GB2481861A - Foot-bed assembly for a flip-flop or sandal - Google Patents

Abstract

A foot-bed assembly, suitable for a flip-flop or a sandal, comprises at least one pair of plug modules M and a central spine module. Each of the plug modules M comprises a segment of the foot bed and has an attachment means. The central spine module comprises a central portion of the foot bed and has at least one pair of complementary receiving means arranged about a planar axis of the module. Each of the receiving means is adapted to receive the attachment means of a corresponding one of the plug modules M wherein in use the plug modules M are attached to the receiving means of the spine.

Description

TWO SIZES IN ONE FLIP FLOP FOOTWEAR SYSTEM

The present application relates to footwear and in particular but not exclusively to customizable flip flops or sandals that can be configured in either of at least two sizes.

Aspects of the invention address four main technical aspects. These aspects will be explained before the details of the system itself are explained. Said system is provisionally called Two Sizes In One Flip Flop Footwear System hereafter referred to as the system' or system'.

1. Two Sizes In One Flip Flop Footwear The first and main aspect relates to how said system creates footwear that can be either of two sizes, or even more than two sizes. Said different sizes do not necessarily have to correspond to conventional sizes. The footwear merely being able to attain at least two sizes of any dimensions is of considerable advantage compared to conventional one size footwear. Having flip flops that could be two sizes in one can be beneficial on a number of different levels. For instance with regards to tooling up a factory before manufacturing commences effort, material needed and expenditure can be reduced because each footwear size does not need completely separate tooling. Inventory costs can be reduced because potentially less pairs of footwear need to be stored since, say,all stored size 3 footwear could also be size 4 footwear. This could apply to inventory at the point of manufacture and inventory that is related to retail points. End users have a greater chance of a retail point having their required footwear size since each footwear pair in store represents at least one of two sizes.

2. Wider Scope of Personal Customization I Unique Multi-Theme Personal Customization Presently, end users have limited scope for personally customizing their footwear. The best opportunity end users have to owning personally customized footwear tends to be limited to their name being display on footwear with a form of embroidery. The size of said name in embroidery is almost always quite small.

Usually, where said customizing name is displayed on the footwear is dictated by the footwear manufacturer. Furthermore, end users have to order such limited personalized customization' and then wait, usually, for at least a week before they have said footwear in hand. If the personalized customization' extends beyond the end users name being displayed in embroidery it usually means the end user is given a chance to merely choose the colours used to create some parts of the footwear. A well known international sports wear manufacturer and retailer -provides such a service; end users can order sports footwear and choose the colours of different parts of said footwear and have their name in embroidery on certain parts of the footwear too.

Personalized customization' that is limited to the end user's name being embroidered onto footwear and/or choosing the colours of some parts of the footwear is quite limited in scope.

Published US Patent Application 2008/0060110 Al shows another example of how limited the choice end users have when it comes to having a say in determining the essence of their footwear. The described products of US 2008/0060110 Al allow end users to accessorize their footwear if said footwear are furnished with receptive openings.

Even though the disclosed products merely accessorize footwear said products do represent one of the main opportunities end users presently have to decide how their footwear looks, thus representing further proof of how bereft the marketplace is with regards to really personally customized footwear. The system of footwear customization that is the subject of this patent application involves assembling parts in a much more integrated manner. End users create footwear from different parts that they choose based on their personal taste.

These customizing parts that are used to create the final footwear piece are so integral to the final shape and essence of said footwear to the extent that without all required parts the footwear is clearly incomplete.

If end users choose to have footwear that bears their name or other words this system has been especially devised to make such spelt words prominently form the essence of the created footwear. For instance the sixteen plugs shown in figure 1 could each carry a 3-dimensional design of a letter of the alphabet. End user would then be able to choose plugs that spell their name to create the foot bed of their flip flops. This will be explained in more detail further below.

Said system allows end users to create personally customized footwear within a matter of minutes if footwear is acquired at brick and mortar retail point. Even if acquired online the ordered Two Sizes In One footwear will still reach the end user faster than when presently available and comparatively limited personalized footwear are ordered as a result of unique features of said system. Said created footwear will lack the disadvantages stated above, and shall result in footwear that is personally customized to a degree that is much higher than what is presently available.

Unique Multi-Theme Personal Customization Furthermore, unlike what is presently available, namely footwear that has an outer surface design based on a single theme -for instance footwear that is,say, blue all over -this system allows resultant personally customized footwear to be based on several themes because each separate part that is used to constitute the footwear can be based on a theme that is completely distinct from all the other constituent parts. Said distinction can be based on a multitude of factors i.e shape and/or colour and/or patterning and/or dimensions etc An illustrative embodiment of footwear created with this system could be a riotous display of personal customization made up of constituent parts chosen by a particular end user that include a camouflage part, a pink letter shaped part, a black and white chequered elephant shaped part, a cartoon character shaped part, a representation of the crest of a Football Club (or other sports team) shaped part and a black and yellow skull & bones shaped part.

3. Personally Customized Heel/Sole For All Footwear.

Apart from the two aspects explain above the system also allows end users to personally customize some visible parts of the edges of heels and/or soles of all types of footwear; flip flops or not. This is achieved by initially having a heel and/or sole that could be said to have had certain parts of its edges removed, when that is done the heel and/or sole could be said to have gaps'. These gaps' are then made complete by having complimentary plugs' inserted into place.

Figure 4 shows the cross-section of the heel of a boot looking from the back. In this case said gaps' are completed by the bracket-like plugs. These plugs can be seen on the left and right sides of the boot. Each plug has two shouldered shafts that get inserted/locked into complementary openings in the surface of said gaps'. This is possible because strategic parts -if not all parts -of the heel and/or sole and plugs will be manufactured from deformable rubber-like material.

The subject of this patent application is largely based on creating a complete foot bed for flip flops in a similar fashion.

As is shown here strategic parts of the heel/sole can be reduced' so as to make room for plugs. The personalized customization comes about largely because end users will have a choice of many such plugs -each with distinctive decorative designs -to choose from to complete their heels and/or sole.

4. Easier1 Cheaper and More Convenient Repairs Presently, when part of footwear's heel/sole is worn down and thus needs repairs, the footwear owner has to take them to a cobbler and deposit them while they go through repairs. They have to forgo usage of the footwear while they are being repaired and pay for the repairs. Furthermore, such repairs usually require having the whole heel and/or sole removed and replaced; expensive repairs. The plugs to be locked onto the heel and/or sole, as mentioned above, could include plugs locked onto areas that usually experience the most wear and tear, namely, the areas that usually call for repairs. That being the case with footwear furnished with locked on plugs when said plugs wear down they can simply be taken off with reasonable force and replaced with new ones. A heel might have four separate parts locked unto it and only two might have experienced substantial wear and tear. Then only those two parts need be replaced.

End users might deliberately use plainer and cheaper plugs with little decorative design on particular points of the heel/sole that always need repairs. That way the other plugs -with decorative designs that they like -will have less likelihood of being worn down and having to be replace.

Other than what has just been stated this aspect of the system though important will not be detailed any further. The emphasis will be on how the system relates to flip flops.

TWO SIZES IN ONE FLIP FLOP FOOTWEAR SYSTEM: How it works Assemblage of flip flop foot bed The term foot bed' is used here to describe the part of a flip flop that supports the sole-heel area of a foot. The foot bed of Two Sizes In One flip flops have to be assembled form scratch from individual parts chosen by an end user.

Figures 1 & 2 respectively show plan and cross sectional views of one half of a Two Sizes In One' pair of flip flops. The innermost broken line of figure 1 shows the boundary of the chassis of the footwear. One could state that to create the type of flip flops defined by this patent application one would start with a chassis.

However said chassis is far from being a complete half of a pair of footwear. At this initial stage this chassis is just a part of the final flip flop foot bed that is too small in area to fully support an end user's foot and it is covered in numerous openings that are part of the assemblage locking system. Not to mention the fact that it also lacks a Y-shaped upper part that is crucial in keeping the footwear attached to an end user's foot. The personalized customization process is also the process that results in an end user choosing several completely separate parts -all individually and distinctly decorated -that are then used to bring about assembled footwear. One could state that Two Sizes In One System allows end users to build their own footwear. As has been mentioned said chassis is equipped with a plurality of holes. These holes are to be used to anchor a plurality of clip-like plugs or modules -hereafter to be referred to as plug(s)' -to the chassis, thus building up and starting the creation of the personally customized footwear. Figure 2 shows a cross section with two plugs; on the left and right hand sides of the chassis respectively. Each plug is equipped with two downwards pointing shafts that have shoulders at their bottom ends. Since both the chassis and these plugs are likely to be made from expandable/deformable rubber-like material the shoulders of the shafts of each clip-like plug can be inserted into a hole on the chassis, thus keeping said plug anchored onto said chassis until one wants to deliberately remove it with a reasonable amount of force.

It must be emphasized that the illustrative embodiments shown in figures 1 through to 4 with plugs equipped with shafts and complimentary openings used to lock these shafts into place being situated on the chassis or the heel/sole (figure 4) are just that, illustrative embodiments. After all while still being true to the essence of what defines this patent application said plugs could be equipped with openings while the shafts ate situated on the chassis and heel/sole.

The three holes shown in figure 1 that are not covered by plugs are the holes that are used to anchor the conventional Y-shaped upper part of the footwear to the chassis. This could be done in a manner identical to how the plugs are anchored to the chassis. An illustrative example of a Y-shaped upper part is shown in figure 5. Alternatively a locking system like what is shown in Figure 5 could be employed for Two Sizes In One System. Figure 5 shows how traditionally two parts that are initially separate interlock with each other to help eventually form complete footwear. As seen in the magnified circle the shaft is compressible forced through a hole in the sole. This is made possible largely because both said shaft and sole are made from expandable/deformable material. The illustrative embodiments of this patent application employ methodology that is fundamentally the same as this. Other methods could be used to achieve the essence of what defines Two Sizes In One System.

Next to two of these three holes are two plugs with irregular shapes that make allowance for said two holes. Plugs shaped like this are an available option. It is likely there might be no need for these as will be shown below.

This illustrative embodiment has plugs with two shouldered shafts each. In reality the number of shafts could vary. Similarly, the actual shape of the plugs could be basically quite different from what is shown in this illustrative embodiment. In actuality the depth of personal customization that this specially devised system affords end users is greatly enhanced if these plugs all have distinct shapes based on particular themes. This will be explained below.

Changing Size Middle Section Plugs Each plug -as shown in figures 1 and 2 -can be anchored to the chassis in at least two ways with each way contributing differently to the overall length and/or width of the piece of footwear. For instance the two plugs of figure 2 cause the footwear -at that section of the footwear -to be the narrowest because each plug is anchored using both of its shafts inserted into two chassis holes. The footwear can be made the widest by inserting the plugs using each of their outer shafts only. It is thought that if plugs do indeed have two shafts each like those shown in figure 2 then, when assembled, either both outer shafts of each plug only will be inserted in the chassis or all four shafts of the two plugs will be inserted. In other words generally an equal number of shafts from each plug will be used to anchor to the chassis. However depending on how end users choose to assemble and create their own footwear this might not be the case as will be explained immediately below.

The word narrowest' was used above because since each plug in figure 2 has two shafts theoretically there are three possible widths each section of the footwear can have depending on how many shafts of the two plugs, at each section, are inserted into holes of the chassis.

In other words if only one of the plugs in figure 2 were to be pried out and re-inserted using its single outer shaft only the footwear -at that section -will effectively attain its wider' or middle' width so to speak. This middle' width can be achieved in two ways depending on which plug is inserted with a single shaft.

Even if as one moves down each footwear piece which of the two plugs that is anchored with a single shaft and which opposing plug is anchored with both shafts, is alternated from the left to the right side the resultant footwear might still be asymmetrical longitudinally. However, even if that is the case it is better to let end users have size/shape options like this. After all, some feet are more asymmetrical than others. Furthermore some end users might like the roominess', quirkiness and freedom of flip flops with such shapes. In line with that thinking because each plug is independently configured onto the chassis each end user can really insert all of the plugs any way they want.

This aspect of the system shows that the name Two Sizes In One modestly does not tell the full story; by definition plugs from this system will always have at least two shafts and therefore each footwear piece will be able to attain at least two full sizes.

Generally speaking the range of sizes and shapes that the final assembled flip flop can attain will increase the more shafts each plug has. Each plug does not necessarily have to have two shafts each like the illustrative examples in the diagrams here.

The way Two Sizes In One Flip Flop will actually be brought to life will fundamentally be what is described here. However there are a plurality of ways of doing so.

Top and Bottom Plugs The four plugs at the top and bottom of the footwear -as shown in figure 1 -unlike the other plugs get inserted onto the chassis in a longitudinal direction and therefore when adjusted affect the length and not the width of the footwear. Later we will look at how the system has been devised so that these top and bottom plugs can affect both the length and width of footwear. As shown in figure 1. if the longitudinal distances between the top plug shafts; P, and the bottom ones; Q, are deliberately designed to be unequal, the top and bottom plugs could then be used to give the footwear any one of four lengths. Figure 1 shows all eight shafts of the four plugs being inserted into the chassis therefore causing the footwear to be its shortest. If either the top or bottom pair only has its two outer shafts only inserted into the chassis the footwear will increase in length. That distance will depend on which pair of plugs; bottom or top pair and therefore said increase in length will be by Q or P. Thus in total three possible lengths.

Computations will be carried out during the design process so that depending on whether most of the plugs are anchored onto the chassis with the aid of the set of outer or inner chassis holes the footwear will largely be one of at least two sizes.

With reference to figure 2 the area within the triangle marked ABC with broken lines is a rough depiction of where the foot of an end user will be situated.

Please note how the areas of the sides of the two plugs are slanted and still visible if the footwear were in use. This is a deliberate design feature of the system and a very important aspect with regards to how said system allows a unique and wide scope for personal customization that is largely visible. The reasoning behind these slanting sides is to ensure that at the very least when the footwear is in use distinctive decorative design on these areas of the plugs/footwear will be visible. Due to the nature of flip flops and how flip flops are used -for instance the foot bed of the flip flop becomes visible as it flops away from the bottom of the end user's foot with every step taken -distinctive decorative design on the horizontal areas of plugs will also be very visible.

Top and Bottom Plugs with Diagonal Holes! No Left or Right Foot Figure 3 depicts another version of how the system could create footwear. In two main ways it differs from what is depicted in figures 1 and 2.

Firstly, with this version the initial chassis -without any plugs attached -and the finally created footwear after plugs are locked onto it, do not have designated left and right footwear halves. In other words either of the two halves that make-up the footwear can be the left or right half. Instead at any time either half of the pair of footwear could be worn on the left or right foot. The chassis having a largely rectangular shape -shown by the broken and solid lines of figure 3 -helps facilitate aspect of the system. This could be advantages to all parties. Tooling costs when manufacturing could potentially be reduced due to this advantage.

Inventory space at manufacturing points and retail points could be streamlined and reduced due to this advantage. With this advantage end users would have more choice and a higher likelihood of finding footwear they want at retail points too.

This special No Left or Right Foot' version of this system allows said system to provide end users with an even wider scope of personalized customization. That includes what is called under this system Asymmetrical Personal Customization and what this is shall be explained below.

Secondly, this version allows the top and bottom four plugs to increase the footwear's length and width simultaneously. This is the case because these plugs have shafts that -compared to the ones in figures 1 and 2 -are diagonal.

The way the plugs in figure 3 are inserted show that they cause the flip flops to be their shortest and narrowest. However if we removed and re-inserted the top and bottom plugs but do that by only using the outer shafts then the flip flops will become their longest and widest. This is because to insert the plugs in that way would require -using one plug as an example -the top left plug to be moved backwards -making the flip flop longer -, and also to be moved to the left -making the flip flop wider (strictly, speaking making that section of the flip flop wider).

In a manner similar to the distances P and Q of figure 1 being of different distances the distances T and V of figure 3 could be designed to be of different distances. Doing so would mean that just like with the illustrative example of figure 1 this will allow end users to use the four top and bottom plugs to give the footwear one of four possible lengths.

Or distances I and V could be equal and thus the footwear could have three possible lengths.

Gaps Opening Up As the top and bottom plugs get inserted onto the chassis in different manners gaps of different sizes might open up between said plugs and the chassis/next plugs. Generally speaking flip flops have never had to be as precisely sized and shaped as other types of footwear. With that in mind it is believed these gaps are acceptable and present no serious flaws. However at the design stage all will be done to minimize these gaps as much as possible.

It is likely there will also be Two Sizes In One flip flops without said gaps or gaps becoming wider.

Uniformly Shaped Plugs In figures 1 to 3 the plugs at the top and bottom are differently shaped. So are the pair of two opposing irregularly shaped plugs near the lower two holes used to lock the Y-shaped into place in figure 1. In order to streamline the system even more -while actually potentially increasing the scope for personal customization -it would be possible to have identical plugs at every point of the footwear chassis; side, top or bottom. In a number of ways this will be advantageous but it also comes with drawbacks. For instance such a version is likely to have a rectangular-like chassis like the one shown in figure 3, whether one would prefer such a rectangular-shaped chassis or not. Having plugs with diagonal shafts -and the advantages that this engenders -might also be out of the question.

Plug U and the indicated revolving arrow' help show how this might be possible.

The whole design of the system/footwear could be devised so that a plug like U could be revolved round and fitted to the bottom or top of the footwear piece. In other words the same shaped/sized plug but fitted onto the chassis with a different orientation.

Wider Scope of Personal Customization / Unique Multi-theme Personal Customization Two Distinctively Decorated Chassis Chosen from Many Distinctly Decorated Ones (An end user could also choose two chassis that are exactly the same) At the heart of this system is the concept of end users looking at a wide array of the same parts but with distinctive decorative designs and then choosing a few of said parts -based on their personal taste -and assembling them to form very unique footwear that is most likely to be one of a kind in the world. As shown in figures 1 and 3 the system could be said to start with a chassis that holds plugs.

Therefore the start of the end users personal customization creation process could start by selecting a chassis. That being the case the system prescribes that end users first be given a wide choice of possible chassis with each chassis having a distinct design largely based on colour and/or patterning. The outermost parts of the plugs will take on all types of shapes. The chassis however will largely be fixed in shape. Despite that apart from colour/patterning there could be differentiation of chassis based on shape too even if said difference is slight. Using colour/patterning and/or shape as a differentiator there could be a choice of, say, lOOs of chassis that an end user can choose from just as they start to create their footwear.

Even merely having a choice of chassis that come in one of the seven colours of the rainbow is still a decent foundation for end user to start personally customizing their flip flops.

Asymmetrical Personalized Customization Especially with the version shown in figure 3; there being no specially assigned left or right foot, an end user can start the personal customization creation process by selecting two chassis that look completely different from each other.

This kind of asymmetry can be continued and emphasised, if the end user so wishes, when it comes to selecting plugs as is explained below.

Sixteen Distinctively Decorated Plugs Chosen From Many Distinctly Decorated Ones (Sixteen plugs if using figure 1 as a guide.) The scope of personal customization that this system affords end users is quite wide if each clip-like plug is given a unique design based on shape and/or colour. Even if the system prescribes plugs that are largely unique in design based on colour only a considerably wide scope of personal customization will still be possible. This is because the plugs shown in figures 1 & 2 could come from a wide choice of differently coloured/patterned plugs that runs into the hundreds or even thousands. These plugs could also differ from one another based on their 3-dimensional design. One could start off with plugs that are the colours of the rainbow. Other colours like white, black, pink and brown could be included too. After many simple colours like that we could start on plugs that are better described as patterned rather than coloured. One could have camouflage plugs. One could also have a whole array of camouflage plugs based on colours other than the usual green, olive green and black that camouflage traditionally comes in. One could have a whole array of chequered plugs based on a whole array of any pair of colours, another array based of polka dot designs etc. The scope of personal customization becomes much wider when the two slanted areas of each plug -please see figure 2. -are not just part of the whole plug being one colour and/or pattern but are used as a canvas for multi-coloured 3-dimensional designs. These designs could be based on almost any theme one can think of and such themes could run into the hundreds or even thousands.

Figure 1 shows an embodiment with sixteen plugs. Other versions and sizes of Two Sizes In One footwear might be designed to have more or less plugs. When the plugs start to take on distinctive designs based on shape too the full power of how this system affords end users personal customization comes to life. One plug might be designed based on a likeness of a popular cartoon or movie character, another might be a conceptualized pink monkey, another might be a rainbow coloured sun, another might be based on the likeness of one of those smiley face emoticons that are used when people send email messages, four could be letters inserted onto the chassis so that they spell B-A-B-S because the footwear in figure 1. belongs to a Barbara, another might be a depiction of a rabbit gnawing on a carrot because Babs likes rabbits, another might be a representation of the Japanese character for soul' because Babs likes stuff like that etc. In other words the system prescribes that as much as possible when an end user like Barbara decides to acquire a pair of Two Sizes In One pair of flip flops with, say, a chassis that can hold sixteen plugs at the retail point -be it online or a conventional retail point -she should have a choice of, say, hundredss and maybe thousands of plugs all with distinctive themes. Then the system's power of affording end users a considerably wide scope of personal customization will be realized because it is likely that all end users will be able to find sixteen plugs with distinctive designs that reflects different aspects of their personal taste out of a choice of as many as, say, lOOs of plugs. Just like with Barbara here.

So Barbara first selects sixteen different plugs and inserted them on one of the two chassis of her footwear. Now she can start choosing an entirely different set of sixteen plugs for the second half of her footwear thus creating Asymmetrical Two Sizes In One flip flops as mentioned earlier. Or an identical set of plugs, the choice is hers because the system puts the power in her hands. By the time she is finished she could have her personally uniquely created multi-coloured and multi-themed Two Sizes In One footwear that holds thirty-two plugs all together and not any two plugs are identical.

Asymmetrical Two Sizes lii One flip flops do not necessarily have to be No Left or Right version flip flops.

Two Distinctively Decorated Y-Shaped Upper Parts Chosen From Many Distinctively Decorated Ones Again an end user might choose to have identical Y-shaped upper parts.

Similar to the chassis and plugs the last type of part that makes up Two Sizes In One flip flops is the Y-shaped upper part as shown by the solid lines in figure 5.

This too could be chosen from a choice of many, maybe as many as lOOs.

Similarly, the choice of Y-shaped uppers available could be largely based on each one being different from others based on colour/patterning and/or 3-dimensional shape and/or dimensions. Even though Y-shaped uppers are long and slender, as shown in figure Y, they can still be designed to have all sorts of 3-dimensional designs -such as conceptionalized letters & numbers, conceptionalized animals etc -based on a multitude of themes.

There could be as many as hundreds of differently decorated Y-shaped upper parts to choose from.

Generally speaking when the end user is creating their personalized Two Sizes In One flip flops footwear, the greater the choice of chassis in conjunction with the greater the choice of plugs and then those two choices in conjunction with the greater the choice of Y-shaped uppers there are then the greater the aggregate scope of power for personalized customization this system could be said to afford said end users.

No Ordering, No Waiting Another advantage the Two Sizes In One footwear system has over what is presently available is that if the retail point is a conventional brick and mortar one that the end user steps into then within a few minutes said end user can leave with fully personally customized footwear. In other words there is no need for the end user to order the type of customized footwear that they want and then have to wait days or even weeks while said footwear is made up

Claims (9)

1. CLAIMS1. A foot-bed assembly for a flip-flop or sandal comprising at least one pair of plug modules each comprising a segment of the footbed and having an attachment means; and a central spine module comprising a central portion of the foot bed having at least one pair of complementary receiving means arranged about a planar axis of the spine module, each adapted to receive the attachment means of a corresponding one of the plug modules wherein in use the plug modules are attached to the receiving means of spine.
2. 2. A foot-bed assembly according to claim 1 wherein said receiving means are arranged about a longitudinal axis of the spine module.
3. 3. A foot-bed assembly according to claim 1 wherein said receiving means are arranged about a latitudinal axis of the spine module.
4. 4. A foot-bed assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the complementary receiving means and/or the attachment means are adapted such that the attachment means of at least one of the plug modules can be received by the receiving means in one of at least two positions where each attachment position is arranged such that when assembled the at least one plug module projects outwardly beyond the edge of the spine module thereby providing a foot bed of a different surface area for each position.
5. 5. A foot-bed assembly according to any preceding claim wherein said attachment means comprises a protrusion and each of the pair of said receiving means comprises at least one opening configured to receive and secure said protrusion.
6. 6. A foot-bed assembly according to any preceding claim wherein each of the pair of said receiving means comprises at least one protrusion and said attachment means comprises an opening configured to receive and secure said protrusion.
7. 7. A foot-bed assembly according to any preceding claim wherein said plug modules comprise a bracket and said attachment means are provided on an inner surface of said bracket such that in use the arms of the bracket partially enclose a portion of the spine module.
8. 8. A foot-bed assembly according to any preceding claim wherein at least one of said plug modules is configured such that it can be oriented in a plurality of positions in use about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the foot-bed surface.
9. 9. A foot-bed assembly according to any preceding claim wherein at least one of said plug modules comprises decorative indicia and/or a decorative piece attached to said module.