Patent Application
20140130226
This invention relates generally to shin protection devices and, more particularly, to a shin guard sleeve having a sleeve member coupled to a sock and configured to receive a shin guard therein.
Shin guards are commonly utilized by soccer players to protect the shin area between the player's ankles and knees from injury that may be caused by errant kicks by an opposing player. Traditionally, shin guards are inserted between a sock and the skin of a player. Unfortunately, the shin guards are very susceptible to movement as the player runs, jumps, and makes quick movements to the left or right. In other words, the shin guards may drift downward toward the player's ankles or laterally away from being centered on a player's shins.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for maintaining shin guards in appropriate positions in a soccer sock. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices and proposals do not allow shin guards to be inserted into a sleeve in a traditional manner nor prevent the shin guards from shifting downwardly or laterally relative to respective socks.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a shin guard sleeve connected to an exterior surface of a sock that defines an interior area configured to receive a shin guard therein and configured to prevent the shin guard from slipping downward toward a player's ankle or laterally away from the player's shin.
A shin guard sleeve for use in holding a soccer shin guard in position adjacent a person's shin according to the present invention includes a sock having a foot portion and a leg portion extending upwardly from the foot portion, the upper portion includes an upper end defining an upper opening and includes an exterior surface. The shin guard sleeve includes a sleeve member coupled to the exterior surface of the upper portion of the sock, the sleeve member having an interior surface such that an interior area is defined between the sock exterior surface and the sleeve member interior surface. The sleeve member includes a closed lower end and an open upper end opposite the closed lower end. The open upper end of the sleeve member is configured to receive the shin guard into the sleeve member interior area.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a shin guard sleeve to be worn as a sock by a user into which a shin may be inserted and held securely without movement during game play.
Another object of this invention is to provide a shin guard sleeve, as aforesaid, configured to easily receive a shin guard into a sleeve interior area.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a shin guard sleeve, as aforesaid, in which the shin guard is prevented from shifting downward toward a wearer's ankle and from shifting side to side.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a shin guard sleeve, as aforesaid, that is easy to use.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention.
a is a front view of the shin guard sleeve as in
b is a sectional view taken along line 3b-3b from
c is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from
A shin guard sleeve according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
The shin guard sleeve 10 includes a sock 20 having a foot portion 22 and a leg portion 24 extending upwardly from the foot portion 22. The sock 20, by itself, includes a traditional construction and configuration. The leg portion 24 includes an upper end 26 defining an opening through which a person's foot may be inserted into the foot portion 22. The leg portion 24 includes an exterior surface 28.
The shin guard sleeve 10 also includes a sleeve member 30 coupled to the exterior surface of the leg portion 24 of the sock 20. The sleeve member 30 includes an interior surface 32. The interior surface 32 of the sleeve member 30 and the exterior surface 28 of the sock 20 together define an interior area 34 (
The sleeve member 30 also includes opposed side edges 38 extending between the sleeve closed lower end 40 and the sleeve open end 36. The side edges 38 may be coupled to the exterior surface 28 of the sock 20 such that access to or from the interior area 34 may solely be through the open end of said sleeve member 30. Specifically, the side edges 38 may be attached to the exterior surface 28 of the sock 20 with stitches such that the side edges 38 do not provide access to the interior area 34 and such that a shin guard 12 inserted into the interior area 34 are not permitted to move laterally with the interior area 34.
The interior surface 32 of the shin guard sleeve 10 and the exterior surface 28 of the sock 20 are arranged so as to sandwich a shin guard 12 when the shin guard 12 is inserted into the interior area 34. Stated another way, the dimensions of the interior area 34 are complementary to the dimensions of the shin guard 12 such that the shin guard 12 is held securely and relatively tightly in the interior area 34 and not permitted to move freely.
The shin guard sleeve 10 may also include an elastic band 42 situated adjacent to the lower end 40 of the sleeve member 30. The elastic band 42 may extend radially about the sock 20 or only beneath the lower end 40 of the sleeve member 30. The elastic band 42 is configured to prohibit a sleeve member 30, including a shin guard 12 inserted into the interior area thereof, from sliding downwardly toward the foot portion 22 of the sock 20.
The sleeve member 30 may have a generally arcuate or curved configuration so that it conforms to the natural shape of a user's leg when the sock 20 is worn by the user. In addition, the sleeve member 30 is preferably constructed of a flexible material to enhance the conformity to a person's leg.
In use, a user may insert his foot into a sock 20 such that the leg portion 24 extends upwardly substantially between the user's ankle and knee. It is understood that a user will use a pair of shin guard sleeves—one for each leg. Then, a shin guard 12 may be inserted through the sleeve member upper end 36 into the sleeve member interior area 34 where it is held securely during game play. The configuration of the shin guard sleeve keeps the shin guard 12 from sliding both downwardly and laterally as described above.
It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.
