Footwear with reversible tongue

Abstract

Footwear, incorporating a reversible a tongue, wherein one side or the other of the tongue may be adhered to the upper central vamp portion of the shoe, to display that side during wearing of the shoe, and can be turned to provide a variation in the styling of the shoe. The tongue may further contain a pouch or pocket, secured by any type of fastening device such as Velcro that allows ready access into the tongue, for deposit or removal of personal items. One or more of the surfaces of the formed pocket, in the tongue, may be formed of a transparent or clear material, to allow any personal item deposited therein to be readily viewed.

It is claimed:  
     
         1 . A device for attaching a shoe to a tongue comprising a ball and socket attachment comprising a ball portion attached to the tongue and a socket portion attached to the shoe wherein the ball is rotatably secured within the socket such that the tongue may be rotated about a first axis without deformation while still attached to the shoe to alternatively expose a first and second side of the tongue.  
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the shoe further comprises a vamp and the socket portion is attached to the vamp.  
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the device allows rotation of the tongue through a limited angle about an axis generally perpendicular to the first axis of rotation.  
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the tongue includes one or more pockets.  
     
     
         5 . A device for attaching a shoe to a tongue comprising a ball and socket attachment comprising a ball portion comprising a ball attached to one of the shoe and tongue, and a socket portion defining a socket attached to the other of the shoe and tongue, wherein the ball is rotatably secured within the socket such that the tongue may be rotated about a first axis without deformation while still attached to the shoe to alternatively expose a first and second side of the tongue.  
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 5  wherein the shoe further comprises a vamp and the ball portion is attached to the vamp.  
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 5  wherein the device allows rotation of the tongue through a limited angle about an axis generally perpendicular to the first axis of rotation.  
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the tongue includes one or more pockets.  
     
     
         9 . A shoe having a vamp and a tongue, and having a linking means connecting between the lower part of the tongue to the upper segment of the vamp, said tongue having an upper and lower surface, said linking means having sufficient flexibility to allow for the tongue to be turned from its upper to its lower surface during usage of the shoe.  
     
     
         10 . The shoe of  claim 9  wherein said tongue has differing designs upon its upper and lower surfaces, the linking means allowing for reversing of the tongue to display the different designs during usage of the shoe.  
     
     
         11 . The shoe of  claim 10  wherein said linking means comprises a resilient class being means.  
     
     
         12 . The shoe of  claim 10  wherein said linking means comprises a flexible cord.  
     
     
         13 . The shoe of  claim 10  wherein said linking means is separable.  
     
     
         14 . The shoe of  claim 13  wherein said linking means is separable and also reconnectable.  
     
     
         15 . The shoe of  claim 9  wherein said tongue includes at least one pocket.  
     
     
         16 . The shoe of  claim 15  wherein the upper edge of the pocket opens, and closure means providing for closure of said upper edge of the pocket.  
     
     
         17 . The shoe of  claim 16  wherein said closure means comprises Velcro.  
     
     
         18 . A shoe having a vamp and a tongue, and having a linking means connecting between an upper part of the tongue to a lower part of the tongue, said upper part of the tongue having an upper and lower surface, said linking means having sufficient flexibility to allow for the upper part of the tongue to be turned from its upper to its lower surface without removal of the upper part of the tongue from the lower part of the tongue.  
     
     
         19 . The shoe of  claim 19  further comprising a linking means connecting between the lower part of the tongue to an upper portion of the vamp, said lower part of the tongue having an upper and lower surface, said linking means having sufficient flexibility to allow for the lower part of the tongue to be turned from its upper to its lower surface without removal of the lower part of the tongue from the upper part of the vamp.  
     
     
         20 . A sandal comprising a sole, a vamp and a tongue portion wherein the tongue portion is attached to the sandal by a linking means that allows the tongue portion to be rotated with respect to the vamp to display alternating sides of the tongue portion.  
     
     
         21 . The sandal of  claim 20  wherein the tongue portion can be rotated with respect to the vamp without removal of the tongue portion from the vamp portion.  
     
     
         22 . The sandal of  claim 20  wherein the sandal is an open-toed sandal.  
     
     
         23 . The sandal of  claim 20  wherein the vamp is configured to only cover the big toe of the wearer.  
     
     
         24 . The sandal of  claim 20  wherein the tongue portion is further removably attachable to the vamp.  
     
     
         25 . The sandal of  claim 24  wherein the tongue portion is further removably attachable to the vamp with hook and loop material.  
     
     
         26 . The sandal of  claim 24  wherein the tongue is made of a stretchable, resilient material that conforms to the foot of the wearer to keep the sandal upon the foot of the wearer without shoelaces or means to maintain the shoe snugly upon the foot of the wearer.  
     
     
         27 . The sandal of  claim 20  wherein the tongue comprises a first tongue portion and a second tongue portion wherein each tongue portion is attached to the vamp with a retaining means, whereby each tongue portion may be individually rotated with respect to the vamp to alternately displaying opposing sides of each tongue.  
     
     
         28 . The shoe of  claim 18  wherein the shoe further comprises a roller skate.  
     
     
         29 . The shoe of  claim 18  wherein the shoe further comprises an inline skate.  
     
     
         30 . A shoe comprising a sole, an upper and a collar wherein the collar is attached to the upper by a retaining means and is rotatable with respect to the upper to allow alternating sides of the collar to be displayed.  
     
     
         31 . The shoe of  claim 30  wherein the collar may be rotated with respect to the upper without removal of the collar from the shoe.  
     
     
         32 . The shoe of  claim 30  wherein the collar is further removably attached to the upper.  
     
     
         33 . The shoe of  claim 32  wherein the collar is further removably attached to the upper with hook and loop material.  
     
     
         34 . The shoe of  claim 30  wherein the shoe further comprises a vamp and a tongue and having a linking means connecting between the lower part of the tongue to the upper segment of the vamp, said tongue having an upper and lower surface, said linking means capable of allowing the tongue to be turned from to display on an upper or a lower surface.  
     
     
         35 . The shoe of  claim 30  wherein the collar further defines shoelace eyelets for lacing shoelaces therethrough.  
     
     
         36 . A boot comprising a sole, a vamp and a segmented tongue wherein the segmented tongue comprises an upper portion and a lower portion and the upper portion is attached to the lower portion by a retaining means that allows the upper portion of the tongue to be rotated with respect to the lower portion of the tongue to display alternating sides of the upper portion of the tongue.  
     
     
         37 . The boot of  claim 36  wherein the upper portion of the tongue can be rotated with respect to the lower portion of the tongue without removing the upper portion of the tongue from the lower portion of the tongue.  
     
     
         38 . The boot of  claim 36  wherein the lower portion of the tongue is attached to the vamp by a second retaining means wherein the lower portion of the tongue can be rotated with respect to the vamp to show alternating surfaces of the lower portion of the tongue.  
     
     
         39 . The boot of  claim 38  wherein the lower portion of the tongue can be rotated with respect to the vamp without removing the lower portion of the tongue from the vamp.  
     
     
         41 . The shoe of  claim 5  wherein the socket includes front and back portions, said front and back portions being adhered together to capture the ball portion during assembly of the ball and socket device.  
     
     
         42 . The shoe of  claim 18  wherein said linking means comprises a ball and socket of a swivel, said ball is separable from the socket, the force required to separate the ball from the socket being in the range of twenty to eighty pounds 20 to 80 lbs.  
     
     
         43 . The shoe of  claim 18  wherein an upper of the shoe is scalloped to show a greater surface area of the tongue.  
     
     
         44 . The shoe of  claim 18  wherein the shoe comprises an athletic shoe.  
     
     
         45 . The shoe of  claim 44  wherein the athletic shoe comprises a football shoe.  
     
     
         46 . The shoe of  claim 44  wherein the athletic shoe comprises a basketball shoe.  
     
     
         47 . The shoe of  claim 44  wherein the athletic shoe comprises a baseball shoe.  
     
     
         48 . The shoe of  claim 44  wherein the athletic shoe comprises a soccer shoe.  
     
     
         49 . The boot of  claim 36  wherein the lower portion of the segmented tongue is attached to the vamp by the means of a second retaining means, and that both the upper and lower portions of the segmented tongue can be independently turned to display alternating sides of the said portions of the tongue.  
     
     
         50 . The shoe of  claim 18  wherein the said shoe comprising a slipper.  
     
     
         51 . The shoe of  claim 18  wherein the said shoe comprising a walking shoe.