Sock for reducing footwear instep creasing

Abstract

A sock which reduces and substantially eliminates creasing of the instep of footwear, such as shoes, sneakers, boots or the like when worn with such footwear. The sock includes conventional sock portions, such as an ankle portion, a heel portion, a toe portion and an instep portion, and at the instep portion one or more pads are provided such that when the sock is worn the pads override the instep of the foot of the wearer and underlie the instep of the footwear of the wearer. Pressure created during walking or running is transferred from the foot through the crease reducing pad or pads to the instep of the footwear thereby reducing or eliminating creasing thereof.

1 . A sock comprising at least an upper foot region adapted to overlie an upper portion of a person's foot when wearing the sock, and means associated with at least a portion of said upper foot region for at least reducing footwear creasing of footwear when worn in association with said sock. 
   
   
       2 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is gel material. 
   
   
       3 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a pad of gel material. 
   
   
       4 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is foam material. 
   
   
       5 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a pad of foam material. 
   
   
       6 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is foam-gel material. 
   
   
       7 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a pad of foam-gel material. 
   
   
       8 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a pouch filled with foam material. 
   
   
       9 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a fluid medium filled pouch. 
   
   
       10 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is silicon. 
   
   
       11 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material having a shore durometer hardness ranging between substantially 10 to 65 on the OO scale. 
   
   
       12 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material having antifungal properties. 
   
   
       13 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material, and said mass of material includes means for dispersing heat therefrom. 
   
   
       14 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material, and said mass of material includes means for effecting breathability thereof. 
   
   
       15 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material, said mass of material includes means for effecting breathability thereof, and said breathability effecting means are openings in said mass of material. 
   
   
       16 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material, said mass of material includes means for effecting breathability thereof, and said breathability effecting means are openings through said mass of material. 
   
   
       17 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material having odor eliminating properties. 
   
   
       18 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material having moisture absorbing properties. 
   
   
       19 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material. 
   
   
       20 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material, and said mass of material is encased in low friction fabric. 
   
   
       21 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is a mass of material having a textured bottom surface. 
   
   
       22 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  including means for forming a pocket in said upper foot region, and said creasing reducing means is housed in said pocket. 
   
   
       23 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  including means for forming a pocket in said upper foot region, said creasing reducing means is housed in said pocket, and means for temporarily closing said pocket. 
   
   
       24 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  including means for forming a pocket in said upper foot region, said creasing reducing means is housed in said pocket, and means for permanently closing said pocket. 
   
   
       25 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein said creasing reducing means is defined by upper and lower masses of material with the upper mass of material being more firm than the softer lower mass of material. 
   
   
       26 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein the sock is an ankle sock. 
   
   
       27 . The sock as defined in  claim 1  wherein the sock is devoid of an ankle portion.