Sanitary Shoe Cover

Abstract

A sanitary and protective covering for shoes constructed from foldable material with its edges attached together to form a covering. An opening is provided in the covering for the leg of the wearer and an elastic band is attached around the periphery of the opening to close the opening around the leg. A second elastic band is attached to the seam in the sole of the covering to conform the covering to the foot and retain the covering resiliently on the foot. A conducting tape is attached to the sole of the covering and extends a sufficient distance from the covering to allow its insertion into the sock of the wearer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improvements in sanitary protective coverings for shoes and the like and more particularly to a new and improved shoe covering which will accommodate any shoe or foot size and will close the opening of the covering around the leg of the wearer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Shoe coverings of the type of the present invention have particular application in sterile rooms in hospitals and like institutions to satisfy need in such establishments for covering the shoes of attendants to prevent dust on the shoes from contaminating the atmosphere of the room. The invention further has application in areas requiring patient isolation to prevent contamination of shoes and cross-contamination of patients.

Shoe coverings are also used in cast rooms where plaster of paris casts are applied and where table drippings are likely to fall onto the shoes of the persons working near the table and permanently harm the shoes. Likewise, shoe coverings may have further applications in other commercial establishments where shoe coverings are desirable and necessary.

In the field of manufacture of these shoe coverings, it has been a general practice to employ shoe coverings of the slipper or boot shape which are more or less conventional in the shape of the heel and toe portions. Although such devices have served the purpose, they have not proved entirely satisfactory under all conditions of service for the reasons that considerable difficulty has been experienced in providing a snug fit to a variety of shoe and foot sizes. One method of solving this problem has been to provide a plurality of different sizes of shoe coverings to accommodate the various shoe sizes.

Other attempts to solve this problem have involved complex shoe covering structures which can be adjusted or folded to fit various shoe sizes, but these solutions are complicated and expensive to manufacture and are uncomfortable to the wearer and difficult to install over the shoe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The general purpose of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sanitary and protective covering for shoes which will fit a large variety of shoe or foot sizes and yet is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and easy to attach to the foot of the wearer and even provide a means for preventing the buildup of static electricity in the body of the wearer. To attain this, the present invention contemplates the use of a unique sanitary shoe covering configuration whereby the covering will stretch to fit a large variety of shoe or foot sizes due to an elastic portion in the sole thereof.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is the provision of a sanitary and protective covering for shoes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sanitary and protective covering for shoes which will fit various shoe and foot sizes.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a sanitary and protective covering for shoes which will prevent static electricity buildup in the body of the wearer.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved sanitary and protective covering for shoes which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved sanitary and protective covering for shoes which is quick and easy to apply and fasten to the shoe.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated by those or ordinary skill in the art as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the new and improved sanitary and protective covering attached over a shoe, the foot of the wearer shown in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the device showing the heel portion;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the new and improved sanitary and protective covering;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view rotated 180.degree. from the view of FIG. 1 showing the sole portion of the new and improved sanitary and protective covering;

FIG. 5 shows a section of the device taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 shows a section of the device taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings wherein like referenced characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, which illustrate a preferred embodiment, a new and improved sanitary and protective covering for shoes generally designated 11. As can be seen, this covering fits over the shoe of the wearer and provides a sanitary and noncontaminating covering therefor which is simple and inexpensive in construction. The body of this covering 11 is constructed with two halves 12 and 14 which can be cut in a single piece. These halves can be formed from a plurality of materials such as nonwoven papers and yarn-reinforced cellulose, cloth, light canvas, muslin, plastic or the like. The covering could also be constructed from heat sealable materials which could be attached together by utilizing heat and pressure as is well known in the art. The materials utilized could be supplied from a manufacturer in webs or rolls and cut by use of a die into one piece having identical halves 12 and 14 which are then joined together.

Once the body has been cut to shape, it can be sewn or adhered together at its edges along a continuous seam which includes a toe seam portion 18, sole seam portion 24, and heel seam portion 16, as can be viewed in FIGS. 1, 4 and 2, respectively. The heel seam portion 16 extends in an upward direction from the sole seam portion 24 and stops short of extending completely up the heel of the covering 11, as illustrated in FIG. 2. It is to be understood, of course, that the heel seam portion could also extend completely up the heel. The toe seam 18 extends from the sole seam portion 24 in an upward direction and ends adjacent an opening 20. This opening 20 is provided to allow the wearer to insert his foot or shoe into the covering 11 as shown in FIG. 1.

The sole seam portion 24 of the covering 11 has a length of grounding tape 26 extending along a portion of the length of this seam (FIG. 4), the tape being sewn between the two edges of the halves 12 and 14. This grounding tape 26 can be of any suitable conductive material and is of such a length to extend up into the interior 40 of the covering and thereafter through the opening 20 where it can be inserted into the sock of the wearer as shown in FIG. 1 to provide a suitable ground to prevent static electricity buildup in the wearer.

As a particular feature of the invention, a strip of elastic material 28 is secured along a major portion of the length of the seam joining the portions 12 and 14 so as to pull the heel and toe portions of the covering 11 toward each other, thus causing the covering 11 to conform to any foot or shoe size and retain the covering on the foot. Specifically, and as a preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the elastic strip 28 is attached to the seam within the interior portion 40 of the covering and extends from the end of the toe seam portion 18 along the entire length of the sole seam portion 24, and thereafter along the heel seam portion 16. This elastic strip 28 will cause the flexible material to incrementally gather and fold along the length of the strip 28 to conform the covering to the shoe or foot as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

As shown in the sectional view illustrated in FIG. 6, a length of elastic material 22 is attached around the peripheral edge of the opening 20. This elastic material 22 holds the edge of the opening firm against the leg of the wearer to additionally retain the covering on the foot.

It is to be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that numerous modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A covering for protecting and preventing contamination of a conventional shoe worn by an individual, said covering having heel, toe and sole portions, comprising:

a body of flexible and foldable material so constructed to form a pocket adapted for receiving the heel and toe portions of the conventional shoe, said pocket having an opening for allowing insertion of the shoe through the opening, said pocket being formed by securing said flexible foldable material together, said pocket having a seam centrally located in the sole extending along and between said heel and toe portions;

first resilient material means secured along a substantial portion of the length of the sole portion of the covering for resiliently urging the heel and toe portions thereof in a direction toward each other for providing an incremental gathering of said flexible material along the length of said sole portion to conform the covering to the shoe and retain said covering on the shoe, said first resilient material being affixed at said seam centrally located in said sole; and

grounding means for preventing buildup of static electricity on said individual, said grounding means comprising a length of foldable conducting tape secured along the sole portion of the covering, said conductor tape being affixed at said seam centrally located in said sole.

2. The covering as defined in claim 1 further including second resilient material means secured around the periphery of said opening for holding the periphery of said opening against the upper portion of the shoe and the leg of the individual.

3. A covering as defined in claim 1 wherein said centrally located seam extends continuously around said heel, toe and sole portions of said body and wherein said conducting tape is sewn along the sole portion of said continuous seam.