Apparel – Nether garments – Stockings
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-12
2001-06-19
Hale, Gloria M. (Department: 3765)
Apparel
Nether garments
Stockings
C002S080000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06247183
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of footwear. More particularly, this invention relates to infant footwear that attaches to clothing, thus preventing it from falling off a baby's foot and becoming lost.
2. The Background
It is important for infants to wear socks or booties in order to maintain body temperature, as feet are one of the primary ports through which heat escapes. Additionally, from an economic standpoint, it is expensive to lose an infant's socks.
FIG. 1
is a diagram depicting a typical infant sock. It is similar to most adult socks, sized proportionately. However, infant socks are lost easily in a number of ways. One common way to lose the socks is by taking babies in and out of car seats, strollers, swings, carriers and the like. These all have some type of harness to protect the baby, which generally consists of at least one part that fits between a baby's legs. As the baby's legs are taken in and out, it is easy for a sock to fall off of the baby's foot either from catching on the harness or from being pushed into a place that is not a well fitting part of the foot. Babies also squirm, kick, roll, and crawl during various development stages, and all of this motion tends to push the socks off feet. An additional way in which socks are lost is around four to eight months, babies “discover” their feet. Babies become fascinated by their own feet and do such things as pull off their own socks, put their toes in their mouths, and generally pull on their feet and toes. One can imagine how once these socks are pulled off, they are discarded wherever the baby may be, including the mall, the playground, the street, etc. Unless a parent or caregiver happens to notice, the sock is then lost.
Houghteling in U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,050 attempted to deal with this by inventing an elastic strap with a snap on either side that fits around the baby's ankle. While this is one way to approach the problem, it has several drawbacks. One is that if the elastic does not fit tightly enough around the ankle, it is still easy to loose getting in and out of various baby apparatus and in the other ways discussed above. However, if the elastic is too tight, then the infant's circulation could be compromised. Finding this delicate balance is a challenge and what may work for the baby at three months may be too tight at five months or too loose at one month. Thus, the sock may only work in peak performance for a limited window of time.
What is needed is a sock that is able to grow with the baby for a number of months and has the capability of not being lost from the child's person.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A piece of material is added to the traditional baby sock or bootie, with the added material located on the cuff of each sock. This piece of material may be made of elastic, a reasonable strength yarn or fabric, hook and loop type fastener material, or from the sock material itself. This material is then fastened to the infant's clothing in one of several ways. One mechanism for attaching the sock utilizes the snap enclosures that are found on a lot of infant clothing, including pants, jumpers, and overalls. Such snap enclosures are found around the inside pants legs and crotch, making an easy access for diaper changes. The material may be shaped into a loop and fastened to the infant garment by looping it around the male and female parts of the existing garment snap; thus securing the sock. The parent or caregiver dressing the child simply selects the snap at the most comfortable level for the infant at the particular time, and this can be adjusted as the child grows or depending on the fit of the particular outfit. In one specific embodiment the piece of material is sewn into a loop shape. In this case, the loop is simply stretched over the selected snap and then enclosed when the snap is mated. In another specific embodiment the piece of material is placed around the mated snap and then fastened back to the sock itself, creating a loop when it is secured. The piece of material can be fastened into a loop with a snap, a button, a clip, or hook and loop type material. Alternatively, the piece of material may be secured to the infant garment without forming a loop. In this embodiment, a female snap member is sewn onto one side of the material extension and a male snap member is sewn onto the opposite side. These snaps can then be directly snapped into the infant's garment with the garment's existing snaps, such that the piece of material is sandwiched between the garment.
When infant clothing is selected without this snap ensemble, an additional part may be added to the present invention to secure the sock. An extra piece of material with a clip on one end is placed through the sock loop and then fastened to an appropriate part of the baby's clothing.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1119930 (1914-12-01), Decker
patent: 1189665 (1916-07-01), Clear et al.
patent: 1256444 (1918-02-01), Derritt
patent: 1833163 (1931-11-01), Ischinger
patent: 3555567 (1971-01-01), Owen
patent: 5579541 (1996-12-01), Christy et al.
patent: 5740558 (1998-04-01), Messman
patent: 5918318 (1999-07-01), Jones
patent: 6032294 (2000-03-01), Dean
Hale Gloria M.
Ritchie David B.
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP
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