Patent Issued for Interchangeable Foreparts For Shoes (USPTO 10,772,375)

2020 SEP 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Columbia Insurance Company has been issued patent number 10,772,375, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventor is Santos, Kenneth Daniel (Randolph, MA).

This patent was filed on May 13, 2013 and was published online on September 28, 2020.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Bowling shoes are often provided with different shoe soles for varying traction of the shoe sole on a surface of a bowling lane. In specific bowling lane conditions, the stopping and the sliding characteristics of a shoe can greatly enhance an ability of a bowler to stop his feet suddenly and abruptly. For example, when the bowler approaches a foul line to throw a ball, one foot usually performs the slide action and the other foot performs the traction action. A slide shoe for the slide action usually has a sole made with a low friction material, and a traction shoe has a sole with a high friction material for better traction. However, a specific design of the bowling shoe will greatly depend on each bowler’s individual style and preference, on bowling surface conditions, and on whether the bowler is right- or left-handed.

“One of the problems associated with conventional bowling shoes having fixed shoe soles is that a bowler must purchase many pairs of bowling shoes to adjust to various bowling surface conditions. Additionally, the ball and heel portions of the shoe often become worn out due to increased stress exerted on these portions, thus rendering the whole shoe unusable to the bowler. Furthermore, the shoes are usually designed to fit either a left-handed or right-handed bowler, but not both. Thus, although there is a relatively small number of left-handed bowlers, manufacturers must maintain a sufficient inventory for both left- and right-handed bowlers, which leads to an increased cost of the bowling shoes.

“To solve these problems, the bowling shoes are often provided with removable pads attached to the underside of the shoe sole to allow the bowler to adjust the friction of the shoe. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,453 to Kim, U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,324 to Tsuji, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,198 to Famolare describe bowling shoes with interchangeable foreparts and interchangeable heels on the same shoe, but not on either shoe. For such shoes, inventory must include a set of replaceable parts specifically adapted for attachment to the right shoe and a set of replaceable parts adapted for attachment to the left shoe. Also, different sets of replaceable parts must be provided based on whether the shoes are designed for use by right- or left-handed bowlers.

“Other known bowling shoes include the shoes that have interchangeable inserts that may be attached to either a left or right shoe outsole. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,077, issued to Coles, discloses a shoe which has removable cleats or inserts attached to a plurality of spaced recesses in the shoe sole. The user may selectively replace individual inserts that have different coefficients of friction to achieve desired degrees of traction on the bowling surface. U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,476 to Lind, U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,360 to Lind, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,973 to Lind all appear to relate to a pad that is interchangeable with another pad, where each pad is removably attached to either the left or right shoe. In addition, each pad is different than the next pad. However, the pads or inserts provided in the above-cited patents seem to be limited to a section of the overall bottom surface of the shoe, as opposed to covering the entire bottom surface. This limited size relative to the overall bottom surface may be important in permitting the pad to be attached to either the left or right shoe. Additionally, when the pads or inserts cover only a portion of the overall bottom surface of the shoe sole, the peripheral shoe sole material makes contact with the bowling surface, which negatively affects the movement of the bowler.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent: “Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide bowling footwear that has removable foreparts and heel parts made out of various sliding materials to enable a bowler to improve sliding on varying bowling lane surface conditions.

“It is a further object of the present invention to provide the bowling footwear with improved removable foreparts that cover the entire lateral bottom surface of the shoe sole.

“It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide bowling footwear having interchangeable foreparts and heel parts that can be applied to either the left or right shoe.

“These and other objects are achieved according to a first embodiment of the present invention by provision of a bowling footwear kit having a left shoe and a right shoe, each shoe including a midsole with a toe region and a heel region, wherein the toe region includes the entire area from the front of the shoe to a selected line in front of the heel region, and the peripheral shapes of the toe region of the left shoe and of the toe region of the right shoe are substantially identical. The kit further includes a forepart which functions as an outsole for either the toe region of the right shoe or the toe region of the left shoe. The forepart has a peripheral shape that substantially matches the peripheral shape of the toe regions of both the left shoe and the right shoe, such that the forepart may be mounted to the left shoe and to the right shoe.

“In some embodiments, the toe regions of the left and right shoes extend from about one half to about three fourths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe. In some embodiments, the toe regions of the left and right shoes extend from about five eighths to about seven eighths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe. In some embodiments, the toe regions of the left and right shoes extend from about three eighths to about five eighths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe. In some embodiments, the forepart removably attaches to the toe regions of the left and right shoes using a hook and loop fastening system.

“According to a second embodiment, a bowling footwear kit is provided having a left shoe and a right shoe, each shoe including a midsole with a toe region and a heel region, wherein the toe region includes the entire area from the front of the shoe to a selected line in front of the heel region, and the peripheral shapes of the toe region of the left shoe and of the toe region of the right shoe are substantially identical. The bowling footwear kit further includes a first forepart having a first traction characteristic for removably attaching to the toe region of the midsole of either the left or right shoe, and a second forepart having a second traction characteristic different from the first traction characteristic for removably attaching to the toe region of the midsole of either the left or right shoe. The peripheral shape of the first forepart and the peripheral shape of the second forepart are substantially identical to each other and substantially identical to the peripheral shape of the toe regions of the left and right shoes. The first forepart may be removably attached to the toe region on the left shoe and also may be removably attached to the toe region on the right shoe, and the second forepart also may be removably attached to the toe region on the left shoe and also may be removably attached to the toe region on the right shoe. In certain embodiments, the toe regions of the left and right shoes extend from about five eighths to about seven eighths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe. In certain embodiments, the toe regions of the left and right shoes extend from about one half to about three fourths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe. In certain embodiments, the toe regions of the left and right shoes extend from about three eighths to about five eighths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe.

“In some embodiments, the bowling footwear kit further includes a third forepart having a third traction characteristic and a fourth forepart having a fourth traction characteristic, wherein the third and fourth traction characteristics are different from each other and from the first and second traction characteristics, and wherein the third and fourth foreparts are interchangeable with the first and second foreparts.

“In some embodiments, the shapes of the heel region of the left shoe and the heel region of the right shoe are substantially identical, and the kit further includes a first heel part for removably attaching to the heel region of the left or right shoe, and a second heel part for removably attaching to the heel region of the left or right shoe, wherein the first heel part may be removably attached to the heel region on the left shoe and also may be removably attached to the heel region on the right shoe, and the second heel part also may be removably attached to the heel region on the left shoe and also may be removably attached to the heel region on the right shoe.

“In some embodiments, the first and second foreparts removably attach to the toe regions of the left and right shoes using a hook and loop fastening system. In some embodiments, the first and second heel parts removably attach to the heel regions of the left and right shoes using a hook and loop fastening system.

“According to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a forepart for a shoe, which functions as an outsole for the toe region of the shoe, is provided. The forepart has a bottom surface for contact with the ground, and a mounting surface for contact with and mounting to a toe region of a shoe. The forepart has a peripheral shape that substantially matches the peripheral shape of the toe regions of both a left shoe and a right shoe, such that the forepart may be mounted to the left shoe and to the right shoe.

“In some embodiments, when the forepart is mounted to either the left or the right shoe, the forepart covers the entire toe region of the shoe, the toe region having the area from about five eighths to about seven eighths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe. In certain embodiments, the toe region has the area from about one half to about three fourths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe. In certain embodiments, the toe region comprises the area from about three eighths to about five eighths of the distance between the front of the shoe and the back of the shoe.

“In some embodiments, the mounting surface includes a first part of a two-part fastener for attaching to the second part of the two-part fastener which is disposed on the toe region of the left and right shoes.

“The particular details and benefits of the present invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art based on the following description with reference to the appended drawings.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A footwear kit comprising a left shoe, a right shoe, and a forepart for the left shoe and the right shoe, wherein the left shoe and the right shoe each have a peripheral shape that is substantially asymmetric about a line running from a front of the shoe towards a back of the shoe, wherein the left shoe and the right shoe each have a toe region which is an entire area from the frontmost edge of the shoe to a selected line at least about three eighths of the distance from the frontmost edge of the shoe to the back of the shoe, wherein a periphery of the toe region of the left shoe and a periphery of the toe region of the right shoe are substantially identical, wherein the forepart has a periphery which substantially matches a periphery of the toe region of both the left shoe and the right shoe, and wherein the periphery of the forepart is symmetric about a centerline running from a front of the forepart toward a back of the forepart.

“2. A footwear kit comprising: a left shoe and a right shoe, each shoe comprising a midsole having a toe region, which is the entire area in front of a selected line at least three eighths of the distance between a frontmost edge of the shoe and a back of the shoe, wherein the midsole has a midsole periphery and the toe region has a toe region periphery, wherein the midsole periphery of the left shoe is different from the midsole periphery of the right shoe, wherein the toe region periphery of the left shoe is substantially identical to the toe region periphery of the right shoe, and wherein a toe region peripheral edge of the left shoe substantially matches a toe region peripheral edge of the right shoe, wherein the toe region peripheries of the left shoe and the right shoe are substantially symmetric about a centerline from the front of the shoe through the toe region.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Santos, Kenneth Daniel. Interchangeable Foreparts For Shoes. U.S. Patent Number 10,772,375, filed May 13, 2013, and published online on September 28, 2020. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,772,375.PN.&OS=PN/10,772,375RS=PN/10,772,375

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