Protective Ankle And Calf Sleeve

Abstract

Aspects hereof relate to protective gear that is comfortable and supportive. The protective gear is a knitted or woven sleeve with impact-dampening pads of different shapes and sizes placed in strategic areas of the sleeve to provide protection to a foot and ankle area of an athlete's foot. In particular, the impact-dampening pads are placed on areas of the sleeve corresponding to a lower shin portion, a medial and lateral malleolus, and the Achilles tendon of an athlete wearing the protective gear.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A foot and ankle protective garment, comprising:
 a knitted elastic sleeve portion having an inner and an outer surface configured to wrap around at least a portion of a user's foot and a portion of a user's ankle;   at least one medial malleolus cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the elastic sleeve portion such that a medial malleolus of a user is protected from impact;   at least one lateral malleolus cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the elastic sleeve portion such that a lateral malleolus of a user is protected from impact; and   a lower shin area cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the elastic sleeve portion such that a lower shin area of a user is protected from impact, wherein the shin area cushioning element includes a vertically oriented slit located on a top side of the lower shin area cushioning element for easy donning of the foot and ankle protective garment.   
     
     
         2 . The protective garment of  claim 1 , wherein the lower shin area cushioning element slit has a length that is at least 30% of the total length of the lower shin area cushioning element. 
     
     
         3 . The protective garment of  claim 1 , further comprising an Achilles tendon cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the elastic sleeve portion such that an Achilles tendon of a user is protected from impact. 
     
     
         4 . The protective garment of  claim 3 , wherein the Achilles tendon cushioning element, the at least one medial malleolus cushioning element, the at least one lateral malleolus cushioning element and the lower shin area cushioning element are formed from an impact-absorbing foam. 
     
     
         5 . The protective garment of  claim 1 , further comprising a protective shell disposed over said medial malleolus cushioning element for providing abrasion resistance. 
     
     
         6 . The protective garment of  claim 1 , wherein the elastic sleeve is a circularly knit sleeve. 
     
     
         7 . The protective garment of  claim 6 , wherein the elastic sleeve comprises one or more of spandex fibers, moisture management fibers, and natural fibers. 
     
     
         8 . The protective garment of  claim 1 , further comprising an adaptor element for removably attaching a full-length protective shin guard. 
     
     
         9 . A foot and ankle protective garment, comprising:
 a woven sleeve portion having an inner and an outer surface configured to wrap around at least a portion of a user's foot and a portion of a user's ankle;   at least one medial malleolus cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the sleeve portion such that a medial malleolus of a user is protected from impact;   at least one lateral malleolus cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the sleeve portion such that a lateral malleolus of a user is protected from impact; and   a lower shin area cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the sleeve portion such that a lower shin area of a user is protected from impact, wherein the lower shin area cushioning element includes a plurality of discrete pads providing flexibility for easy donning of the foot and ankle protective garment.   
     
     
         10 . The protective garment of  claim 9 , wherein the woven sleeve portion comprises a multi-part sewn garment constructed without seems on an area corresponding to the underside of a wearer's foot. 
     
     
         11 . The protective garment of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one medial malleolus cushioning element, the at least one lateral malleolus cushioning element, and the lower shin area cushioning element are formed from an impact-absorbing foam. 
     
     
         12 . The protective garment of  claim 11 , further comprising a protective shell disposed over said medial malleolus cushioning element for providing abrasion resistance. 
     
     
         13 . The protective garment of  claim 11 , further comprising a protective shell disposed over said lateral malleolus cushioning element for providing abrasion resistance. 
     
     
         14 . The protective garment of  claim 10 , wherein the woven sleeve portion extends upwardly to cover a wearer's shin and calf, and further comprising at least one upper medial shin area cushioning element. 
     
     
         15 . The protective garment of  claim 14 , further comprising at least one upper lateral shin area cushioning element, wherein the upper lateral shin area cushioning element and the upper medial shin area cushioning element cooperate to define a region for a frontal shin protective guard. 
     
     
         16 . An ankle impact protective sleeve covering at least a portion of a foot and an ankle of a user, the impact protective sleeve having inner and outer surfaces, comprising:
 a multi-layered medial malleolus cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the sleeve positioned to cover the medial malleolus of the user;   a multi-layered lateral malleolus cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the sleeve positioned to cover a lateral malleolus of a user; and   at least one multi-layered lower shin area cushioning element attached to the outer surface of the sleeve such that a lower shin area of a user is protected from impact.   
     
     
         17 . The ankle impact protective sleeve of  claim 16 , wherein an upper layer of the medial malleolus cushioning element and an upper layer of the lateral malleolus cushioning element comprise a protective shell for providing abrasion protection. 
     
     
         18 . The ankle impact protective sleeve of  claim 17 , wherein the sleeve is formed with an elastic knitted material. 
     
     
         19 . The ankle impact protective sleeve of  claim 17 , wherein the sleeve is formed with a woven material and is a sewn construction having at least a first part and a second part sewn together with a seam absent from the area corresponding to the bottom of a wearer's foot. 
     
     
         20 . The ankle impact protective sleeve of  claim 19 , wherein the cushioning elements are attached to the outer surface of the ankle protective sleeve by:
 applying an energy activated adhesive around a perimeter of each cushioning pad;   covering each cushioning pad with a fabric; and   activating the adhesive by applying energy to the energy activated adhesive such that the impact protective sleeve and the elastic fabric covering each cushioning pad become permanently bonded to each other at the perimeter of each cushioning pad where the energy activated adhesive was applied.