FOOTWEAR TONGUE PROTUBERANCE DEVICE AND METHOD

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application claims benefit under 35 USC 119 to Canada National Application No. 3,021,950 filed on Oct. 24, 2018, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the field of boots, shoes, and leggings of existing art and more specifically relates to boots, shoes, and leggings, including tongue pieces, form-fitting interior, foot-supporting or foot-conforming feature.

RELATED ART

The tongue of a shoe is what keeps shoes on a wearer's feet. Tongues may be found on virtually any footwear with laces. Tongues protect the top of the foot. Also, tongues prevent shoe laces from rubbing against the foot. If the tongue is not kept in place, or the laces are not tied properly, the wearer can sustain foot injury. Further, the wearer may experience uncomfortable and ill-fitting shoes. Current tongues contain a single strip of material. Additionally, single strip tongues cause shoe slippage and possible injury to the foot or toes, especially an impact leading to damage and potential loss of toenails. An improved tongue protuberance is needed.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,360 to Roger Hsiano-ChingFangJoseph, Ho Pin Lin relates to an athletic shoe with inflatable tongue. The described athletic shoe with inflatable shoe includes an athletic shoe having an inflatable tongue which can be slightly deflated or inflated after lacing up or otherwise closing the shoe to conform to the user's foot and the lacing to provide a more comfortable fit of the shoe. The tongue includes an inner bladder of an expandable foam material with a valve on the tongue fluidly communicating the exterior of the tongue with the interior of the bladder to selectively inflate and deflate the same upon introduction and release of air to the bladder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known boots, shoes, and leggings art, the present disclosure provides a novel footwear tongue protuberance. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a footwear tongue protuberance to prevent foot slippage and injury, and in particular to prevent foot slippage within the shoe causing damage to the toes and toenails, including loss of the toenails.

A footwear tongue protuberance system assembly is disclosed herein comprising a shoe; a tongue; and a polyurethane foam material. The footwear tongue protuberance system comprises a footwear tongue protuberance assembly; wherein the footwear tongue protuberance assembly comprises in function combination the shoe, the tongue, and the polyurethane foam material. The tongue comprises an inner layer of polyurethane foam material (e.g. high-density memory foam or the like) between the front layer and the back layer of the tongue to prevent foot slippage and injury. The cushioning element is in the bottom half of the tongue, and is generally ‘squarish’, thickest in the center and tapering off towards the edges like that of a square throw pillow. Additionally, the bottom half of the tongue where the cushioning element is located may be wider than a standard tongue to enable coverage over a greater section of the beginning of the bridge of the foot. Thus, the start of the additional foam is at the end of the tongue that is attached to the shoe, corresponding roughly in alignment to the location of the ball of the foot. The thickest part of the cushioning is around the middle of the front half of the foot arch, and it has tapered off by roughly the midpoint of the tongue, corresponding to the peak of the arch of the foot.

A method of use for the footwear tongue protuberance system is also disclosed herein: the method comprising the steps of: providing a shoe; a tongue; and a polyurethane foam material; using the footwear tongue protuberance to prevent foot slippage and injury, particularly to the toes and toenails.

For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a footwear tongue protuberance system, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and cutaway view of the footwear tongue protuberance system ready for an ‘in-use’ condition, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the footwear tongue protuberance system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the footwear tongue protuberance system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the footwear tongue protuberance system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to boots, shoes, and leggings and more particularly to a footwear tongue protuberance as used to prevent foot slippage and injury. In particular, the footwear tongue protuberance may act to prevent foot slippage within the shoe causing damage to the toes and toenails, including loss of the toenail

Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in FIGS. 1-4, various views of a footwear tongue protuberance system 100.

FIG. 1 shows a footwear tongue protuberance system 100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, both as a shoe and as a cutaway view showing a foot inside a shoe. Here, the footwear tongue protuberance system 100 may be beneficial for use by a wearer to prevent foot slippage and injury to toes and toenails. As illustrated, the footwear tongue protuberance system 100 may comprise: a footwear tongue protuberance assembly 104 including: a shoe 110; a tongue 112 with an increased width and depth; and a polyurethane foam material 114 (e.g. memory foam or other suitable equivalent). The footwear tongue protuberance system 100 comprises the footwear tongue protuberance assembly 104. The footwear tongue protuberance assembly 104 comprises in function combination the shoe 110, the tongue 112, and the polyurethane foam material 114. The tongue 112 comprises an inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 between the front layer 113 and the back layer 115 of the tongue 112 to prevent foot slippage and injury to the toes and toenails. Using high-density memory foam or the like for layer 114 helps to provide support and comfort without increasing the bulk of the shoe, ideally resulting in a fit where the shoe feels more integral to the foot.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4 showing various views of the footwear tongue protuberance system 100 of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated, the footwear tongue protuberance system 100 comprises the tongue 112 located under the laces of a shoe 110 and the tongue 112 is attached to vamp of the shoe. The tongue 112 of the footwear tongue protuberance system 100 sits on top of the center portion of the shoe 110 located near the beginning of the bridge of the foot. The tongue 112 contains a fixed lower end and free upper end. The tongue 112 of the shoe 110 comprises a fabricated material upper and lower portion. The tongue 112 of the shoe 110 attaches under eyelets of laces. The tongue 112 provides for adjustment of fit of the shoe 110 to a foot. The tongue 112 of the shoe 110 comprises an inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 (e.g. high-density memory foam). The cushioning element is in the bottom third to half of the tongue 112, and is generally ‘squarish’, in preferred embodiments, thickest in the center and tapering off towards the edges like that of a square throw pillow. Thus, the start of the additional foam is near the fixed end of the tongue 112 that is attached to the shoe 110, corresponding roughly in alignment to the location of beginning of the bridge of the foot and the ball of the foot. The thickest part of the cushioning is over the first third of the tongue 112, covering approximately the front bridge of the foot (e.g. around the middle of the front half of the foot arch), and it has tapered off by roughly the midpoint of the tongue 112, corresponding to the end of the bridge of the foot (e.g. the peak of the arch of the foot).

The inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 of the tongue 112 rests under laces in a relative center of a foot and serves to cushion and protect the foot from slippage. The inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 of the tongue 112 is enveloped by front layer 113 and back layer 115. The inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 of the tongue 112 provides cushioning and support to the beginning of the bridge of the foot. The polyurethane foam material 114 of the tongue 112 prevents sliding forward movement of a foot and prevents laces from rubbing against a foot. Additionally, the inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 of the tongue 112 eliminates discomfort in the foot and prevents toe and toenail injury by preventing slipping of the foot during active use via the increased cushioning and support of the front of the bridge of the foot.

The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.