Patent ID: 7845094

Claim:
An ice gripping footwear attachment comprising: a generally flat base that includes an upper surface for engaging the sole of a wearer's footwear and a lower surface carrying grit material that is frictionally engagable with an underlying icy walking surface; a forward fastening strap attached to a forward portion of said base and extending transversely to and outwardly from opposite sides of said base; an intermediate fastening strap extending transversely to and outwardly from the opposite sides of an intermediate section of said base, each of said forward and intermediate fastening straps including first and second parts that extend respectively from said opposite sides of said base, said first and second parts of each strap carrying respective, complementary releasable connectors; said first and second parts of each said strap being wrappable across an upper surface of the wearer's footwear and said complementary connectors being selectively interengaged to secure said strap to the footwear and disengaged to release the strap from the footwear, said first and second parts of said forward fastening strap being respectively wrappable across the footwear of the wearer to extend generally rearwardly from said forward portion of said base and cross one another to form an x-shaped pattern across the footwear, one of said forward and intermediate fastening straps being wrapped over the other of said forward and intermediate fastening straps when said first and second parts of each of said forward and intermediate fastening straps are interengaged; and a rearward ankle engaging strap carried by a rearward portion of said base for releasably engaging the wearer's ankle; said forward and intermediate straps being fastened to the wearer's footwear and said ankle engaging strap being engaged with the wearer's ankle to securely attach the ice gripping attachment to the footwear whereby said grit material on the lower surface of said base is frictionally engagable with ice on an underlying walking surface.