Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Easy to kick off your shoes! Much harder to put them back on, handsfree, without lacing or loosening laces, buckling or unbuckling. Even shoes with velcro fasteners require peeling the strips off, and pressing the strips back on. Kizik® shoes offer a handsfree Foot Activated Shoe Technology (FAST) to resolve these problems of the prior art. Indeed, Kizik® shoes just slip on, handsfree, using a titanium spring design. The titanium spring design is attached to the sole and inserted within the upper of the shoe so that it easily compresses when your foot slips in, and pops back up to secure the shoe in place.
This invention is recited in the US patent application US20120317839A1 titled Rapid entry shoe. The patent application, containing 55 figure drawings recites many different embodiments of the invention, according to various shoe styles and functions, including but not limited to “sandals, closed shoes, shoes with varying heights of heels, sports shoes of many types, dress shoes, and the like.”[0029]. The invention uses various movable parts, that move the shoe upper, enabling the user’s foot to just slip in. The many embodiments recited in the patent are repeatedly designated as only illustrative of the invention, whose scope extends to many additional variations of the FAST design.
The abstract of this invention is included below, together with two patent drawings, Figures 43 and 40, each representing a different embodiment of the FAST technology that enables rapid entry into a FAST-fitted shoe. Figure 43 depicts a device comprising a heel loop 104, attached to a hinged rotation axis 80. A lock 114 is included to prevent the loop from collapsing. The device further comprises a stop 120 to prevent the loop from opening past a certain point, a flexible portion 116 and an integral spring 118 to allow the heel loop to move when the lock is released. [0071] Figure 40 also depicts a heel loop 104, attached to a hinged rotation axis 80. However, in this embodiment, a pair of magnets 106, on each side of the loop 104, enable the loop 104 to return to its upright position, after the user’s foot has entered the shoe. [0069]
A rapid-entry shoe allows the shoe to be rapidly entered and readied for wearing by the user. The shoe may be any of a wide variety of shoe types, including shoes of a wide variety of styles and functions. The rapid entry features of the shoes utilize various movable elements that are attached to a sole portion or other portion of the shoe and allow movement of a portion of the shoe under pressure to allow rapid entry of the user's foot into the shoe. The moveable elements may include flexible elements, elements having constructed to have a memory of a native position, magnetic elements, and/or elastic elements. [Abstract US20120317839A1]
References
Kizik®
KIZIK® Shoes Launch Footwear Revolution with Patented Handsfree Technology
Kizik® Boston style hands-free sneakers
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