Method of making footwear

Abstract

A method of making a shoe and the resulting novel shoe involve forming a sole member with at least one flange member that extends upwardly from the top side of the sole member. An upper member is positioned on the top side of the sole member with the flange member disposed inside of a flange attachment portion. The upper is then attached to the upwardly extending flange member.

1 . A method of making a shoe comprising:
 forming a sole member of EVA, the sole member having a top side, a bottom side, a lateral side edge, a medial side edge, a toe side edge, and a heel side edge, the sole member having at least one flange member integrally formed with the sole member and extending upwardly from the top side of the sole member, the at least one flange member extending at least substantially around the perimeter of the shoe and the at least one flange member being disposed inward of each of the lateral side edge, the medial side edge, the toe side edge, and the heel side edge;   forming an upper member, the upper member having a foot covering portion and a flange attachment portion, the flange attachment portion being located substantially at a lower edge of the upper member;   positioning the upper member on the top side of the sole member with the at least one flange member disposed inside of the flange attachment portion of the upper member; and   attaching the at least one flange member to the flange attachment portion.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one flange member comprises a single, continuous flange member extending completely around the perimeter of the sole member. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein a ledge is formed between the flange member and the lateral side, medial side, toe side, and heel side edges of the sole member, and
 wherein the lower edge of the upper member abuts the ledge when the upper member is positioned on the top side of the sole member.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one flange member is formed with an inner curved portion. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the inner curved portion varies along the length of the sole member. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the inner curved portion is defined by an inner radius and the inner radius is larger along the length of the sole member at locations closer to the heel side edge of the sole member than it is at locations closer to the toe side edge. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one flange member has a thickness that varies along the length of the sole member. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the attaching of the at least one flange member to the flange attachment portion is achieved by machine stitching. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the machine stitching is performed using a round point needle. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 forming a pathway on a top side of the sole member for directing water from the top side of the sole member to one or more of the lateral side, medial side, toe side, or heel side edges; and   forming an opening in at least one of the lateral side, medial side, toe side, or heel side edges of the sole member, the opening being in fluid connection with the pathway when water is introduced to the top side of the sole member.   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the shoe is a closed shoe with the foot covering portion of the upper member being configured to substantially cover an upper portion of a foot when the shoe is being worn by a person. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising treating the upper member to be hydrophobic. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the EVA sole member is formed by injection molding. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the EVA sole member is formed by compression molding. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 positioning a fabric between the flange member and the flange attachment portion of the upper member prior to attaching the flange member to the flange attachment portion.   
   
   
       16 . A shoe comprising:
 a sole member, the sole member comprising an EVA material and having a top side, a bottom side, a lateral side edge, a medial side edge, a toe side edge, and a heel side edge,   at least one flange member extending upwardly from the top side of the sole member, the at least one flange member being integrally formed with the sole member and extending at least substantially around the perimeter of the shoe; and   an upper member, the upper member having a foot covering portion and a flange attachment portion, the flange attachment portion being located substantially at a lower edge of the upper member, the flange attachment portion being attached to the at least one flange member;   wherein the upper member is disposed on the top side of the sole member with the at least one flange member disposed inside of the flange attachment portion of the upper member.   
   
   
       17 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one flange member comprises a single, continuous flange member extending completely around the perimeter of the sole member. 
   
   
       18 . The shoe of  claim 17 , wherein the flange member is disposed inward of the lateral side, medial side, toe side, and heel side edges to form a ledge between the flange member and the lateral side, medial side, toe side, and heel side edges of the sole member, and wherein the lower edge of the upper member abuts the ledge. 
   
   
       19 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one flange member is formed with an inner curved portion. 
   
   
       20 . The shoe of  claim 19 , wherein the inner curved portion varies along the length of the sole member. 
   
   
       21 . The shoe of  claim 20 , wherein the inner curved portion is defined by an inner radius and the inner radius is larger along the length of the sole member at locations closer to the heel side edge of the sole member than it is at locations closer to the toe side edge. 
   
   
       22 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one flange member has a thickness that varies along the length of the sole member. 
   
   
       23 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the flange attachment portion is attached to the at least one flange member with an adhesive. 
   
   
       24 . The shoe of  claim 23 , wherein the flange attachment portion is attached to the at least one flange member by stitching at least a portion of the at least one flange member to the flange attachment portion. 
   
   
       25 . The shoe of  claim 24 , wherein the portion that is stitched comprises portions in a heel area and a forefoot area of the shoe. 
   
   
       26 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one flange member is machine stitched to the flange attachment portion. 
   
   
       27 . The shoe of  claim 16 , the sole member further comprising:
 a pathway on a top side of the sole member for directing water from the top side of the sole member to one or more of the lateral side, medial side, toe side, or heel side edges; and   an opening formed in at least one of the lateral side, medial side, toe side, or heel side edges of the sole member, the opening being in fluid connection with the pathway when water is introduced to the top side of the sole member.   
   
   
       28 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the shoe is a closed shoe with the foot covering portion of the upper member being configured to substantially cover an upper portion of a foot when the shoe is being worn by a person. 
   
   
       29 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the shoe is a boat shoe and the upper member comprises a leather portion that has been treated to be hydrophobic. 
   
   
       30 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the shoe is a boat shoe and the upper member comprises a canvas portion that has been treated to be hydrophobic. 
   
   
       31 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the EVA sole member is formed by injection molding. 
   
   
       32 . The shoe of  claim 16 , wherein the EVA sole member is formed by compression molding. 
   
   
       33 . The shoe of  claim 16 , further comprising a fabric disposed between the flange member and the flange attachment portion of the upper member.