A footwear structure includes an upper provided with a mouth, a tip end and a front portion that is between the mouth and the tip end, a first lining housed inside the footwear structure, and a first through opening arranged on the front portion of the upper, and a first appendage externally arranged on the first lining at a position substantially corresponding to the first through opening, wherein the first appendage engages the first through opening and wherein the first appendage is accessible from the outside of the footwear structure.

A gaiter-containing pouch for use with a number of boots or other footwear. The pouch is comprised of an inner wall, an outer wall, with the gaiter held between them. The back of the inner wall includes a fixation surface to allow it to be attached to any of a number of different types of boots. The outer wall includes one or more enclosure means that allows the outer wall to be attached to the inner wall when the gaiter is contained inside the pouch in a storage position. The enclosure means can be released allowing access to the gaiter for use. When the gaiter is no longer required, the gaiter can be collapsed into the pouch and the enclosure means used to close the pouch.

A shoe apparatus can including a base component with a sole, a strap component having a strap and a center connector, and a cover component comprising a material positioned between the base component and the strap and attached to the perimeter edge of the sole. The material has an aperture for receiving the center connector and a first opening positioned above a rearfoot portion of said sole for receiving a person's foot. The center connector is positioned through said aperture and connected to said forefoot portion of the sole. The strap component forms a second opening between the cover component and the strap for receiving a person's foot.

Articles of footwear 1, and methods of manufacturing articles of footwear are disclosed. The footwear 1 comprises a heel portion 4 for supporting a heel of a foot 10 of a wearer. The heel portion 4 defines a channel 20 extending from a first opening 21 to a second opening 22. The openings 21, 22 are situated at laterally-facing surfaces 41, 42 of the heel portion 4. The footwear 1 may also comprises a fastening means 5 for fastening the article of footwear 1 to the foot 10 of the wearer. The fastening means 5 is arranged to extend through said channel 20 and, in use of the footwear 1, is fastenable around the dorsal region of the foot 10 of the wearer.

The decorative slipper 10 includes a pocket opening 70 for reception of a person's foot therein. Pocket 70 is comprised of two toe receiving sections, a first section 70a and a second section 70b. The flap 20 is movable to the first position 50 wherein the flap 20 covers the first face 12 and body of the slipper while exposing the second face 16, and the flap opening 40 is aligned with pocket opening 70. In order to align the wearer's foot with the second face 16, the wearer places his toe section in the second section 70b of pocket 70. The flap 20 is also movable to a second position 60 wherein, the flap 20 covers the second face 16 and body of the slipper while exposing the first face 12, and the flap opening 40 is aligned with pocket opening 70. In order to align the wearer's foot with the first face 12, the wearer places his toe section in the first section 70a of pocket 70. In this manner, the pocket 70 allows the wearer to use the same pocket 70 to walk in two different directions depending on whether animal face 12 is uncovered or animal face 16 is uncovered by movable flap 20.

An article of footwear facilitates relatively easy donning and removal, and secure adjustment. The article of footwear comprises a sole structure, an upper secured to the sole structure, and a plurality of tensioning cables having proximal ends fixed to at least one of the upper or the sole structure and extending out of the upper. A strap has a proximal end connected to distal ends of the plurality of tensioning cables, and has a distal end releasably securable to the upper to tighten the tensioning cables. A webbed spacer is secured to the plurality of tensioning cables. The webbed spacer extends between adjacent ones of the plurality of tensioning cables, and the adjacent ones of the plurality of tensioning cables spaced apart from one another by the webbed spacer.

An article of footwear facilitates relatively easy donning and removal, and secure adjustment. The article of footwear comprises a sole structure, an upper secured to the sole structure, and a plurality of tensioning cables having proximal ends fixed to at least one of the upper or the sole structure and extending out of the upper. A strap has a proximal end connected to distal ends of the plurality of tensioning cables, and has a distal end releasably securable to the upper to tighten the tensioning cables. A webbed spacer is secured to the plurality of tensioning cables. The webbed spacer extends between adjacent ones of the plurality of tensioning cables, and the adjacent ones of the plurality of tensioning cables spaced apart from one another by the webbed spacer.

A ventilated article of footwear, a boot or a shoe, has a disconnectable footwear portion partly detachably connected to the outer contour portion of the sole of the article of footwear. One or more connectors are secured on the top surface of the sole outer contour portion adjacent the disconnectable footwear portion and actionable to disconnect and reconnect the disconnectable footwear portion to the sole outer contour portion to permit the entrance of air between the sole outer contour portion and a lower edge of the disconnectable footwear portion to ventilate at least a portion of a users foot.

An adjustable shoe includes an adjustable upper with independent components which can be adjusted longitudinally, laterally, and vertically to accommodate foot size variations including swollen or asymmetrical feet. In some embodiments, an adjustable upper includes at least one connecting member which may be arranged to selectively adjust at least one of an independent toe portion, side panel, and heel portion.

A system for conveying pasty material through a conduit has an eccentric screw pump having a stator, a rotor that rotates in the stator, a housing with an intake port, and an output port connected to the conduit. A drive rotates the rotor and thereby draws the pasty material in through the intake port and expels the drawn-in material as a compressed-material strand into the conduit. A valve supplies gas pulses to the conduit at time intervals for separating the compressed-material strand into material plugs of limited length traveling through the conduit.