NL2014372B1

NL2014372B1 - Product or part thereof, such as a sock or brace or an inner boot.

Info

Publication number: NL2014372B1
Application number: NL2014372A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Ida Bons Henriëtte
Original assignee: Ida Bons Henriëtte
Priority date: 2015-02-27
Filing date: 2015-02-27
Publication date: 2016-10-14

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a product or part thereof to be worn on a user's foot. Such a product may be from a group of products and partial products at least comprising: socks to be worn inside shoes; inner boots to be worn in outer boots; inner boots of ice speed skating boots or of ski boots; ankle reinforcing braces to be worn in socks or shoes. The product or partial products comprise an at least partial envelope having an opening for a user to insert a foot therein. Further, the envelope comprises at least one friction reducing element. In particular, Teflon is named nonexclusively as a material from which the friction reducing element may be made.

Description

PRODUCT OR PART THEREOF, SUCH AS A SOCK OR BRACE OR AN INNER BOOT

The present disclosure relates to a product or part thereof to be worn by a user on a user’s arm, hand, leg, or foot, from a group of products and partial products at least comprising: socks to be worn inside shoes; inner boots to be worn in outer boots; inner boots of ice speed skating boots or of ski boots; ankle reinforcing braces to be worn in socks or shoes.

Herein, shoes in general are referred to, but include outer boots, lady’s boots, riding boots, tight fitting shoes and the like.

When people try to get tight shoes on for wearing, that are tight, such as outer boots, lady’s boots, riding boots, or just plain tight fitting shoes, many solutions are known to reduce the user’s efforts to get into these types of shoes.

For example, it is known that a user can slip a foot with a sock on a user’s foot into a plastic bag or wrap a plastic sheet around the socked foot, and with the socked foot in the bag or sheet press into the tight fitting shoe, boot, or the like. Such a solution has many disadvantages. Often, shoes, boots and sock are made of natural or synthetic material with an eye on ventilation. However, a plastic bag around a sock to facilitate pressing a foot into the shoe or boot entirely undoes all ventilation effects designed into socks, shoes boots and the like. Quite to the contrary, the presence of a plastic bag around a socked foot inside a shoe or boot, or the like, may cause rather unhygienic situation, as natural moisture such as sweat cannot be ventilated and can cause athlete’s foot and the like. Further, once a user has inserted a socked foot with the plastic bag or sheet into the shoe, the plastic bag or sheet cannot be removed until the shoe or boot is taken off, which is why the potentially unhygienic situation may occur, but also during wearing of the shoe or boot a user may experience discomfort from the feeling that the user’s foot is not stably supported in the shoe or boot, caused by sliding of the user’s foot inside the shoe or boot. Similar considerations may apply to other products or parts thereof, such as for instance an ankle reinforcing brace to support a user’s ankle, which may likewise be provided with a friction reducing element to facilitate the process of putting shoes or boots on, when wearing such supporting braces.

The present disclosure is directed at providing an improvement or merely an alternative over the prior art, to which end it is proposed to furnish a product or part thereof, comprising an at least partial envelope having an opening for a user to insert an arm, hand, leg, or a foot therein, wherein the envelope comprises at least one friction reducing element.

The product may be partial in the sense of for example an inner boot, forming part of an entire boot together with an outer boot. The product may be separate and independent like a sock or an orthopaedic ankle brace to support a user’s ankle, which may be elastic and wherein particular parts may be left open so as not to cover portions of a user’s foot, such as, in the case of an ankle brace: the heel and toes of the user’s foot, to which the expression relates that the envelope may be partial, as in the case of a brace-type sock, or a full envelope with only an opening to allow a foot to be inserted there through. It’s further noted that the envelope may have specific properties, such as elasticity, and that the friction reducing element is preferably configured or designed to have, as much as possible, the same or similar properties, to avoid damage to the product or part thereof with the friction reducing element, which could be caused by incompatibilities in such properties.

The friction reducing element may reduce friction locally, to facilitate getting a foot into a shoe, or the material of the entire envelope may be adapted in conformity with the teachings of the present disclosure, as long as the objective is achieved that getting into the shoe or boot is facilitated, without stifling the user’s foot when inserted into the shoe or boot, or the like.

The present disclosure may have many different appearances and/or embodiments within the framework of the above reference thereto in general terms, corresponding with the features defined in the appended independent claims. It is noted that even obvious alternatives for the defined features in the appended independent claim are to be considered as encompassed within the scope of protection according to the appended independent claim.

Also, more detailed aspects and features of the present disclosure may be disclosed herein below, referring to the appended drawing or defined in appended dependent claims. The scope of protection of the present disclosure is by no means limited to any such preferred feature, but only to the breadth and width of the scope of the appended independent claim and with inclusion of alternatives for the features defined therein. For example:

In an embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element comprises a patch-like element arranged on an outer surface of the envelope. This is a simple and elegant possibility, that hardly or not at all interferes with any existing design of the sock, inner shoe, or brace, that is subject of the present disclosure.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element comprises a patch-like element replacing a portion of the envelope. This interferes with an existing design, and saves on material of the existing design.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element comprises a thread or wire, which is integrated in the envelope. The material of a conventional envelope may be adapted in this manner, for example by wrapping threads or wires of the conventional material such as wool and/or cotton in friction reducing material, such as Teflon, nylon, satin and any of a variety of other materials, to keep the ventilating properties of the traditional envelope materials.

In such an embodiment of friction reducing thread or wire, the thread or wire may be any one or more than one of the group comprising weaved or knitted into, stitched onto and stitched through the envelope. The friction reducing wire or thread may even be used to connect and combine envelope portions of traditional material, to form a seam of slightly increased thickness due to the presence of the friction reducing thread or wire, to facilitate a user inserting a socked foot or a foot on which a brace is worn into a shoe or boot and the like.

In an embodiment exhibiting friction reducing threads or wires and a patch like element, not just portions of the envelope of conventional material may be interconnected, but the friction reducing thread or wire and/or patch-like element may also or alternatively be used, wherein the patch-like element is attached to the envelope with the thread or wire.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element is made from a material at least comprising one or more than of material from a group, comprising Teflon. Use of Teflon is - to the best knowledge of the developers of the present disclosure - entirely novel in the context of friction reducing measures or features, at least in the field of garments and more particularly in the field of footwear. Nevertheless, the possibility within the context of the present disclosure of using Teflon, has yielded very promising preliminary results of confidential testing. Admittedly, some adaptations may be necessitated by the use of Teflon, in particular when weaving or knitting such smooth and friction reducing material into the basic material, such as for example wool and/or cotton, of a traditional envelope design. For example knitting needles may need to be roughened a bit for enhanced grip on very smooth Teflon threads or wires, which may also be a consideration, even when traditional envelope materials and friction reducing Teflon are combined even before the knitting operation to manufacture a sock, inner boot or brace, or the like.

However, the present disclosure is by no means limited to the use of Teflon, and other material may proven less, equally or better suited to pursue the objectives of the present disclosure. For example, more or less suitable material may be selected from a wider group encompassing also for instance nylon, and satin, or any other suitable material.

Preferably, at least one friction reducing element is provided at any one or more than one of the locations, where a higher resistance occurs, when inserting a socked foot or a foot with a brace into a shoe or an inner boot into an outer boot. Many possibilities for placement of friction reducing elements are available and may depend on the field of use. For instance, attempting to insert a socked foot into a horse riding boot may require friction reduction at specific locations, whereas inserting an inner boot into the outer boot, to which the inner boot belongs, may require friction reduction at entirely different locations.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding with a user’s ankle. This is in particular useful in relation to high or medium high shoes and boots, as well as in inner boots for outer boots to which the inner boots belong.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding with a user’s heel. This may in particular be useful for higher shoes or boots having a narrow entrance.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding with a user’s instep. This may in particular be very useful for shoes and boots having a low instep.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding with a sole of a user’s foot. This, too, may in particular be helpful in combination with a low instep.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding with a side of a user’s foot. This may in particular be very useful for shoes and boots having a narrow foot shape. In particular the friction reducing element may be arranged at said side of a user’s foot, at or shortly behind the user’s toes, i.e. where a user’s foot is normally widest.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the product or part thereof according to the present disclosure may exhibit the feature that the friction reducing element is elastic. This may be helpful to avoid damage to the envelope in combination with the friction reducing element. The friction reducing element may, when desired, even be tensioned on or in the envelope, to tension the envelope and stretch the envelope to be more securely positioned on a user’s foot, without trickling down or crumpling in general on a user’s foot.

After the above description of the objective of embodiments of the present disclosure in more generic terms, expressions and definitions, corresponding for the most part with the wordings of the appended claims, herein below a description is provided of preferred embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail. As noted before, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to any specific aspect of the following embodiment description, but only to the definition according to the appended independent claim, which includes alternatives for the features of the claims, which may presently be obvious alternatives, equivalents and/or additions, or may in the future prove to be viable. In the following embodiment description, the same or similar aspects, features, elements, components and functionalities may be designated with common reference signs, even when the embodiment description relates to distinct embodiments in the appended drawing. In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows a sock in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 shows a brace in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 3 shows an inner boot in combination with an outer boot, such as a two part snow boot, of which at least the inner boot is in accordance with the present disclosure;

Figure 4 shows a realisation of a detail of a product or partial-product according to the present disclosure;

Figure 5 shows another exemplary realisation of a detail of a product or partial-product according to the present disclosure;

Figure 6 shows a very detailed view of a woven material including a wire or thread of low friction material; and

Figure 7 shows an alternative brace for the one of figure 2.

In figure 1 a sock 1 is schematically shown as an embodiment of the present disclosure. The sock 1 comprises an elongate sleeve part 2 for a leg of a user and a foot part 3. Either or both of the leg part 2 and the foot part 3 may comprise at least one friction reducing element. In figure 1, friction reducing elements indicated using dashed lines are incorporated in sock 1 at a position corresponding with user’s ankle or ankles 4, instep 5, side or sides of front foot 6, just behind the user’s toes. The list of locations is not exhaustive and the sock 1 may have additional friction reducing elements, such as in or of a toe part 8 and/or a heel part 9, and one or more of the friction reducing elements 4, 5, and 6 may be omitted. Friction reducing element or elements may be formed from Teflon. The sock 1 of figure 1 can have any arbitrary length and/or may be entirely made of for example Teflon, to constitute one entire sock of only friction reducing material, including foot part 3 and / or toe part 8 and / or heel part 9.

Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of a physiotherapeutic brace 7, which can be worn in stead of a regular sock, but is normally much thicker to aggravate problems of getting a foot inserted into a shoe. The brace 7 may serve an physiotherapeutic function such as to support an ankle joint and / or muscles and / or ligaments, and has no toe part 8 and no heel part 9, unlike sock 1. Also brace 7 has friction reducing elements 4, 5, and 6 at the locations of respectively the ankle, the instep and the side or sides of the front foot. Here, also, the list of locations is not exhaustive and the brace 7 may have additional friction reducing elements, and one or more of the friction reducing elements 4, 5, and 6 may be omitted. An alternative brace 7 may include toe part 8 and heel part 9, which are indicated in dashed lines in the embodiment of figure 2.

Yet a further alternative brace 21 is shown in figure 7, which is designed to be worn over a regular cotton or wool sock 22. This embodiment of brace 21 comprises over instep 23 a band 24 of friction reducing material, as well as a toe or nose part 25, a heel part 26 and a sole band 27, which can be made from a single friction reducing material, such as Teflon, or a plurality of such materials. It is noted that this embodiment is far more open than the brace 7 of figure 2 and may allow easier ventilation.

Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of a snow boot 10, which may have an outer boot 12 and an inner boot 11. The inner boot 11, when worn by a user, may be flexed in direction of arrow A, to be inserted into outer boot 12. During insertion friction reducing elements at the locations of ankle or ankles 4, instep 5 heel 13 and sole 14 may serve to facilitate the insertion of the foot wearing the inner boot 11 into the outer boot 12. The outer boot may be a skiing boot or a boot of an ice skate. The sock 1 and the brace 7 function in a comparable manner as the inner boot 11, to insert a foot into a shoe or boot, such as a lady’s high boot, a riding boot, and the like.

Any of the friction reducing elements 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, or any such friction reducing element at any useful location for reducing friction, may be embodied in any one or more than one of several different manners.

In figure 4, a patch 15 is sown or stitched onto or into a sleeve 16 of a product or part of a product according to the present disclosure. The patch 15 may be attached on the sleeve, but alternatively a portion of the sleeve may have been cut away, to allow the patch 15 to replace the cut away portion of the sleeve 16.

Additionally or alternatively, a stitching thread or wire 17 may be made from friction reducing material, such as Teflon, but alternatively the skilled person may contemplate alternative materials such as nylon, satin, and the like.

Although it is mentioned above in relation to figure 4 that patch 15 may be sown or stitched to a sleeve. However, in particular when using Teflon as one of preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, sowing and / or stitching may prove difficult or even impossible. For such embodiments, which are not limited to the use of Teflon, alternative attachment embodiments may be employed, using for example any one or more of a number of possibilities from a group comprising a heat seal, adhesive, glue, adhesive tape, velcro et cetera.

Figure 5 sows that a stitching wire or thread 17 of friction reducing material may also be used to attach portions of a sock 1 to one another; in the shown embodiment to connect portions of the sock that together define heel portion 9. These portions may themselves be made from traditional sock material, such as wool, cotton and the like, where stitching 18 may already suffice to enable that the friction reducing function is achieved. Such stitching 18 may also or alternatively be employed in the embodiments of brace 7 and inner boot 11.

Figure 6 shows an additional or alternative embodiment wherein threads or wires 20 of friction reducing material, such as Teflon, are weaved into a cloth 20 from which a sock 1 or brace 7 or any other useful application may be manufactured. A cloth 19 having such friction reducing properties may be employed in the form of a patch 15 of figure 4, or to define friction reducing elements 4, 5, 6, 13, 14 in figures 1, 2, and 3.

From the foregoing detailed description as well as the identification in more generic terms corresponding with the appended claims, of embodiments according to the present disclosure, the skilled person will encounter no difficulty whatsoever in practicing the present disclosure, and / or contemplate additions and/or alterations relative to the above described embodiments. Precisely for this reason, the scope of the present disclosure is by no means to be construed as limited to any aspect or feature of the above embodiment description, but only to the definitions according to in particular the appended independent claim, and to the extent that the present disclosure also encompasses additions and obvious equivalents and alterations relative thereto. Although the description of preferred embodiments above is limited to foot wear, products or parts thereof in accordance with the present disclosure may also be worn by a user on his/her hand, arm, or leg, without limitation. Already from the view of figure 3, it will have been immediately evident to the skilled reader confronted with the present disclosure that this figure resembles an elbow, clearly indicating the additional positions where a product or part thereof according to the present disclosure might be worn in addition to a user’s foot.

Claims

Product or part thereof, which can be worn by a user on a user's arm, hand, leg or foot, from a group of products and partial products, at least comprising: socks to be worn in shoes or high boots , such as riding boots or fashionable ladies' boots; inner shoes to be worn in outer shoes; inner skates or boots; only reinforcements to be worn in socks or in shoes, comprising an at least partial enclosure with an opening where a user can put an arm, hand, leg or foot, the enclosure comprising at least one friction-reducing element.

The product or part thereof according to claim 1, wherein the friction-reducing element comprises a lap-like element which is arranged on an outer surface of the enclosure.

The product or part thereof as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the friction-reducing element comprises a lap-like element, which replaces a part of the envelope.

The product or part thereof according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the friction-reducing element comprises a yarn or thread which is integrated in the envelope.

The product or part thereof according to claim 4, wherein the yarn or thread is any one or more than one from the group, comprising woven or knotted in, stitched on, or stitched through the envelope.

A product or part thereof as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the lap-like element is attached to the enclosure with any or more than one of the fixings from a group, which comprises at least: a thread or yarn, a heat seal, an adhesive, an adhesive, an adhesive tape and / or Velcro tape.

A product or part thereof according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the friction-reducing element is made of a material comprising at least one or more than one of the materials from a group comprising Teflon.

The product or part thereof according to claim 7, wherein the group further comprises at least nylon and satin.

A product or part thereof according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the friction-reducing element is arranged on or in a position in accordance with a single of a user.

A product or part thereof according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the friction-reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding to a user's heel.

A product or part thereof according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the friction-reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding to an instep of a user.

A product or part thereof according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the friction-reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding to a user's sole.

A product or part thereof according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the friction-reducing element is arranged on or in a position corresponding to a side of a user's foot.

A product or part thereof as claimed in claim 13, wherein the friction-reducing element is arranged at a side of a foot of the user, at or shortly behind the toes of the user.

The product or part thereof according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the friction-reducing element is elastic.

The product or part thereof according to claim 13, wherein the friction-reducing element is clamped on or in the enclosure.