US3373512A - Foot cover - Google Patents

Description

March 19, 1968 S. H. JACOBSON 3,373,52

FOOT COVER vFiled Aug. 24, 1966 United States Patent O 3,373,512 FOOT COVER Sidney H. Jacobson, 11880 Conway Road, St. Louis, Mo. 63131 Filed Aug. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 574,774 Claims. (Cl. i6-7.1)

ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE The device consists of a unitary, thermally insulative, very lightweight shoe cover of a rigid foam material, sized to slip over the regular shoe, to lkeep the wearers foot warm but not to be walked in, the same to be readily portable so as to be carried to athletic events, and, While there, to be applied over the street shoe to keep the wearers foot warm. It can give some foot protection against being crushed.

The present invention relates to a foot cover or overshoe of a type that can be tted over regular street shoes to keep the wearers feet warm, but which is not to be walked in.

In its preferred form, the invention consists of a shoe cover of a shape to iit around the bottom and sides of the shoe of a person wearing ordinary street shoes and to cover the top of the instep. This portion should be made of one of the relatively rigid, but very lightweight, foam materials, such as a molded or cast polystyrene, typified by Styrofoam. Since this material is relatively rigid, the preferred form has a slot up the back and relatively horizontal slots along the heel to give its side walls at the rear added flexibility, so that a foot covered with a street shoe can be inserted. It also may have a spat that can be attached to the top to cover the wearers ankle. It is not designed to have heating means used in it, as this is not ordinarily necessary. Since it is of foam material, it is extremely light in weight and, therefore, is not uncomfortable if the wearer wishes to cross his legs or to lift his feet other-wise. However, it is not normally suiiiciently strong to be walked in, as it may be broken or crushed by the strains applied thereby to it. However, it does give protection against falling objects and can be used as a device for that purpose.

Prior art boots that fit over street or other regular shoes have usually been made of very heavy material because they are intended to be walked in as well as worn when not Walking. This makes them bulky, costly, and uncomfortable. Many of them have had heating means in them of various types, but this only adds weight complication and cost. Prior art has also had rigid forms, but these were hinged or otherwise designed so that they could be opened to permit their being applied over the shoe. This involved multiple parts, Whereas the present invention consists of a single element for its basic structure, which element is in itself adequate for the principal protection of the foot. The additional parts, such as a heel strap or a spat, are not essential to the basic foot protection.

Objects of the invention are incorporated in the above and in the description to follow.

In the drawing:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a basic foot cover of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse section on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section along the middle axis of the cover;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the heel portion modified by a heel slot;

Patented Mar. 19, 1968 ICC FIGURE 5 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 5 5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a further embodiment having a heel strap for the vertical heel slot; and

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the device with a spat.

The heel cover of the present invention consists of an overshoe member generally designated 10, made of shaped and preferably molded cast polystyrene foam which is very light in weight, but which can be an excellent heat insulator. This may be molded in two pieces, such as a bottom portion having a bottom wall 11, and an integral and continuous side wall having one side 12, a front 13, and an opposite side 14. The two sides merge in a heel portion 15 that is provided with a slot 16, preferably vertical and preferably extending substantially to the bottom or sole portion 11.

In one embodiment, cemented across the forepart of the above-mentioned unitary lower portion is an instep cover 18 that may be joined integrally to the lower part along a seam 19 that constitutes the forepart of the upper edge of the walls 12-14. These parts may be cast integrally. The instep cover 18 is curved upwardly and backwardly from the toe, so that it can accommodate a foot Within a street shoe. This cover 18, the side walls 12 and 14, and the heel portion .15 provide an opening through which a foot enclosed in a regular shoe may be inserted. Preferably, this opening provides a snug tit.

The interior of the above-described foot cover is somewhat larger than the street shoe and normally will be made in a single shape for both right and left feet. The walls are thick enough to give adequate insulation. The bottom Wall should be thick enough to elevate the foot above a wet floor as these covers may be used by people sitting in stadia at football games when the weather is rainy or snowy.

The foot cover or overshoe then gives a good heat and Water insulation to keep the users feet warm and dry.

If material is used of great rigidity, the vertical slit 16 may be supplemented by one or more horizontal heel slots 20. This provides an arrangement in which the two sides of the heel portion project rearwardly in a manner that permits them to expand freely laterally from the slot 16 when the cover is applied over a shoe.

As shown in FIGURE 6, a back strap 22 may be snapped by snap fasteners 23 across the slit 16. This is designed to prevent the heel portion from expanding when the cover is in use. It may, if desired, be made from elastic material so that it does not have to be removed when the cover is put on.

In FIGURE 7 a spat arrangement 25 is shown as secured to the principal cover by snap fasteners 26. This may have an appropriate ankle band 27 that may -be of elastic material or otherwise arranged so that it can snugly grasp the ankle of the wearer. Since it tits down over the main cover, any rain or the like falling on the instep or upper part of the wearers foot will be conducted downwardly outside of the main cover.

In use, these covers can be readily carried to the point Iwhere they are to be worn. Each one of them weighs only a few ounces, since they are made of foam material, even though the walls may lbe upward to a half an inch or so thick. They can be manufactured very cheaply and, indeed, so cheaply that they can be sold and thrown away after one usage such as at an athletic event.

Various changes and modifications may be made within the process of this invention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teachings of this invention as dened by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In a readily portable, lightweight foot cover adapted to be applied over a shoe: a solid shoe-shaped member of lightweight foam plastic, heat insulating material, the member being relatively rigid and unpliable but the plastic material being frangible under normal forces applied to overshoes when walked in; the member having a thick sole portion at the bottom, with unitary side walls rising therefrom to surround a shoe of a wearer at bottom and sides, and a unitary top over the toe and instep part, the sides and top providing a shoe-receiving opening of size and shape to admit a shoe-covered foot therethrough the member being shaped to receive either a right or a left shoe.

2. The foot cover of claim 1 wherein the member has a dividing slot at the back to enable the side walls resistingly to yield laterally to enable a wearer to insert his shoe therein more readily.

3. The foot cover of claim 2, with a releasable device to span the slot and hold the sides against lateral separation.

4. The foot cover of claim 3 wherein the releasable device is a resilient strap.

5. The foot cover of claim 2 with a horizontal slot in the side walls at the back to render the side walls more yieldable.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 172,23() 1/1876 Wilkins 36-2.5 2,912,771 11/1959 Harrison 36-2.5 3,169,326 2/ 1965 Butera 36-2.5

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

Images