Heel tip cushion with anchoring mechanism inside heel stem

Abstract

A high heel footwear including a top lift having any one or more of a securing feature, an anti-rotation feature, an alignment feature, and a cushioning feature. The securing feature secures the top lift to the heel of the footwear so that during usage, the top lift remains securely in place against the heel stem. The anti-rotation feature prevents rotation of the top lift relative to the heel, particularly when a twisting force is applied to the top lift by the footwear wearer. The alignment feature co-aligns the top lift to the heel, a particularly useful feature when the heel has an irregular or non-regular cross-section. A cushioning feature is also provided, for example, in the form of a honeycomb structure composed of a tire tread material and/or a top composed of a tire tread material having a tire tread pattern for added grip and traction.

1 . A heel tip assembly configured to be coupled with a heel of a high heel footwear, comprising:
 a top lift portion having a top portion composed of rubber and a base portion configured to abut an end of the heel of the high heel footwear;   a rigid shaft member extending away from the base portion and configured to be received in a corresponding hole having an opening in the end of the heel, the rigid shaft member having a threaded portion adjacent to a non-threaded portion proximate the base portion;   an anti-rotation feature configured to prevent the top portion from rotating relative to the heel when the top lift portion is fully secured to the heel by a securing feature part that is configured to secure the shaft member within the hole,   where the base portion corresponds to the anti-rotation feature that is composed of a metal material, and where the securing feature part corresponds to threads on the threaded portion of the rigid shaft member,   the heel tip assembly further comprising a partially threaded insert configured to be inserted into the hole in the heel, the partially threaded insert having a threaded portion including threads configured to threadably receive the threads of the threaded portion of the rigid shaft member as the top lift portion is rotated until the base portion abuts the end of the heel to fully secure the rigid shaft member within a hole of the partially threaded insert, the heel tip assembly further having a non-threaded portion proximate the base portion, the non-threaded portion of the heel tip assembly being adjacent to the non-threaded portion of the rigid shaft member when the top lift portion is fully secured to the heel by rotating the top lift portion relative to the heel; and   a first spring element inside the hole in the heel and biased to retain the rigid shaft member within the partially threaded insert, the first spring element being adjacent to the non-threaded portion of the insert when the top lift portion is fully secured to the heel.   
     
     
         2 . The assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an alignment feature part configured to align the top lift portion relative to the heel to an orientation such that an irregular outer profile of the top lift portion co-aligns with a corresponding irregular outer profile of the heel at an interface between the top lift portion and the heel.   
     
     
         3 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the anti-rotation feature includes an alignment feature configured to align the top lift portion relative to the heel in an orientation such that an irregular outer profile of the top lift portion co-aligns with a corresponding irregular outer profile of the heel at an interface between the top lift portion and the heel. 
     
     
         4 . The assembly of  claim 1 , further where the base portion corresponds to the anti-rotation feature composed of a metal material, and the securing feature part corresponds to threads on the shaft member. 
     
     
         5 . The assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising a threaded insert that is inserted into the hole in the heel, the threaded insert threadably receiving the threads of the securing feature part as the shaft member is rotated until the base portion abuts the end of the heel to fully secure the shaft member within a hole of the threaded insert. 
     
     
         6 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the top portion lies on a horizontal plane below a horizontal plane of a bottommost part of a sole of the high heel footwear in an unloaded configuration to an extent such that at least the central portion compresses under a loaded configuration so that the top portion lies on the same horizontal plane as the bottommost part of the sole. 
     
     
         7 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the anti-rotation feature includes a head portion that terminates the shaft member within the base portion, the head portion including a mechanism that opposes anti-rotation of the shaft member relative to the heel in a manner that would cause the top lift portion from separating away from the heel. 
     
     
         8 . The assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the base portion has a tread-like pattern facing the ground. 
     
     
         9 - 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The assembly of  claim 1 , the non-threaded portion including a first detent configured to receive therein the first spring element. 
     
     
         14 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the insert is a hollow, threaded self-tapping insert tapped into the heel to form the hole. 
     
     
         17 - 18 . (canceled)