Partial sock

Details Partial sock Partial sock

2001-06-25

2002-05-28

Hale, Gloria M. (Department: 3765)

Apparel

Nether garments

Stockings

C002S409000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06393620

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an article of apparel for a foot that covers the forward portion of the foot only. Embodiments of the present invention provide a partial sock, or half sock, advantageous for uses including wearing with shoes that cover the forward portion of the foot only.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As footwear fashion trends change, consumers have developed an increased preference for wearing open-heel shoes. Open-heel shoes, including clog-type shoes, may be worn without any type of foot covering, such as socks, inside the shoes. However, many clog-type shoe designs can be uncomfortable when worn without a foot covering between the shoes and feet. Open-heel and clog-type shoes may be uncomfortable for a variety of reasons. For example, the fit of a shoe on a particular person's foot may cause friction between the inside surface of the shoe and the bare skin of the person's foot. Minor misalignments in shoe fit and loose-fitting shoes can result in shoe-skin friction causing undesirable skin irritations, such as blisters. Discomfort may also be caused by a natural build-up of moisture from a person's feet inside shoes. Moisture accumulation inside shoes increases shoe-skin friction and the negative effects of friction on skin. Generally, more moisture is generated in the toe area than in other areas of the foot. As clog-type shoes cover the toe area of the foot and are often constructed from non-breathing materials such as heavy leather and synthetics such as plastic, moisture accumulation can be a particularly difficult problem. In addition, moisture that accumulates inside shoes being worn can cause undesirable odors. As a result, persons wearing open-heel and clog-type shoes often desire to wear foot coverings between the shoes and their feet to absorb moisture and decrease friction.
As described above, ill-fitting shoes can slide on a person's feet while being worn. Since open-heel shoes have no means in the heel area to anchor the shoes to a person's feet, open-heel shoes tend to slide off while being worn more easily than shoes having closed heels. Consequently, due to construction design and/or fit, such shoes may move in an undesirable manner, including off a wearer's feet. Thus, it is often desirable to wear foot coverings inside open-heel and clog-type shoes to improve the fit of the shoes and to decrease the chance of the shoes inadvertently sliding off.
Wearing open-heel shoes without a foot covering inside the shoes can also be uncomfortable in certain climates because a wearer's feet may get cold. Thus, persons wearing open-heel shoes may prefer to wear foot coverings inside the shoes to help keep their feet warm.
To compensate for fit, moisture, friction, warmth, and other problems associated with open-heel shoes, traditional foot coverings have been used inside the shoes. However, a drawback of wearing traditional foot coverings with open-heel shoes is that previously available socks extend beyond the tops of the shoes onto the wearer's heels, ankles, and above. For a sock to show above a shoe is undesirable in many instances. Thus, use of traditional foot coverings, including above-the-ankle and ankle-high socks, with open-heel and clog-type shoes has often been unsatisfactory. For example, on certain occasions when open-heel shoes would be worn as a fashionable style, use of a foot covering that can be seen above the shoes would be contrary to that particular fashion. Therefore, consumers have a need for foot coverings that can be worn inside open-heel and clog-type shoes and that do not show above the tops of the shoes.
Foot coverings that do not show above the tops of shoes are useful in other applications as well. For example, a recent fashion trend involves rolling down the tops of socks, particularly ankle-high socks, below the tops of athletic, and other, shoes so as to provide a “no show” appearance. A “no show” style produced by rolling down the tops of socks into shoes, while fashionable, creates a problem of excessive sock fabric gathered in a relatively small area at the top margin of shoes. Such an increased thickness of material, which also may be gathered unevenly, may cause discomfort, constriction, unwanted irritation of skin at the affected area, and/or an ill shoe fit. As such, there is a need for foot coverings that do not show above the tops of shoes and that avoid problems, such as discomfort, associated with rolling socks down into shoes.
In the past, low-cut, sheer-type foot coverings have been used, for instance, as disposable foot coverings by customers when trying on shoes in a shoe store. Such sheer foot coverings would not show above the tops of some shoes, but are not suited to overcome fit, moisture, friction, warmth, and other problems associated with open-heel shoes described above. Sheer articles, usually knit on knitting machines having 400, or higher, needle counts, exhibit much slicker surfaces than less tightly knit fabrics, such as cotton and cotton blends typically used in socks. As a result, sheer foot coverings, particularly sheer foot coverings having open heels, tend to slide more easily relative to a foot and the inner surface of a shoe than more loosely knit foot coverings. Such sliding motion disadvantageously allows friction between a foot and shoe, whereas a more loosely knit foot covering may decrease foot-shoe friction.
In addition, previously used sheer foot coverings of partial length have also not had elastic materials incorporated into the middle area of the article, resulting in such sheer foot coverings tending to slide on a foot. Sheer articles also possess minimal moisture absorbency characteristics as compared to more loosely knit foot coverings, such as cotton socks, for example. Furthermore, sheer articles are substantially thinner and are much less able to provide a thickness sufficient to enhance fit and warmth than are more loosely knit fabrics, as in typical cotton socks. For these and other reasons, sheer foot coverings have not met consumers' needs for foot coverings that can be worn inside open-heel and clog-type shoes, that do not show above the tops of the shoes, and are comfort-fitting.
Other foot coverings that may not show above the tops of shoes also fail to meet such needs. For example, foot coverings made for purposes of insulation against cold and moisture and used in athletic footwear, such as skiing boots, may not show above the tops of the boots. Such sock structures are often made with materials, like neoprene, and with a thickness to provide for insulation that precludes any practical use with open-heel shoes.
Another disadvantage of previously available foot coverings that provide only partial foot coverage is construction with multiple seams. Use of multiple seams in a sock that covers the forward portion of a foot increases friction points between the foot, sock, and shoe. Foot coverings that do not show above the tops of open-heel shoes and that are comfort-fitting would need to minimize friction points due to seams.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a foot covering that covers the forward portion of a foot, that does not show above the tops of shoes, and that enhances fit and comfort of wearing shoes. There is also a need for a foot covering that covers the forward portion of a foot inside open-heel and clog-type shoes, that does not show above the tops of the shoes, and that overcomes the disadvantages related to fit, moisture, friction, and warmth associated with wearing no foot coverings and traditional foot coverings. There is also a need for a comfort-fitting foot covering that covers the forward portion of a foot inside open-heel and clog-type shoes, that does not show above the tops of the shoes, and that can be easily and economically manufactured and used. It is to these perceived needs that the present invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an article of apparel for a foot that covers the forward portion of the foot only. In an embo

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