Improvements in socks and similar foot coverings

Abstract

A sock 1A having a black or very dark underside 2A, The sock may be any type of socks, such as long socks, short socks, no show, low show, ankle socks, knee high socks, leg warmer socks, sports socks

Description

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to white, light coloured or patterned socks or other similar foot coverings. Background The use of white or light coloured socks and socks with a white or light coloured underside is common and they are a part of fashion culture today. The white sock itself became very prominent due to their use in sports activities, where they are often worn at different lengths and some having printed colours on parts of the sock and branding logos. The white sock is often made of a cotton material but can also be a mixture of materials in some examples with their popularity extending fully into sports and everyday wear. Socks can be created during manufacture from a wide variety of materials, such as cotton, wool, nylon, acrylic, polyester, olefins (such as polypropylene). To get an increased level of softness other materials that might be used during the process can be silk, bamboo, linen, cashmere, or mohair. Merino wool is a popular fabric choice that offers warmth and comfort to socks, and retains its shape better when blended with other materials, the colour variety of socks can be any colour that the designers intend to make the sock upon its creation. Sometimes art is also put onto socks to improve their appearance. Coloured socks may be a key part of the uniforms for sports, allowing players teams to be distinguished when only their legs are clearly visible. Socks are manufactured in a variety of lengths such as; no show, low cut, and ankle socks extend to the ankle or lower and are often worn casually or for athletic use. No show and low-cut socks are designed to create the look of bare feet when worn with shoes (sock not visible). Knee-high socks are sometimes associated with formal dress or as being part of a uniform, such as in sports (like football and baseball) or as part of a school's dress code or youth group's uniform. Over-the-knee socks or socks that extend higher (thigh-high socks) are sometimes referred to as female garments in the common era. They were widely worn by children both boys and girls, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; although, the popularity varied widely from country to country. Knee-high or thigh-high socks are sometimes the object of sexual attraction and underwear fetishism. Liner socks are socks which are worn underneath another sock with the intention being to prevent blisters. Toe socks encases each toe individually the same way a finger is encased in a glove, while other socks have one compartment for the big toe and one for the rest, like a mitten; most notably what Japanese call tabi while other parts of the world simply call it split toe socks. Both of these allow one to wear flip-flops with the socks. Leg warmers, which are not typically socks, may be replaced with socks in cold climates and are similar to leggings due to the fact that they typically only keep legs warm in cold weather but not the entire foot. A business sock or dress sock is a term for a dark-colored sock (typically black or navy blue) for formal or casual footwear. It is often loosely referred to as a work sock or a formal sock for formal occasions, for example, weddings, funerals, graduation ceremonies, prom, church, or work. Crew socks are short and thick or thin everyday socks. Those socks are usually ribbed at the top of the ankles. They can be used in a way to warm legs if pulled all the way up. A low cut sock is a kind of sock that describe in a way to be cut below the ankle low cut socks are formed to cover the contours of a person's feet. Although low cut socks are unisex, women and girls commonly use them. Low cut socks are normally worn with shoes such as boat shoes, Oxfords, moccasins and loafers. Most sports require some sort of sock, usually a knee length or mid-calf sock to protect one's legs from being scraped while participating in sport activities. In basketball, tube socks are worn, and in lacrosse, mid-calf socks are required. In football, knee socks are used. They are mostly to stop grass bums. A major problem with white or light coloured socks is the fact that dirt can be seen on the bottom or underside of the sock after relatively short periods of being worn. This dirt which often comes from any type of wear, including within a shoe or training shoe, where the socks underside attracts dirt from inside the shoe and also from walking in socks without shoes, for example when indoors. This type if activity picks up dirt from flooring such as wooden floors or carpets which include dirt which is present or dust in the case of many hard or wooden floors which quickly discolours the underside of the sock. The underside of the socks relate to parts of the feet which it covers, the heel, the sole and the toe of the foot and therefore of the sock. A patterned sock may also have a coloured pattern on the sock but may be white or very light to the underside, which can also show dirt easily. This constant issue of white or light coloured socks looking dirty at most times leads to them looking unsightly and also having to be washed more often than is necessary, leading to costs in household bills. The socks also become worn looking even when they are only relatively new and the person may often discard them and replace with new socks, which is again a cost which is unnecessary. Further to this, even if white or light coloured socks with a dirty underside are washed using conventional washing methods such as a machine, with added stain and dirt removing products, the socks may still look slightly dirty or even ruined after the washing process. The prior art therefore shows that there is a need for a more effective sock which has a way of hiding dirt on the underside, which is able to be used in the way any other conventional sock is used but does not show or disguises the dirt for longer periods. The present invention aims to provide an improved sock with a black or very dark coloured underside from the heel to the toe which does not show any dirt when worn, while the rest of the sock may be white, patterned or a light colour. Summary of the invention According to the present invention there is provided a white, light coloured or patterned sock or foot covering, to include any suitable variant previously described, including long socks, short socks, no show, low show, ankle socks, knee high socks, leg warmer socks, sports socks and crew socks, which are made in the conventional way but have a black or very dark coloured underside. When viewed with the person wearing the sock, the black or dark coloured underside cannot be seen at all and the sock appears to be white or light coloured. This is achieved by the black or very dark coloured underside only being applied to the very flat section to the underside of the sock and has no overlap of the black or very dark colour onto the lower sides of the sock, when on the foot. The black or very dark section on the underside of the sock can only be seen when the person lifts their feet in any way or when walking and it does not show the dirt for much longer periods due to it being a similar colour to the dirt. The black or very dark colour disguises any dirt which has been picked up by the sock and enables the socks to be worn for longer periods in between washing, and also gives them a much longer life before having to be replaced, as they disguise and do not show dirt from the floor Many white or light coloured socks and patterned socks with white or light coloured undersides can look very dirty within minutes of being worn if the floor is dirty and this will be eliminated by the black or very dark underside of the socks. The manufacture of the sock may include the black or very dark coloured underside being part of the knit or weave of the cotton during manufacture, and is applied using the same programming methods that weave or knit a design or logo into the sock. It may also be possible to print the black or very dark section as a colour onto the underside of the sock during manufacture using known printing methods. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the Patent Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sock or similar foot covering which has all the advantages of the prior art socks and similar foot coverings and none of the disadvantages. It is another object of the present invention to provide a new sock or similar foot covering which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sock or similar foot covering which is of durable and reliable construction. An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sock or similar foot covering which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labour, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a product available to the buying public. Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sock or similar foot covering which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith. These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. Brief description of figures Figure 1 shows an example of the socks with a black or very dark underside. Figure 2 shows a dimensional view of the sock with a black or very dark underside. Figure 3 shows a sectional plan view of a foot wearing a sock or foot covering with a black or very dark underside. Figure 4 shows a side view of a patterned sock with a black or very dark underside. Figure 5 shows an example of ancle socks with a black or very dark underside. Figure 6 shows an example of knee high socks with the black or very dark underside. Detailed description of figures A typical embodiment of the sock or similar foot covering is shown in Figure 1. It comprises the sock 1, which has a black or very dark coloured underside 2 which is the portion of he sock directly under the bottom of the wearer foot. Figure 2 shows the sock 1A with the foot slightly lifted to reveal the black or very dark coloured underside 2A, the dark coloured underside does not show dirt as it is a similar colour to the dirt. A plan view looking down on a foot in the sock 1B is shown in Figure 3 and the black or very dark coloured underside 2B is shown underneath the foot covering the whole of the underside including; the bottom of the heel, the soul, arch and underside of the toes. A striped sock 1C shows that any sock design can benefit from having a black or very dark coloured underside 2C, as shown in Figure 4. Figure 5 shows low cut socks 1D with the black or very dark coloured underside 2D Figure 6 shows knee high socks 1E also having black or very dark undersides 2E

Claims

1) A sock or similar foot covering comprising; a sock or similar foot covering including; long socks, short socks, no show, low show, ankle socks, knee high socks, leg warmer socks, sports socks and crew socks made of a suitable material; including; cotton, wool, nylon, acrylic, polyester, olefins, silk, bamboo, linen, cashmere, mohair, merino wool or any other suitable material, the sock having a black or very dark underside to disguise and not show dirt from the floor.2) A sock or similar foot covering as claimed in claim 1 wherein the black or very dark underside of the sock or foot covering is directly on the whole part of the sock that is underneath the bottom of the wearers foot.3) A sock or similar foot covering as claimed in claim 2 wherein the black or very dark underside of the sock or foot covering is not revealed when the person is standing on the floor.4) A sock or similar foot covering as claimed in claim 3 wherein the black or very dark underside of the sock or similar foot covering may be part of the programmed weave or knit of the sock during manufacture.5) A sock or similar foot covering as claimed in claim 4 wherein the black or very dark underside of the sock or similar foot covering may be printed onto the sock or similar foot covering as part of the manufacture process.A

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