AU2002100185A4 - Dance Aid - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 IP Australia g Documents received on: D 0 0 8 MAR 2:02 cD Steven Jeffrey Supple Batch No: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT DANCE AID The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: FIELD OF THE INVENTION: This invention relates to aids for dancing and, more specifically, aids for the reduction of friction between the sole of a dancer's shoe and a dancing surface.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION: Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the popularity of electronic music dance events. These dance events generally cater for people who are accustomed to dancing for extended periods of time on various types of flooring, generally wearing casual footwear such as comfortable flat soled footwear including sneakers or running shoes. A growing trend of dance movement among the attendees of these dance events is for the dancer's feet to slide, shuffle or spin on the floor while dancing. However, this is typically a difficult manoeuvre due to the fact that the sole of the dancer's shoe and/or the dance floor do not allow the foot to slide, shuffle or spin easily, especially where the shoe has a rubber sole and the flooring is a hard glassy surface, carpet, rug or the like.

In order to overcome the inability to slide, shuffle or spin their feet, dancers commonly spread talcum powder on the floor so as to lessen the friction between the dancer's shoe and the dance floor. This method has several disadvantages. Firstly, venue operators consider that talcum powder should not be spread on their dance floors as it is difficult to clean after a dance event and may even cause damage to air conditioning units, sound and lighting systems and electrical equipment, generally. Accordingly, many venue operators actively discourage or ban the use of talcum powder at their venues. Furthermore, talcum powder is not as useful where the talcum powder disperses quickly such as into the gaps between planks of wooden dance floors or where there is significant air movement.

Another problem with the use of talcum powder is that it needs to be frequently reapplied to the dance area for it to be effective. Finally, using talcum powder to reduce the friction between a shoe sole and dance floor requires the dancer to maintain a store of talcum powder either on their person or nearby while dancing.

Another method used to alleviate the friction between the sole of a dancer's shoe and the dance floor is to wear a shoe which does not have a rubber sole and is, therefore, -3typically more slippery than a sneaker or running shoe. The disadvantage of wearing such shoes are that they are generally not as comfortable for extended dancing as are sneakers or running shoes and they do not provide suitable grip required for travel to and from the dance events outside the venue.

An object of the present invention is to provide a means in which to reduce the friction between the sole of a dancer's shoe and the dance floor without the disadvantages associated with the earlier methods described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: The present invention provides a disposable dance aid comprising at least one flexible plate means, said plate means having first and second sides, wherein said first side comprises a means for semi-permanently affixing said plate means to the sole of a shoe and wherein said second side provides a surface to reduce friction between said shoe sole and a dancing surface.

DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION: A disposable dance aid in accordance with the invention comprises at least one dance aid comprising at least one flexible plate means, said plate means having first and second sides, wherein said first side comprises a means for semi-permanently affixing said plate means to the sole of a shoe and wherein said second side provides a surface to reduce friction between said shoe sole and a dancing surface. By affixing such a dance aid to both shoes, the invention allows a dancer to easily slide, shuffle or spin their feet across the dancing surface regardless of the type of shoes he/she is wearing and the type of flooring upon which he/she is dancing. After the dancer has concluded his/her dancing, the dance aids may be easily removed from the shoes as required.

Preferably, the disposable dance aid comprises a pair of plate means, one of the pair being of lesser dimensions than the ball portion of the shoe sole to which it is to be affixed and the other of the pair being of lesser dimensions than the heel portion of the shoe sole to which it is to be affixed, such that each of the plate means may be affixed, respectively, to said ball and heel portion without extending beyond the rim of said shoe sole. This prevents accidental removal or loss of the dance aids since no part of the plate means should be exposed to knocking or collision with objects or the possibility of being trod on and removed by the dancer's other shoe or the shoe of another dancer.

The dimensions of the plate means may vary to suit shoes of different sizes. For example, for a dance aid comprising a pair of plate means of a preferred substantially circular shape, the plate means may have the following diameters: Small shoe sizes 80 mm (ball), 70 mm (heel) Medium shoe sizes 90 mm (ball), 70 mm (heel) Large shoe sizes 95 mm (ball), 75 mm (heel).

The plate means may be produced in a variety of shapes including squares and rectangular shapes. It is, however, preferred that the plate means be of a substantially circular or oval shape.

The plate means may be produced from a variety of flexible materials which provide a surface to reduce friction between a shoe sole and a dancing surface. Thus, the plate means may be produced, for example, from thin flexible sheets of metal (eg aluminium) or, more preferably, thin flexible sheets of a suitable, inexpensive plastic (eg flexible high density polyethylene). Preferably, the plate means are produced from sheets of high density polyethylene with a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 mm and most preferably of about mm.

The means for semi-permanently affixing said plate means to a shoe sole preferably comprises a layer of an adhesive which is suitable to semi-permanently affix the dance aid to a shoe sole. Suitable adhesives include double sided adhesive tape, sprayed adhesives or applied adhesives with a protective backing layer or any similar form of adhesive.

Preferably, the adhesive will ensure that the dance aid remains affixed to a shoe sole for 2 to 12 hours, but also allows easy removal of the dance aid as required. Preferably, the dance aid is provided with a removable, protective backing layer which is removed just prior to affixing the dance aid to the sole of a shoe. The thickness of the adhesive layer will usually depend upon the type of adhesive used, but generally the layer thickness will be in the range of 0.05 to 0.25 mm and most preferably of about 0.2 mm.

The terms "comprise", "comprises" and "comprising" as used throughout the specification are intended to refer to the inclusion of a stated step, component or feature or group of steps, components or features with or without the inclusion of a further step, component or feature or group of steps, components or features.

In the specification, unless stated otherwise, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, that reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge, or any combination thereof, at the priority date, was part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia.

The invention will now be described in greater detail by reference to the following, non-limiting example and accompanying figure which together provides the best method known of performing the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURE(S): Figure 1- Figure 1 shows a set of dance aids in accordance with the invention. The set comprises two pairs of plate means. The dance aids shown are dimensioned to be suitable for use with medium-sized shoes.

EXAMPLE 1: A set of dance aids in accordance with the invention, suitable for use with medium sized shoes (eg men's shoe size 6-10, ladies' shoes size 7-10), comprising two pairs of plates are manufactured from a 1 mm sheet of high density (HD) polyethylene plastic (E-Plas Pty Ltd, Clayton, Victoria, Australia) having on one side a thin sheet of adhesive (ie 0.1 to 0.2 mm thick) covered by a removable, protective backing layer (eg an acrylic base adhesive with a PVC protective backing layer (eg product number DS81 from Four Pillars Enterprise Co., Limited)). The plates may be produced by using a standard router or jigsaw to cut circular plates with diameters of 90 mm and 70 mm. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the plates may also be produced by laser or form cutting among other methods.

Furthermore, the plates may be made to order rather than mass produced. The dance aid comprises one circular plate of each size, the 90 mm plate being intended to be affixed to the front portion (ie ball) of the sole of a dancer's shoe and the 70 mm plate being intended to be affixed to the rear portion (ie heel) of the sole.

-6- A set of dance aids are preferably manufactured in a form whereby each of four plates are joined by a thin, readily breakable bridge of HD polyethylene as is shown in Figure 1. In Figure 1, the two 90 mm plates and the two 70 mm plates are diametrically opposed in order to minimise wastage of materials and so as to provide a readily packable and storable product for sale. Each of the four plates of the dance aid set are joined to the two plates of differing diameter by a thin, readily broken bridge of HD polyethylene of about 3 mm width. The set of dance aids shown are manufactured from an area of a HD polyethylene sheet measuring 165 mm 2 The shaded area shows the HD polyethylene material removed during the routing.

In use, a dancer snaps the HD polyethylene bridges by bending or applying torsional stress to each. The adhesive backing sheet is then removed from each plate, exposing the adhesive and the plates are then affixed to the balls and/or heels of the sole of a dancer's shoes. To firmly affix the plates to the soles the dancer should apply firm standing pressure to the plates. The dance aids allows the dancer easy foot movement on a large variety of floorings including hard glossy surfaces, carpets and rugs, and thereby aids dance performance. The dance aids may be readily peeled and removed from the shoes as required.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (4)

1. A disposable dance aid comprising at least one flexible plate means, said plate means having first and second sides, wherein said first side comprises a means for semi- permanently affixing said plate means to the sole of a shoe and wherein said second side provides a surface to reduce friction between said shoe sole and a dancing surface.

2. A disposable dance aid according to claim 1, wherein the disposable dance aid comprises a pair of plate means, one of the pair being of lesser dimensions than the ball portion of said shoe sole and the other of the pair being of lesser dimensions than the heel portion of said shoe sole, such that each of said plate means may be affixed, respectively, to said ball and heel portion without extending beyond the rim of said shoe sole.

3. A disposable dance aid according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plate means is produced from a sheet of flexible high density polyethylene, and wherein the means for semi-permanently affixing said plate means to said shoe sole is a layer of an adhesive.

4. A disposable dance aid according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plate means is substantially circular and produced from a sheet of flexible high density polyethylene with a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and wherein the means for semi-permanently affixing said plate means to said shoe sole is a layer of an acrylic base adhesive having a thickness in the range of 0.05 to 0.25 mm. A disposable dance aid substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Example 1. Applicant's name: STEVEN JEFFREY SUPPLE Date: 8 MARCH 2002