Removable Decorative Shoe Covering

Abstract

A removable decorative shoe covering includes a pair of side flaps with the outer ends thereof carrying releasable securing means, such as snaps which mate with snaps provided in the shoe body adjacent the sole thereof, and with the inner ends elastically secured together. A kiltie may be secured to cover the juncture of the side flaps. The releasable securing means, alternatively to the snaps, may be Velcro pads, hooks extending into slots in the sole for engaging pins therein, or openings into which L-shaped pins from the sole may be inserted to releasably secure the decorative shoe covering over a portion of the shoe.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to decorative shoe coverings, and more particularly, to such covering which may be easily released and replaced.

In footwear, as in other articles of apparel, there is a desire for different and decorative styles. This desire has produced shoes with different shapes, different colors, and different fastening means, all to give style to the shoes.

The removable decorative shoe covering of this invention aids the desire for different and decorative styles in footwear, by adding versatility to a given shoe at very little cost. For example, take the plain white shoes required to be worn by all hospitals. When not in the hospital surroundings, the shoes lack the decorativeness and style that would make them attractive footwear for other occasions and in other environments. With the decorative shoe covering of this invention, plain white shoes could be temporarily converted to a two tone shoe similar to saddle shoes for street use and yet, at work could be easily returned to the required plain white shoes.

Another example of where the removable decorative shoe cover of this invention would be useable is with golf shoes or other shoes which must necessarily be used in grass and dirt, but which must be kept attractive in appearance despite such use. The more expensive golf shoes are made in two colors, usually white or some other light color and some dark color such as black, brown or blue. After having walked for several hours around the golf course, the shoes are spotted and dirty with mud and grass stains. To clean the stains from two tone shoes, each shoe must be washed and each of the colors thereon polished separately and carefully to bring the shoe back to the desired attractive appearance. However, if the second color were provided by a removable decorative covering according to this invention, the second color could be easily removed. Then, the entire shoe could be washed and polished one color, while the entire cover was separately washed and separately polished its own color before the cover was reattached to the polished shoe to produce the attractive appearing two tone golf shoe.

An added feature inherent with the provision of the releasable decorative covering for any shoe is that by having several different colors and styles of coverings, one pair of shoes could be made to appear quite differently depending upon the desires of the wearer, and could be made to be appropriate footwear for many different settings as required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide and disclose a removable decorative shoe covering for a shoe.

Other and additional objects of this invention are to provide and disclose such a removable decorative shoe covering with a pair of side flaps with elastic means therebetween and securing means to attach the cover to the shoe, to provide and disclose such a covering with a kiltie secured to the elastic means for covering the juncture between the flaps, to provide and disclose such a cover with a variety of securing means which may quickly and easily releasably attach the covering to the shoe, and to provide and disclose such a covering which may be made in a variety of styles and colors for changing the appearance of the shoe to fit the moods, desires or requirements of the wearer.

A removable decorative shoe covering for a shoe having a sole, and an upper body with a vamp and a throat, includes a pair of side flaps with elastic means attached between the inner ends thereof, and with releasable securing means attached to the outer ends thereof and to the shoe for releasably securing the covering over the body of the shoe. The coverings may additionally comprise a kiltie secured to the elastic means to cover the elastic means and the juncture of the side flaps. The releasable securing means may include male and female snaps, hook and eye pads, L-shaped pins and openings, and hooks and pin-slots.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf shoe having attached thereto a removable decorative shoe covering according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a flat pattern view of the removable decorative shoe covering of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing an alternative embodiment of the removable decorative shoe covering, according to this invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross section view taken along the plane IV--IV of FIG. 1 showing the releasable securing means of the removable decorative shoe covering, as a pair of mating snaps;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing alternative releasable securing means as Velcro pads;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of FIG. 1, showing second alternative releasable securing means as pins anchored in the sole and over which the outer ends of the decorative shoe covering are slid; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing third alternative releasable securing means as slots with centrally located pins for receiving and engaging hooks secured to the decorative shoe covering.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to FIG. 1, a conventional shoe 10 is shown. The shoe 10 shown is a golf shoe, but it should be understood that the present invention is equally applicable to any shoe. The shoe 10 has an upper body 11 and a sole 12. The body 11 has a throat 13 and vamps 14 extending from the throat 13 to the sole 12. The throat 13 of the shoe 10 will conventionally have a tongue (not shown) thereunder and a series of holes (not shown) therein for receiving laces 15 to tie the shoe 10.

The shoe 10 of FIG. 1 is shown with a removable decorative shoe covering 20, according to this invention. The removable decorative shoe covering 20 generally includes side flaps 21, elastic means 25 and releasable securing means 40. The decorative shoe covering 20 may also include a kiltie 30.

As seen best in FIG. 2, the side flaps 21 of the decorative shoe covering 20 include a right flap 22, and a left flap 23. The right and left flaps 22 and 23 may be made of any suitable material and in a variety of different shapes, colors and decorative designs as desired.

The preferred embodiment of the decorative shoe covering 20 is provided with elastic means 25 which is a generally rectangular piece of elastic cloth 26 secured by stitching 27 to the inner ends of both the right and the left flaps 22 and 23 to elastically secure the flaps together. The use of the elastic means 25 permits the flaps 21 to stretch apart relative to each other as required to conform the covering 20 to the shoe 10 over which it will be attached and to aid in securing the covering to the shoe.

The preferred embodiment of the removable decorative shoe covering 20 also includes releasable securing means 40 which, as shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, include a female snap 41 secured to the vamps 14 of the shoe 10 adjacent the sole 12. The outer end of each of the right and left flaps 22 and 23 carries a mating male snap 42, for attaching the covering 20 to the shoe 10. Other suitable releasable securing means 40 are possible and will be discussed later.

One embodiment of this invention particularly adapted for use with a golf shoe, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, also includes a kiltie 30. The kiltie 30 comprises a bell-shaped cloth member 31 having a multiplicity of decorative slits 32 at the wide end thereof and a pair of centrally located holes 33. The narrow end of the bell-shaped cloth member 31 is sewn as at 34 to the underside of the elastic cloth 26 as is best seen in FIG. 2.

The kiltie 30 may be provided with means 35 for imparting and maintaining a desired transverse curvature in the kiltie 30. The means 35, as best seen in FIG. 2, includes an elongated cloth strip 36 sewn by thread 37 transversely of the kiltie 30 adjacent the bell-shaped end thereof. The elongated cloth strip 36 forms with the kiltie 30 a pocket for receiving an elongated malleable metal insert 38 which is inserted therein before the pocket is sewn closed and which may be shaped or bent by hand to closely conform the kiltie around the shoe.

As seen best in FIG. 1, the decorative shoe covering 20 is attached to the shoe 10 by snapping one side snaps 41 and 42 together, pulling on the decorative shoe covering 20 to stretch the elastic cloth 31 thereof, and snapping the other side snaps 41 and 42 together. The kiltie 30 is then folded over the juncture of the side flaps 21 and the elastic cloth member 26. The shoe laces 15 are then inserted through holes 33 to complete the mounting of the removable decorative shoe covering 20 to give a distinctive appearance to the shoe 10.

To remove the decorative shoe covering 20, both sets of snaps 41 and 42 are released, and the laces 15 are untied, permitting the releasable decorative shoe covering 20 to be separated from the shoe 10 for cleaning or for exchanging to give a different appearance to the shoe 10.

A second embodiment of the decorative shoe covering 20a is shown in FIG. 3 and is quite similar to the decorative shoe covering 20 of FIG. 1. In the alternative embodiment of FIG. 3, the side flaps 22a and 23a have a generally rectangular shape to give a saddle shoe appearance, to the conventional shoe 10. In the alternative embodiment, the side flaps 22a and 23a are provided with male snaps 42 adjacent each outer corner and the vamps 14 are provided with a like number of female snaps 41, to secure the shoe covering 20a to the conventional shoe 10. In the alternative embodiment of FIG. 3, the kiltie 30 is omitted and the elastic cloth member (not shown) is covered by the overlap of the inner ends of the right and left flaps 22 and 23.

In both the preferred embodiment of the removable decorative shoe covering 20 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, and the alternative embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, the releasable securing means 40 used were mating male and female snaps 41 and 42. As previously mentioned, other suitable releasable securing means could be substituted for the snaps 41 and 42, as desired. For example as shown in FIG. 5, the releasable securing means 40 may be pads 44 of hooks secured to the vamps 14 of the shoe 10 adjacent the sole 12 and pads 45 of eyes secured to the outer ends of the side flaps 21 and 22. Such hook pads 44 and eye pads 45 are well known and are sold commercially under the name Velcro.

Second alternative releasable securing means 40, as shown in FIG. 6, may be L-shaped pins 47 with the vertical leg thereof secured in the sole 12 adjacent the vamps 14. The flaps 21 then would be provided with openings 48 through which the rearwardly extending leg of pins 47 would be slipped to releasably secure the covering 20 to the shoe 10. The openings 48 could be quite easily formed in the outer ends of the side flaps 22 and 23 by folding each outer end over and sewing it.

Third alternative releasable securing means 40, as shown in FIG. 7, may include vertical slots 50 formed in the sole 12 adjacent the vamps 14. Each slot 50 has a centrally located horizontal pin 51 thereacross. The flaps 21 would then be provided with hooks 52 which may be extended into the respective slot 50 to engage a pin 51 therein.

The above examples of releasable securing means 50 are but a few of the many suitable releasable securing means which will hold the flaps tightly to the vamps and the use of any suitable releasable securing means is certainly within the contemplation of this invention.

It should also be understood that many of the releasable securing means 40 heretofore described could be reversed and still be equally suitable for releasably securing the removable decorative shoe covering 20 to the shoe 10 to provide a variety of styles and colors which will change the appearance of the shoe to fit the mood and desires of the wearer.

Claims

I claim:

1. A removable decorative shoe covering for a shoe having a sole and a body with vamps and a throat, said covering comprising:

a pair of side flaps, each with an outer end extending adjacent the sole, a central portion thereof covering at least a part of the vamp, and an inner end thereof positioned over the throat of the shoe;

elastic means attached between the inner ends of the side flaps to elastically secure the side flaps together, and

releasable securing means attached to the outer ends of the flaps and to the shoe for releasably securing the covering over the shoe.

2. The covering of claim 1 additionally comprising a kiltie secured to the elastic means and located over the elastic means and a portion of the inner ends of the side flaps to decoratively cover the juncture thereof.

3. The covering of claim 2 wherein the kiltie is secured to the underside of the elastic means, and is folded over the top thereof and downwardly thereover to cover the juncture.

4. The covering of claim 2 wherein the shoe has shoe laces across the throat thereof, and the kiltie has a pair of holes therethrough through which the shoe laces may be inserted and a bow tied above the kiltie.

5. The covering of claim 2 additionally comprising means attached to the kiltie for imparting and maintaining the kiltie in a curvature corresponding generally to the curvature of the throat, to hold the kiltie in close proximity thereto.

6. The covering of claim 5 wherein the imparting and maintaining means includes a malleable metal strip, said strip being secured transversely to the kiltie and being manually bendable to conform to the curvature of the throat, to maintain the kiltie in that curvature.

7. The covering of claim 1 wherein the releasable securing means includes male and female snaps for each flap, one of said snaps being secured to the respective vamp adjacent the sole, and the other of the snaps being secured to the outer end of the respective flap, said snaps mating to releasably secure the covering to the shoe.

8. The covering of claim 1 wherein the releasable securing means includes hooks and eye pads for each flap, one of said pads being secured to the respective vamp adjacent the sole, and the other of said pads being secured to the outer end of the respective flap, said pads mating when pressed together to releasably secure the covering to the shoe.

9. The covering of claim 1 wherein the releasable securing means includes an L-shaped pin for each flap, one leg of said pin being secured to the sole adjacent the respective vamp with the other leg thereof extending rearwardly of the shoe adjacent the sole and wherein the outer end of the respective flap is provided with an opening formed therein, said other leg of the pin being slidable into the opening on the respective flap to releasably secure the covering to the shoe.

10. The covering of claim 1 wherein the sole has a vertically opening slot formed therein adjacent each vamp, and the releasable securing means includes a pin in each slot and a hook on the outer end of the respective flap, said hook being insertable into the slot and selectively engageable with the pin therein to releasably secure the covering to the shoe.