US2281160A - Foot cover - Google Patents

Description

A ril 28, 1942. 0. B. KUERSCHNER 2,281,150

' FOOT COVER Filed April 20, 1940 Patented Apr. 28, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,281,160 FOOT COVER Otto B. Kuerschner, Wilmington, Del. Application April 20, 1940, Serial No. 330,737

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a protector in the form of a foot covering to be worn on ones foot after medication has been applied to the same, for example, when salves, powders, or liquids, must be applied in contact with the skin of the foot in treating any disease such as athletes foot, eczema, etc.

A foot covering for this P pose must be of very light weight, as it is usually worn inside of a sock or stocking. When it is worn inside of a stocking or sock in this way, it is diflicult to provide means for keeping the heel of the foot cover in its proper position, as it is found in practice, that the movements of the foot in walking, will cause the heel portion of such a foot cover to be pulled down.

An object of the present invention is to provide a foot cover or protector, having means for overcoming this difficulty, and which will operate when the foot cover is worn, to engage the wearers heel in such a way as to prevent the heel portion of the protector from working downwardly and oil of the wearers heel.

A further object of the invention is to construct means for this purpose, of material such as fabric, which can be readily sterilized with the body of the protector when necessary.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efilcient foot cover.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a protector or foot cover embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken about on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and showing the fabric heel of the protector as though held against a flat surface.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the heel portion of the protector broken away, and further illustrating the means I employ for accomplishing the purpose of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken about on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, but upon an enlarged scale indicating the outline of the wearers heel, and indicating how the invention operates in practice to accomplish its result.

In practicing the invention. I provide a body I of fabric, which has substantially the form of the lower end of a stocking and which is adapted to be slipped over ones foot. The fabric employed for this purpose is knitted fabric, such as employed in forming hose. It is therefore of a flimsy nature, and when the protector is worn, there is a tendency for the heel portion 2 of the protector to be pulled downwardly off of the heel in walking. This is due to the flexing of the toes and the movements of the foot. The edge of the opening into the protector is provided with an elastic cord 3, which exerts some slight tension in the upper edge, and this cooperates with my improvement in preventing the heel portion 2 from working downwardly. The tension in the upper edge of this protector, however, is necessarily quite slight, or the tension would render the protector uncomfortable, and for this reason this tension alone exerted at the upper edge of the heel portion 2, does not prevent the heel portion 2 from working downwardly. In order to overcome this difiiculty, I provide a guard 4 of flexible non-elastic material, having sufficient body so that it will not stretch appreciably and this guard is located adjacent the upper edge of the heel portion and secured thereto. This guard may have any desired form, but should be so constructed that it will present a relatively taut edge against the side of the wearers heel.

The guard 4 is preferably formed of a material that has little or no elasticity, and for this purpose I prefer to employ a double gusset, that is to say, a substantially triangular body having two wings or extensions 4a and 41) located on opposite sides of the medial plane and central whip seam line 5 of the protector. In other words, this gusset preferably is composed of two substantially triangular wings or extensions integral with each other and attached at the upper edge 6 of the heel and downwardly along the seam line 5 down to the point I, where the two inclined or diagonal edges 8 of the gusset wings 4a and 4b intersect. The diagonal edges 8 are thus unsecured to the body portion I except at the extreme ends of said edges.

When the protector is being worn, the tension in the elastic cord 3 assists in developing a certain amount of tension in the gusset wings 4a and 4b so that the edges 8 become more or less taut, so that these edges assume substantially the relation of chords across the curve of the sides 9 of the heel (see Fig 3). This is illustrated in Fig. 4, which indicates how the lower edges 8 will be pulled against the side ll) of the wearers heel II, and are held in such a position that they would resist any movement tending to pull them down over the lower portion of the wearer's heel that enlarges at this point.

This article is useful to be worn over a person's foot to which medication has been applied, so as to keep the medication from coming in contact with, or soiling, a sock or stocking worn outside of the protector.

Although it is desirable to employ the elastic cord 3 to cooperate with the guard 4 as described above; of course, if the material of which the protector is made, has some inherent elasticity, the taut eifect at the edges 8 may be developed sufllciently to enable the heel portion 2 to stay in place.

In using the protector, it will be evident that it can readily be slipped onto the foot after medication. It then acts as a covering over the medicated points, preventing any salve or ointment used from being wiped off, as it might otherwise be, in drawing a sock or stocking over the bare foot.

What I claim is:

1. A protector for medication applied to ones foot, consisting of a flimsy fabric body to be slipped onto the foot and having a flimsy heel portion with a heel guard of flexible non-' elastic material attached to the fabric heel on its inner side substantially along the vertical medial plane thereof, and extending downwardly from the upper edge of the fabric heel, said guard being in the form of a substantially triangular gusset presenting bottom edges extending laterally and secured to the fabric heel only at points laterally removed from the medial plane, said gusset operating when the protector is worn, to become taut and engage the side of 'the wearer's heel to maintain the fabric heel in position and prevent the same from being pulled down by the movements of the foot in walking. 7 2. A protector for medication applied to ones foot, consisting of a flimsy fabric body with an upper opening enabling the same to be slipped onto the foot and having a flimsy heel portion with a substantially triangular heel guard of flexible non-elastic material attached to the fabric heel on its inner side substantially along the vertical medial plane thereof, and extending downwardly from the upper edge of the fabric heel, means for developing tension along the upper edge of the heel adjacent the guard, said guard also extending laterally in each direction from the medial plane and its lower edge being secured to the fabric heel only at points laterally removed from the said medial plane, said heel guard operating to resist stretching when the protector is worn, so as to present a relatively taut lower edge to engage the side of the wearer's heel to maintain the fabric heel in position and prevent the same from being pulled down by the movements of the foot in walking.

3. A protector for medication applied to ones foot, consisting of aflimsy fabric body to he slipped onto the foot and having a flimsy heel portion with a heel guard of flexible non-elastic material attached to the fabric heel on its inner side substantially along the vertical medial plane thereof and extending downwardly from the upper edge of thefabric heel, said guard being in the form of a substantially triangular gusset presenting lower edges upwardly inclined from said medial plane, said edges being disposed only slightly below the edge of the fabric heel and secured to the fabric heel only at points laterally removed from the medial plane, said edges operating when the protector is worn to become taut and engage the upper sides of the wearer's heel to maintain the fabric heel in position and prevent the same frombeing pulled down by the movements of the foot in walking.

O'I'IO B. KUERSCHNER.

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