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SockRelated Patent Categories: Apparel, Head Coverings, StockingsSock description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070118973, Sock. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a national application corresponding to International Application No. PCT/DE2004/002140 filed Sep. 24, 2004. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] A. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to a sock having padding in some areas, in particular for use in athletic activities. [0004] B. Description of the Related Art [0005] The anatomy of the human foot naturally offers fat pads on the sole of the foot which have a shock-absorbing effect in running or walking. The other areas of the foot, e.g., the ankle or the instep, do not have such fat pads. This natural design of the foot is designed for walking or running without shoes, i.e., barefoot, because all that is necessary then is a distribution of the pressure on the sole of the foot. [0006] However, human feet are often accommodated in sturdy shoes. This is the case in particular when the person is moving rapidly and extensively, e.g., during athletic activities. The shoes then serve to cushion impacts and to secure the foot well while on the other hand preventing injuries to the sole of the foot from striking sharply pointed roughness in the surface or objects on the ground. [0007] When feet are accommodated in sturdy shoes, pressure points occur on the feet. These pressure points result from the constricting effect of the shoe, the tongue, impact with the heel, etc. Depending on their design, shoes develop different pressure zones. Since these pressure zones do not occur on the sole of the foot, no natural cushioning is provided there in the form of fat pads. [0008] To reduce the pressure load on the foot, it is known that padding may be provided in socks. These pads should make it possible to reduce the pressure load. For example, a sock with a reinforced tread surface is known from WO 97/09890 A, for example; with this sock, the reinforcement has a contour corresponding essentially to that of the tread surface. Therefore, the sock offers additional damping. However, since the foot is naturally provided with fat cushions in the area of the tread surface, there is theoretically no need for such cushioning in the tread area. In addition, it is known (see DE 297 15 762 U1) that padding may be provided in other areas of socks, i.e., in the instep, for example, or padding may be provided in the area of the shins and/or calves for the case when shoes are worn that go beyond the ankle, e.g., for hiking, skiing, inline skating or the like. This padding should also result in a reduction in load. [0009] To further reduce the pressure load when wearing shoes, padding is provided in the shoes, especially on modern athletic shoes. For example, the shoe tongue may be padded with soft material. The same thing is also true of the edge in the area of the heel, which is usually hard. In addition, in the case of calf-high shoes, additional cushioning is often provided in the area of the ankle to reduce the pressure load there. [0010] In the combination of the aforementioned modern athletic shoe with the known socks having padding for pressure relief, the following problem occurs: both the shoes and the socks are padded in the areas of the greatest load, i.e., especially in the area of the instep, the ankle, the Achilles tendon and the like. Since both the shoes and the socks have additional padding in the same areas of the foot, this results in double padding in these areas. However, this does not usually provide any relief for the feet. Instead this double padding causes an additional pressure load on the feet, which leads to a reduction in wearing comfort and therefore results in more rapid fatigue. This then counteracts the actual goals of padding of socks and/or shoes, namely, to provide relief. C. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] The present invention wants to remedy this situation. The object of the present invention is to create a sock with areas of padding while avoiding double padding. According to this invention, this object is achieved by coordinating the arrangement of pads in the sock with the arrangement of pads in the shoe. [0012] This invention creates a sock having padding in some areas in such a way as to prevent double padding. Consequently, there is no additional load and instead the padded area is expanded, resulting in a uniform pressure distribution. This prevents premature fatigue. [0013] In another embodiment of the present invention, the pads in the area of the instep are formed by absorption pads with a web provided between them. The absorption pads preferably protrude beyond the web. This ensures that the tongue provided on the respective shoe is arranged between the absorption pads when the shoe is being worn. Since the tongue is not padded, double padding is prevented due to the lateral arrangement of the absorption pads. Instead, the result is a continuous surface which results in a uniform pressure distribution. This in turn counteracts pressure points as well as premature fatigue of the foot. [0014] In another embodiment of the present invention, the pads in the area of the heel are formed by spacer pads with a web being provided between them. The spacer pads advantageously protrude above the web. This creates the possibility of positioning the padding of the edge, which is provided in the area of the heel of the shoe, above a protective cap which is usually provided in the area of the web, i.e., in an area that has little or no padding. This avoids double padding. The side-by-side arrangement of the spacer pads leads to a uniform cushioning effect in the area of the heel and thus to a uniform pressure distribution. [0015] In the embodiment of the invention, the sock has an air channel. The air channel makes it possible for moisture to evaporate and/or for the part of the moisture that does not evaporate to be absorbed by the fabric. In addition, the air channel creates the possibility of removing moisture from the area of the shoe out of the area of the shoe. [0016] The sock is advantageously furnished with an X-Cross bandage. The X-Cross bandage supports the ankle in the transitional area between the leg and foot. Other embodiments and refinements of the present invention are characterized in the other subclaims. D. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING [0017] One exemplary embodiment of the present invention is depicted in the drawing and described in greater detail below. The drawings show: [0018] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a sock in a side view; [0019] FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram of a sock in another embodiment; [0020] FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram of a shoe in a side view; Continue reading about Sock... Full patent description for Sock Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Sock patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Sock or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Protective clothing for the lower part of the leg Next Patent Application: Reinforcement for garments Industry Class: Apparel ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Sock patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.16394 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Software: Finance , AI , Databases , Development , Document , Navigation , Error 174 |
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