| 摘要 |
The nesting modular elevators for footwear are a plurality of tapered, progressively wider units that assemble sequentially to one another and attach to the shoe of the wearer. Each unit has a generally oval planform and a hollow interior, permitting each successively smaller unit to be stored compactly within the next larger unit for storage. The base unit has a wide footprint that provides good stability for the assembly when in use. The larger or lowermost unit(s) may be omitted from the assembly when less than maximum height is required. In one embodiment, the units have mating laterally opposed channels and tracks respectively along the upper and lower edges thereof. In another embodiment, the units have mating opposed fore and aft tabs and slots respectively in the upper and lower edges thereof. These systems provide positive engagement of the units with one another, and preclude slippage between units. |
| 主权项 |
1. Nesting modular elevators for footwear, comprising:
a plurality of elevator units including a lower elevator unit and an upper elevator unit, each of the elevator units having a horizontally elongated closed upper surface (116) parallel to one another, an open lower surface (118) having a width greater than the upper surface, and a peripherally continuous wall (120) extending between the upper surface and the lower surface thereof, wherein said peripherally continuous wall is tapered from the lower surface to the upper surface; said upper elevator unit having at least one tab defined by a pair of opposed slits formed through the wall, the tab being coplanar with the peripherally continuous wall thereof, wherein the tab has a wall end (WE) and a free end (FE), the free end of the tab being resiliently flexible relative to the wall end of the tab; the at least one tab having an integral tang protruding outwardly from the free end of the tab; and said lower elevator unit having a rim extending upwardly from the upper surface, the rim having at least one forward horizontally elongated slot and a rearward slot disposed therethrough, the at least one integral tang removably and resiliently engaging the corresponding horizontally elongated slot of another unit for removably securing the elevator units to one another, whereby the resilience of the tabs of the upper elevator unit allows the integral tang to deform inwardly and snap into place in the horizontally elongated slot of the lower elevator unit, wherein the tab, the integral tang and the horizontally elongated slot are designed to allow the elevator unit to be stacked over one another. |
