US3618232A

US3618232A - Sleeved boot

Info

Publication number: US3618232A
Application number: US31647A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael Shnuriwsky
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-02-19
Filing date: 1970-04-24
Publication date: 1971-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 1988-11-09
Also published as: CA869238A

Abstract

A BOOT HAVING A RELATIVELY STIFF UPPER TERMINATING IN A FOOT RECEIVING MOUTH OPENING AND FLEXIBLE TUBULAR SLEEVE HAVING ONE END SECURED ABOUT SAID MOUNT OPENING AND MOVABLE FROM A RETRACTED POSITION EMBRACING THE BOOT TO AN EXTENDED POSITION ABOVE THE BOOT AND A CLOSURE PREFER-

ABLY IN THE FORM OF A DRAWSTRING ON THE OTHER END OF THE SLEEVE.

Description

Nov. 9, 1971 M. SHNURIWSKY SLEEVED BOOT Filed April 24, 1970 INVENTOR Michael SHNURIWSKY ATTORNEY f United States Patent Oflice 3,618,232 Patented Nov. 9, 1971 3,618,232 SLEEVED BOOT Michael Shnuriwsky, 547 45th Ave., Ville La Salle, Quebec, Canada Filed Apr. 24, 1970, Ser. No. 31,647 Claims priority, application Canada, Feb. 19, 1969,

75,372 Int. Cl. A43b 3/00 U.S. Cl. 361.5 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A boot having a relatively stiff upper terminating in a foot receiving mouth opening and a flexible tubular sleeve having one end secured about said mouth opening and movable from a retracted position embracing the boot to an extended position above the boot and a closure preferably in the form of a drawstring on the other end of the sleeve.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of the invention The present invention relates to a boot. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mukluk type boot with a relatively stiff ankle or leg embracing portion having a flexible and retractable snow cuff connected theretol,

(b) Description of prior *art Generally, mukluks whether high, low or medium cut, are pile-lined substantially to the top of the boot. This pile lining results in a relatively inflexible upper that cannot be easily deformed to intimately embrace the leg of the wearer. Laces are provided on such boots, but normally these laces do not and are not intended to be tightened and distort the boot. As a result of this structure, the open mouth of these tnukluk type boots does not snugly embrace the leg of the wearer and, therefore, does not prevent the ingress of snow or the like down between the top of the boot and the leg of the wearer. For this reason, mukluk type boots are generally not as satisfactory as some other types of boots for use in deep snow or similar conditions.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is the main object of the present invention to provide a convertible snow cuff on a boot having a relatively stiff upper including a leg embracing section.

Broadly, the present invention relates to 'a boot having a stiff ankle embracing portion defining a mouth opening for receiving the foot of the wearer, a flexible sleeve, one end of said sleeve being secured completely about the mouth of said boot and the opposite end of said sleeve having means to adjust the diameter of the sleeve to permit the sleeve to tightly embrace the leg of a wearer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Further features, objects and advantages will be evident from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the present invention showing the flexible sleeve in extended position;

FIG. 2 is a section along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the sleeve in retracted position embracing the top of the boot;

FIG. 4 is a section along the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section similar to FIG. 4 but showing the sleeve connected on the inside of the boot.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in the drawings, the boot is a mukluk type boot having an upper formed with a shank or an ankle and leg embracing portion 12 that may be extended to the desired height to form either a low, high or intermedlate cut boot. These boots are moccasin style having seams extending along the shank of the upper and over the toe portion and covered with a suitable binding as indicated at 15. The boot is lined preferably with a heavy pile lining 14 (see FIGS. 2, 3, 4, or 5) which renders the ankle and leg embracing portion relatively stiff so that when the laces are tightened, the open end or mouth 18 of the boot normally will not be drawn to snugly embrace the leg of the wearer. Even if the laces 16 are tightened to cause the upper section 12 to buckle, normally such buckling will not be uniform about the periphery of the mouth of the boot but will result in one or more large folds which do not provide proper contact of the mouth 18 with the leg of the wearer. While such large folds will tend to reduce the amount of snow that can slide into the boot between the boot and the wearer, it still requires improvement both from the point of view of stopping the snow and the difficulty of tying the boot in this manner.

The present invention overcomes the above defects without detracting from the aesthetic appearance of the boot by providing a specific sleeve or cuff structure 20 which is secured in a special way about the mouth of the boot 10. This sleeve or cuff 20 may be decorated in any suitable manner, for example with racing strips or with fur that may, for example, be turned in toward the leg when the sleeve is in upwardly extending position, or exposed when the sleeve is down over the boot, or the same or different decorations may be provided on opposite sides of the sleeve.

To retain the aesthetic appearance of this type of boot and yet overcome the above defects, it has been found that the sleeve or cuff 20 must be sewn or otherwise secured to the top mouth opening 18 of the boot 10 in a manner such that the binding strip 22 will be exposed when the sleeve or cuff 20 is in its lowered position. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4 inclusive, the sleeve is positioned between the binding strip 22 and the outer surface 24 of the boot 10 and is secured in position by means of stiching 26.

It has been found that the height of this sleeve should not be less than about 1 inch to provide adequate length for tying about the leg of the wearer when in the up position, and should never exceed about 60% of the height of the shank, the height of the shank being measured from the inside sole of the boot at the heel to the top of the mouth opening 18, if the required appearance is to be maintained.

It is also preferred to fabricate the sleeve or cuff 20 of the self-supporting material. By a self-supporting material is meant one that has sufficient body to support itself in upright position above the top of the boot and yet sufficiently flexible to be easily conformed to match with the leg of the wearer to prevent snow or other foreign material from entering the boot. The preferred method for obtaining this strength characteristic of the sleeve is to impregnate the material from which it is made with a suitable resin, preferably with a resin that will also enhance the water-proofness and snow-resistance characteristics of the material.

The sleeve 20 of FIGS. 1 to 4 is formed from a single piece of fabric folded upon itself to form a double layer and secured together along line 27 (see FIGS. 1 and 3) to form a tubular sleeve.

A pair of eyelets 28 are provided through one layer of the material adjacent the folded free edge 29 of the sleeve and a drawstring 30 is passed through one of the eyelets 28 around the sleeve 20 and out through the other of the eyelets 28 to form a drawstring adjacent the free edge 29 of the sleeve. A line of stitching 32 parallel to the folded free edge 29 of the sleeve 20 defines with the edge 29 a channel or passage 34 for the drawstring (see FIGS. 2, 4 and The edge 36 formed by the ends of the folded fabric is secured to the boot under the binding 22 as described hereinabove. If desired, instead of a double layer sleeve, a single layer sleeve may be used. In the latter case, one layer of the sleeve would terminate spaced from the folded free edge 29 at a location slightly beyond the line of stitching 32 forming the channel 34.

In operation, the sleeve is used as a storm cuff by extending the sleeve to its uppermost position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and drawing the drawstring 30 to tighten the flexible sleeve 20 to snugly embrace the leg of the wearer and prevent snow or the like from sliding into the top of the boot. The drawstring may simply be tied in this position in the conventional way. When not in use, the sleeve 20 may be moved to its retracted position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 by sliding the sleeve down the outside of the boot as illustrated. In this latter position the sleeve is out of the way to facilitate putting on or taking off the boot (if the sleeve were always extended, it would be more difiicult to put on and take off the boot). In FIGS. 3 and 4, the channel 34 forming a portion of the sleeve 20 is folded up to expose the eyelets 28 and the drawstring 30. This folded up position of the free edge 29 is unnecessary but has been illustrated to show one arrangement of the sleeve when retracted.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, a single layered sleeve 20 has been illustrated and the sleeve 20' has been secured on the inside of the boot adjacent the pile lining 14 rather than outside as was the sleeve 20. The sleeve 20' is secured to the boot by means of the binding strip 22 and the line of stitching 26 in the same manner as the sleeve 20. The sleeve 20' has parts similar to the parts of sleeve 20 and these similar parts have been indicated by corresponding reference numerals. In the arrangement of FIG. 5, the sleeve 20 may be drawn from the boot and used as a storm cuff or may be inserted into the boot as illustrated to a retracted hidden position.

The embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4 is generally preferred to that of FIG. 5, since the FIG. 5 embodiment provides a ridge at the connection of the sleeve to the boot which may trap snow or the like that may easily fall into the boot when the sleeve is moved from its snow cuff position to its retracted position.

In each of the embodiments, a drawstring has been shown as the closure for the top of the sleeve when in extended position. Obviously, other types of closures may be used if desired, however, the drawstring provides a simple yet economical and efiicient manner of drawing the sleeve into snug embracing position with the leg to prevent the penetration of snow into the boot.

What is claimed is:

1. A boot comprising a stiff, not easily deformed upper terminating in a foot receiving mouth opening, a flexible tubular sleeve, means securing one axial end of said sleeve to said boot completely about said mouth opening and adjustable closure means adjacent the other axial end of said sleeve, said sleeve being foldable upon itself from an extended position wherein said other end is spaced from said boot to a retracted position wherein said other end contacts said upper below said mouth opening, said adjustable closure means being adjustable to close said other end of said sleeve into snug contact with a leg of a wearer or with said upper depending on the position of said sleeve.

2. A boot as defined in claim 1 wherein said mouth opening is partially defined by a binding strip and wherein said sleeve is connected to said mouth opening in a manner to expose at least an upper part of said binding strip when said sleeve is in retracted position.

3. A boot as defined in claim 1 wherein said sleeve is self-supporting.

4. A boot as defined in claim 1 wherein said sleeve is longer than one inch and is less than of the height of the shank of the boot in axial length.

5. A boot as defined in claim 4 wherein said closure means is a drawstring.

6. A boot as defined in claim 2 wherein said sleeve is self-supporting.

7. A boot as defined in claim 6 wherein said sleeve is longer than one inch and less than 60% of the height of the shank of said boot in axial length.

8. A boot as defined in claim 7 wherein said closure means is a drawstring.

9. A boot as defined in claim 8 wherein said means securing comprises said binding strip overlying said mouth and said one end and stitching through said binding strip said sleeve and said upper.

10. A boot as defined in claim 8 wherein said sleeve is formed from two plys and is coated with a water resistant stiffening resin.

11. A boot as defined in claim 8 wherein said means securing includes said binding strip which overlies said mouth and said one end and stitching through said binding strip, said sleeve and said upper and wherein said sleeve is secured to the outer surface of said boot and is formed from material coated with a water resistant stiffening resin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,473,099 6/1949 Hatch 36-1 1,090,223 3/1914 McNeer 361.5 452,158 5/1891 Beige. et al 361.5 X

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 618 2332 Dated November 9 l9'7l Invent0r(s) Michael Shnuriwsky It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

The priority date should read February 19, 1970 Signed and sealed this 17th day of October 1972.

( SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M..FLETGHER,JR. ROBERT GOT'ISCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents POWSO (10439) USCOMM-DC 60376 P69 U S EDVEQHMENT PRINTiNG UFFICE 9G9 0355'33