Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02345841 2001-04-30
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an overshoe adapted to be worn over
conventional
footwear to provide greater stability and resistance to slipping on both hard
and soft surfaces.
The invention has application to overshoes which may be worn over a variety of
conventional shoes by participants in the game of golf as well as overshoes
that may be worn
over a variety of conventional shoes to provide a non-slip, safety surface for
engaging snowy, icy
or other slippery surfaces hazardous to pedestrians.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known that expert golfers and golfers who play the game of golf
professionally wear special shoes which are provided with short, usually
metal, spikes extending
from the sole portion. These shoes ensure, or help to ensure, that once a
golfer has established
his preferred stance for a particular shot, he can swing the golf club with a
relatively vigorous
movement of arms and torso while ensuring that his feet remain firmly planted
in the desired
position.
These spiked, special golf shoes have a number of disadvantages. First, they
are
expensive items and add considerably to the costs of engaging in a very
popular game that is
played around the world. To expert and professional players, such shoes are a
necessity.
However, to may lovers of the game, they are an expense that cannot be
justified. Second, the
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spikes on these shoes can cause damage to the surface of putting greens and
even to the surface
of fairways and many golf courses prohibit their use, at least on putting
greens. Thirdly, these
shoes must be removed before entering the golf clubhouse or any other area
where the flooring
would be damaged by their use. Further, such special shoes must be removed
before the player
leaves the golf course since they are not suitable for normal pedestrian use
nor for use in such
activities as driving an automobile.
As a result of these problems, many golfers who might benefit from the use of
such golf shoes, play the game in ordinary or conventional footwear and,
therefore, fail to reach
a level of performance that they might otherwise achieve.
It is also well known that, in northern latitudes, winter weather produces
dangerous outdoor conditions for pedestrians. Both snow and ice are hazardous
and, even when
care is taken, serious, sometimes disabling falls may occur as a result of
conventional footwear
slipping on an icy or snowy surface.
To alleviate these conditions, a very wide variety of footwear is available
which is
intended to provide greater traction and stability on an icy, slippery
surface. However, these
items of footwear also present disadvantages. First, they are usually not
suitable for indoor wear
and, as a result, must be removed and replaced by conventional footwear when
entering a
workplace, residence or other building. Second, although such winter, anti-
slip footwear is quite
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efficient and effective, it is often cumbersome and awkward to wear. Thirdly,
the cost of such
winter footwear, although usually considered a necessity, if often substantial
and inhibits its use.
DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART
The applicant's are aware of certain prior art over which the present
invention is a
significant improvement.
United States Patent No. 1,946,396 - E.D. Fagelson
This patent purports to provide a solution to the problem addressed by the
applicants herein but the structure offered by inventor Fagelson is awkward,
heavy, cumbersome
in the extreme and would require considerable time to attach and remove from
the conventional
"ordinary shoe". The present invention, as claimed in the claims appended to
this application,
clearly distinguishes from the subject matter disclosed by Fagelson.
United States Patent No. 2,238,477 - G.E. Murber
This patent discloses a device bearing some superficial similarity to the
applicants' invention. However, the Murber construction is not elastic,
although it is described
as being made of rubber. The Murber device comprises an ordinary conventional
"toe rubber to
the sole of which is attached an outer sole which "may be made of leather or
any other
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composition material which affords rigidity, toughness and wear-resisting
strength." Murber
further contemplates the provision of a similar "insole" which is applied to
the interior of the
overshoe. Murber describes that, in actual use, both the inner sole and the
outer soles are first
secured in place by adhesive. This construction ensures that the Murber device
is of a fixed size
which, unlike the present invention, cannot expand to accommodate a limited
range of
conventional shoe sizes.
United States Patent No. 3 063,165 - W.S. Brough et al.
Brough et al. discloses a device which fits over only the toe portion of an
ordinary
shoe and which is held in place by a pair of rigid "shank retaining portions
or clipsl4 and 16
which have rigid clamp members 18 embedded therein. The construction shown by
Brough et
al. is, as a result, limited to an application to "ordinary shoes" having a
sole that is separate and
discreet from the upper portion of the shoe so that the tips or shank
retaining portions can engage
the sole where it joins the upper portion of the shoe. The Brough device is
not suitable for wear
over shoes such as running shoes, tennis shoes or the like.
Patent No. 5 469,644 - James W. Vidler
This patent discloses a small plate adapted to be strapped to a conventional
shoe.
The application of the device to such a conventional shoe requires the
engagement of three
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buckles and, unlike the present invention, provides no engagement between the
heel of the
wearer and the ground surface.
United States Patent No. 5 661,915 - Michael H. Smith
This patent discloses a device which requires a special shoe having an
outwardly
extending rib which may be engaged by a two-piece hinged sole plate. It is
clear that this is a
one-size only device and one which would have only a fragile and tenuous
attachment to the
"ordinary shoe".
United States Patent Des. 335 947 - James Shelley
This design patent covers a perfectly conventional form of toe rubber with the
addition of a securing strap extending over the instep of the wearer. The
essence of this design
would appear to lie in the aesthetic appearance of the instep retaining strap
which is a feature
absent from the present invention.
United States Patent Des. 336,973 - David Fritcher
Although this design patent covers a device which is intended to be the
functional
equivalent of the applicant's invention, it is, quite clearly, of a different
construction and
embodies none of the inventive features described and claimed herein.
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United States Patent Des. 362,952 - Crei~ Steinbeck
This patent discloses a device which is intended to be functionally equivalent
to
the invention claimed herein but which lacks any of the claimed inventive
features and which
relies upon a strap extending over the instep of the wearer to hold in
position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
simple,
light and inexpensive form of auxiliary footwear that can be worn over
conventional footwear
when its use is appropriate and which can be removed instantly when it is
desired or necessary to
revert to conventional footwear. A further advantage of the present invention
is that, as will be
shown, it is adapted to be used in connection with a wide variety of footwear.
According to the present invention, a removable overshoe comprises an
elastomeric sole portion having an upper surface and lower surface and a
peripheral edge that is
an approximation in outline of the outline of the sole of a conventional shoe
over which it is
adapted to be worn; an elastromeric, peripheral sidewall extending upwardly
from and integral
with the entire peripheral edge of the sole portion and adapted to embrace and
secure the
removable overshoe to a conventional shoe; the peripheral sidewall having a
portion which
extends rearwardly from the upper edge thereof adjacent its forward extent and
which is adapted
to overlie and embrace the toe portion of a conventional shoe, and an upward
extension adjacent
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the rearward portion of the sidewall adapted to embrace and frictionally
engage the heel portion
of a conventional shoe; the lower surface of the sole portion having a
plurality of spaced, ground
engaging elements extending downwardly therefrom, said elements being of a
hardness greater
than that of the remainder of the removable overshoe and being permanently
bonded to and
integral with said lower surface in a configuration that ensures a
substantially equal, non-slip
stabilizing ground engaging surface over the entire area of the sole portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the attached drawings in
which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view from below and to one side of an overshoe
embodying the present invention with a portion of a conventional shoe shown in
phantom lines;
Figure 1A is a side elevation view of an overshoe embodying the present
invention worn over a running shoe;
Figure 1 B is a side elevation view of an overshoe embodying the present
invention applied over a dress shoe;
Figure 1 C is a side elevation view of an overshoe embodying the present
invention applied to a work boot;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the sole portion of a preferred embodiment of a
large
size the overshoe of Figure 1;
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g
Figure 3 is a plan view of the sole portion of a small size of the overshoe of
Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a detailed perspective view of an adjacent pair of ground engaging
and
gripping elements arranged upon the sole of the overshoe of the present
invention;
Figure 5 is a view in enlarged detail showing a feature of the preferred
embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The overshoe shown generally at 10 consists of a sole portion 12 which is
integral
with an upper portion 13 which, in turn, extends from the peripheral edge of
the sole portion 12.
As will be described more clearly below, the sole portion 12 is provided with
a plurality of
integral, spaced, ground or surface engaging elements 14.
Advantageously, the overshoe of the present invention is molded from an
elastomeric substance made by Botex Industries Corp. of Langley, British
Columbia, Canada and
sold under the trade mark BOTEX. This elastomeric substance has the following
desirable
properties:
1. It has a degree of elasticity which enables one size of overshoe to fit
over a
conventional shoe or boot of more than one size.
2. Its elasticity remains relatively stable and constant over a range of
temperatures so
that the overshoe is suitable for both summer and winter wear.
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3. The substance has a high co-efficient of friction which ensures that the
overshoe
will remain in position on the conventional shoe.
4. The substance is waterproof.
As can be seen in Fig. 1, the sole portion 12 of the overshoe is provided with
a
plurality of spaced, downwardly projecting, ground or surface engaging
elements or cleats 14.
Turning to Fig. 4, the cleats 14 are shown in greater detail.
Each cleat 14 is circular in plan and is provided with a central, conical
projection
15. Surrounding each conical projection 15 are four arcuate elements 16, each
of which
embraces ninety degrees of the circumference of the base of the conical
projection 15. Each
arcuate element 16 has an inclined surface 17 remote from the sole portion 11
that rises from a
location 18 adjacent the sole portion to a terminating upper height 19 at its
opposite end which
terminates in a vertical wall 20 descending to the beginning end 18 of the
next, successive,
adjacent arcuate element 16.
As can be seen in Figs. l and 4, adjacent ground and surface engaging elements
or
cleats are oppositely oriented. That is to say, the arcuate elements of one
cleat rise from a low
point to an upper point in a clockwise direction while the arcuate elements in
an adjacent cleat
rise from a low point to an upper point in a counter-clockwise direction. As a
result, the plurality
of cleats on the sole of an overshoe according to the present invention
provides effective
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resistance to turning and rotation of the overshoe relative to the ground in
both the clockwise
direction and the counter-clockwise direction when worn over a conventional
shoe.
Figs. 2 and 3 are plan views of the soles of overshoes of the present
invention of
different sizes. Although the material from which the overshoes are made has a
degree of
elasticity enabling one size of overshoe to be engaged with more than one size
of conventional
shoe, this elasticity is limited. Accordingly, the invention contemplates the
manufacture of
overshoes in more than one size which, due to the elasticity of the material,
may accommodate
several conventional shoe sizes.
As will also be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, a number of cleats in a smaller size of
overshoe may be fewer than is appropriate in a larger size.
A further feature of the present invention is shown in Fig. 5. Surrounding the
entire upper free edge 21 of the upper portion 11 of the overshoe 10 and
slightly spaced from
said free edge 21, is an inwardly projecting, rounded rib 22. This rib 22 aids
in securing the
overshoe 10 to the conventional overshoe 11 over which it is to be worn and,
further, aids in
preventing the ingress of water when the overshoe is worn in wet conditions.
While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail
with
reference to the appended drawings, variations therein are contemplated by the
invention as
defined in the appended claims.
