US20180263330A1

US20180263330A1 - System, Apparatus and Methods for an Attachable Shoe lace Cover

Info

Publication number: US20180263330A1
Application number: US15/677,527
Authority: US
Inventors: Carla Rhoads
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-02-21
Filing date: 2017-08-15
Publication date: 2018-09-20

Abstract

An attachable shoe lace cover for a shoe is described. The shoe lace cover comprises of a foldable strap at a front portion, a pair of eyelets or apertures or holes at a back portion, a display area at a top portion equipped to exhibit display material and the shoe lace cover is attached to the shoe with the help of its shoe laces through the pair of eyelets or apertures or holes. The foldable strap is capable of folding back to seal at a back portion of the shoe lace cover, thus helping in firmly fixing the shoe lace cover to the shoe.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/461,588, filed Feb. 21, 2017, entitled as “System, Apparatus and Methods for an Attachable Shoe Lace Cover”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

In general, the present inventive subject matter relates to a system, apparatus and methods for a shoe lace cover attachable to a shoe through its shoe laces.

BACKGROUND

A wide variety of footwear is available on the market for the consumer. A substantial amount of the footwear on the market incorporates shoelaces in order to secure the shoe in place on a wearer's foot. Shoelaces are used in a variety of shoes, however numerous athletic or gym shoes include shoelaces.
The popularity of the laced shoe as a normal every day shoe in turn creates a number of shoes with similar styles and characteristics. Therefore, it may be difficult to distinguish one shoe from the other and therefore difficult for the individual to create a unique look and appearance to their shoe.
Attachments to cover a shoelace are well known in the prior art and have addressed this issue in various manners. U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,537 Issued to Hickerson described about a Fastener for Laced Closures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,947 issued to Kass-pious describes about an identification holder for mounting on to shoes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,000 issued to Rowland et al. describes about a display for Footwear. U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,016 issued to DiVito describes about a Flexible Shoe Packet. U.S. Pat. No. 8,438,708 issued to Tuck describes about a Shoe Lace Cover.
Many of the shoelaces covers disclosed in the prior art use complicated mechanisms to attach and secure the shoelace cover therefore makes the daily use of such a feature complicated and cumbersome for the consumer. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a shoelace cover and protector that is simple and easy for the consumer to use, but yet provide a suitable means to protect the objective shoelaces. It would be a further advantage to provide a shoe protector and cover that could provide a means to flexibly distinguish and artistically decorate the wearer's shoe.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a simple and easily attachable protective cover for shoe laces which can be used as a display case as well. And also, it would be beneficial to have a protective cover for shoe laces to be attachable through the shoe laces that can be changed at the user's convenience.

SUMMARY

The present inventive subject matter describes a shoe lace cover attachable through shoe laces.
In an embodiment, an attachable shoe lace cover for a shoe comprising of a foldable strap at a front portion, a pair of eyelets or apertures or holes at a back portion, a display area at a top portion equipped to exhibit display material and the shoe lace cover attached to the shoe with a help of its shoe laces through the pair of eyelets or apertures or holes.
In another embodiment, a shoe lace cover adapted to hold a sensor are described, which can be useful for step count and other related pedometer measurements.
In yet another embodiment, a method for installing the shoe lace cover onto a shoe is described. A user has a choice for a desired design, color, size suitable for an intended use.
These and other embodiments are described in more detail in the following detailed descriptions and the figures. The foregoing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of embodiments and features of the present inventive subject matter. Persons skilled in the art are capable of appreciating other embodiments and features from the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of a shoe lace cover.

FIG. 2 illustrates a bottom view of a shoe lace cover.

FIG. 3 illustrates a left side view of an unfolded shoe lace cover.

FIG. 4 illustrates a left side view of a folded shoe lace cover.

FIG. 5 illustrates a bottom view of a folded shoe lace cover.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded view of a shoe lace cover on a shoe with laces.

FIG. 7 illustrates method steps for installing a display exhibit on a shoe.

FIG. 8 illustrates a shoe with an exhibit in a shoe lace cover.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 illustrates a top view 100 of a shoe lace cover. The shoe lace cover has an upper layer 120 and a lower layer 130 with a first length-breadth and second length-breadth respectively. The length of the upper layer is lesser than the length of the lower layer. In an exemplary embodiment, the length of the upper layer extends to two-thirds the length of the lower layer. The upper layer and the lower layer are sealed all through the first length on the outer edge, but the first breadth side remains open to form a pocket-like structure. The front portion of the shoe lace cover has a foldable strap 110 which extends from the lower layer of the shoe lace cover. The back portion has a pair of eyelets or apertures or holes 115/116 on the lower layer. The display area of the shoe lace cover is represented by the upper layer 120.
In some embodiments, a shoe lace cover could be made up of a single layer material with a pair of eyelets or apertures or holes at a back portion and a foldable strap at the front portion to help affix the shoe lace cover in a desired position on a shoe.
It can be appreciated by anyone in the art that the lower layer 130 of the shoe lace cover and the foldable strap 110 can be made of variety of materials such as natural or synthetic rubber, leather, molded plastic, heavy canvas, or woven synthetic fabric. Whereas the upper layer 120 of the shoe lace cover requires to be transparent or at least translucent for display purposes.
In an exemplary embodiment, the length of the upper layer extends in the range of 0.5 to 0.8 times the length of the lower layer. The thickness of the upper layer ranges between 0.002 to 0.5 inches. The thickness of the lower layer ranges between 0.002 to 0.5 inches. The foldable strap has a thickness ranging between 0.002 to 0.5 inches.
Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates bottom view 200 of a shoe lace cover. The foldable strap 110 and the lower layer 130 have sealable fixtures, 210 and 215 respectively, capable of sealing with each other. It can be easily appreciated that the shape and size of the sealable fixtures can be varied according to a desired utility purpose from circular patches to strip like structures. These sealable fixtures could be Velcro, magnetic, snapping pins or press button or snaps, rubber/plastic/elastic bands or ribbons and the like.
Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, FIG. 3 illustrates left side view 300 of an unfolded shoe lace cover and FIG. 4 illustrates the folded version 400 of the shoe lace cover sealed with the sealable fixtures 210/215
Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 illustrates bottom view 500 of a shoe lace cover wherein the strap is passed under a lace 510 at the front portion of a shoe and then sealed with the sealable fixtures.
In a preferred embodiment, referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded view 600 of a shoe lace cover onto a shoe. The lace portions 610 and 615 are pulled out through the eyelets or apertures or holes 116 and 115 respectively to place the shoe lace cover on the shoe at the shoe eyelets 900 and 901, the strap 110 is passed under the lace 620 at the front portion of the shoe and sealed back at the bottom portion of the shoe lace cover. Further the ends of the shoe laces 610 and 615 may be pulled out through the shoe eyelets or apertures or holes 625 and 626 of the shoe to tie a bow knot to secure the shoe lace cover to the shoe.
Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 shows the steps 700 involved for a method of installing the shoe lace cover onto a shoe which is capable of exhibiting a display exhibit. Firstly, a user has to pick a desired shoe lace cover (preferred design, color, size etc.), and then place it on the shoe such that the eyelets or apertures or holes portion is nearer to the shoe laces 710, then pull the shoe laces out through the shoe cover eyelets or apertures or holes 720, pull the shoe laces through the top eyelets or holes or apertures of the shoe and tie them into a bow 730, so that the shoe lace cover is firmly affixed on to the shoe, then the foldable strap at the front portion of the shoe is pulled under the first lace and folded back to seal at the back of the shoe lace cover 740. A desired exhibit is placed in the transparent top cover to exhibit the display 750.
In a preferred embodiment, referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 represents a system shoe with a shoe lace cover system 800. A shoe 810 is attached with a shoe lace cover 840 with the help of its shoe laces 820 and exhibiting a display exhibit 830. The inventive subject matter described offers a user to easily change and customize the shoe lace cover to their desired intended use. The displayable pocket area can be used to display identity cards, especially for kids and older people who need assistance to find their way back home. The displayable pocket area can also hold on to sensors useful for pedometer or any relevant measurements. The displayable pocket area can be used to display any logos, emblems related to schools, professional sports, organizations or companies or other business groups.
It can be appreciated by anyone in the art that the above described shoe lace cover can be used for any kind of shoes, including non-lace shoes sneakers, slip on shoes, boots, footwear etc.
The many aspects and benefits of the invention are apparent from the detailed description, and thus, it is intended for the following claims to cover all such aspects and benefits of the invention which fall within the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, because numerous modifications and variations will be obvious and readily occur to those skilled in the art, the claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described herein. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents should be understood to fall within the scope of the invention as claimed herein.

Claims

1. An attachable shoe lace cover apparatus for a shoe comprising:

an upper layer having a first length, first breadth and first thickness;

a lower layer having a second length, second breadth and second thickness;

a foldable strap at a front portion extending from the lower layer;

a pair of apertures at a back portion on the lower layer;

the upper layer and lower layer sealed at an edge leading to a display area;

and the shoe lace cover attached to the shoe with a help of its shoe laces through the pair of eyelets or apertures or holes.

2. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the first length of the upper layer extends in the range of 0.5 to 0.8 times the second length of the lower layer.

3. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the first thickness ranges between 0.002 to 0.5 inches.

4. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the second thickness ranges between 0.002 to 0.5 inches.

5. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the foldable strap has a third thickness ranging between 0.002 to 0.5 inches.

6. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the display area adapted to display an exhibit material.

7. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the display area adapted to hold on to a sensor.

8. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein a tip of the foldable strap is adapted to seal at a back of the lower layer by a sealable fixture.

9. The apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein a tip of the foldable strap is adapted to seal at a back of the lower layer by a velcro sealable fixture.

10. The apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein a tip of the foldable strap is adapted to seal at a back of the lower layer by a magnetic sealable fixture.

11. The apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein a tip of the foldable strap is adapted to seal at a back of the lower layer by a snaps sealable fixture.

12. The apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein a tip of the foldable strap is adapted to seal at a back of the lower layer by a press button sealable fixture.

13. A method for installing a shoe lace cover on to a shoe with its shoe laces comprising:

picking a suitable shoe lace cover for a intended purpose;

placing the shoe lace cover such that eyelets or apertures or holes on the shoe lace cover are near to the shoe laces of the shoe;

pulling the shoe laces through the eyelets or apertures or holes of the shoe lace cover so that the shoe lace cover is firmly placed on the shoe;

tying the shoe laces into a bow so that the shoe lace cover is firmly affixed onto the shoe;

pulling a foldable strap of the shoe lace cover under the first lace at the front portion of the shoe; and

sealing the foldable strap at the back of the shoe lace cover with a sealing fixture.

14. The method described in claim 13, further comprising of sealing the foldable strap at the back of the shoe lace cover with a velcro sealing fixture.

15. The method as described in claim 13, further comprising of sealing the foldable strap at the back of the shoe lace cover with a magnetic sealing fixture.

16. The method as described in claim 13, further comprising of sealing the foldable strap at the back of the shoe lace cover with a snap sealing fixture.

17. The method as described in claim 13, further comprising of sealing the foldable strap at the back of the shoe lace cover with a press button sealing fixture.

18. A system for a shoe with a shoe lace cover comprising:

an upper layer having a first length, first breadth and first thickness;

a lower layer having a second length, second breadth and second thickness;

a foldable strap at a front portion extending from the lower layer;

a pair of eyelets or apertures or holes at a back portion on the lower layer;

the upper layer and lower layer sealed at an edge leading to a display area;

and the shoe lace cover attached to the shoe with the help of its shoe laces through the pair of eyelets or apertures or holes.

19. The system as described in claim 18, further comprising of the display area accommodating a message card of a user for display purposes.

20. The system as described in claim 18, further comprising of the display area accommodating a sensor useful for pedometer measurements.