Aquatic sock and method of manufacturing same
AssigneeGlenn Schulman
InventorGlenn Schulman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sock includes a sock portion, a fin portion, and a midsole structure. The sock portion defines a main body portion and a front foot portion integrally extending from the main body portion. The front foot portion is configured to accommodate and cover toes of a user's foot. The fin portion defines a toe enclosure section to slidably receive the front foot portion of the sock portion and defines one or more fins extending forwardly and outwardly away from the toe enclosure section. The midsole structure is fixedly coupled to the fin portion and defining a surface adhered to an underside surface of the sock portion.
Claims17
A sock comprising:
- a sock portion defining a main body portion and a front foot portion integrally extending from the main body portion, the front foot portion configured to accommodate and cover toes of a user's foot;
- a fin portion defining a toe enclosure section to slidably receive the front foot portion of the sock portion and defining one or more fins extending forwardly and outwardly away from the toe enclosure section;
- a midsole structure fixedly coupled to the fin portion and defining a surface adhered to an underside surface of the sock portion;
- and
- one or more tensile elements structurally interconnecting the fin portion and the sock portion, one or more tensile elements structurally interconnecting the fin portion and the sock portion, wherein each tensile element is fixedly anchored at a first end to the fin portion and at a second end to the sock portion, wherein the tensile elements extend along at least one lateral side of the sock portion and loop around a heel region, and wherein the tensile elements transmit propulsive forces from the fin portion to the sock portion to stabilize the sock portion during swimming, and are structurally integrated with the sock portion.
A method of manufacturing an aquatic sock, the method including:
- forming a sock portion from a flexible and/or a stretchable material to cover a foot of a user, the sock portion defining an underside surface, a main body portion and a front foot portion integrally extending from the main body portion, the front foot portion configured to accommodate and cover toes of a user's foot, the main body portion is configured to cover an ankle portion of the user, a bridge portion of the user, and toes of the user, the bridge portion extending between the ankle portion and the toes;
- and
- forming a finned support structure for the sock portion, the finned support structure including a fin portion and a midsole structure integrally formed with each other, the midsole structure defining a receiving surface;
- inserting the front foot portion of the sock portion into a toe enclosure section of the fin portion and attaching the front foot portion to the toe enclosure section of the fin portion;
- and
- coupling:
- the underside surface with the receiving surface of the midsole structure;
- and
- one or more tensile elements to structurally interconnect the fin portion and the sock portion, wherein each tensile element is anchored to both the fin portion and the sock portion and transmits propulsive forces from the fin portion to the sock portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.