US2354770A

US2354770A - Toe protecting device and method of making the same

Info

Publication number: US2354770A
Application number: US461367A
Authority: US
Inventors: Patterson Maisie Jane
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1942-10-09
Filing date: 1942-10-09
Publication date: 1944-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 1961-08-01

Description

- 1, 1944. M. J. PATTERSON 2,354,170

TOE PROTECTING DEVICE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Oct. 9, 1942 INVENTOR. 111mb: e Jane al/arm arrow/m Patented Aug. 1, 1944 UNITED STATE TOE PROTECTING DEVICE AND METHOD O'F MAKING THE SAlVIE Maisie Jane Patterson, ch p l Hill, N. 0. Application October 9, 1942, Serial No. 461,367

Claims.

This invention relates to a device or appliance to be applied to and worn on the toes of the foot to serve as a protecting shield or shields as well as a pad or cushion for the toes, and while the invention is particularly adapted for preventing the developing of soft corns at the side of a toe, or prevent the irritation of such a corn by the frictional rubbing action of an adjacent toe upon the corn and relieve pressure upon such a corn, and to prevent frictional rubbing action between the under portion of the first joint of the big toe and shoe with the possibility of developing a callus on such portion of said toe, as well as prevent the developing of corns on the upper portion of any of the toes and the outside of the little toe, or prevent irritation of such corns by the rubbing action of a shoe thereon and relieve any pressure of the shoe on such corns, it is also adapted to prevent irritation of sores, such as cracks between toes, as in athletes foot, by the frictional rubbing action of one toe against another toe.

It is the object of the invention to provide an improved device or appliance of this character to constitute a protecting shield and pad or cushion for the toes of the foot, which is adapted to be applied and worn simultaneously on all of the toes, or a portion or portions thereof may be applied to and Worn upon one or more toes to prevent frictional rubbing action between the toes and development of soft corns or irritation of such corns and relieve the pressure of an adjacent toe on such a corn, as well as prevent frictional rubbing action of a. shoe on the upper and under sides of the toes and the development of corns or a callus on said portions of the toes, or irritation of such corns, and to provide a device or appliance of this character adapted to be readily applied to and removed from the toes of either foot, and which is sanitary and comfortable in use as Well as simple and inexpensive to construct.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this application Figure 1 is a plan view of a sheet or web of a suitable fabric from which the toe protecting shield is constructed.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the sheet or web ShOlWIl. in Figure 1 and showing a successive step in the construction of the protecting shield.

Figure 3 is a view looking at the end of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the toe pro,-

shown in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot with the toe protecting shield shown in Figure 4 applied to the toes thereof.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the toe protecting shield with portions removed to adapt the same to be applied to the big, the little and the middle toes of the foot.

Figure '7 is a perspective View of the toe portion of a foot showing the protecting shield'shown in Figure 6 applied to the big, the little and the middle toes thereof.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the toe protecting shield with portions removed to adapt the same to be applied to the middle and little toes.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot showing the protecting shield of Figure 8 applied to the middle and little toes.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot showing portions of the toe protecting shield applied to the toes adjacent the big and little toes.

Figure 11 is a perspective View of the toe protecting shield with portions removed to adapt the same to be applied to the big and little toes; and

Figure 12 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot with the portion of the shield shown in Figure 11 applied to the big and little toes.

In carrying out the invention there is provided a strip or web of suitable fabric 13, such as sanitary bandage gauze, the opposite edges of which preferably incline from within one end of the web in a direction toward each other to the opposite end of the web, whereby the one end I4 of the web is of less width than the opposite end I5. A layer of a suitable padding of cushioning material [6 may be applied to a. surface of the Web midway the side edges thereof, said padding or cushioning material being of a width substantially equal to one-third of the width of the web and of slightly less length than the web, whereby the ends of the cushioning material terminate within the ends of the web. While this padding or cushioning material may consist of cotton batting, it preferably consists of a material which will not absorb or hold moisture, such as lambs wool. The opposite longitudinal marginal portions of the web are folded over onto the padding or cushioning material in overlapping relation to each other, as shown at IL'and providing a multiple ply fabric cushioning bandage. The bandage may be secured i'nfoldejd condition by suitable means, and as shown secured by long machine stitches l8 passing through the overlapped portions of the folded Weband the cushioning material and body of the bandage, and thus preventing the shifting of the cushioning material and fabric one relative to the other.

The bandage is adapted to be formed into a. toe protecting shield or shields to be applied to one or more, or all of the toes of either the right or left foot. For this purpose, as shown in Figure 4, the bandage is arranged with a series of toe protecting shields, said shields being five in number equal to the number of toes of a foot, as a, b, c, d and e.

To arrange or form.

the bandage with said toe protecting shields the opposite end portions of the bandage are folded upon themselves to one side of the bandage to body of the bandage to form eyes, and constituting the toe protecting shields a and e adapted to be engaged upon the big and little toes, respectively. The bandage is then arranged with the loops or eyes to constitute the toe protecting shields b, c and d to be engaged upon the toes intermediate the big and little toes, and are formed by folding successive equidistantly spaced portion of the bandage intermediate the loops a and e to loop form and said loop portions secured at the folds or juncture thereof with the body of the bandage, as by short machine stitches. The loops or eyes are made of different sizes to fit different sizes of toes, the loop 11 adapted to be engaged upon the big toe being larger than the loop e to be engaged upon the little toe, and the intermediate loops b, c and d to be engaged upon the toes intermediate the big and little toes being of larger size than the loo e to be engaged upon the little toe and smaller than the loop a to be engaged upon the big toe.

As shown in Figure 5 the device may be ap-' plied to all of the toes of a foot to prevent frictional rubbing action between the toes and the possibility of thereby developing soft corns at the sides of the toes, or to relieve the pressure of a toe on a soft corn on an adjacent toe or irritation of such a corn. The portions of the toe protecting shields engaging over the top of the toes prevents frictional rubbing action between said portion of the toes and a shoe with the possibility of developing corns on said portion of the toes, and also serves to relieve the pressure of a shoe on a corn on said portion of the toes, or the irritation of such a corn. The portion of the shield a engaging the side .and ball of the big toe prevents frictional rubbing action between said portions of the big toe and a shoe with the possibility of developing a 'callus on said portions of the big toe, or may serve to relieve the pressure of the shoe on such a callus. The toe protecting shields may also serve as a cushion for infected portions of the toe, such as cracks between the toes in athlete's foot. Also the shield connecting portions of the bandage produce in effect a continuous band below the toes which serves to keep the toes in place and an aid in the circulation of the blood through the toes. It will be obvious that the toe protecting shields may serve as carriers for a medicament applied thereto and to be disposed relative to an infected part or parts of the toes, or the shields may serve to hold a medicament carrier, such as a disk-of thin material having a medicament applied thereto, to an infected part of the toes.

As shown in Figures 6 to 12, inclusive, the

bandage is adapted to be arranged with only certain of the toe protecting shields to be applied to only predetermined toes of a foot. To arrange the bandage with three toe protecting shields, as shown in Figure 6, to be engaged upon the big, the middle and the little toes, as shown in Figure 7, the toe protecting shields b and d are severed from the bandage so that it is arranged only with the shields a, c and e. To arrange the bandage with shields to be engaged only upon the little and middle toes, as shown in Figure 9, the portion of the bandage with the shields a and band the shield d are severed from the bandage whereby the bandage will be arranged only with the shields c and e, as shown in Figure 8. To arrange the bandage with only the shields b and d to be applied to the toes in termediate the middle and the big and little toes, as shown in Figure 10, the portions of the bandage constituting the shields a, c and e are severed therefrom. To arrange the bandage with only the shields a'and e to be applied to the big and little toes, as shown in Figure 12, the portions of the bandage constituting the shields b, c and d being severed from the bandage, as shown in Figure 11. If desired the bandage may be arranged with two or more toe protecting shields. For instance, the bandage may be provided with three toe protecting shields to be applied to the big, the middle and the little toes, as shown in Figure '7. Or it may be provided with two toe protecting shields to be applied to the middle and little toes, as shown in Figure 9, or the big and little toes, as shown in Figure 12. Also one of the protecting shields may be engaged upon two or more toes, such as the little toe and the adjacent toe or on any other two adjacent toes.

Various modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement in the parts of the toe protecting shield, and portions may be used without others without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a toe protecting device, an elongated bandage consisting of a fabric web folded longitudinally upon itself, cushioning material interposed between the folded portions of the fabric web, said fabric web with the interposed cushioning material having successive portions, spaced from each other, arranged to closed loop form extending laterally from the same side of the bandage, the portions of said bandage between and connecting the loop portions forming a continuous band, each of said loop portions being adapted to surround a toe of a foot with the loop connecting portions disposed below the toes.

2. In a toe protecting device, an elongated fabric bandage of progressively decreasing width from one end to the opposite end and of a width less than the length of the toes of a foot and folded longitudinally upon itself, and cushioning material interposed between the folds of the fabric, said bandage having the opposite end portions and successive spaced portions intermediate the ends arranged to closed loop form and the portions of the bandage between and connecting the loop portions forming a continuous band, each of said loop portions adapted to surround a toe of a foot with said portions of the bandage,

between and connecting the loop portions, disposed below the toes and adapted to hold the toes in predetermined position.

3. In a toe protecting device, an elongated fabric web having the opposite longitudinal marginal portions turned inwardly upon the intermediate portion of the web, and cushioning material interposed between the inwardly turned and intermediate portions of the web, the opposite end portions and spaced portions, intermediate the ends, and the web being arrange to closed loop form, and each of said 100p portions being adapted to surround a toe of a foot with the portions between and connecting the loop portions disposed below and adapted to hold the toes in predetermined position.

4. In a toe protecting device, a bandage consisting of an elongated fabric web having the opposite longitudinal marginal portions turned inwardly upon the intermediate portion of the web, cushioning material interposed between the intermediate portion and said inwardly turned portions of the web, the opposite end portions and portions intermediate the ends of the bandage being arranged to form loop portions, and means securing said loo portions together at the juncture thereof with the body of the bandage and closing the loop portions, the portions of the bandage between and connecting the loop portions forming a continuous band, each of said loop portions being adapted to surround a toe of a foot with said portions between and connecting the loop portions disposed below the toes.

5. In a toe protecting device, a bandage consisting of a fabric web having the opposite longitudinal portions turned inwardly in overlapped relation upon the intermediate portion of the web, a moisture resisting cushioning material interposed between the intermediate and said inwardly turned portions of the web, means securing said overlapping portions, the cushioning material and intermediate portion of the web against lateral displacement, successive portions of the bandage being arranged in loop form extending laterally from a side of the bandage and secured at the juncture thereof with the body of the bandage, thus forming closed loops, the portions extending between said loops forming a continuous band, said loops being adapted to surround each of the toes of a foot, with the loop connecting portions of the bandage engaging below the toes.

MAISIE JANE PATTERSON.