Turf management safety shoe

Abstract

A safety shoe includes a slip resistant sole to reduce loss of footing while mowing grass. The shoe further includes a safety cage shoe upper connected with the sole. The safety cage protects the foot from damage from a rotating mower blade. The safety cage is made of a shear resistant shoe upper and is held to the foot by a securing mechanism of sufficient strength to keep the safety cage intact during an impact with a rotating mower blade. The safety cage is supplemented by metal toe protection to further protect the toes of the wearer. The safety cage is further supplemented by a high strength shoe sole to add rigidity to the safety cage.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of protective footwear, and more particularly to safety shoes that combine slippage and shearing force protection for users of lawn mowers and other turf management equipment.

[0002] Turf management, and particularly grass mowing, has a long history of foot injuries. The Consumer Protection Safety Commission's Year 2000 statistics reveal over 3,000 injuries to the foot caused by lawn mower accidents. While there are many types of injuries that can result from lawn mower accidents, the most serious by far is laceration resulting from the moving blade directly contacting the foot. Slips resulting from a condition of the grass such as wetness or thickness, an inclined surface, or hazards such as rocks, sidewalk edges, or hidden depressions can all lead to a foot sliding under the mower and contacting a moving mower blade. The problem is compounded by the fact that most people mow their lawns while wearing shoes that provide minimal protection to the foot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

[0003] Conventional walking shoes that are designed for use on hard and relatively flat indoor or outdoor surfaces have soles that often become slippery on wet grass or more inclined surfaces. They also have uppers that are normally made of light-weight materials and provide little or no protection from a rapidly rotating cutting blade.

[0004] The prior art provides only partial solutions to the above problem and does not address it in a comprehensive manner. U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,557 to Mills discloses safety shoes which can provide slip resistance. This specific design is to protect against slips while on a roof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,011 to Bowerman discloses athletic shoes with cleats to provide lateral stability, but these shoes are not designed primarily or suitable for industrial applications such as lawn mowing.

[0005] Various shoe configurations and constructions to afford foot protection are also known in the prior art. Some safety shoes provide a reinforced toe box to protect the front part of the foot. U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,762 to Lee sets forth a safety shoe with a toe box particularly adapted to protect the toes from a crush injury. The Aleven U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,583 teaches a safety shoe insole to protect against puncture injury. U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,802 to Reynolds teaches a safety shoe for protecting the upper portion of the foot from cutting injures, specifically for chain saw users.

[0006] The safety shoes described in the prior art do not specifically address the particular requirements for protecting the foot against a rotating mower blade. They also do not provide soles that adequately protect against slips while mowing a lawn. The present invention was developed in order to overcome these and other drawbacks of conventional work shoes by providing a turf management safety shoe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention relates a safety shoe that provides slip resistance on grass coupled with a hardened safety cage for that part of the foot that is most susceptible to injury from a rotating mower blade. The shoe is designed to protect the foot from a rotating mower blade by providing adequate shear protection.

[0008] The safety shoe according to the invention includes a shear resistant sole having a plurality of cleats affixed to the bottom thereof, and a shear resistant upper connected to the sole, the upper having a reinforced toe box and reinforcing material extending upwardly from the sole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety shoe according to a first embodiment of the invention;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the toe area of the shoe of FIG. 1.

[0012] FIG. 3 is a side plan view of a safety shoe according to a second embodiment of the invention; and

[0013] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the shoe of either FIG. 1 or FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The preferred embodiment of a safety shoe that protects the foot of the wearer from injury by a lawn mower or other turf management equipment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The shoe 12 includes a lower sole 14 which supports the wearer's foot and an upper 16 which is connected with the sole in a conventional manner. At the toe end, the shoe includes a protective toe box 18 formed of a rigid material such as metal. Suitable metals include steel, aluminum, titanium or other hard, rigid metal. The forward portion of the upper is connected with the interior surface of the toe box as shown in FIG. 2. Any suitable fastener such as adhesive may be used to connect the upper with the toe box. Laces 20 are provided to tie the shoe onto the wearer's foot.

[0015] The sole 14 is preferably formed of a high strength material such as fiber-reinforced synthetic plastic material or leather to resist shear by a rotating lawn mower blade. The bottom of the sole contains apertures for receiving cleats 22 which provide traction to the wearer while operating lawn equipment. The cleats may be formed in any desired configurations and from any suitable material. For example, the cleats 22 in FIG. 1 are truncated cones which are similar to football cleats. They may be formed from the same material as the sole or any other material such as metal. While the cleats may be removably connected with the sole in a conventional manner for easy replacement, they could also be integrally formed with the sole by molding or the like.

[0016] The shoe upper is preferably formed of a durable material such as KEVLAR material, leather, synthetic leather or the like. Although canvas may be used, KEVLAR or leather materials are preferred because of their increased protective properties.

[0017] FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of a safety shoe 112 which is similar to the shoe of FIG. 1 in that it includes a sole 114, an upper 116 and a toe box 118. However, this shoe includes buckles or VELCRO fasteners 124 and cleats 122 which are more pointed such as old-style metal golf cleats. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various types of conventional fasteners may be used secure the shoe onto the wearer's foot.

[0018] FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred arrangement of cleats on the bottom of the shoe of FIG. 1. Any suitable arrangement of cleats may be used for either embodiment.

[0019] Foot injures occur when a foot passes under the protective housing of a mower that contains the rotating blade. The area of the foot that is the most susceptible to injury from a rotating lawn mower blade is the toe area which might enter the housing if the mower rolls backwards. Another particularly susceptible area is the bottom of the foot, which might enter the housing if the operator should fall or slip. Accordingly, the safety shoe as described in FIGS. 1-4 emphasizes the protection of these specific areas, and more particularly emphasizes protecting these areas from the shear forces resulting from impact by a rotating lawn mower blade. Protection is provided by a safety cage around the toes, sides and bottom of the foot comprising the toe box 18, 118, reinforced uppers 16, 116 and the sole 14, 114. The maximization of shear strength, rather than compressive strength, best protects the toes from a rotating blade.

[0020] In addition to having a high level of shear resistance, the shoe upper 16, 116 is somewhat flexible to provide comfort and motion. The elements of a safety cage as described herein act as a unit and complement each other to maximize the strength of the shoe and the protection it affords to the foot. Each portion of the shoe provides separate protective attributes against injuries caused by a rotating mower blade. The safety cage design assures that the sole, the toe box, the method of affixing the shoe to the foot of the wearer, and the upper work together as a system to structurally complement each other.

[0021] The connections between each component of the shoe must be of sufficient strength and design to insure that the connections will not become points of failure under the extreme shear forces that the system would be exposed to in the event of an accident. The connections must allow the components of the safety cage to work in unison to maintain maximum shear protection and allow shear forces to be distributed to the other components of the safety cage to minimize damage to the wearer's foot.

[0022] A shoe as described herein provides two levels of protection. The slip resistant sole reduces the possibility of a slip that can lead to a foot being placed in harm's way. Hardening of the shoe reduces the probability of a laceration injury caused by the unintended impact of a rotating lawn mower blade. It must be understood, however, that a shoe according to the invention will not prevent all lawn mower injuries. The possibility of a cutting injury is reduced, but cannot be entirely eliminated by a shoe as described above. Further, the very nature of the protection afforded by a shoe as described above may alter the form of injury that is caused by the impact of a rotating mower blade that, as is well known, has substantial kinetic energy. If the shoe is not penetrated, that energy may cause trauma taking the form of bruising, or muscle ligament, or bone damage. It is readily apparent, however, that such injuries are highly likely to be much less serious and more quickly recovered from than would be a lacerating trauma.

[0023] While the preferred forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above.

Claims

1. A safety shoe, comprising: (a) a shear resistant sole; (b) a plurality of cleats connected with the bottom of said sole; and (c) a shear resistant upper connected with the sole, said upper having a reinforced toe box in a toe area of the shoe and reinforcing material extending upwardly from the sole along side portions of the shoe rearwardly of said toe box.

2. A shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said toe box is reinforced with a rigid metal.

3. A shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said reinforcing material of said upper is leather.

4. A shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said reinforcing material of said upper is KEVLAR material.

5. A shoe as defined in claim 1, and further comprising means for securing a foot within the shoe.

6. A shoe as defined in claim 5, wherein said securing means comprises laces.

7. A shoe as defined in claim 5, wherein said securing means comprises buckles.

8. A shoe as defined in claim 5, wherein said securing means comprises VELCRO fasteners.