, Canada: Publication Officielle. [French definitions]
https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ressources/bibliotheque/dictionnaires/1982_chaussure.pdf
Twenty –Five types of heels: the ultimate guide [Images]
http://www.beclickless.com/blogs/heel-to-toe/14217957-25-types-of-heels-the-ultimate-guide
Footware glossary

http://www.amefird.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/1Footwear-Glossary-Shoe-Styles-06-13-08.pdf
Wikipedia – Talon (chaussure)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talon_(chaussure)
Dictionnaire des talons
https://kissmyshoe.com/2014/11/le-dictionnaire-des-talons/
Les talons de base – Le Blog de JEF Chaussures
http://blog.jefchaussures.com/entretien-chaussures-lexique-chaussure-conseils-pratiques-et-lexique-de-pro/
Glossaire de la chaussure
http://www.chaussurespaul.com/glossaire_dico.php
Glossaire-lexique de la cordonnerie et des métiers du cuir
http://tictac-cordonnier.blogspot.com/2010/10/glossaire-lexique.html
Lexique de la chaussure – Blog Jacques & Déméter
http://blog.jacquesdemeter.fr/lexique-de-la-chaussure/
Lexique du kickboxing
http://www.ffscda.com/ckfinder/userfiles/files/reglekick/GLOSSAIRE_TECHNIQUE_KICKBOXING_FFSCDALBOCT2013.pdf
Illustrated glossary of shoe styles
http://www.amefird.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/1Footwear-Glossary-Shoe-Styles-06-13-08.pdf
Shoe glossary – Shoe smitten
http://www.shoesmitten.com/shoe-glossary/