Claims
- 1. An anti-slip overshoe that fits over a shoe and enhances contact with the ground, the shoe having a forward toe portion, a rearward heel portion and a bottom for engaging the ground, the anti-slip overshoe comprising:
a single flexible elastic piece having a ball, a heel, a connecting portion, an over-toe component, and an over-heel component; the ball and heel being connected by the connecting portion and each of the ball and heel having a tread pattern, the tread pattern having a plurality of gripping ridges and a plurality of spikes, the gripping ridges being disposed to enhance traction in at least two directions; the over-toe component being operably coupled to the ball and being adapted to conformingly engage the shoe toe portion and having a plurality of apertures and a plurality of stretch zones, a stretch zone being defined between adjacent apertures; and the over-heel component being operably coupled to the heel and being adapted to conformingly engage the shoe heel portion, the over-heel component having a plurality of apertures and having a plurality of stretch zones.
- 2. The overshoe of claim 1 wherein a plurality of the apertures are formed proximate the intersection of the ball and the over-toe component, the apertures being defined by spaced-apart straps.
- 3. The overshoe of claim 2 wherein the stretch zones are comprised of the straps.
- 4. The overshoe of claim 2 wherein there are five apertures formed proximate the intersection of the ball and the over-toe component.
- 5. The overshoe of claim 2 wherein there are apertures formed proximate the intersection of the ball and the over-toe component are disposed in a substantially semi-circular disposition.
- 6. The overshoe of claim 1 wherein each of the spikes are removably disposed in a respective bore defined in the ball and heel and are secured therein so that they may be readily replaced by a user.
- 7. The overshoe of claim 1 wherein the over-toe component includes an over-toe body, the over-toe body having a plurality of apertures defined therein, a plurality of stretch zones being formed between adjacent over-toe body apertures.
- 8. The overshoe of claim 7 wherein at least three of the over-toe body apertures are equiangularly, radially disposed relative to an origin of a semi-circle.
- 9. The overshoe of claim 7 wherein a circular over-toe body aperture is radially disposed relative to an origin of a semi-circle.
- 10. The overshoe of claim 1 wherein a first portion of the ball gripping ridges are angled in a first direction and disposed in a first chevron arrangement and a second portion of the ball gripping ridges are angled in an opposed second direction and disposed in a second chevron arrangement.
- 11. The overshoe of claim 1 wherein the ball gripping ridges are radially disposed relative to an origin of a circle in a pattern of concentric circles with increasing radii.
- 12. The overshoe of claim 11 wherein the gripping ridges are formed in continuous circles.
- 13. The overshoe of claim 11 wherein the gripping ridges are formed in circles selectively interrupted by spaces.
- 14. The overshoe of claim 13 wherein every other gripping ridge is selectively interrupted by spaces.
- 15. An anti-slip overshoe that fits over a shoe and enhances contact with the ground, with the shoe having a forward toe portion, a rearward heel portion, and a bottom, the anti-slip overshoe comprising:
an over-toe component for gripping the forward toe portion of the shoe, an over-heel component for gripping the rearward heel portion of the shoe, a ball and a heel, the ball and heel each supporting spikes and having gripping ridges, the ball gripping ridges being radially disposed to present gripping action in more than two quadrants of a circle.
- 16. The overshoe of claim 15 wherein the ball gripping ridges are disposed relative to an origin of a circle in a pattern of concentric circles with increasing radii.
- 17. The overshoe of claim 15 wherein a plurality of the apertures are formed proximate an intersection of the ball and the over-toe component, the apertures being defined by spaced-apart straps.
- 18. The overshoe of claim 17 wherein a plurality of stretch zones are formed of the straps.
- 19. The overshoe of claim 17 wherein there are five apertures formed proximate the intersection of the ball and the over-toe component.
- 20. The overshoe of claim 17 wherein there are apertures formed proximate the intersection of the ball and the over-toe component are disposed in a substantially semi-circular disposition.
- 21. The overshoe of claim 15 wherein each of the spikes are removably disposed in a respective bore respectively defined in the ball and heel and are secured therein so that they may be readily replaced by a user.
- 22. The overshoe of claim 15 wherein an over-toe component includes an over-toe body, the over-toe body having a plurality of apertures defined therein, a plurality of stretch zones being formed between adjacent over-toe body apertures.
- 23. The overshoe of claim 22 wherein a circular over-toe body aperture is radially disposed relative to an origin of a semi-circle.
- 24. The overshoe of claim 15 wherein the gripping ridges are formed in continuous circles.
- 25. The overshoe of claim 15 wherein the gripping ridges are formed in circles selectively interrupted by spaces.
- 26. A method of minimizing slippage of a shoe on a ground surface, comprising the method of:
conformingly engaging an anti-slip overshoe with the shoe; disposing a plurality of ground-engaging spikes in the anti-slip overshoe; forming a plurality of ground-engaging gripping ridges on a ball and a heel of the anti-slip overshoe; disposing the ball gripping ridges radially to present gripping action in more than two quadrants of a circle.
- 27. The method of claim 26 including forming a plurality of the apertures proximate an intersection of the ball and the over-toe component and spacing the apertures apart by straps.
- 28. The method of claim 27 including forming a plurality of stretch zones of the straps.
- 29. The method of claim 27 including forming five apertures proximate the intersection of the ball and the over-toe component.
- 30. The method of claim 27 including forming apertures proximate the intersection of the ball and the over-toe component in a substantially semi-circular disposition.
- 31. The method of claim 26 including removably disposing each of the spikes in a respective bore respectively defined in the ball and heel.
- 32. The method of claim 26 including coupling an over-toe component to the ball, defining a plurality of apertures therein, and forming a plurality of stretch zones between adjacent over-toe component apertures.
- 33. The method of claim 26 including forming stretch zones proximate the ball and heel for assisting in the conforming engagement with the shoe.
- 34. The method of claim 33 including forming a first portion of the stretch zones to assist in engaging a toe portion of the shoe.
- 35. The method of claim 33 including forming a second portion of the stretch zones to assist in engaging a heel portion of the shoe.
- 36. The method of claim 26 including forming the gripping ridges in continuous circles.
- 37. The method of claim 26 including forming the gripping ridges in circles selectively interrupted by spaces.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/648,920 filed Aug. 25, 2000.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09648920 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
10314913 |
Dec 2002 |
US |