US20050246921A1

US20050246921A1 - Reusable shoe shield equipped with a zipper with a back pocket and seasoned grooves

Info

Publication number: US20050246921A1
Application number: US10/837,583
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank Baek
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-05-04
Filing date: 2004-05-04
Publication date: 2005-11-10

Abstract

A reusable, elastic shoe shield for protecting formal shoes from being stained by contaminants such as dirt, grass and mud is provided. The shoe shield is made of flexible, resilient and elastic material. The shoe shield has an upper portion and a sole portion. A zipper with a back pocket is provided on the front portion of the upper portion. The upper portion and the sole portion are sealed by a heat sealing method. Pluralities of grooves seasoned on the sole portion vertically against the long axis of the shield enables the shoe shield to roll up, compacting into a pocket size.

Description

The present invention generally relates to a shoe shield.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For a place where formal attire is necessary, one also wears formal shoes. For example, take an outdoor wedding. If the attendees walk in the grass or dirt, it will soil their shoes. A similar situation occurs at social garden parties, funerals, and church services held outdoors. Most shoe covers introduced until now have been disposable. However, making a shoe shield durable for heavy duty use and/or narrow high-heel soles is almost impossible when attempting to meet the price necessary to sell a disposable one. One of the purposes of this invention is to provide a shoe shield which is both durable and easy to store for reuse. Materials are developed for flexibility, resiliency and elasticity.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention specifically relates to a reusable shoe shield prepared for compact packing by means of rolling up the shield along the seasoned grooves developed on the bottom sole and upper portions of the shield.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 1,603,923 to Powers Jr. illustrates an overshoe for ladies' shoes made of rubber and sock shape which is partly wearable on a shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 2,171,654 to Hincliff et al. illustrates a protector for shoes which has a hole for rear heel of ladies' shoes. U.S. Pat. No. 2,479,006 to Garth illustrates an overshoe made of vinyl material and equipped with a zipper. U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,459 to Colman illustrates a lint-free shoe cover made of non-resilient 200 denier to 300 denier threads. U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,247 to Mackay illustrates a decorative shoe covering for ladies' shoes made of multi-layered different materials. U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,421 to Liebmann et al. illustrates a decorative cover for ladies' shoes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,291 to Moore et al. illustrates a disposable foot covering comprised of a film or sheet material marginally sealed together. U.S. Pat. No. 3,634,954 to Larsen et al. illustrates a disposable shoe covering made of heat shrink film. U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,124 to Michalak illustrates a protective shoe covering of a single piece of flexible material having an upper section and heel, toe and sole covering portions with an opening in its upper section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,491 to Plotkin illustrates a disposable overshoe having a plurality of foldlines for packing the overshoe into a compact container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,759 to Mascotte illustrates a shoe covering member comprised of a covering member having a shape of an upper section of a shoe and a bottom member which is sealingly engaged with a sole of the shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,313 to Dowdy, et al. illustrates a slippery type article composed of a hydrophobic material such as rip stop nylon. This aids the entry and withdrawal of a foot through the narrow leg openings of wet suits, dry suits and wet suit booties. U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,717 to Bell illustrates a convertible overshoe for disposition on one primary shoe and being convertible for disposition on a larger primary shoe. Each of said primary shoes has an outer surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,704 to March illustrates a disposable, elastic shoe cover for protecting shoes against inclement weather conditions and sharp or abrasive objects. The shoe cover material may be translucent and does not significantly detract from the aesthetic appearance of the shoe. The elasticity of the material allows the shoe cover to hug the shoe to minimize slipping between the shoe and the shoe cover. The shoe cover has a front portion, a rear portion and a sole portion. The shoe cover comes pre-disposed in folded or rolled form and associated packaging which allows for convenient transport or storage of the shoe cover. The shoe cover may be pulled onto a shoe or may be in part unrolled directly onto the shoe.
None of the prior art shows a re-usable shoe cover that is easy to roll-up compactly into a pocket size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The re-usable shoe cover of the current invention includes a sole portion and an upper portion. The shoe shield is comprised of a material that is flexible, elastic, and waterproof. The transparency of the shoe shield is easily controlled from transparent to opaque by adding proper master batches containing coloring agents. Bottom of the upper portion is sealed on the sole along the perimeter. A zipper with a back pocket is attached between the front part of the upper portion and the opening portion of the shoe shield. Pluralities of grooves are developed on the bottom surface of the sole with seasoned intervals, increasing/decreasing from the heel side of the sole. Such seasoned intervals enable an easy rolling up of the shoe shield into a small pocket size. The zipper with back pocket may be attached to various positions on one of the sides. The back pocket of the zipper prevents water and dusts from getting inside of the shoe shield through the openings between the teeth of the zipper. The zipper with back pocket prevents the jamming of the fastening string of the shoe inside thereof and allows easy access of feet of different shapes such as wide toe portion, high instep, and other different types of feet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an expanded perspective view of a re-usable shoe shield in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged drawing of the zipper on the front part of the shoe shield when it is open.
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of the zipper and back pocket blocking moisture from the shoe inside.
FIG. 4-a is a schematic drawing that shows how a fastening string of a shoe inside is jammed between the zipper.
FIG. 4-b is a schematic drawing that shows how the back pocket of the zipper prevents a fastening string of a shoe inside from being jammed between the zippers.
FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the sole of the shoe shield in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 6-a is a schematic drawing of the side view of a shoe shield with fixed distance of grooves and when it is rolled up.
FIG. 6-b is a schematic drawing of side view of a shoe shield with seasoned distance of grooves when it is rolled up.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an expanded perspective view of a re-usable shoe shield (1) in accordance with the invention. The shoe shield (1) is comprised of a sole (2), an upper portion (3), and a zipper (4) with a back pocket (5). Bottom (3-1) of the upper portion (3) is sealed on the sole (2) along the perimeter (2-1) by heat sealing method. A zipper (4) with back pocket (5) is attached between the front part of the upper portion and opening portion of the shoe shield (1). A re-usable shoe shield (1) of the current invention is comprised of a material that is flexible, elastic, waterproof, and which is of a size and shape as to be retained resiliently on a shoe. The material is comprised of, including but not limited, mixtures of flexible grade PVC (polyvinyl chloride), Polyurethane, EPR(Ethylene-Propylene Rubber), SBR (Styrene-Butyl Rubber), Nylon 66, VLDPE (Very Low Density Poly Ethylene), and EP(D)M (Copolymer of Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer). The transparency of the shoe shield is (1) easily controlled from transparent to opaque by adding proper master batches containing coloring agents such as carbon black. The materials for the upper portion and sole may be different.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged drawing of the zipper (4) on the front part of the shoe shield (1) when it is open. The zipper (4), in accordance with the invention, has a back pocket (5). The side sheet (4-2) of the zipper (4) and the back pocket (5) are sealed to the upper portion (3) along the perimeters (4-1) of the side sheet (4-2) of the zipper (4). The zipper (4) can be made of solid material such as Aluminum, Brass, Nylon and PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride).
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of the zipper (4) and back pocket (5) blocking moistures (6) from the shoe inside (7). The roles of the back pocket (5) of the zipper (4) are as follows. When the ground is wet, moisture or fine water droplets (6) can permeate into the shield (1) through the voids (4-3) between the teeth (4-4) of the zipper (4). The back pocket (5) retains the moisture or water drops (6) penetrated in the pocket and keeps the shoe (7), inside of the shield (1), dry.
FIG. 4-a and FIG. 4-b are additional schematic drawings of the zipper (4) and back pocket (5) to show the mechanism of preventing jamming of the shoestrings (8). Many shoes have fastening strings to control fitting of a shoe to the wearer's foot. If the zipper (4) is not supported by a back pocket as shown in the FIG. 4-a, the fastening string (8) of the shoe (7) inside of the shoe shield (1) would be easily jammed between the teeth of the zipper (4). However, if the zipper (4) is provided with a back pocket, the fastening string (8) of the shoe (7) inside of the shield (1) lays below the back pocket (5). Therefore, there is no possibility of the shoestring (8) being jammed between the teeth of the zipper (4).
Because of the back pocket (5) of the zipper (4), it is possible for a person of high instep to open the zipper (4) and wear the shoe shield (1) without exposing the shoe (7) inside the shoe shield (1). The back pocket also prevents scratching of the shoe (7) by the zipper (4).
The zipper (4) with back pocket (5) can be attached any portion of the sides (3) which comprises an upper portion as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the sole (2) of the shoe shield (1) in accordance with the invention. Pluralities of grooves (9) are developed on the bottom surface of the sole (2) perpendicular to the long axis of the sole (2). The distances (10) between each grooves (9) are seasoned as narrow at the heel side (2-2) and increases as closer to the toe side (2-3). Reverse seasoning is also possible.
FIG. 6-a is a schematic drawing of side view of a shoe shield (1) with fixed distance (10) of grooves (9) when it is rolled up. And FIG. 6-b is a schematic drawing of side view of a shoe shield (1) with seasoned distance (10) of grooves (9) when it is rolled up. Whatever the depth (11) of the groove, it takes space when it is rolled up in a small space. As shown in FIG. 6-a, when the distances (10) are fixed, the grooves (9) form space (11) between the sole (2) surface when the sole (2) is rolled up. If the distances (10) are seasoned, and there is enough distance, the sole (2) surface can contact directly to the next sole (2) surface of the next role. As a result the thickness (12) of the rolled up shoe shield (2) of the seasoned groove distance (10) is smaller than that of the non seasoned groove distance (10) shoe shield.

Claims

1. A re-usable shoe shield, which is comprised of a sole made of flexible plastic sheet provided with pluralities of grooves developed on the bottom surface of the sole perpendicular to the long axis, an upper portion made of one piece of flexible plastic sheet, and a zipper with a back pocket attached on the front part of the upper portion.

2. The re-usable shoe shield of claim 1, wherein the distance between the grooves, developed on the bottom surface of the sole, gradually increases from the heel portion of the sole.

3. The re-usable shoe shield of claim 1, wherein the Zipper with a back pocket are sealed to the sides by a heat sealing method.