SHOE BOTTOM CLEANSING APPARATUS

Abstract

A shoe bottom cleansing apparatus includes an inner layer having a compression molded material, a cover coupled to the inner layer and having a microfiber, and a lower layer coupled to the cover and defining a lower surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus. The lower surface is configured to contact the ground surface and has an anti-slip material. A plurality of cleansing portions define an upper surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus opposite the lower surface. Each groove of a plurality of grooves is disposed between adjacent cleansing portions of the plurality of cleansing portions.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/430,436, filed Dec. 6, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The apparatus, system and method described herein generally relate to efficiently and rapidly cleaning the bottom of a shoe.

BACKGROUND

The bottom of basketball shoes often become soiled during gameplay. Shoes lose their grip to the court's surface over time due to the accumulation of dust, dirt and other contaminants collected from the court onto the bottom surface of a shoe. Resultantly, shoes and subsequently slide on the court's surface, potentially causing decreased performance and increased risk of injury.

Players often wipe their hands on the bottom of a basketball shoe to cleanse it, which leaves their hands dirty and slick when handling the ball. Often a player's hands will become sweaty from playing basketball. Resultantly, a player will often spit on his or her hand prior to wiping the bottom of the shoes. The associated saliva often contaminates the playing surface that the bottom of the shoe comes into contact with, resulting in an unsanitary playing environment.

Cleaning products are not readily available on the court to clean shoes. A commonly known prior art cleaning solution involves a traction mat placed on the side of the court configured to allow a player to step onto a mat having a sticky surface to remove debris from the bottom of athletic shoes. However this solution has the disadvantage of accumulating of dust, dirt and other contaminants and thereby losing stickiness, and the ability to remove debris from the bottom of athletic shoes, relatively quickly.

Other solutions involve applying a foreign substance to the bottom of a shoe. In some circumstances, such substances do not make a shoe cleaner, but rather add more foreign substances to the bottom of the shoe. Such substances are prone to wearing away during gameplay. In some situations, such substances are damaging to the shoe, limiting the shoe's lifespan.

Accordingly, improved apparatus, systems and/or methods would be beneficial.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a shoe bottom cleansing apparatus configured to be placed on a support surface. The shoe bottom cleansing apparatus includes an inner layer having a compression molded material, a cover coupled to the inner layer and having a microfiber, and a lower layer coupled to the cover and defining a lower surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus. The lower surface is configured to contact the ground surface and has an anti-slip material. A plurality of cleansing portions define an upper surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus opposite the lower surface. Each groove of a plurality of grooves is disposed between adjacent cleansing portions of the plurality of cleansing portions.

While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a shoe bottom cleansing apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom view of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a left side view of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates a right side view of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 illustrates a rear view of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates a front view of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates a partial side-sectional view of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of FIG. 1.

It should be understood that the drawings are intended facilitate understanding of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are not necessarily to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description refers to the accompanying drawings which show specific embodiments. Although specific embodiments are shown and described, it is to be understood that additional and/or alternative features are employed in other embodiments. The following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the claimed invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It should be understood that like reference numerals are intended to identify the same structural components, elements, portions, or surfaces consistently throughout the several drawing figures, as such components, elements, portions, or surfaces may be further described or explained by the entire written specification, of which this detailed description is an integral part. Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read (for example, cross-hatching, arrangement of parts, proportion, degree, etc.) together with the specification, and are to be considered a portion of the written description.

FIGS. 1-8 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a shoe bottom cleansing apparatus 10 in accordance with the present disclosure. The apparatus 10 is configured to be placed on a ground or support surface, such as a surface adjacent to an athletic court, for example, a basketball court. Thereafter, one or more apparatus users, for example, athletes, drags the bottom(s) of one or more worn shoes (not shown) across the apparatus 10 to facilitate cleaning.

Referring specifically to FIG. 8, in some embodiments the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus 10 includes an inner layer 11 constructed from one or more compression molded materials, such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foams, cross-linked foams, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foams, closed cell foams, open cell urethanes, and thermoplastic urethane films. The inner layer 11 may be covered or surrounded by a cover 13, which may be constructed from one or more fabrics, more specifically a microfiber. The cover 13 may have anti-microbial properties and/or be moisture resistant or impervious. Other details of constructions including compression molded materials and fabrics are generally provided in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0022453, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

A lower surface 15 of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus 10 may be defined a lower or outer backing or layer 17, which may have anti-slip properties. In some embodiments, the lower layer 17 may be constructed from or have similar properties to rubber. In some embodiments, the lower layer 17 may be or include an expanded polyvinylchloride (PVC) fabric with a polyester backing. In some embodiments, the cover 13, the inner layer 11, and/or the lower layer 17 may be coupled via one or more adhesives and/or stitching. In some embodiments, the cover 13, the inner layer 11, and/or the lower layer 17 may be coupled using one or more thermal lamination processes. In some embodiments, using one or more thermal lamination processes rapidly couples components/layers that together provide the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus 10 with one or more advantageous characteristics, such as potentially being light weight, non-spongy, durable, resilient, washable, reusable, capable of flexing or being rolled upon itself without breaking or tearing, structured with features that facilitate removal of debris from the bottom of a wearer's shoes (described below), and suitable for receiving images, graphics, logos, text and/or the like via sublimation printing.

In some embodiments and as illustrated, the apparatus 10 includes a relatively thin base 12 and a plurality of cleansing portions 14 extending from the base 12. The plurality of cleansing portions 14 define an upper surface 19 of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus 10 opposite the lower surface 15. Grooves 16 (FIGS. 1 and 2) separate each of the cleansing portions 14. The cleansing portions 14 and grooves 16 facilitate removal of debris from the bottom of a wearer's shoes (not shown). Illustratively, the apparatus 10 includes seven cleansing portions 14 and six grooves 16. Alternatively, the apparatus 10 may include a different number of cleansing portions 14 and grooves 16.

Illustratively, the apparatus 10 may be sized to facilitate easy of carrying during travel. More specifically, the apparatus 10 may be sized, upon being rolled upon itself, for carrying in bag or backpack. For example, the apparatus 10 may have a width (that is, a dimension in the horizontal direction of FIG. 2) of about 11 inches and a height (that is, a dimension in the vertical direction of FIG. 2) of about 15 inches (“about”, as used herein, being understood as the nominal value+10 percent). As another example, the apparatus 10 may have a width of about 2 feet and a height of about 3 feet. As yet another example, the apparatus may have a width of about 24 inches and a height of about 19 inches.

Various other modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the above described features.

Claims

1. A shoe bottom cleansing apparatus configured to be placed on a support surface, the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus comprising:

an inner layer comprising a compression molded material;

a cover coupled to the inner layer, the cover comprising a microfiber;

a lower layer coupled to the cover and defining a lower surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus, the lower surface configured to contact the ground surface and comprising an anti-slip material;

a plurality of cleansing portions defining an upper surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus opposite the lower surface; and

a plurality of grooves, each groove of the plurality of grooves disposed between adjacent cleansing portions of the plurality of cleansing portions.

2. The shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the compression molded material is a foam.

3. The shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the microfiber comprises anti-microbial properties.

4. The shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of cleansing portions comprises seven cleansing portions and the plurality of grooves comprises six grooves.

5. The shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus comprises a width of about 11 inches and a height of about 15 inches.

6. The shoe bottom cleansing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus comprises a width of about 24 inches and a height of about 19 inches.

7. A method for manufacturing a shoe bottom cleansing apparatus, the method comprising:

providing an inner layer comprising a compression molded material;

providing a cover comprising a microfiber;

coupling a lower layer to the inner layer and the cover via a thermal lamination process, the cover comprising an anti-slip material and defining a lower surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the compression molded material is a foam.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the microfiber comprises anti-microbial properties.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising forming a plurality of cleansing portions and a plurality of grooves on the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus, the plurality of cleansing portions defining an upper surface of the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus opposite the lower surface.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus comprises a width of about 11 inches and a height of about 15 inches.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the shoe bottom cleansing apparatus comprises a width of about 24 inches and a height of about 19 inches.