BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates generally to shoes and more particularly, to a shoe
which can be put on and taken off conveniently.
2. Description of the Related Art
[0002] Modern people are so busy in such a way that everything in living, including putting
shoes on and taking them off, is requested to be done efficiently and conveniently.
Therefore, many tools or skills that help putting on and taking off shoes are well
developed. For example, when putting on a shoe that will cover widely the user's foot,
some people have a habit of using a shoehorn or of pulling the tongue or the front
of the shoe's top line for helping their foot in slipping into the shoe. When taking
off a shoe, besides pulling, many people have a habit of treading on the counter at
the rear of the shoe by the other foot so as to take off that shoe quickly. However,
when taking any above-mentioned way, people will need to bend their backs and then
touch the shoes or handle shoehorns, which is not so convenient to busy people, not
to mention people who can't bend their backs easily, such as old people, pregnant
women, or patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Besides, a shoehorn is not available
anywhere, and handling it needs skill. As to taking off the shoe, the way of treading
on the counter of the shoe will make the shoe's upper deformed, dirty, or torn, and
even make the shoe's outsole fall off.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-noted circumstances.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a shoe which can be put on
and taken off conveniently.
[0004] To attain the above objective, the present invention provides a shoe comprises an
outsole, an upper that is attached on the outsole and has a counter and a collar extending
upward from the counter and configured as a shoehorn, a supporting piece which is
harder than the upper and attached to the counter and the collar of the upper, and
a guiding piece which is harder than the upper and attached to an instep of the upper
and having a part extending out of a top line of the upper. Since the supporting piece
has a predetermined hardness and the collar is configured like a shoehorn, the rear
of the upper is provided with a portion having a similar function to a shoehorn. The
guiding piece is also useful for avoiding the instep from becoming crease and unsmooth.
As a result, a user's foot is able to slide into the shoe along the aforesaid portion,
so that the shoe is convenient for the user to put on without bending his back and
using his hand.
[0005] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from
the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that
the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments
of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and
modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to
those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description
given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration
only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a side view of the shoe in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the
present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the shoe in accordance with the preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a shoe, denoted by reference numeral
10, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which can be
conveniently put on and taken off. The shoe
10 comprises an upper
20, a supporting piece 30 and a guiding piece
40 both attached to the upper
20, and an outsole
50.
[0008] The upper
20 is similar to those of conventional shoes, but in this embodiment the upper
20 has a collar
22 and two elastic bands
24. Specifically speaking, like uppers of conventional shoes, the upper
20 can be divided into a toe portion
25, an instep
26 and two quarters
27 extending backward from the toe portion
25, and a counter
28 connecting the quarters
27. The collar
22 extends upward and backward from the counter 28 integrally in such a way that the
collar is configured as a shoehorn. The tops of the instep
26, the counter
28, and the quarters
27 are connected to form a top line
29 of the upper
20. The elastic bands
24 are located in the quarters
27 respectively and near the counter
28, and the tops of the elastic bands
24 are parts of the top line
29. As a result, the size of the top line
29 can be adjusted by stretching or relieving the elastic bands
24.
[0009] The supporting piece
30 and the guiding piece
40 are made from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Nylon,
polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer
(ABS), and are harder than the upper
20. The supporting piece
30 has a shape corresponding to the counter 28 and the collar
22 of the upper
20, and is attached to the outside of them by sewing, which means the supporting piece
30 is exposed outside the upper
20 and will not be in contact with the user's foot. The guiding piece
40 has a fixed portion
42 and a guiding portion
44 integrally connected with the fixed portion
42. The fixed portion
42 is attached between an outside of the instep
26 and an inside of the instep
26 by sewing, which means the fixed portion
42 is not exposed outside the upper
20 and will not be in contact with the user's foot. The guiding portion
44 extends through the top line
29 out of the upper
20 upward and slightly frontward. The fixed portion
42 has a shape like the instep of the user.
[0010] The outsole
50 is similar to those of conventional shoes, but the outsole
50 has a treadable protrusion
52 at the rear end of the outsole
50, so that the user can take the shoe
10 off his one foot by the other foot treading on the treadable protrusion
52. The upper
20 is attached on the outsole
50 with adhesive, and in order to avoid the outsole
50 from separation from the upper
20, the rear portions of the outsole
50 and the upper
20 are seamed together with a sewing thread
54.
[0011] Because of the supporting piece
30 having a predetermined hardness and the collar
22 having a shape like a shoehorn, the rear of the upper
20 is provided with a portion that can be served as a shoehorn for helping the user's
foot in slipping into the shoe
10 along that portion when the user puts on the aforesaid shoe
10; meanwhile, the guiding piece
40 is also useful for avoiding the instep
26 from becoming crease and unsmooth. To take off the shoe
10 quickly, the user can tread on the treadable protrusion
52 of the outsole
50 and make his instep slide out of the shoe
10 along the guiding portion
44 of the guiding piece
40. Besides, during aforesaid process of putting on or taking off the shoe
10, the elastic bands
24 can be stretched to enlarge the top line
29, so that the user can put on or take off the shoe
10 more smoothly. As a result, the shoe
10 is convenient for the user, especially for old people, pregnant women, or wounded
people who can't bend their backs easily, to put on without bending his back and using
his hand. Except for the collar
22, the upper
20 is the same with those of conventional shoes, so the shoe
10 will not fall off the foot easily if it is used normally.
[0012] It will be appreciated that the aforesaid supporting piece
30 can be attached to the inside of the upper
20, and the guiding piece
40 can be attached to the outside of the upper
20. And further, the supporting piece
30 and the guiding piece 40 both can be attached between the outside and the inside
of the upper
20, in that case, the supporting piece
30 and the guiding portion
44 of the guiding piece
40 are not exposed outside the upper
20, and will not be in contact with the user's foot.
[0013] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied
in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit
and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one
skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
1. A shoe (10) comprising an outsole (50) and an upper (20) which is attached on the
outsole (50) and has a counter (28), the shoe (10) being characterized in that the upper (20) further has a collar (22) extending upward from the counter (28) and
configured as a shoehorn, and the shoe (10) further comprises a supporting piece (30)
which is harder than the upper (20) and attached to the counter (28) and the collar
(22) of the upper (20); and a guiding piece (40) which is harder than the upper (20)
and attached to an instep (26) of the upper (20) and having a part extending out of
a top line (29) of the upper (20).
2. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, which is characterized in that the supporting piece (30) is attached to an outside or an inside of the upper (20).
3. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, which is characterized in that the guiding piece (40) is attached to an outside or an inside of the upper (20).
4. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, which is characterized in that the guiding piece (40) is attached between an outside of the upper (20) and an inside
of the upper (20).
5. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, which is characterized in that the outsole (50) has a treadable protrusion (52) at a rear end of the outsole (50).
6. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, which is characterized in that a quarter (27) of the upper (20) has an elastic band (24) near the counter (28).
7. The shoe as claimed in claim 6, which is characterized in that the outsole (50) has a treadable protrusion (52) at a rear end of the outsole (50);
rear portions of the outsole (50) and the upper (20) are seamed together with a sewing
thread (54).