Patent Application
20150052779
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to footwear accessories and, more particularly, to a disposable shoe covering for protecting indoor floors from shoe soles and heels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In today's society, individuals tend to wear shoes almost anywhere they go. It is well known that a prime way pathogenic microbes and other undesirable substances enter homes is by being tracked in on the sole of the shoes of the inhabitants or visitors. Moreover, the bottom some shoes, such as high heel shoes, are structure in an way which make them prone to scratching or otherwise damaging floor surfaces, including hard wood surfaces. For lack of convenience or for social reasons however, it has proven difficult for people to completely disallow the wearing of shoes in their homes or businesses. Thus, a problem which still exists is that the continuing practice of wearing all types of shoes indoors poses a constant threat of transferring dirt and germs inside and of damaging expensive indoor floors. There remains a need for a disposable shoe bottom covering which can be easily and securely placed over the bottom of one's shoe. It would be helpful if such a disposable shoe bottom covering was constructed of a non-slip and waterproof material to protect the wearer and the floor. It would be additionally desirable for such a disposable shoe bottom cover to be a one piece, elastic structure which could be secured over a plurality of shoe bottom types.
The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a disposable shoe cover adapted to be placed over and fully cover the bottom of any type of shoe. The primary component of Applicant's disposable shoe bottom cover is a base member having a plurality of fastening lips. When in operation, the disposable shoe bottom cover allows a user to place a disposable and readily available cover on the bottom of their shoes to prevent tracking substances on the shoe bottoms inside and to protect floor surfaces. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by resilient social customs and the prior art are removed.
A disposable shoe bottom cover for allowing a user easily cover the bottom of shoes being worn with a securely fitted, non-slip structure. The disposable shoe bottom cover comprises a bottom base with a first front attachment lip, a second front attachment lip, a first back attachment lip, and a second back attachment lip. The bottom base, as a base means for covering, is configured to be stretchable to be placed over and to cover the bottom of a shoe by way of its substantially flat profile and construction out a clear plastic or silicone material. The attachment lips provide opposing surfaces which allow the disposable shoe bottom cover to be secured to the bottom of a shoe by way of engaging the toe portion of the shoe and the heel portion of the shoe. The attachment lips are sized to allow the disposable shoe bottom cover to be selectively configured in real time to be placed on a shoes having a variety of toe and heel configurations. The first front attachment lip and a second front attachment lip, collectively, define a front attachment means. The first back attachment lip and a second back attachment lip, collectively, define a back attachment means.
The disposable shoe bottom cover is operated by supplying manual force to pull and hold one the front attachment lips and one of the back attachment lips in an stretching direction, which causes the bottom base to stretch as well, placing the bottom of a shoe on the stretched bottom base, and removing the manual force to allow the bottom base to resume its natural size. By such action, it is contemplated that the selected front attachment lip and back attachment lip will engage the toe and heel, respectively, of the shoe placed in the stretched bottom base.
To remove the shoe from the disposable shoe bottom cover, manual force in a stretching direction must again be supplied to terminate the engagement of the front attachment lip and back attachment lip with the toe and heel. While such force is supplied, the shoe can be freely removed.
It is an object of this invention to provide a disposable shoe bottom covering which can be easily and securely placed over the bottom of one's shoe.
It is another object of this invention to provide a disposable shoe bottom covering constructed of a non-slip and waterproof material to protect the wearer and the floor.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a disposable shoe bottom cover which was a one piece, elastic structure which could be secured over a plurality of shoe bottom types.
These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art.
a is a top plan perspective view of a disposable shoe bottom cover built in accordance with the present invention.
Referring now to the drawings and in particular
The attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15 provide opposing surfaces which allow the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 to be securely placed on the bottom of a shoe. As the attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15 are provided in different sizes, it is contemplated that they allow the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 to be selectively configured in real time to be placed on substantially any type of shoe.
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The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.
