Abstract:
A device is provided for attachment to the sole of athletic shoes to protect the sole of athletic shoes from damage caused by walking on off-court or street surfaces. The device comprises a base member and securement members for securing the base member to the sole of an athletic shoe and allows the user to avoid having to change from street shoes to athletic shoes before stepping on a court surface and then having to remove his athletic shoes and don street shoes before leaving the playing venue.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims priority to provisional application Serial No. 60/302,924 which was filed Jul. 2, 2001. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    This invention relates to devices for the protection of the soles of athletic shoes and specifically relates to protective devices which are structured to be easily secured about and removed from athletic shoes to protect the soles thereof.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    Athletic shoes have become very popular in the past few decades as footwear not only for sports participation, but for general everyday wear. With their increased popularity has come a corresponding increase in the cost of athletic shoes such that a single pair of athletic shoes may cost over two hundred dollars. Therefore, there is a great incentive to maintain the condition of one&#39;s shoes to maximize the wear and serviceable life of the shoes.  
           [0006]    For people who play sports, there is a particular concern for maintaining the condition of the shoes since athletic shoes that are designed for a certain sport may be very expensive. For example, athletic shoes that are designed for playing indoor basketball are constructed to provide maximum traction and foot protection on wooden floors. If a basketball player then wears those athletic shoes off the basketball court, the soles of the shoes become worn and degraded by the cement or gravel of conventional walking surfaces. In no time at all, the sole of the shoes become unsuitable for use on an indoor basketball court.  
           [0007]    Owners of wooden-floor basketball courts are particularly concerned about the wearing of athletic shoes on the court when those shoes have been worn outside because the soles of the shoes pick up, or are embedded with, gravel and other fine abrasives that scratch the floor of the court. The damage that can occur to wooden-floor basketballs courts is significant and costly to repair. Therefore, court owners now routinely prohibit players, or anyone else stepping on the court, from wearing street shoes on the court. To accommodate that prohibition, players must change their shoes before playing on the court. Players arrive at the court venue, remove their street shoes and put on their athletic shoes, then remove their athletic shoes after the game and put their street shoes back on.  
           [0008]    Indoor basketball players typically take their athletic shoes off in a locker room or other dressing area before leaving the building to preserve their shoes. However, stopping to remove one&#39;s shoes can be time consuming and if players are in a hurry to leave the venue, they may not have time to stop and change their shoes. This is particularly true in the case of young boys or girls of middle school or high school age who play successive games of basketball at different schools. If they are being transported by bus, for example, to a nearby school for another game and they must quickly board the bus, they may not have time to change their athletic shoes to street shoes and then back to athletic shoes when they arrive at their next game destination.  
           [0009]    Therefore, for both professional and non-professional players alike, it would be advantageous to provide a device to protect the soles of athletic shoes which is easily attached to and detached from the athletic shoes while the wearer has the shoes on so that the wearer may avoid having to remove his athletic shoes before walking on a non-court surface, and which allows the wearer to walk in any area or on any surface off the court without causing damage to the soles of the athletic shoes.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    In accordance with the present invention, a device is provided for protecting the soles of athletic shoes which is easily attached to and removed from the athletic shoes while the shoes are on the wearer&#39;s feet, thereby allowing the wearer to walk on any surface without damaging the soles of the athletic shoes. While the sole-protecting device of the present invention is disclosed herein with respect to use with athletic shoes, the device may be employed with any kind of shoe the sole of which the wearer wishes to protect from damage caused by walking on street surfaces.  
           [0011]    The sole-protecting device of the present invention comprises a base member and securement members attached to the base member to secure the base member to the sole of an athletic shoe. The base member generally comprises a substantially flattened structure which is sized to approximate the size, shape and/or dimension of the sole of a shoe. The size of the base member may vary, but it is generally desirable for the base member to be co-extensive in size with the sole of the athletic shoe, and to even be slightly larger in size so that the sole of the shoe resides entirely within the perimeter of the base member. The base member may be made of any material suitable for use as the sole of a shoe, including natural and synthetic materials. Preferably, the base member is made of a flexible material which allows the base member to bend with the athletic shoe sole when walking.  
           [0012]    The securement members of the present invention may be any suitable device, apparatus or system that secures the base member to the sole of an athletic shoe. It is preferred, however, that the securement members be a simplified system which allows the wearer to quickly attach the device to an athletic shoe and quickly remove the device. Therefore, by way of example only, the securement members may comprise a toe-engaging member which secures the toe of the shoe to the base member and a more rearwardly positioned engaging member which secures the rearward portion of the shoe to the base member. For example, the rearward engaging securement members may comprise a heel-engaging member or an instep engaging member, or both.  
           [0013]    The sole-protecting device of the present invention may be configured such that the securement members are arranged to provide easy slip-on and slip-off of the device relative to the athletic shoe. Moreover, the securement members may preferably be structured to provide selectively adjustability of the securement members over or about the athletic shoe to increase engagement of the device to the shoe and to accommodate various sizes of shoes. The securement members may, therefore, be constructed with selective adjustment apparatus or members.  
           [0014]    The foregoing elements and features of the present invention, and the function of the invention, are described in further detail hereinafter.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]    In the drawings, which illustrate what is currently considered to be the best mode of the invention:  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, further illustrating the device engaging an athletic shoe;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of the rearward portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]    A first embodiment of the sole-protecting device of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS.  1 - 4 . Referring to FIG. 1, the sole-protecting device  10  comprises a base member  12  which may generally be flat to contact the sole of an athletic shoe, and is sized in shape and dimension to receive the sole of an athletic shoe thereon, as further shown in FIGS.  2 - 4 . The sole-protecting device  10  further comprises securement members  14  which are configured and located to detachably secure the base member  12  to an athletic shoe  16 , as shown, for example, in FIG. 2.  
         [0022]    The base member  12  may be made of any suitable material which supports the sole of the athletic shoe and does not damage the sole of the shoe. The material may, most suitably, have some degree of flexibility to facilitate flexure of the sole-protecting device  10  while the wearer is walking with the device  10  attached to his or her shoes. However, the material may, in certain applications, be more suitably selected to be substantially inflexible. Exemplar materials that may be used in forming the base member  12  include, but are not limited to, rubber, flexible plastic, polymeric materials, leather and the like. The material may be synthetic or natural. Moreover, the base member  12  may be structured with a bottom surface  13  which is configured to provide particular traction on walking surfaces, such as may be encountered in the winter.  
         [0023]    The securement members  14  may be any suitable device, apparatus or means for securing the base member  12  to the sole of the athletic shoe  16  (FIGS.  2 - 4 ) in a manner which allows the wearer to easily and quickly secure the base member  12  to the athletic shoe  16 , and then quickly remove the base member  12  from contact with the athletic shoe  16  when desired. By way of example only, FIGS.  1 - 5  illustrate various types of securement members  14  and arrangements that may be used in the present invention.  
         [0024]    The securement members  14  comprise at least one toe-engaging member  20  which is positioned to fit over and engage the athletic shoe  16  in the region of the toe of the shoe  16 . The securement members  14  further comprise at least one rearwardly shoe-engaging member  22  which is positioned to fit about a rearward portion of the athletic shoe  16  to secure the rear of the shoe  16  to the base member  12 . For example, as shown in FIGS.  1 - 4 , the rearwardly shoe-engaging member  22  may comprise a heel-engaging member  23  positioned to fit about the heel  24  of the athletic shoe  16  to maintain the sole-protecting device  10  in secure engagement with the shoe  16 . FIG. 5 further illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention in which the securement members  14  comprise a heel-engaging member  23 .  
         [0025]    In a particularly suitable embodiment, shown in FIGS.  1 - 4 , the securement members  14  may further include an instep-engaging member  26  which is positioned to span over and engage the instep portion  27  of the athletic shoe  16 . In yet another alternative embodiment of the present invention, the sole-protecting device may comprise a toe-engaging member  20  and an instep-engaging member  26  with no heel-engaging member, thereby providing a slip-on type configuration.  
         [0026]    The securement members  14  may be attached to the base member  12  in any suitable manner and may be structured in any suitable manner which will provide easy attachment and detachment of the base member  12  to the athletic shoe  16 . As shown, for example, the securement members  14  may be configured as straps that are secured to the base member  12  and are sized to span about or across the shoe  16 , the sole of which is positioned on the base member  12 . The securement members  14  or straps may be made of any suitable material that is either moderately elastic or inelastic.  
         [0027]    It may be desirable to structure the securement members  14  to provide selective adjustability thereof to assure a snug fit of the sole-protecting device  10  to the athletic shoe  16  and to accommodate varying size or shapes of shoes. Thus, for example, the securement members  14  may be made of slightly elastic material which allows the securement members  14  or straps to engage the shoe. Further, the securement members  14  may be configured with a selectively adjustable mechanism. For example, toe-engaging member  20  may further comprise an adjustable first fastening element  28  connected to the base member  12  along one edge thereof, and a second fastening element  30  connected to the base member  12  along an opposing edge thereof.  
         [0028]    The first fastening element  28  and second fastening element  30  are preferably structured with interlocking means  32  which allow the two elements to be quickly engaged and secured together, and then quickly disengaged to remove the base member  12  from the shoe  16 . By way of example only, the interlocking means  32  may be hook and loop tabs  34 , one positioned on the free end of second fastening element  30 , as shown in FIG. 1, and a corresponding hook and loop tab  36  positioned at the free end of first fastening element  28 .  
         [0029]    Similarly, the instep-engaging member  26  may be comprised of a first fastening element  38 , which is illustrated in FIG. 1 as being secured to an anchoring tab  39  that is in turn connected to the base member  12  along one edge thereof, and a second fastening element  40  which is illustrated as being secured to an anchoring tab  41  that is connected to the base member  12  at the opposing edge thereof. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the first fastening element  38  and second fastening element  40  may each be connected directly to the base member  12 . The instep-engaging member  26  is also structured with interlocking means  32  to secure the first fastening element  38  and second fastening element  40  together. The interlocking means  32  thereof may also be structured with a hook and loop tab  42  positioned at the free end of second fastening element  40  and a corresponding hook and loop tab  43  positioned at the free end of first fastening element  38 .  
         [0030]    The heel-engaging strap  23  may be configured as a single length of material having a first end  44  which is secured, such as by stitching, to the second fastening element  40  of instep-engaging strap  26  and having a second, free end  46  which is structured to be secured to the first fastening element  38  and anchoring tab  39  by some means, such as stitching.  
         [0031]    The sole-protecting device  10  may further include at least one side member  48  which is secured at one end to the toe-engaging member  20  and secured at the other end to a rearwardly-engaging member  22 , either the instep-engaging member  26  or the heel-engaging member  23 . In an alternative embodiment, as suggested in phantom in FIG. 3, the sole-protecting device  10  may further comprise a second side member  49  which is likewise secured at one end to the toe-engaging member  20  and secured at the other end to a rearwardly-engaging member  22 .  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative configuration of the present invention comprising a base member  12  having a toe-engaging member  20  and a single rearwardly-engaging member  22  comprising a heel-engaging member  23 . The heel-engaging member  23  may also be comprised of a first fastening element  54  and a second fastening element  56  which are selectively securable one to the other such as by use of interlocking means  58 . As previously described, any interlocking means  58  may be used, but hook and loop tabs are shown by way of example only. Further, it is shown that a buckle  60 , positioned on the toe-engaging member  20 , may be employed as but one alternative type of interlocking means. It should also be noted that the toe-engaging member  20  does not need to be structured as two elements for securing together, but may be a single continuous length of material securely attached at both ends to the base member  12 , thereby allowing the wearer to slip the toe of the athletic shoe beneath the toe-engaging member  20 .  
         [0033]    The sole-protecting device of the present invention is designed to protect the soles of athletic or other types of shoes from wear or degradation by contacting conventional street surfaces. The sole-protecting device may be adapted to any number of different types of shoes other than athletic shoes. Hence, reference herein to specific details of the structure and function of the present invention is by reference only and not by way of limitation.