Protection For Boots Or The Like Background Of The Invention

The present invention relates to boot protection devices, and more particularly to a sole protector arranged to be removably mounted onto a ski boot, thereby protecting the sole of the boot from damage caused by walking on hard abrasive surfaces, such as parking lots or the like.

Description Of The Prior Art

For the past several years virtually all alpine ski boots have included an outer shell made from relatively hard, thin plastic material which is designed to reduce the weight of the ski boot to a minimum. If these ski boots are worn when walking on abrasive surfaces, such as roadways, parking lots, or the like, the soles of the ski boots become scarred, rounded on the edges, and eventually worn through the outer shell to the footbed of ^" the boot. This wear problem is com¬ pounded by friction resulting between the rough ski boot sole and the ski, thereby impeding the proper functioning of the binding while increasing the changes of injury by improperly functioning equipment. It is apparent that there is a need in the prior art to have a suitable means to pro¬ tect the bottom of ski boots from being scarred or other¬ wise damaged while walking on hard abrasive surfaces. Al¬ though there have been prior art attempts to solve this pro¬ blem, all of the prior protective devices have been too bulky to conventiently store when not in use, and they have been too heavy and too difficult to install on the sole of the boot.

It has now been found that by practice of the present invention there is provided a convenient protective- device for the sole of a boot which overcomes numerous disadvan¬ tages of prior art devices, while providing a simple, commercially practical, highly convenient solution for pro-

-2- tecting the sole of a rigid boot, such as a ski boot, from damage by abrasive surfaces.

Summary Of The Invention Generally stated, the present invention provides a protector device for the sole of a boot-. The protector device is removably attached to the sole surface of the boo and includes a resilient strap which is adapted to be mounted over the outer peripheral edge of the sole. Pre- ferably, the resilient strap includes a ridge portion dis¬ posed under the forefoot and heel sections of the sole. Th resilient strap may be configurated with sufficient thick¬ ness along the body portion thereof providing that the thic ness of the strap is sufficient to prevent the boot sole from contacting rough surfaces and narrow enough to enable the strap to be mounted over the outer peripheral edge of the sole, such as by twisting the resilient strap to form intermediate loops. A substantial portion of the resilient strap is thus maintained beneath the sole of the ski boot when the strap is in use.

It is an object of this invention to effectively pro¬ tect the soles of boots from damage caused when the soles contact rough, abrasive surfaces.

It is another object of this invention to provide a ski protector device, especially for the soles of ski boots, which is commercially practical and which is adjustable to fit many boot sizes, in a simple convenient manner.

It is another object of the invention to provide a protector device that has very little weight and is easy to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pro¬ tector device that can be easily stored while not in use.

It is another object of the invention to provide a protector device that is inexpensive to manufacture. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the accompa ing drawings wherein similar elements are identified by lik

numerals throughout the several views.

Brief Description Of the Drawings

Figure 1 is- a perspective view of the protector device of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device of Figure 1, taken along sectional lines 2-2 thereof;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side elevational view showing the protector device of the present invention mounted onto a ski boot;

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the ski boot of Figure 4, showing the protector device mounted onto a ski boot; Figure 6 is a side elevational view showing the pro¬ tector device mounted onto a ski boot when fastened to a ski; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the protector device of the present invention.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates protector device 10 formed as an elongated multi-shaped loop or member having first loop end 12 and second loop end 14 with longitudinal surfaces 16 and IS integrally connecting the loop ends. Longitudinal surface 16 includes a pair of segments 19 and 21 having textured surfaces 20 and 22, respectively thereon, whereas the longitudinal surface 18 includes a further pair of segments 23 and 25 having tex- tured surfaces 24 and 26, respectively, thereon. It will be recognized that loop end portions 12 and 14 are of a uniform, rectangular, strap-shaped configuration. It will likewise be recognized that the" intermediate portions of the longitudinal surfaces 16 and 18 are of a rod-shaped configuration, whereas the outer portions comprising the segments of the longitudinal surfaces 16 and 18 are of a rectangular configuration and of greater thickness. The

intermediate portions and the loop end portions comprise connecting portions.

Figure 2 illustrates, in cross-section, one of the segments and its textured surface in greater detail. In

Figure 2, the thicker longitudinal surface 20 is illustra with rib member 28 in relationship to loop end portion 12

Figure 3 illustrates, in cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1, the intermediate rod-shaped configuration of longitudinal surface 16 in relationship to the thicker textured surface 20 of segment 19. The rib member 28 provides an anti-skid surface.

Figure 4 illustrates a ski boot 32 generally depict of the type formed of rigid plastic material with ski binding toe member 34 and ski binding heel member 36. Th protector device 10 of Figure 1 may be attached by simply twisting the intermediate portions of longitudinal sur¬ faces 16 and 18 while attaching the first loop end por¬ tion 12 to ski binding toe member 34 and the second loop end portion 14 to ski binding heel member 36. Figure 5 illustrates in greater detail the protecto device 10 attached about the sole portion of a boot 32. In Figure 5, the twisting engagement of the protector device 10 is more clearly illustrated by twist 38. One twist is sufficient to form a generally illustrated figure eight configuration for attachment to the sole por tion of the ski boot.

Figure 6 illustrates the protector device 10 posi¬ tioned on ski boot 32 when the boot is fastened to a ski 44 by means of ski binding toe member 40 and ski binding heel member 42.

Figure 7 illustrates a further embodiment of pro¬ tector device 50 of the present invention where the thick portions or segments of the loop 52, 54, 56 and 58 are tapered gradually to longitudinal surfaces 60 and 62 and likewise tapered gradually to loop end portions 64 and 66. The protector device of the present invention may b formed by molding, extrusion and subsequent adhesion, or

related techniques well known in the art. The material forming the protector device of the present invention is desirably ^' an elastic material, such as plastic, rubber, or the like. It has been found that for convenience of wear, rubber formulated compositions are preferred for preparing the present protector device.

When the resilient protector device is not in use, it may be completely removed from the ski boot and stored in a coat pocket, or it may be left on the ski boot simply by releasing the strap at either the toe end or heel end to eliminate the twist therein and the entire strap is slipped over the boot sole and positioned immediately above the sole where it is held In place and out of the way. In this posi¬ tion, the protector device protects the sides of the boots from being damaged by the metal edges of the skis.

The present protector device may be conveniently pre¬ pared in one size and because of the elasticity thereof it may be secured to a variety of ski boot sizes. However, to accommodate all boot sizes, several different length pro- tectpr devices are necessary. The surface of the segments of the protector device is textured to provide traction or anti¬ skid protection while walking on slippery surfaces which are frequently encountered on roadways.

The invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, con¬ struction and arrangement of the parts of the invention with¬ out departing from the spirit and scope thereof or sacrificing its material advantages, the arrangement hereinbefore described being merely by way of illustration and not to be restricted to the specific form shown except as defined in the accompanying claims.