DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 5, a climbing shoe 10 includes an upper portion 12 and an outer sole 14 attached to the upper portion 12. The outer sole has an interior area 16, a raised exterior area 18, and a hooking rim 20. The hooking rim 20 is created by the difference in surface height of the interior area 16 and the raised exterior area 18. The hooking rim 20 can hook on a rocky ledge. The interior area 16 is substantially smooth and uniform in thickness. The interior area 16 has a thickness ‘t’ that is about one-eight of an inch in one embodiment. The thickness ‘t’ is substantially uniform. The interior area 16 has a bottom surface 32 that is substantially smooth. The bottom surface 32 does not have any protrusions, studs, or sharp projections projections. The hooking rim 20 is the sole raised area or projection(s) with enough height ‘h’ to effectively hook on a rock. The exterior area 18 is substantially uniform in thickness, with a lower surface 34 that is also substantially smooth.

[0021] There is a thickness variation between the interior area 16 and the raised exterior area 18, which creates the hooking rim 20. The outer sole 14 is thin, particularly the interior area 16, which provides great sensitivity by the climber when securing a foot grip on the rocks.

[0022] Referring to the cutaway view of FIG. 4, the hooking rim 20 has a height ‘h’, which can vary. In one embodiment the height ‘h’ is greater than about one sixteenth of an inch and the height ‘h’ is less than about one eight of an inch. The height ‘h’ is about three-thirtysecond ({fraction (3/32)}) of an inch in this embodiment. There should be sufficient height ‘h’ to create some gripping effect by the hooking rim 20 upon the rocks. The height ‘h’ can be greater than about one eight of an inch. Although, as the height ‘h’ increases the distance between the bottom surface 32 of the interior area 16 and the lower surface 34 of the exterior area 18 also increases. If the height ‘h’ is significant then it is more difficult for the climber to place a substantial portion of the climbing shoe 10 inside of a small hole or crevice for a toehold grip. The thickness ‘t’ is substantially uniform for the interior area 16.

[0023] The climbing shoe 10 also includes teeth 22 attached to the hooking rim 20. The teeth 22 can vary in shape. The teeth 22 are often a saw-tooth shape 24 as shown in FIG. 2 or a rounded half-moon shape 26 as shown in FIG. 3. The teeth 22 have a length ‘L’. In one embodiment ‘L’ is about one sixteenth of an inch. There are about eight teeth 22 per linear inch along the hooking rim 20 in FIG. 3. There are about twelve teeth 22 per linear inch along the hooking rim 20 in FIG. 2.

[0024] The outer sole 14 further includes a front section 28 and a back section 30. The raised exterior area 18, the hooking rim 20, and the teeth 22 are contained within the front section 28. A portion of the interior area 16 is also contained within the front section 28. The interior area 16 extends to substantially cover the back section 30. Climbers predominantly use the front section 28 of the shoe for gripping when climbing. The front section 28 is where the hooking rim 20 and teeth 22 should be concentrated. A hooking rim 20 and teeth 22 on the back section 30 are not essential. The exterior area 18 has a width ‘w’. The width ‘w’ is between about 0.5 inches and about 1.0 inches. The width ‘w’ is about eleven-sixteenths ({fraction (11/16)}) of an inch in this embodiment. The width ‘w’ can vary smaller or larger based on the climber's body size and preferences. The raised exterior area 18 is substantially U-shaped. The exterior area 18 is located adjacent to the edge 36 of the outer sole 14. The raised exterior area 18 and the associated hooking rim 20 can be continuous or the raised exterior area 18 can be broken into multiple segments. FIG. 3 illustrates the raised exterior area 18 broken into three segments 40. A portion of the interior area 16 is located between the segments 40 of the raised exterior area 18. This segmented structure of the raised exterior area 18 makes the climbing shoe 10 lighter, and a climber can feel that there are some discrete points in the hooking rim 20 that can engage with a protruded portion of a rock more stably and firmly with recesses between the segments 40.

[0025] The outer sole 14 can be made primarily from a rubber polymer. The upper portion 12 can include any material commonly used for shoes, such as leather, nylon and cotton fabric. The interior area 16 has about a uniform thickness ‘t’.

[0026] The edges of the outer sole 14 should be thin enough to feel the foothold. Thin edges on the outer sole 14 provide stability, in contrast to the thick edges of the prior art walking shoes that are prone to slipping on the rocks. The teeth 22 and hooking rim 20 provide added edging power for standing on small footholds, because the hooking rim 20 and teeth 22 will grab the foothold and will not move around to allow a slip from the foothold.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 5, the interior area 16 is illustrated with a slightly concave shape. The thickness ‘t’ remains substantially uniform. The concave shape of the interior area 16 does not have any sharp projections or sharp edges like the hooking rim 20 has. The concave shape of the interior area 16 provides a smoothed indentation that provides some assistance to the climber for gripping the rocks.

[0028] The hooking rim 20 and teeth 22 on the outer sole 14 of the climbing shoe 10 provides improved gripping ability for the climber. The climbing shoe 10 with a hooking rim 20 provides added gripping ability, besides just the pressure of the climbing shoe 10 applied downward on the rocks. The hooking rim 20 and the teeth 22 can improve the confidence, climbing ability and safety of the climber.

[0029] FIGS. 6 and 7 show a climbing shoe 60 that has back segments 52 forming a back hooking rim 50 and a back raised exterior area 54 on the back section 30, in addition to front segments 44 forming the hooking rim 20 on the front section 28. The back segments 52 together with the front segments 44 gives the climber a balanced feeling when he or she stands on a flat surface. The back hooking rim 50 may be used to hook the climbing shoe 60 on a protruded portion of a rock.

[0030] Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with regard to the preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the appended claims should not be limited to the descriptions of the preferred versions contained herein.