US20110138514A1

US20110138514A1 - Wet Chap

Info

Publication number: US20110138514A1
Application number: US12/637,606
Authority: US
Inventors: Latessa Morris; Victoria A. Cogdill
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-12-14
Filing date: 2009-12-14
Publication date: 2011-06-16

Abstract

A protective cover for covering a leg of a user may include an elongated tubular protective covering for covering a portion of the leg and shoe of the user, the protective covering including a passageway for the leg and shoe of the user, a first material gathering portion corresponding to the ankle of the user, a second material gathering portion corresponding to the upper edge of the protective covering and a third material gathering portion corresponding to the lower edge of the protective covering. The first gathering portion may be positioned on the front of the protective covering, and the first gathering portion may be substantially horizontal. The second gathering portion may extend around the periphery of the protective covering, and the third gathering portion may extend around the periphery of the protective covering. The protective cover may be formed from water impervious material, and the first gathering portion may include elastic.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to articles for protecting a user's pants and shoes from soiling and more particularly pertains to a lower leg and foot cover for covering the knee and lower leg regions of a user's pants and the front of the user's shoes from soiling and soaking.

BACKGROUND

The use of articles for protecting a user's pants and shoes from soiling is known in the prior art. More specifically, articles for protecting a user's pants and shoes from soiling heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,924 discloses an elongated tubular protective cover for a cast enclosed body limb portion is provided and at least one end of the protective cover is open and includes an elongated flexible seal band of water impervious material carried by one end of the cover and for wrapping about that end and the adjacent limb portion disposed outwardly of the cover in an edge overlapping spiral manner in order to form a fluid tight seal between the cover and the adjacent limb portion. The cover includes inner and outer telescopingly engaged tubular member constructed of flexible fluid impervious material and the inner tubular member includes features rendering it pervious to air flow therethrough. Also, at least one moisture absorptive spacing member is disposed between the outer and inner surfaces of the inner and outer tubular members. A first form of cover is closed at the end thereof remote from the flexible seal band whereby the terminal end portion of a body limb may be fully enclosed within the cover and a second form of cover is open at both ends with each end equipped with a flexible seal band.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,555 discloses a lower leg and foot cover for covering the knee and lower leg regions of a user's pants and the front of the user's shoes from soiling and soaking. The lower leg and foot cover includes a knee cover which is coupled to an upper end of a flexible lower leg cover. A flexible shoe cover is coupled to a lower end of the lower leg cover. Flexible straps are provided for securing the knee cover and the lower leg cover to the wearer's leg.

SUMMARY

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a protective cover of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of another protective cover of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the protective cover of the present invention being positioned to cover a leg and shoe of a user;

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the front of the protective cover of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates another cross-sectional view of the front of the protective cover of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates another cross-sectional view of the side of the protective cover of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a bottom view of the protective cover of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a top view of the protective cover of the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities that care for the elderly and sick, caregivers may have to provide for washing of the patients. It is usually unwieldy and may be unsafe for these patients to be placed in a bathtub to be washed. Likewise, these patients may not be able to stand by themselves in a shower in order to be washed. Under these circumstances, a typical procedure is to place the patient in a chair in a shower or other area that may be drained. The caregiver may use a hose which may be flexible and which is connected to a water supply on one end and connected to a showerhead on the other end. The caregiver is now able to apply soap and water on all sides of the patient. While this procedure may be satisfactory for the patients, the resulting splash from the patient may adversely affect the caregivers clothes, particularly, the lower surface of pants and the upper surface of the shoes of the caregiver.
Since the safety of the caregiver should be given consideration, the bottom surface of the sole of the shoe of the caregiver should be able to contact the floor/shower floor (the support surface) in order to avoid slipping on the wet and soapy floor. Extending a protective cover over the bottom surface of the sole of the shoes of the caretaker may result in a tripping hazard. The present invention provides an elongated flexible tubular protective cover 100 that may be adapted to allow the sole of the shoe of the caregiver to contact the floor of the area where the shower is being given. The protective cover 100 may extend to the lower leg region or alternatively may extend above the knee. The protective cover 100 may be for protecting the wearer's lower leg region and the wearer's shoe from soiling and splatters such as from soap, water, splashes, precipitation, paint over-spray, and even cement and plaster splatters and spills. The protective cover 100 may be formed from flexible or semi-rigid, water impervious material such as plastic or other appropriate material. The protective member 100 may be substantially L-shaped when being used as illustrated in FIG. 3 and maybe shaped as a elongated tubular device and may be formed from a substantial cylinder as illustrated in FIG. 1 or may be formed from a truncated cone shaped object such as illustrated in FIG. 2.
FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the protective cover 100 which may include a leg covering portion 101 which may cover a portion of the leg and a shoe covering portion 103 which may cover the upper and side surfaces of the shoe of the caregiver. The protective cover 100 may include a bottom aperture 105 to allow the bottom surface of the shoe of the caregiver to be exposed to the support surface 107 which may be a floor or ground. The upper aperture 108 is connected to and defines a passageway 106 which may extend to be connected to the bottom aperture 105. The protective cover 100 may include a material gathering portion 109 which may be adjacent to or at the interface between the leg covering portion 101 and the shoe covering portion 103 in order to gather excess material of the protective cover 100 which may be a tripping hazard for the caregiver. The first material gathering portion 109 may be elastic material which may be sewn into the protective cover 100 and may be substantially horizontally oriented and positioned to correspond and to cooperate with the ankle of the caregiver. The first material gathering portion 109 may only extend around a portion of the periphery and may expand in order to allow the shoe of the caregiver to pass through and then may contract in order gather the material of the protective cover 100 together to prevent it from becoming a tripping hazard. The protective cover 100 may include an upper aperture 109 to allow the foot and leg to be placed into the protective cover 100. The top edge 111 which may be defined by the upper aperture 109 may include a first peripheral substantially fluid tight seal 101 (as illustrated in FIG. 4) between the top edge 111 and the leg of the caregiver. The top edge may include or be adjacent to a second material gathering portion 113 which may be elastic material which may expand to allow the shoe and leg to be inserted into the leg protector 100 and contract in order to form the substantially fluid tight seal 101. The bottom edge 115 may be defined by the bottom aperture 105 and may include a second peripheral substantially fluid tight seal 117 (as illustrated in FIG. 4) between the bottom edge 115 and the side of the shoe of the caregiver. The bottom edge 115 may include or be adjacent to a third material gathering portion 119 which may be elastic material which may expand to allow the shoe to be inserted into the leg protector 100 and contract in order to form the substantially fluid tight seal 117. The bottom edge 115 may extend beyond the bottom surface of the shoe or may extend to the bottom surface of the shoe or may extend to the side surface of the shoe.
FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a front view of the protective cover 100 which may include a leg covering portion 101 which may cover a portion of the leg and a shoe covering portion 103 which may cover the upper and side surfaces of the shoe of the caregiver. FIG. 4 additionally illustrates the leg 201, the foot 203 and the shoe 205 of the caregiver. The protective cover 100 may include a bottom aperture 105 to allow the bottom surface of the shoe of the caregiver to be exposed to the support surface 107 which may be a floor or ground. The protective cover 100 may include a material gathering portion 109 which may be adjacent to or at the interface between the leg covering portion 101 and the shoe covering portion 103 in order to gather excess material of the protective cover 100 which may be a tripping hazard for the caregiver. The first material gathering portion 109 (and the second material gathering portion 113 and the third material gathering portion 119) may be elastic material which may be sewn into the protective cover 100 and may be substantially horizontally oriented and positioned to correspond and to cooperate with the ankle of the caregiver. The first material gathering portion 109 may only extend around a portion of the periphery and may expand in order to allow the shoe of the caregiver or user to pass through and then may contract in order gather the material of the protective cover 100 together to prevent it from becoming a tripping hazard. The protective cover 100 may include an upper aperture 109 to allow the foot and leg to be placed into the protective cover 100. The top edge 111 which may be defined by the upper aperture 109 may include a first peripheral substantially fluid tight seal 101 (as illustrated in FIG. 4) between the top edge 111 and the leg of the caregiver. The top edge may include or be adjacent to a second material gathering portion 113 which may be elastic material which may expand to allow the shoe and leg to be inserted into the leg protector 100 and contract in order to form the substantially fluid tight seal 101. The bottom edge 115 may be defined by the bottom aperture 105 and may include a second peripheral substantially fluid tight seal 117 (as illustrated in FIG. 4) between the bottom edge 115 and the side of the shoe of the caregiver. The bottom edge 115 may include or be adjacent to a third material gathering portion 119 which may be elastic material which may expand to allow the shoe to be inserted into the leg protector 100 and contract in order to form the substantially fluid tight seal 117. The bottom edge 115 may extend beyond the bottom surface of the shoe or may extend to the bottom surface of the shoe or may extend to the side surface of the shoe.
FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the protective cover 100 which may include a leg covering portion 101 which may cover a portion of the leg and a shoe covering portion 103 which may cover the upper and side surfaces of the shoe of the caregiver. FIG. 6 additionally illustrates the leg 201, the foot 203 and the shoe 205 of the caregiver. The protective cover 100 may include a bottom aperture 105 to allow the bottom surface of the shoe of the caregiver to be exposed to the support surface 107 which may be a floor or ground. The protective cover 100 may include a material gathering portion 109 which may be adjacent to or at the interface between the leg covering portion 101 and the shoe covering portion 103 in order to gather excess material of the protective cover 100 which may be a tripping hazard for the caregiver. The first material gathering portion 109 may be elastic material which may be sewn into the protective cover 100 and may be substantially horizontally oriented and positioned to correspond and to cooperate with the ankle of the caregiver. The first material gathering portion 109 may only extend around a portion of the periphery and may expand in order to allow the shoe of the caregiver to pass through and then may contract in order gather the material of the protective cover 100 together to prevent it from becoming a tripping hazard. The protective cover 100 may include an upper aperture 109 to allow the foot and leg to be placed into the protective cover 100. The top edge 111 which may be defined by the upper aperture 109 may include a first peripheral substantially fluid tight seal 101 (as illustrated in FIG. 4) between the top edge 111 and the leg of the caregiver. The top edge may include or be adjacent to a second material gathering portion 113 which may be elastic material which may expand to allow the shoe and leg to be inserted into the leg protector 100 and contract in order to form the substantially fluid tight seal 101. The bottom edge 115 may be defined by the bottom aperture 105 and may include a second peripheral substantially fluid tight seal 117 (as illustrated in FIG. 6) between the bottom edge 115 and the side of the shoe of the caregiver. The bottom edge 115 may include or be adjacent to a third material gathering portion 119 which may be elastic material which may expand to allow the shoe to be inserted into the leg protector 100 and contract in order to form the substantially fluid tight seal 117. The bottom edge 115 may extend beyond the bottom surface of the shoe or may extend to the bottom surface of the shoe or may extend to the side surface of the shoe.
FIG. 7 illustrates a bottom view of the protective cover member 100 of the present invention and illustrates the bottom aperture 105, the bottom edge 115 and the third material gathering portion 119. FIG. 7 additionally illustrates the bottom surface of the sole of the shoe 205.
The present invention may be used to cover a cast positioned on the leg or foot or both.
FIG. 8 illustrates a top view of the protective member 100 of the present invention and illustrates the top aperture 108, the top edge 111 and the second material gathering portion 113.
The tubular elongated protective cover may be formed from a sheet of plastic or other water impervious material, and the sides of the sheet of plastic may be welded or joined together by a appropriate device to form a hem which may extend horizontally on the back side of the protective cover.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.

Claims

1) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user, comprising:

an elongated tubular protective covering for covering a portion of the leg and shoe of the user;

the protective covering including a passageway for the leg and shoe of the user;

a first material gathering portion corresponding to the ankle of the user;

a second material gathering portion corresponding to the upper edge of the protective covering; and

a third material gathering portion corresponding to the lower edge of the protective covering.

2) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the first gathering portion is positioned on the front of the protective covering.

3) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the first gathering portion is substantially horizontal.

4) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the second gathering portion extends around the periphery of the protective covering.

5) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the third gathering portion extends around the periphery of the protective covering.

6) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the protective covering is formed from water impervious material.

7) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the first gathering portion includes elastic.

8) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the second gathering portion includes elastic.

9) A protective cover for covering a leg of a user as in claim 1, wherein the third gathering portion includes elastic.