US 5530626

Patent Overview: US 5,530,626 A

Title: Athletic shoe and articles of clothing with replaceable unitary assembly for generating and broadcasting an audible signal

Patent number: US 5,530,626 A
Application number: US 08/304,496
Inventor: Vincent E. Norment
Assignee (as listed): Individual (current assignee); original assignee Individual. A reassignment dated 1994-11-08 lists BLOOM LEONARD, assignors: Norment, Vincent Edward.
Priority date (as listed): 1992-01-31 (priority claimed from US 08/093,976, which lists patent US 5,345,700 A)
Filing date: 1994-09-12
Publication/grant date: 1996-06-25
Legal status (as listed): Expired – Fee Related; anticipated expiration 2013-06-25

Purpose: The invention relates to athletic shoes and other articles of clothing incorporating a unitary assembly for generating and broadcasting an audible signal, such as a musical composition or a message. The stated aim is a self-contained, replaceable, interchangeable unit that avoids the separately mounted components of prior arrangements and facilitates high-volume shoe manufacture.

Plain-language scope (from the supplied abstract/description):

• The athletic shoe has a pocket with an opening; a self-contained interchangeable unitary circuit board slides into the pocket.
• The board integrally carries a microchip, on/off switch, battery and speaker, so it can be readily removed and replaced.
• A flap covers the pocket opening and bears a conspicuously displayed button overlaying the switch, so the wearer can press it to broadcast the signal regardless of whether the shoe is fastened, and at the wearer's discretion.
• The pocket has perforations below the flap, overlaying the speaker.
• The flap may be mounted on the shoe's rearward counter portion, extending forwardly transversely of the pocket and the board's insertion direction.
• The article of apparel (e.g., footwear, jacket, jeans) similarly includes a pocket with a closure, a switch indicator, and the interchangeable board.
• A "library" of boards allows tunes to be changed; the board may be a molded plastic card with components encapsulated therein, with tapered longitudinal side edges to ease repeated insertion and removal.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5530626/en

What the excerpt does not establish: The full claim set is not reproduced here, so the precise metes and bounds of the claims cannot be stated. Text was explicitly omitted, figures are referenced but not described in full, and no attorney, examiner, or prior-art citation details beyond those named (Batra, Jennings, Malone, Kim) are established. Litigation, ownership transfers beyond the listed reassignment, and validity are outside this overview.