Oh, patents! Plae’s Mulberry STAELACE™ (1)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Looking for footwear that is comfortable, practical, and stylish-for-a cause --all bundled in one?

Try on Plae’s blue and green Mulberry! Plae's blue and green Mulberry is a limited-edition sneaker with a patented closure system, patented 3D printable inner soles, and 100% proceeds earmarked for The SF Battery’s Battery Powered philanthropic program.

 

The patented closure system, trademarked STAELACE™, is recited in the US patent application US2017112237 titled Footwear closure system. The invention comprises a lacing system that can be adjusted for tension, and secured without a bow, using a single hand. The invention primarily addresses the difficulty of tying, loosening and tightening shoelaces, for kids, disabled adults, and the elderly. The invention also addresses the risks of loosened and untied shoelaces. Thus, the patent recites an improved lacing system, comprising a customizable button for tethering and untethering the laces, and a slider in the back of the shoe to adjust the tension of the laces.

The abstract for Plae's STAELACE™ invention is included below, together with patent drawings of the lace tethered to the button (Figs.1) and untethered (Fig 2), and of the slider in the back of the shoe (Fig. 8). An image of the marketed green and blue Mulberry is also included above. 

A closure system for a shoe includes a single shoelace which can be secured and tightened through the use of one hand. The shoe includes a button around which the shoelace is wrapped to facilitate easy removal of the shoe. In one embodiment one end of the shoelace is secured under the upper of the shoe near the toe and a second end of the shoelace is secured in a slider that is slidably mounted on the rear of the shoe to provide micro-adjustments of the tightness of the shoe. Alternatively, the shoe includes a strip of piping around the rear of the shoe and a slider in which the second end of the shoelace is secured slides along the piping when the user wants to make micro-adjustments. The adjustment of the tightness of the shoe can also be made by sliding a barrel that is located over the top of the tongue. [Abstract US2017112237]

The SF Battery, Battery Powered philanthropic program generously funds childhood nutrition, gun safety, conserving the planet, women’s health and dignity, empowering youth, mental health, ending extreme poverty, plus more. The SF Battery is owned by BEBO founders Xochi and Michael Birch

References

Plae Inc.

www.plae.co

The Battery SF

https://www.thebatterysf.com/batterypowered

Bebo

https://bebo.com/

Oh, Patents! TOMS boots!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

 

Your favorite shoes, and One-for-One, might be TOMS’ shoes. TOMS’shoes are actually Blake Mycoskie’s shoes… as TOMS stands for Tomorrow’s shoes! As for “One-for-One” this is Mycoskie’s new business model designed to fix capitalism, by incorporating philanthropy into a sustainable for-profit business. That is, for every pair of shoes sold by TOMS Shoes Inc.,, there is one pair of shoes donated to children in need of shoes. Blake Mycoskie is Founder, and Chief Shoe Giver, of TOMS Shoes Inc. He has given more than 2 million pairs of shoes to children worldwide.

Why shoes? It turns out that shoes protect your feet from cuts, puncture wounds, abrasions and frostbite, infections and various parasite diseases such as hookworm that can enter through open foot wounds or simply burrow inside the body through barefoot skin. Thus, keeping children healthy implies supplying them with shoes to wear. Additionally, many schools require that children wear shoes at school, which prevents poorer children from attending. Finally, it also turns out that wearing shoes boosts confidence! If you need hard data to believe this, then just login to see the childrens’ faces once they have received their new shoes!....[TOMS donation campaign videos: at www.toms.com]

For changing the lives of children in more than 50 countries, and the One-to-one business model, Blake Mycoskie has received the Secretary of State Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE). He was featured in the People Magazine“Heroes among us”, and was recognized in the Fortune Magazine“40 under 40” list as one of the top young businessmen in the world. Finally, Mycoskie also published a book in 2011, titled Start something that matters that was a NYTimes best seller!

And that’s not quite the end of the story… TOMS has now started a “One-for-One”eyeglass business, where for every pair of TOMS glasses sold there is a pair of eyeglasses donated to people in need of glasses, whose sight can be restored.

In 2009, patent US2009183394 was also awarded to Blake Mycoskie, with TOMS Shoes Inc.as co-applicant, for an invention titled: “Wrap boot for a wearer’s foot”. These are boots that adapt to a person's particular calf anatomy since the upper part wraps around and fastens at the top.

Here is a drawing of the patented wrap boot and a picture of these boots that you can buy in a store or online, as an option to the classic TOMS shoes, in exchange of which, children in need will also receive a pair, for free, one-for-one!

US2009183394

www.toms.com