Latticed elastic shoe cover with cleats

Abstract

Slip resistant covers are presented. An especially preferred slip-resistant cover includes an elastic shoe cover comprising a latticed surface that allows the shoe cover to stretch further than would ordinarily be possible if the shoe cover had a uniform thickness. Contemplated shoe covers can also comprise cleats on the bottom surface to provide slip resistance.

Description

[0001]This application claims priority to the following U.S. provisional applications: U.S. provisional application having Ser. No. 61 / 040568 filed on Mar. 28, 2008; U.S. provisional application having Ser. No. 61 / 047959 filed on Apr. 25, 2008; U.S. provisional application having Ser. No. 61 / 077060 filed on Jun. 30, 2008; and U.S. provisional application having Ser. No. 61 / 087962 filed on Aug. 11, 2008. These and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The field of the invention is slip resistant coverings.BACKGROUND[0003]Producing a cost-effective slip resistant shoe covering is difficult due to a number of issues surrounding the manufacturing pro...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems and methods in which a slip-resistant covering can be produced. In one aspect of the inventive subject matter a covering comprises a main body portion configured to elastically couple to a shoe, and a bottom covering portion that covers a bottom surface or sole of the shoe. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom covering portion comprises a lattice of raised surfaces and depressions disposed on an external surface of the shoe cover's bottom portion. The depressions can be extend partially into a base material forming the cover, or can extend completely through the cover to form a hole. The contemplated lattice forms a highly stretchable, slip resistant surface, and allows a single shoe cover to fit a wide range of shoe sizes or shapes. In a preferred embodiment, a single shoe cover can stretch along a linear dimension by up to 400%, or even more preferably up to 900%, without suffering substantial permanent deformation. The ability of the covering to stretch can be further enhanced by including one or more stretch zones located on various sides of the covering (e.g., top, bottom, sides, etc.).

Problems solved by technology

Producing a cost-effective slip resistant shoe covering is difficult due to a number of issues surrounding the manufacturing process, among many other issues.

One such issue includes that a manufacturer requires multiple shoe cover molds of different sizes to make shoe different sized shoe covers.

Both of the above shoe covers require the covers to be manufactured in different sizes for different sized shoes, which can be expensive.

Although the Mor and Lee Tsai coverings can fit shoes of different sizes, they fail (1) to provide full coverage over the bottom, sole, or sides of a shoe, and (2) to adequately distribute stresses due to stretching across the covering.

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