Waterproof polyethylene disposable foot and sock cover

Abstract

An article for keeping a foot (and potentially a sock) dry, when placed within a boot, the article comprising a non-rigid membrane impermeable to water and disposable material, and conformed to the shape of the foot so that there is little or no excess material when the article is placed over the foot (and potentially the sock, and both are) placed within the boot. The article may comprise a toe section, heel section, lower leg section, top opening, and a means for preventing the lower leg section and the top opening from falling down. Notwithstanding its disposability, the material comprising the article may be sufficiently resilient and durable for withstanding the frequent and substantial forces that the boot and foot may be subjected to during a work day at a wet construction site. The article may also allow continued use of a punctured previously-waterproof boot without the foot becoming wet.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION[0001]This invention pertains to the field of articles for preventing wet feet, particularly under harsh labor conditions.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION AND DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART[0002]Numerous well-known problems arise from wet feet. For example, leaving feet in wet shoes and socks for prolonged periods may cause maceration, resulting in skin becoming sore, itchy, soft, and prone to blistering and—once the macerated skin dries out—painful cracking. Wet feet can also become colder more quickly than dry feet. Feet that are exposed to cold and damp conditions for long periods of time experience more serious problems, such as trench foot. Wet shoes and socks may also expose feet to odor-causing bacteria and fungi infections.[0003]Certain active shoe environments of shoes are not only wet and cold, but may also require stepping through dirt and grime, which can be transferred into shoes, socks, and lower pant legs, where it may stick to and irritate a person's skin. Such ha...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a waterproof article that can keep feet dry without being too expensive or difficult to replace. The article is designed to fit over a foot and a sock, and it has a means to prevent the top of the sock from falling down the lower leg. The article is form-fitted to the foot and leg, and it can be easily replaced multiple times a year. It is also biodegradable and environmentally-friendly. The technical effects of this invention include keeping feet dry, preventing excess material from bunching up in improper places, and providing a cost-effective and convenient solution for keeping feet dry in harsh working environments.

Problems solved by technology

For example, ordinary plastic bags are not made to cover feet and are therefore not uniquely adapted to the shape of a foot.

Consequently, such bags have excess plastic material that is not only wasteful, but can fold and bunch up inside the shoe in an unequally-distributed and irregular manner, making a good fit of the foot within the shoe more difficult to achieve, and also increasing pressure at certain points of the bag inside the shoe, which can more easily lead to compromises in the plastic membrane.

Such excess material may also hang loosely out of the shoe, increasing the likelihood that it be punctured, or that water or dirt particle will enter therein through a top opening.

More specifically, such plastic bags are obviously not designed to hold up the top opening in an elevated position, and such a loose plastic fit—even if the bag had enough length to cover more of the leg than simply the shoe—due to the force of gravity and the absence of an effective means for maintaining the top opening in an elevated position, cannot stay extended upward covering a substantial area of the lower leg above the shoe for a substantial period of time, but rather falls back down towards the shoe, where it may loosely rest.

Among the problems presented by such a design (or lack of a strategically predetermined design), such loose plastic bag-like coverings provide a lower point of entry for water and dirt particles.

Once such water and dirt particles enter the plastic bag, the sock and foot can become contaminated and / or wetted by such particles.

The potentially substantially impermeable plastic bag can then make matters worse, moreover, by trapping the moisture and dirt inside the bag.

While some such socks may absorb less water, or dry out faster, or be designed to pull moisture away from the skin than other socks, they are often not waterproof in the true sense of the term but more accurately semi-permeable or simply “repellant” to water.

Even if some existing socks do have membranes that are in fact substantially impermeable to water, such membranes may often and easily become compromised at certain spots (allowing water to pass through) or lose their waterproof (or water resistant) qualities with time and use.

When such socks become more permeable to water and then become wet or immersed in water, the feet inside of course also become wet.

In addition to either having membranes that become compromised or that otherwise lose their waterproof qualities over time, such waterproof socks are often made out of somewhat complex types of fabric, making them expensive to manufacture, purchase, and (once compromised or rendered less effective) replace.

In addition, some such socks have other limitations, such as not being able to be worn frequently, since the needed washing (or washing using fabric softener) may substantially reduce the effectiveness and life of the socks.

Like some of the aforementioned “waterproof” socks, some such boot liners lose their waterproof qualities over time.

Predictably, such boot liners are also generally limited in size to the height of the boots, and do not extend much beyond the height of the boot's upper collar.

In addition, boot liners may suffer from some of the disadvantages of shoe liners generally.

By way of specific example, the boot liners are made to conform to the contours of the boot rather than a foot, and therefore the act of inserting the foot into the shoe can displace the desired position of the liner, leading to liner material bunching up within the boot in unintended spots and also lead to an improper fit of the foot within the boot.

Rubber hip waders and some waterproof boots may be substantially effective in keeping the feet dry, but, like the aforementioned “waterproof” boot liners and socks, may not be adequate for physically demanding activities in somewhat harsh conditions, such as performing work on construction sites, etc.

Specifically, when performing work on many construction sites, it is a common occurrence that a worker's boots may become punctured by sharp objects, such as nails.

Such puncturing often irreparably compromises the waterproof membrane, which may then allow water to seep into the boot.

Due to the substantial costs of replacing said specialized waterproof boots, once the boots are punctured, some workers (at least for a time) may simply continue wearing and using the punctured boots notwithstanding their resulting wet and potentially cold feet.

In addition to puncturing the boots, such nails on construction sites may also pierce the purportedly waterproof membranes of waders, boot liners, and socks that may be inside the boots, not only allowing the feet to get wet but also ruining such also potentially-expensive articles.

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