Footwear with expandable entry and exit feature

摘要

Footwear includes a shaft and a shell connected to the shaft. The shaft includes an expandable portion adapted to expand to facilitate ease of entry and exit of a heel of a foot into and out of the shell. The expandable portion is surrounded by a material forming the shaft.

主权项

1. A boot, comprising:
a boot shell configured to receive and extend around a wearer's foot when the boot is worn by the wearer, the shell including a toe region that receives a toe portion of the wearer's foot when the boot is worn by the wearer, a heel region that receives a heel portion of the wearer's foot when the boot is worn by the wearer, and an outsole having a projecting heel portion that extends away from the heel region of the boot shell; and a boot shaft connected to and extending above the boot shell to define a passage with an opening through which the wearer's foot is passed when the wearer's foot is inserted into and removed from the boot shell, wherein the boot shaft includes at least a front shaft section, a rear shaft section that includes an Achilles region within which at least the Achilles and lower calf region of the wearer's leg is positioned when the boot is worn by the wearer, and an upper shaft above the front and rear shaft sections; wherein the boot shaft further includes an expandable portion (i) that is secured to the rear shaft section, (ii) that extends above the heel region of the boot shell, (iii) that does not extend to the opening, and (iv) that is adapted to expand resiliently to facilitate ease of entry of a heel of the wearer's foot through the passage and into the boot shell; wherein the expandable portion comprises:
(a) a flap that forms an exterior portion of the Achilles region of the rear shaft section; and(b) an elastic element that interconnects the flap with adjacent regions of the boot shaft and urges the flap sufficiently toward the adjacent regions to define at least one exposed narrow lane that borders the flap and is at least partially exposed from external the boot, wherein the elastic element is formed from a stretchable material that has a higher resilience than a shaft material of the adjacent regions of the boot shaft and the flap; wherein the flap is adapted to bulge backwards with the heel of the wearer's foot as the wearer's foot is inserted through the passage and into the boot shell and to be drawn by the elastic element to return toward the adjacent regions upon the heel of the wearer's foot fully entering the shell; and wherein the boot is a cowboy boot, a riding boot, or a Wellington-type boot.