Athletic sock

Athletic foot apparel essentially in the form of a sock includes portions adapted to provide muscular support to the calf and ankle and a padded bottom portion for effectively absorbing shocks imparted to the foot during athletic activity. The ankle and calf portions include a layer of elastic material with the elastic material of the ankle portion being spaced from the elastic material of the ankle portion. Each layer of elastic material is disposed between inner and outer layers of fabric material. The padded bottom portion is secured to the sock and may be comprised of latex.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to improved athletic foot apparel and more 
particularly to apparel which provides muscular support and a cushioning 
effect against shock to the foot bottom. 
Common cotton socks have been in widespread use as athletic foot apparel 
for many years. It is also common for an athlete to provide muscle 
support, e.g. to a calf muscle, etc. by wrapping adhesive tape or a strip 
of elastic material about each foot before donning cotton socks. Certain 
athletic activity played on hard surfaces, such as basketball courts, 
places extreme strain on foot and calf muscles while imparting severe 
shocks to the bottom of feet. As rapid starting and stopping and jumping 
frequently result in such strain and shock, it is common for basketball 
players to wrap their feet in elastic bandages for muscle support and to 
wear several pairs of socks at once to absorb shocks. These bandages tend 
to abrade adjacent skin and by wearing several pairs of socks, slippage of 
layers of fabric adds to foot discomfort, particularly when a player 
attempts to rapidly start or stop. 
Accordingly, a need exists for athletic foot apparel in the form of an 
integral sock which provides muscular support and absorbs shocks 
effectively without significant skin irritation or discomfort. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide improved athletic foot apparel. 
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a sock which is 
suitable for strenuous athletic activity and which supports muscles and 
absorbs shock to the foot bottom. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide athletic foot 
apparel which does not impede necessary ventilation of the wearer's calf 
and foot. 
It is yet another object of the invention to provide improved athletic foot 
apparel which does not abrade adjacent skin when worn.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrated therein is an exemplary embodiment of 
athletic foot apparel 10 in accordance with the present invention. Apparel 
10 is in the form of a sock essentially comprised of calf portion 11, 
ankle portion 12 and padded bottom 13. Calf portion 11 is preferably 
formed of an outer, permeable fabric 15 such as cotton, elastic material 
16 and inner permeable material or fabric 17. It will be understood that 
fabrics 15 and 17 extend over the entire apparel 10 while elastic material 
16 extends over ankle portion 12 and upwardly from stitching 16' to 
stitching 18 at the top of apparel 10. Although it is preferred in 
accordance with the present invention to interleave elastic material 16 
between layers 15 and 17, it will be understood that sufficient support 
for the ankle and calf muscles of the wearer may be provided by weaving 
strands or threads of elastic material in with the fabric forming layers 
15 and 17. However, in the event that elastic material 16 is interleaved 
between fabric layers 15 and 17 as illustrated in FIG. 1, a section 19 of 
apparel 10 will not be provided with elastic material 16. Preferably, 
section 19 is simply comprised of fabric layers 15 and 17 to permit 
adequate ventilation. 
Ankle portion 12 will preferably extend downwardly from the bottom of 
section 19 so as to cover wearer's ankle and foot mid-section. The portion 
14 and heel portion 21 of apparel 10 are typically comprised of only 
fabric layers 15 and 17, again to provide ventilation to portions of the 
wearer's foot. Also, by providing toe portion 14, heel portion 21 and 
section 19 without elastic material 16, excessive muscular supression and 
the problems attendant thereto are avoided. A further degree of comfort 
afforded to the wearer of apparel 10 is that direct contact between skin 
and elastic material 16 is avoided by interleaving material 16 between 
fabric layers 15 and 17. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrated therein is padded bottom 13 of apparel 
10 which is preferably provided to extend substantially completely over 
the complete area of the bottom of the wearer's foot. Padded bottom 13 may 
comprise two or more fabric layers with the lowermost layer 20 depicted in 
FIG. 2. Stitching 22 may be configured in a diamond arrangement and serves 
to prevent layers of fabric 20, etc. forming padded bottom 13 from sliding 
with respect to one another. Thus, although padded bottom 13 provides a 
cushion against shocks resulting from strenuous running, jumping, 
stopping, etc. by the wearer, abrasive irritation of skin on the bottom of 
the wearer's foot is essentially eliminated. By providing stitching 22 in 
the configuration of discrete areas such as diamond patterns in fabric 20, 
a degree of isolation between such areas is effected. This results in the 
dampening of the horizontal component of shocks to the foot bottom and 
thus enables a greater degree of comfort to the wearer. 
It will be understood that suitable foam material which withstands washing 
without significant deterioriation may be encased between layers of fabric 
forming padded bottom 13. Appropriate stitching is provided to avoid 
sliding of such foam material and the undesirable effects thereof as noted 
above. 
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the particular 
embodiment of the invention here disclosed is by way of illustration only 
and is meant to be in no way restrictive; therefore, numerous changes and 
modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of 
the invention as defined by the appended claims.