Foot Guard
A foot guard that provides shock absorption on a metatarsal region of a shoe, such as a cleat, or a foot is disclosed.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/882,859, filed Aug. 5, 2019, by Nicholas Coppola, and Titled “FOOT GUARD” and 63/057,083 filed Jul. 27, 2020, by Nicholas Coppola, and titled “FOOT GUARD,” the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure generally relates to a foot guard. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a foot guard composed of at least one pad that provides shock absorption on the metatarsal region of the feet.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREThis section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is or is not prior art.
American football is a game that involves athletes running, tackling, and hitting one another. Throughout this process, players' feet can get injured due to getting stepped on, players falling on the feet, or any other cause of impact to the feet. To help to prevent the players from receiving foot injuries, players may wear foot guards. The foot guards may provide an impact pad on the top of the foot, so, when a player's foot is stepped on, the impact pad can act as a cushion to absorb shock. There are several ways to attach the impact pad to a player's foot. For example, some socks are designed to have an impact pad on the metatarsal region. However, in situations when special socks are not available or cannot provide enough protection, players may need to wear foot guards outside their cleats to receive foot protection.
According to the present disclosure, a foot guard is provided that includes at least one impact pad and an attachment mechanism. The attachment mechanism positions the at least one impact pad on a metatarsal region of a shoe and/or foot.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of protecting the metatarsal region of the foot where is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a foot guard with an impact pad, positioning the impact pad over the foot, and securing the impact pad on the foot. According to another method of the present disclosure, the method includes the steps of providing a foot guard including at least one band and an impact pad coupled to the at least one band, positioning the impact pad over the foot, and securing the impact pad to the foot with the at least one band.
The previously described aspects of this disclosure will grow to be appreciated at a greater level once references to the following accompanying illustrations are expounded upon.
The embodiments disclosed below are not intended to be exhaustive or limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may utilize their teachings. Unless otherwise indicated, the components shown in the figures are shown proportional to each other. It will be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. The disclosure includes any alterations and further modifications in the illustrative devices and described methods and further applications of the principles of the disclosure which would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONFor the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of this disclosure is thereby intended.
A foot guard 10 is described herein that helps prevent foot injuries under a metatarsal region 11 of a cleat, such as to the metatarsals of a person's foot. Foot guard 10 includes at least one impact pad 14 that is positioned on metatarsal region 11 of cleat 18 when in use. When a person's foot, for example, a football player's foot, is stepped on by another person, impact pad 14 absorbs impact to help protect the foot.
As shown in
To secure foot guard 110 to cleat 18, the user positions pocket body 124, with pad 14 therein, over metatarsal region 11 of cleat 18 with second ends 136 of bands 116′, 116″ detached from pocket body 124. Next, the user wraps first band 116′ around heel portion 22 of cleat 18 and fastens second end 136 of first band 116′ to pocket body 124, preferably with first band 116′ being taut. Similarly, the user wraps second band 116″ around arch portion 33 of cleat 18 and fastens second end 136 of second band 116″ to pocket body 124, preferably with second band 116″ being taut. Then, the user can remove foot guard 110 from cleat 18. First, the user detaches second end 136 of second band 116″ from pocket body 124. Similarly, the user detaches second end 136 of first band 116′ from pocket body 124. Then, the user can remove pocket body 124 from metatarsal region 11 of cleat 18.
As shown in
As shown in
Secondary impact pad 514 is removably coupled to pocket body 124′. Pocket body 124′ and secondary impact pad 514 include hook-and-loop type fasteners 540 to provide removable coupling therebetween. Secondary impact pad 514 includes loops 576 secured to form an opening able to receive hook-and-loop-type fastening strip 578 that attaches to laces 42 of cleat 18.
Foot guard 510 can be secured to cleat 18 following the same steps as described above for foot guard 110. Primary impact pad 14 can be removed from and inserted into pocket body 124 following the same steps as described above for foot guard 110.
To secure secondary impact pad 514 to pocket body 124, the user positions secondary impact pad 514 under pocket body 124′. The user then presses hooks 540A and loops 540B of hook-and-loop-type fasteners 540 together so that pocket body 124′ and secondary impact pad 514 are removably coupled together. Next the user attaches hook-and-loop-type fastening strip 578 to loop 576 and laces 42 of cleat 18, preferably by wrapping hook-and-loop-type fastening strip 578 around loop 576 and laces 42 of cleat 18 multiple times so that secondary impact pad 514 remains positioned on laces 42 of cleat 18. To remove secondary impact pad 514, the user first detaches hook-and-loop-type fastening strip 578 from, laces 42 of cleat 18. The user can then decouple hook-and-loop type fasteners 540 and remove secondary impact pad 514 from pocket body 124′. To replace secondary impact pad 514 with the same or a new secondary impact pad 514, the user positions secondary impact pad 514 under pocket body 124′. Next, the user presses hooks 540A and loops 540B of hook-and-loop-type fasteners 540 together so that pocket body 124′ and secondary impact pad 514 are removably coupled together. The user then attaches hook-and-loop-type fastening strip 578 to loop 576 and laces 42 of cleat 18.
In other embodiments of foot guards, not shown in the figures, the number of bands are not limited to two bands. For example, the foot guards may include a single band or more than two bands that wrap around cleat 18 to position at least one impact pad 14 at metatarsal region 11. As shown in
As shown in
According to present disclosure, band 116 and the other bands discussed herein are elastic. Band 116 is preferably elastic enough to be stretched and wrap tightly around cleats 18 of various sizes. The usual range of elasticity of bands 116 is 0.01-0.5 GPa.
As mentioned above, impact pad 14 is positioned at metatarsal region 11 to absorb shock when a foot is stepped on. As shown in
According to the present disclosure, the back of the at least one impact pad 14 may further comprise a skid-resistant surface 32, as shown in
Those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that numerous modifications can be made to the specific implementations described above. The implementations should not be limited to the particular limitations described. Other implementations may be possible.
Claims
1. A foot guard and shoe assembly, comprising:
- a shoe having lower side having a front portion and a rear portion and a metatarsal region, and
- a foot guard including a pocket body defining a pocket, an impact pad positioned in the pocket, and at least one band attached to the pocket body defining a first opening receiving the rear portion of the lower side of the shoe and a second opening receiving the front portion of the lower side of the shoe to secure the impact pad on the metatarsal region of the shoe.
2. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one band is elastic.
3. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 1, wherein the pocket body includes an opening sized to receive the impact pad, the opening has an open state allowing insertion of the impact pad into the pocket body and a closed state blocking removal of the impact pad from the pocket body
4. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one band includes a second band positioned over a calf of a user wearing the shoe.
5. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 1, wherein the pad is keystone-shaped.
6. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 5, wherein the pad is curved along a length of the keystone shape.
7. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 1, wherein the impact pad is removable from the pocket.
8. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one band includes a first band having a first end permanently coupled to the pocket body, a middle portion, and a second end removably coupled to at least one of the pocket body and the middle portion.
9. A foot guard and shoe assembly, comprising:
- a shoe having a metatarsal region, and
- a foot guard including a primary impact pad positioned over the metatarsal region of the shoe, at least one band attaching the impact pad to the shoe, and at least one secondary impact pad positioned over the metatarsal region of the shoe.
10. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 9, wherein secondary impact pad is attached to the primary impact pad.
11. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 10, wherein the secondary impact pad is removably attached to the primary impact pad.
12. A foot guard and shoe assembly, comprising:
- a shoe having a lower portion and a metatarsal region, and
- a foot guard including a cushioned impact pad secured to the shoe to position the impact pad over the metatarsal region of the shoe.
13. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 12, wherein the foot guard further includes a band extending under the shoe.
14. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 13, wherein the foot guard includes another band extending around a heel of the shoe.
15. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 14, wherein the bands are elastic.
16. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 12, wherein the shoe includes a lace and the footguard is coupled to the lace.
17. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 12, wherein the foot guard further includes webbing supporting the cushioned impact pad over the metatarsal region of the shoe.
18. The foot guard and shoe assembly of claim 12, wherein the foot guard is removable from the shoe.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 5, 2020
Publication Date: Jan 27, 2022
Inventor: Nicholas Paul Coppola (Rye, NY)
Application Number: 16/985,908