US2875534A

US2875534A - Heel protector

Info

Publication number: US2875534A
Application number: US763644A
Authority: US
Inventors: Grossman Evelyn
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-09-26
Filing date: 1958-09-26
Publication date: 1959-03-03
Anticipated expiration: 1976-03-03

Description

March 3; 1959 E. GROSSMAN 2,875,534

HEEL PROTECTOR Filed Sept. 26, 1958 Fig.

INYENTOR. EVELYN GROSSMAN ATTORNEY United States Patent 01 'ice HEEL PROTECTOR Evelyn Grossman, Philadelphia, Pa. Application September 26, 1958, Serial No. 7 63,644

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-72) Certain types of ladies shoes have always been provided with heels which are known as French heels and are highly tapered. Recently, the use of shoes of this type has increased and the tapering of the heels has increased until, currently, shoes are provided with heels, the bottoms of which are about a quarter of one inch across. Such heels tend to get caught in the cracks in a board walk or in the spaces between the bricks in a brick pavement or in side walk grills, etc.

The object of my invention is to produce an auxiliary heel tip cover which can be readily applied to the bottom of the heel when it is needed and which can be readily removed from the heel when it is no longer needed.

A further object is to produce an auxiliary heel tip cover which is extremely light, compact and inexpensive so that it may be conveniently carried in a handbag and so that it may be discarded without any serious loss in the event that the user does not care to clean and store it for re-use.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a greatly enlarged top plan view of an auxiliary heel tip cover embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view showing the device applied to the heel of a shoe, the parts being shown only slightly smaller than actual size.

Fig. 3 is a slightly enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 3 but showing another embodiment of the invention.

As will be seen from Fig. 2. the shank of the heel tapers downwardly until the bottom of the tip of the heel is about one quarter of an inch across. This makes walking on smooth, solid pavements difficult and it makes walking on board-walks, or on brick pavements, or on rough roads difficult and dangerous.

People have occasion to walk on the smooth floor of a home or store, or on a smooth concrete side walk and may also have to walk on a stretch of board-walk, or brick pavement, and, in the absence of an opportunity to change and in the absence of my invention, it will be necessary to wear a broad tip heel at the cost of style or to wear a narrow tip heel at the cost of comfort and safety.

In order to make it possible to wear a narrow heel shoe without regard to the type of pavement on which one may have to walk, I have devised a compact, inconspicuous and inexpensive heel tip cover which can be instantly applied when needed and which can be instantly removed when the need for it ceases.

As shown in the drawings, the heel tip cover includes a side wall and a bottom wall 12 which form a cupshaped member for receiving the tip of the heel. Side wall 10 is made of any desired material, but is preferably 2,875,534 Patented Mar. 3, 1959 made of any light, tough and inexpensive synthetic ma terial such as polyethylene, nylon or the like, and is preferably made relatively thick to increase its wear capacity and support characteristics.

Coacting with the cup-shaped member described is an inverted cup-shaped member formed of a side wall 14 which fits snugly within and is substantially coextensive with side wall 10 as best shown in Fig. 3. The bottom wall of the inverted cup-shaped member is slotted as at 15 to form segments 16 which are hingedly connected to side wall 14. The inverted cup-shaped member is preferably formed of vinyl or other flexible, resilient and elastic synthetic material and is molded so that segments 16 are normally disposed normal to side wall 14 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. By this arrangement, when the cover is slipped over the tip of heel 18, segments 16 are folded downwardly as shown in Fig. 3, snugly and firmly to engage the tip of the heel to hold the cover in position with the tip, or the lower end, of the heel resting on bottom 12. To reinforce the construction a disc 20, of metal, or of any other rigid material, is placed on, or is embedded in bottom wall 12.

The actual size of the device is only slightly larger than its representation in Fig. 2 and therefore it can be carried in a handbag so as to be available as, and when, it is needed. Also, it is very light and can be applied by merely pressing the tip of the heel against segments 16 until the tip of the heel comes to rest against bottom wall 12. When not needed, the device can be readily pulled off and stored or, being very inexpensive, it may be discharded.

The two parts of the device may be suitably secured together in any suitable manner such, for example, as by staples 22.

In the embodiment of Fig. 4 the heel tip cover is shown as being molded in one piece from rubber or other resilient and elastic synthetic or natural, such as rubber, and includes bottom wall 16, side wall 12, segments 16 and reinforcing plate Ztl which correspond to the similarly numbered parts of Figs. 1 to 3. In this construction bottom wall 12 is relatively thick and side wall 10' and segment 16 are slightly tapered so as to facilitate folding of the segments as shown in Fig. 4.

What I claim is:

l. A detachable cover for the tip of a heel, said cover including a bottom wall and a side wall coacting to form a cup-shaped member, and integral segments folded across the top of said cup-shaped member generally parallel to said bottom wall, at least said segments being flexible whereby, upon insertion of the tip of the heel into said enclosure, said segments are folded downwardly into said cup-shaped member and engage the sides of said tip.

2. A detachable cover for the tip of a heel, said cover including a bottom wall and a side wall coacting to form a cup-shaped member, and an inverted cup-shaped member including a side wall adapted to fit snugly within the side wall of said cup-shaped member and with its bottom wall forming a closure which is disposed parallel to the bottom wall of said cup-shaped member, the bottom Wall of said inverted cup-shaped member being slotted to form segments which are foldable downwardly into said cup-shaped member by insertion of the tip of the heel into said cup-shaped member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,875,806 Givens Sept. 6, 1932