DISPOSABLE SHOE BUDDY

Abstract

A disposable shoe bottom cover for allowing a user easily cover the bottom of shoes being worn with a securely fitted, non-slip structure. The invention comprises a bottom base with a first front attachment lip, a second front attachment lip, a first back attachment lip, and a second back attachment lip. The bottom base is configured to be stretchable to be placed over and to cover the bottom of a shoe and the attachment lips provide opposing surfaces which allow the disposable shoe bottom cover to be secured to the bottom of a shoe by way of engaging the toe portion of the shoe and the heel portion of the shoe. The invention is operated by supplying manual force to stretch apart one front attachment lip and one back attachment lip, placing the bottom of a shoe on the stretched bottom base, and removing the manual force.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to footwear accessories and, more particularly, to a disposable shoe covering for protecting indoor floors from shoe soles and heels.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In today's society, individuals tend to wear shoes almost anywhere they go. It is well known that a prime way pathogenic microbes and other undesirable substances enter homes is by being tracked in on the sole of the shoes of the inhabitants or visitors. Moreover, the bottom some shoes, such as high heel shoes, are structure in an way which make them prone to scratching or otherwise damaging floor surfaces, including hard wood surfaces. For lack of convenience or for social reasons however, it has proven difficult for people to completely disallow the wearing of shoes in their homes or businesses. Thus, a problem which still exists is that the continuing practice of wearing all types of shoes indoors poses a constant threat of transferring dirt and germs inside and of damaging expensive indoor floors. There remains a need for a disposable shoe bottom covering which can be easily and securely placed over the bottom of one's shoe. It would be helpful if such a disposable shoe bottom covering was constructed of a non-slip and waterproof material to protect the wearer and the floor. It would be additionally desirable for such a disposable shoe bottom cover to be a one piece, elastic structure which could be secured over a plurality of shoe bottom types.

The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a disposable shoe cover adapted to be placed over and fully cover the bottom of any type of shoe. The primary component of Applicant's disposable shoe bottom cover is a base member having a plurality of fastening lips. When in operation, the disposable shoe bottom cover allows a user to place a disposable and readily available cover on the bottom of their shoes to prevent tracking substances on the shoe bottoms inside and to protect floor surfaces. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by resilient social customs and the prior art are removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A disposable shoe bottom cover for allowing a user easily cover the bottom of shoes being worn with a securely fitted, non-slip structure. The disposable shoe bottom cover comprises a bottom base with a first front attachment lip, a second front attachment lip, a first back attachment lip, and a second back attachment lip. The bottom base, as a base means for covering, is configured to be stretchable to be placed over and to cover the bottom of a shoe by way of its substantially flat profile and construction out a clear plastic or silicone material. The attachment lips provide opposing surfaces which allow the disposable shoe bottom cover to be secured to the bottom of a shoe by way of engaging the toe portion of the shoe and the heel portion of the shoe. The attachment lips are sized to allow the disposable shoe bottom cover to be selectively configured in real time to be placed on a shoes having a variety of toe and heel configurations. The first front attachment lip and a second front attachment lip, collectively, define a front attachment means. The first back attachment lip and a second back attachment lip, collectively, define a back attachment means.

The disposable shoe bottom cover is operated by supplying manual force to pull and hold one the front attachment lips and one of the back attachment lips in an stretching direction, which causes the bottom base to stretch as well, placing the bottom of a shoe on the stretched bottom base, and removing the manual force to allow the bottom base to resume its natural size. By such action, it is contemplated that the selected front attachment lip and back attachment lip will engage the toe and heel, respectively, of the shoe placed in the stretched bottom base.

To remove the shoe from the disposable shoe bottom cover, manual force in a stretching direction must again be supplied to terminate the engagement of the front attachment lip and back attachment lip with the toe and heel. While such force is supplied, the shoe can be freely removed.

It is an object of this invention to provide a disposable shoe bottom covering which can be easily and securely placed over the bottom of one's shoe.

It is another object of this invention to provide a disposable shoe bottom covering constructed of a non-slip and waterproof material to protect the wearer and the floor.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a disposable shoe bottom cover which was a one piece, elastic structure which could be secured over a plurality of shoe bottom types.

These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1a is a top plan perspective view of a disposable shoe bottom cover built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the disposable shoe bottom cover built in accordance with the present invention having first rear and first front attachment lip actuated.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the disposable shoe bottom cover built in accordance with the present invention having second rear and second front attachment lip actuated.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of the disposable shoe bottom cover built in accordance with the present invention on a high heel shoe and having first rear and second front attachment lip actuated.

FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of an embodiment of a disposable shoe bottom cover built in accordance with the present invention on a high heel shoe.

FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of the disposable shoe bottom cover built in accordance with the present invention on a gym shoe and having first rear and second front attachment lip actuated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings and in particular FIG. 1, a disposable shoe bottom cover 10 is shown having a bottom base 11 with a plurality of attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 defined by a first front attachment lip 12, a second front attachment lip 13, a first back attachment lip 14 and a second back attachment lip 15. The bottom base 11 is a substantially flat piece of material and constructed out a clear plastic or silicone, allowing it to be stretchable over the underside of a shoe. The bottom base is additionally configured to allow designs, patterns, and colors to be included thereon so as to make it more desirable to wear from a social standpoint.

The attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15 provide opposing surfaces which allow the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 to be securely placed on the bottom of a shoe. As the attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15 are provided in different sizes, it is contemplated that they allow the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 to be selectively configured in real time to be placed on substantially any type of shoe.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 is shown with various attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15 actuated. As the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 is constructed out of an elastic material, the attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15 are actuated by simply manually pulling and holding whichever lips are desired to be used in a front stretching direction 16 for the front attachment lips 12, 13 and a back stretching direction 17 for the back attachment lips 14, 15. As selected the attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15, are manually held in their respective stretching direction 16, 17, the bottom base 11 stretches as well. This allows the entire disposable shoe bottom cover 10 to be stretched before placement over a target shoe so that when manual force is removed, the bottom base and whichever attachment lips 12, 13, 14, 15 which were actuated to tighten around the toe and heel of the target shoe by the reflective recoil action from the stretching. As in FIG. 2, the first front attachment lip 12 and its first back attachment lip 15 are actuated. As shown in FIG. 3, the its second front attachment lip 13 and its second back attachment lip 16 actuated. It is contemplated, however, that any combination of front attachment lips 12, 13 and back attachment lips 14, 15 can be used together, depending on the structure of the target shoe. For instance, a shoe with a more pointed toe will customarily be suited for the first front attachment lip 12 while a shoe with a rounder toe will customarily be suited for the second front attachment lip 13. Similarly, a shoe with a more narrow heel, such as a high heel will customarily be suited for the first back attachment lip 14 while a shoe with a wider heel will customarily be suited for the second back attachment lip 15.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 is shown on a high heel shoe 50 with a wider toe. The bottom base 11 is shown underneath the bottom of the shoe 50, covering the same, while the second front attachment lip 13 is shown actuated and engaging the toe of the shoe. The first back attachment lip 14 is shown actuated and engaging the heel of the shoe 40, while the second back attachment lip (not shown) is remains in its flat, base position.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a disposable shoe bottom cover 51 is shown on a high heel shoe 50 with a pointed toe. The bottom base 52 is shown underneath the bottom of the shoe 50, covering the same, while in this embodiment, a single front attachment lip 53 is shown actuated and engaging the toe of the shoe 50. In addition, a single back attachment lip 54 is shown actuated and engaging the heel of the shoe 40.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the disposable shoe bottom cover 10 is shown on a conventional gym shoe 60. The bottom base 11 is shown underneath the bottom of the shoe 60, covering the same, while the second front attachment lip 13 is shown actuated and engaging the toe area of the shoe. The first back attachment lip 14 is shown actuated and engaging the heel area of the shoe 60, while the second back attachment lip (not shown) is remains in its flat, base position.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A disposable shoe bottom cover, comprising:

a bottom base defined as a substantially flat piece of elastic material having a first end and an opposing second end, wherein said bottom base includes at least one front attachment lip disposed at its first end and at least one back attachment lip disposed at its second end;

wherein said front attachment lip and said back attachment lip are configured to securely fit on the top portion of a shoe and the heel portion of a shoe when actuated, respectively, and adapted to be actuated by manually pulling and holding said front attachment lip in a first engaging direction and said back attachment lip in a second engaging direction, which stretches the bottom base and which allows a shoe to be placed on the bottom base, and releasing said pulling and holding once a shoe has been placed on the bottom base.

2. The disposable bottom shoe cover of claim 1, wherein at least two front attachment lips are disposed at the first end.

3. The disposable bottom shoe cover of claim 1, wherein at least two back attachment lips are disposed at the second end.

4. A method of covering the bottom of a shoe, comprising the steps of:

providing a disposable shoe bottom cover having a bottom base defined as a substantially flat piece of elastic material having a first end and an opposing second end, wherein said bottom base includes at least one front attachment lip disposed at its first end and at least one back attachment lip disposed at its second end and said front attachment lip and said back attachment lip are configured to securely fit on the top portion of a shoe and the heel portion of a shoe when actuated, respectively;

providing a shoe having either a rounded toe or a pointed toe and either a narrow heel or a wide heel;

actuating said front attachment lip and said back attachment lip by manually pulling and holding said front attachment lip in a first engaging direction and said back attachment lip in a second engaging direction, which stretches the bottom base;

placing the bottom of the provided shoe on the bottom base; and

releasing said pulling and holding.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least two front attachment lips are disposed at the first end.

6. The method of claim 5, additionally comprising the step of selecting a first front attachment lip for the step of actuating if the provided shoe has a pointed toe.

7. The method of claim 5, additionally comprising the step of selecting a second front attachment lip for the step of actuating if the provided shoe has a rounded toe.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein at least two back attachment lips are disposed at the second end.

9. The method of claim 8, additionally comprising the step of selecting a first back attachment lip for the step of actuating if the provided shoe has a narrow heel.

10. The method of claim 8, additionally comprising the step of selecting a second back attachment lip for the step of actuating if the provided shoe has a wide heel.

11. A disposable shoe bottom cover, comprising:

a base means for covering, wherein said base means includes a first end and an opposing second end;

at least one front attachment means disposed on said first end; and

at least one back attachment means disposed on said back end.

12. The disposable bottom shoe cover of claim 11, wherein at least two front attachment means are disposed at the first end.

13. The disposable bottom shoe cover of claim 11, wherein at least two back attachment means are disposed at the second end.