Secured infant socks

An infant sock capable of being securely attached to an infant's clothing to prevent loss includes a piece of material that extends past the cuff of the sock and is fastened to the infant's clothing in one of several ways. When infant clothing is selected that has snaps for easy diaper access, then the present invention makes use of these snaps for securing the material. One way to attach the sock is to shape the material extension into a loop and place the loop around the snap on the inside leg of the infant's clothing such that the male and female members of the snap are closed and the loop is securely sandwiched between the snap. Alternatively, the piece of material extension can be fitted with a male and female member of a snap sewn on opposite sides. These snap members are then secured to the infant garment by mating the snaps from the garment with the snaps of the sock extension. When infant clothing lacks the snap ensemble for easy diapering, an extra attachment, consisting of piece of material with a clip on one end, is looped through the sock loop and then attached to the garment via the clip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 The present invention relates to the field of footwear. More particularly,
 this invention relates to infant footwear that attaches to clothing, thus
 preventing it from falling off a baby's foot and becoming lost.
 2. The Background
 It is important for infants to wear socks or booties in order to maintain
 body temperature, as feet are one of the primary ports through which heat
 escapes. Additionally, from an economic standpoint, it is expensive to
 lose an infant's socks.
 FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting a typical infant sock. It is similar to most
 adult socks, sized proportionately. However, infant socks are lost easily
 in a number of ways. One common way to lose the socks is by taking babies
 in and out of car seats, strollers, swings, carriers and the like. These
 all have some type of harness to protect the baby, which generally
 consists of at least one part that fits between a baby's legs. As the
 baby's legs are taken in and out, it is easy for a sock to fall off of the
 baby's foot either from catching on the harness or from being pushed into
 a place that is not a well fitting part of the foot. Babies also squirm,
 kick, roll, and crawl during various development stages, and all of this
 motion tends to push the socks off feet. An additional way in which socks
 are lost is around four to eight months, babies "discover" their feet.
 Babies become fascinated by their own feet and do such things as pull off
 their own socks, put their toes in their mouths, and generally pull on
 their feet and toes. One can imagine how once these socks are pulled off,
 they are discarded wherever the baby may be, including the mall, the
 playground, the street, etc. Unless a parent or caregiver happens to
 notice, the sock is then lost.
 Houghteling in U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,050 attempted to deal with this by
 inventing an elastic strap with a snap on either side that fits around the
 baby's ankle. While this is one way to approach the problem, it has
 several drawbacks. One is that if the elastic does not fit tightly enough
 around the ankle, it is still easy to loose getting in and out of various
 baby apparatus and in the other ways discussed above. However, if the
 elastic is too tight, then the infant's circulation could be compromised.
 Finding this delicate balance is a challenge and what may work for the
 baby at three months may be too tight at five months or too loose at one
 month. Thus, the sock may only work in peak performance for a limited
 window of time.
 What is needed is a sock that is able to grow with the baby for a number of
 months and has the capability of not being lost from the child's person.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 A piece of material is added to the traditional baby sock or bootie, with
 the added material located on the cuff of each sock. This piece of
 material may be made of elastic, a reasonable strength yarn or fabric,
 hook and loop type fastener material, or from the sock material itself.
 This material is then fastened to the infant's clothing in one of several
 ways. One mechanism for attaching the sock utilizes the snap enclosures
 that are found on a lot of infant clothing, including pants, jumpers, and
 overalls. Such snap enclosures are found around the inside pants legs and
 crotch, making an easy access for diaper changes. The material may be
 shaped into a loop and fastened to the infant garment by looping it around
 the male and female parts of the existing garment snap; thus securing the
 sock. The parent or caregiver dressing the child simply selects the snap
 at the most comfortable level for the infant at the particular time, and
 this can be adjusted as the child grows or depending on the fit of the
 particular outfit. In one specific embodiment the piece of material is
 sewn into a loop shape. In this case, the loop is simply stretched over
 the selected snap and then enclosed when the snap is mated. In another
 specific embodiment the piece of material is placed around the mated snap
 and then fastened back to the sock itself, creating a loop when it is
 secured. The piece of material can be fastened into a loop with a snap, a
 button, a clip, or hook and loop type material. Alternatively, the piece
 of material may be secured to the infant garment without forming a loop.
 In this embodiment, a female snap member is sewn onto one side of the
 material extension and a male snap member is sewn onto the opposite side.
 These snaps can then be directly snapped into the infant's garment with
 the garment's existing snaps, such that the piece of material is
 sandwiched between the garment.
 When infant clothing is selected without this snap ensemble, an additional
 part may be added to the present invention to secure the sock. An extra
 piece of material with a clip on one end is placed through the sock loop
 and then fastened to an appropriate part of the baby's clothing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following
 description of the present invention is illustrative only and not in any
 way limiting. Other embodiments of the invention will readily suggest
 themselves to such skilled persons after a perusal of the within
 disclosure.
 FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating of one specific embodiment of the present
 invention. The traditional infant sock has an additional piece of material
 preferably located on the interior of the leg side of each sock. This
 piece of material can then be fastened to an infant's garment in several
 ways. In one embodiment a loop shape is formed and this loop is secured
 around the snap enclosures that are typically found on infant's clothing
 for easy diaper changing. As shown in FIG. 3, the snap at the most
 comfortable level for the infant at the particular time is selected, and
 this can be adjusted as the child grows or depending on the fit of the
 selected outfit. There are several embodiments for the loop. One is to
 have the piece of material on the sock sewn into a loop shape. In this
 case, the loop is simply stretched over the selected snap on the infant's
 garment and then enclosed when the snap is mated. Another embodiment is
 for the piece of material to be placed around the mated snap on the
 infant's garment and then fastened back to the sock itself, creating a
 loop when it is secured to the sock. The piece of material can be fastened
 into a loop with either a snap, a button, a clip, or hook and loop type
 material on the infant's sock.
 An alternative embodiment to secure the sock to infant clothing is to
 attach the piece of material directly to the garment without forming a
 loop. As shown in FIG. 4, one side of the material will have a male snap
 member and the other side will have a female snap member. This material
 can attach directly into the infant's garment by mating the snaps
 together, such that the material attachment is sandwiched between the
 garment. This is illustrated in FIG. 5. As with the loop embodiment, the
 snap at the most comfortable level for the infant at the particular time
 is selected, and this can be adjusted as the child grows or depending on
 the fit of the selected outfit.
 When infant clothing is selected without the snap ensemble for diapering,
 an additional part may be added to the present invention to secure the
 sock. As shown in FIG. 6, an extra loop with a clip on one end is placed
 through the sock loop and then fastened to an appropriate part of the
 baby's clothing. Thus, the sock is secured to the clothing. Additionally,
 the place of attachment may change depending on the height of the child or
 the size of the particular outfit selected.
 In the embodiments discussed above, there are several advantages gained
 from the invention. One is that the socks will remain on the infant's feet
 during normal wear. In the event that the sock slips from the baby's foot
 or is pulled off by the baby himself, the sock will remain attached to the
 clothing. Thus, the economic advantage remains, as the parent or caregiver
 will not permanently lose the sock and need only reposition it on the
 foot. Finally, this invention requires little skill or time to
 secure--only requiring one extra step in the dressing process--making it
 practical for new parents to utilize.
 ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS
 While embodiments and applications of the invention have been shown and
 described, it would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art,
 after a perusal of the within disclosure, that many more modifications
 than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive
 concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except
 in the spirit of the appended claims.