Multi-purpose water footwear

Abstract

Multi-purpose footwear includes a show sole, a shoe tongue and a shoe vamp provided as a portion of a shoe upper and a paddle mounted to be displaceable to a plurality of alternative and predetermined positions with respect to the footwear.

Claims

1. Multi-purpose footwear comprising: a shoe sole; a shoe tongue; and a shoe vamp provided as a portion of a shoe upper and a paddle, wherein said paddle is mounted to be displaceable to a plurality of alternative and predetermined positions with respect to said footwear.

2. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said one or more alternative and predetermined positions comprise a closed position, in which said paddle fully or partially adheres to a surface portion located at a top of said shoe upper.

3. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said paddle fully or partially adheres to one or both of the shoe vamp or shoe tongue.

4. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said paddle is made as one piece with said shoe sole and extend in a sagittal direction of a user in upright position wearing said footwear.

5. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said paddle and said shoe sole are made in one piece with said footwear.

6. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, further comprising at least one or more stiffening members having elastic and plastic properties sufficient to cause said paddle to keep one or more known positions with respect to said footwear.

7. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 6, wherein said one or more stiffening members comprise one or more structures at least partially made in one piece or co-molded with one or more of said shoe, said paddle, or said shoe sole, said one or more structures operating as a rib along at least part of a longitudinal axis of said footwear.

8. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 6, wherein said one or more stiffening members comprise one or more plate-shaped structures partially inserted into a cavity obtained in said shoe sole, said one or more plate-shaped structures operating as a rib along at least part of a longitudinal axis of said footwear.

9. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 6, wherein said one or more stiffening members are made of a metal or polymeric material.

10. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, further comprising fasteners that cooperate in fastening said paddle to said top surface of the shoe upper when said paddle is in a closed position.

11. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said fasteners comprise a plurality of openings provided near a free peripheral edge, or a part of said free peripheral edge, of said paddle and adapted, by being elastically forced, to hook or engage respective protruding elements on a shell surface of the shoe upper.

12. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 11, wherein said protruding elements are hook-shaped.

13. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said paddle is longitudinally symmetrical and has a footprint comprising an inwardly concave conformation near an intersection between a longitudinal axis and an end of the paddle, the inwardly concave conformation being substantially shaped as a plane development of at least part of said shoe tongue.

14. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the shoe sole or the paddle are made to have an average thickness between 2 and 10 mm.

15. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said footwear has at least one opening in a front part of the show upper.

16. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 1, wherein said footwear has at least one opening in a rear part of the shoe upper, near a first end opposite to a second end facing the paddle.

17. The multi-purpose footwear according to claim 16, wherein the multi-purpose footwear comprises retainers that retain the paddle at a user's foot.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] These and other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more evident from the following description of some exemplary embodiments depicted in the attached drawings wherein:

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a top view of an embodiment comprising a shoe and a paddle in an open position;

[0040] FIG. 2 shows the embodiment of FIG. 1, where the paddle is in a closed position to cover part of the upper in the area of vamp and tongue;

[0041] FIGS. 3 and 4 show side perspective view of the above embodiment in the open and closed conditions of the paddle, as already shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0042] Therefore, the listed figures serve as support to the explanatory, and therefore not limiting, description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a fin for swimming or for underwater activities and also usable out of the water, equipped with a reclining paddle that can take different positions and in particular a closed position (FIGS. 2 and 4) and an open position (FIGS. 1 and 3).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0043] Referring to FIG. 1, the embodiment object of the illustrations can be observed according to a top view which could be the observation post of a user in upright position whose sagittal axis is substantially parallel to the axis X depicted in the figure and whose forehead is directed in the direction depicted by the arrow of said axis X.

[0044] The invention, comprising a paddle 1 made as an appendage of a shoe 2, has features that allow the paddle 1 to take multiple static positions with respect to the shoe, depending on the environment in which it works. Paddle is to be understood as defining a single paddle, or one or more paddles or paddle portions. While still having the elasticity features of the shapes and materials peculiar to swim fins, the invention allows a wearer to model part of the paddle by applying an appropriate deformation force so as to bring said paddle closer to or into contact with the top portion of the upper, in a configuration that is autonomously kept until a subsequent opposite action is applied by the user.

[0045] Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a fin according to the invention is shown, comprising a paddle 1 extending forward with respect to the shoe 2, a separation profile of the two portions being defined near the toe 25.

[0046] The shoe, which in this embodiment is of full-foot type to cover at least part of the front and rear areas of the foot, comprises a sole 3 and an upper 2, the upper meaning the top portion of the shoe without said sole.

[0047] The vamp 21 and the tongue 22 can be identified as front portions of the surface of the upper that cover the bottom and top portions of the foot; depending on the embodiment these parts can be made in one piece with the upper or can be only partially joined thereto, according to the choices of the field technician without affecting the peculiarities of the finding.

[0048] In this embodiment, the multi-purpose shoe comprises an optional plate-like structure 41 to reinforce a portion of the top surface of the paddle 1 and this structure extends towards the shoe in a cavity 42 shown in dashed line in FIG. 3. Said structure 41 has the function of stiffening the paddle and is made of a material provided with plasticity so that it is deformed when it is under the action of an external force applied so as to overcome the yield point near the toe 25.

[0049] The plate-like reinforcement structure 41 in the embodiment object of the drawings can be co-molded and/or at least partially made in one piece with the paddle, shoe and sole; Other embodiments, neither limiting nor exclusive, provide that paddle and shoe, possibly made in one piece, are produced with alternative elastic characteristics so that the optional reinforcement structure is not required.

[0050] In the purposes of the invention, the user applies said external force as he intentionally wants to flex the paddle 1, and bring the latter from the open position 0 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to the closed position C shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

[0051] As it appears from the comparison between the FIGS. 1, 2 and the FIGS. 3, 4, when in closed position the paddle 1 adheres to the upper 2 and covers the much of the vamp 21 and the tongue 22. In this configuration, the fin is comparable to a shoe to be used on dry land and whenever a front paddle is unnecessary and hinders the movement.

[0052] Advantageously, additional protection against external agents, either solids and/or fluids, is brought by the paddle 1 in the closed position to the foot wearing the shoe. The benefit is even more significant in other embodiments of the shoe that, commonly, provide a front opening near the toe of the foot 25. In this context, the application of the closed paddle will prevent the phalanges or part of them from being directly exposed to foreign bodies, thereby reducing the risk of injuries or wounds outside the water.

[0053] In addition to the plate-like structure, the embodiment object of the drawings comprises three mechanisms to assist in keeping the ends of the paddle 1 at the shoe when the paddle is in the closed position. In particular, on part of the free peripheral edge of the paddle 1 there are three hooking devices 101, 102, 103 such as slots or fastening clips or half press-stud intended, by being elastically forced, to hook or engage corresponding counterparts 201, 202, 203 permanently positioned or also made in one piece on the vamp 21 and/or tongue 22. When said mechanisms are mutually hooked or engaged to make the combinations 301, 302, 303 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, they allow the peripheral portion of the paddle 1 to be held fully adherent to the upper 2, thereby providing a benefit to the stability of the assembly as a whole and in particular for those ends which, without the mechanisms 301, 302, 303, would be unstable due to the elastic properties of the materials they are made of.

[0054] The paddle 1 of the fin-shoe object of the invention is also provided with concave peripheral shaping 110 in the remote end of the shoe. The concave shaping 110 allows the coupling of the paddle 1 to the upper 2 in the closed position C to be improved as this concave area is defined as plane development of part of the inlet profile 26 of the shoe. Advantageously, the above conformation prevents the end of the paddle from undesirably interfering with the top portion of the user's metatarsus. In addition, the same shape improves the hydrodynamic thrust of the paddle in the open position A and also achieves higher aesthetic levels for the observer.

[0055] Considering the above, it is clear that the implement according to the invention achieves the predetermined purposes.

[0056] The object of the invention is susceptible of several modifications and variations, all falling within the inventive concept expressed in the attached claims. All the details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements, and the materials can be different according to the needs, without departing from the protection scope of the present invention.

[0057] Although the object has been described with particular reference to the attached figures, the reference numerals used in the description and claims are used to improve the intelligence of the invention and do not limit the claimed protection scope.