Abstract:
Protective foot wear having a shoe body, an elastomeric inner body, which has a sock portion and a sleeve, the sock portion being position in and attached to said shoe body. The sleeve extends from said shoe body. A shield is attached to the sleeve and the shield is sized to releaseably enclose the sleeve.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional application 60/487,927 filed Jul. 17, 2003. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to protective foot wear, particularly a boot which is equipped with rigid plates protecting the foot and lower leg. One environment in which the present protective foot wear is used is wade fishing. 
   2. Related Information 
   Outdoor field sports participants are often faced with hazardous conditions, resulting from creatures and physical environment. In wade fishing this is particularly true. In most coastal waters a constant danger to the wade fisherman is the stingray, which although non aggressive is provoked to protective action when trod upon by the hapless wader. Many have felt the lash of a ray&#39;s tail which requires medical attention. Since the rays and other likely attackers are mainly bottom dwellers the protection required is for the foot and lower leg, i.e., the calf area. 
   Animals are not the only source of concern to a wader. Natural and manmade objects submerged in murky waters near the bottom is also a potential for causing injury. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Briefly, the present invention relates to protective foot wear comprising a shoe body, an inner body, preferably being an elastomeric material, having a sock portion and a sleeve, said sock portion being position in and attached to said shoe body, said sleeve extending from said shoe body and a shield attached to said sleeve, said shield being of a size to releaseably enclose said sleeve. 
   In a preferred embodiment, the present protective foot wear comprises: a shoe component comprising a polymeric sole and upper; an inner elastomeric member having a foot portion and a leg portion, said foot portion being attached in said shoe component and preferable conforming thereto; and an outer leg portion comprising a belt having a plurality of pockets therein, corresponding to said leg portion and attached thereto, each of said pockets containing a rigid member, said belt preferable having fasteners to close said belt around said leg portion. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a left boot embodiment of the protective foot wear of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a rear elevation view of the boot of  FIG. 1  in the closed configuration. 
       FIG. 3  is a rear elevation view of the boot of  FIG. 1  having the protective shield open. 
       FIG. 4  is a rear elevation view of the boot of  FIG. 1  having the protective shield open. 
       FIG. 5  is cross sectional view taken along line  5 — 5  of  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The present protective foot wear is not only useful in water but in any utilization where protection of the lower leg is desirable, such as working or hunting in areas having high populations of poisonous snakes. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1  the boot  10  is shown in its closed “for use” configuration. The boot comprises an inner body  12  and a shoe body  14 . 
   The shoe body is preferably made of a tough puncture-resistant material such as a high impact polymer or rubber. The inner body  12  comprises sock portion  5  which in  FIG. 4  is shown to be within and confirmed to the shoe body  14  and a sleeve  26  which extends upward from the shoe body  14 . 
   The inner body  12  may be a waterproof material, however, it preferably is elastomeric material having insulating properties, such as Neoprene of the type used in wet suits or the like. The sock portion  26  is glued or sealed into the shoe body  14 . The sleeve  26  is provided with a zipper  28  which allows the sleeve to open for insertion of a human foot. Situated behind the zipper and attached to the sleeve about the zipper is an expansion flap  44 , which maintains the integrity of the sleeve around the zipper when the zipper is opened or closed and allows expansion of the sleeve when the foot is inserted such that the sleeve is intact even when the zipper is opened. When the zipper  28  is closed the excess material in the expansion flap folds against the calf of the wearer. Since the expansion flap is preferably made of the same flexible insulating material as the sleeve, it improves the tightness of the sleeve against the calf. 
   The shield  20  preferably comprises a flexible belt having four vertical panels  22 , a vertical front panel  24  and an instep panel  40 . The shield is formed by placing rigid sheets such as plastic or metal into pockets along the belt to form a substantially continuous rigid shield. The belt may be cloth, such as nylon, polyester, fiberglass or the like. The pockets may be formed by sewing, gluing or fusing, in the case of polymeric materials, along the desired seams. The belt may also be made of sheet of porous or non porous polymeric materials having vertical pockets formed therein. The shield may also comprise a single sheet of rigid material in a single pocket (not shown) or a flexible sheet of high density material (not shown). 
   In the preferred embodiment shown the shield comprising four vertical panels  22 , the vertical front panel  24  and is attached to the sleeve  26  of inner body  12  by shield extensions  38  by sewing. The attachment of the shield extension with the flaps  38  positions the front panel  24  adjacent to the instep of the shoe body  14 . An instep panel  40  (also within the belt) extends from the front panel of the shield over the vulnerable instep area of the foot to provide additional protection. 
   The shield  20  panels extend around the sleeve  26  and downward over a portion of the shoe body  14 . The overlapping of the shield components with the shoe body provides double protection to the ankle area and heel  42  of the foot in addition to the instep. The double protection in the ankle/instep region of the boot provides protection against animal attack (snakes and stingrays) and underwater objects where they are most likely to occur and do the most damage to a person. 
   Panel inserts, positioned in heavy nylon belts are a preferred embodiment because it requires less effort for a person to close the panels (rather than a single sheet of rigid plastic) about the sleeve and to attach the upper buckle  18   a  and lower buckle  18   b  to form an enclosed armored wall around the calf area of a wearer (not shown). Each insert on the belt is arrayed as closely as possible to its adjacent insert(s), with only the seam on the pocket(s) separating the insets, thereby forming a substantially continuous shield about the sleeve  26 . 
   Each buckle  18   a  and  18   b  is attached to belt component  16   a  and  16   b  respectively. The preferred buckles shown comprise an interlocking component on each opposed belt component for quick attachment and release and are available commercially. Any means (such as snaps, clips, conventional loop belts and the like) to fasten the shield  20  about the sleeve  26  may be employed. The belt is preferably woven, for example, from nylon or saltwater resistant polymeric material. 
   A sleeve strap  30  with buckle  32  is provided adjacently to the upper terminus of the sleeve  26  to tighten the sleeve on the calf of the wearer (not shown). 
   Referring to  FIG. 5 , the construction of the boot  10  is illustrated. The inserts  36  are shown positioned with a pocket formed by cloth sheets  34   a  and  34   b  and closed at both ends by stitches  46 . The sock portion  5  of the inner body  12  is seated in the shoe body  14  and adhered therein (not shown). Preferably, the shoe body extends to cover the ankle of the wearer (not shown) and provides the additional overlap protection and support noted above.