High-traction house slippers

Abstract

A backless house slipper including a soft, typically plush foot-receiving portion and an oppositely disposed hard, thick and heavy sole portion. The sole portion is typically at least 1 centimeter thick rubber truck tire, and more typically the sole portion is 2, 3, or 4 centimeters thick and weighs between 0.5 and 3 kilograms, more typically between 2 and 2.5 kilograms. The sole portion engages the ground with tread patterns at least about 1 centimeter deep, and is unsuited and impractical for outdoor wear as the treads will grippingly engage the ground while the slipper offers no back heel engagement, thus the slipper will become easily stuck in the ground and disengage from a wearer's foot when worn outdoors.

1 . A backless house slipper, comprising:
 a foot-receiving portion; and   an oppositely disposed sole portion;   wherein the sole portion is at least one centimeter thick rubber truck tire;   wherein the sole portion includes one of the group including steel belting, sipes, studs, chains, and combinations thereof; and   wherein the foot-receiving portion is not configured to engage a wearer's foot in the event the sole portion experiences traction.   
     
     
         2 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1  wherein the sole portion weighs about 1 kg. 
     
     
         3 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1  wherein the sole portion weighs about 2 kg. 
     
     
         4 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1  wherein the sole portion weighs about 3 kg. 
     
     
         5 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1 , wherein the sole portion has a tread surface and an oppositely disposed non-tread surface, and wherein the non-tread surface is attached to the foot-receiving portion. 
     
     
         6 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1 , wherein the sole portion is recycled from a tractor tire. 
     
     
         7 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1 , wherein the sole portion is recycled from a truck tire. 
     
     
         8 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1 , wherein the depth of a tread in the tread surface is at least 1 centimeter, the width of the tread is at least 1.5 centimeters, and the thickness of the sole portion is at least 3 centimeters. 
     
     
         9 . The backless house slipper of  claim 1 , wherein the tread surface contains a plurality of sipes. 
     
     
         10 . An article of footwear comprising:
 an anterior portion and a posterior portion that are operationally connected to a tread portion; wherein the tread portion is a length of vehicular tire tread having a tread depth of at least two centimeters; wherein the tread portion further includes a feature selected from the group including steel belts, sipes, studs, chains, and combinations thereof; and wherein the anterior portion and the posterior portion are not configured to engage a wearer's foot in the event the tread portion experiences traction.   
     
     
         11 . The article of footwear of  claim 10 , wherein the tread portion is comprised of a heel portion and a toe portion. 
     
     
         12 . The article of footwear of  claim 10 , wherein the anterior portion is comprised of a hemispherically-shaped portion that is configured to cover approximately half of a wearer's foot including their toes. 
     
     
         13 . The article of footwear of  claim 10 , wherein the hemispherically shaped portion is comprised of fabric-backed foam. 
     
     
         14 . The article of footwear of  claim 10 , wherein the hemispherically shaped fabric-backed foam is operationally connected to the toe portion of the tread portion. 
     
     
         15 . The article of footwear of  claim 10 , wherein the posterior portion is configured to accept insertion of the wearer's toes and is configured to leave the wearer's heel exposed. 
     
     
         16 . The article of footwear of  claim 10 , wherein the posterior portion is operationally connected to the heel portion. 
     
     
         17 . The article of footwear of  claim 10 , wherein the tread portion is comprised of tire tread that weighs at least two kilograms.