Protective footwear

Abstract

The disclosed technology includes a multi-layered protective footwear device, and methods of manufacturing and using the protective footwear device. In one implementation, the protective footwear device includes a substrate layer comprising waterproof antimicrobial microfiber material or antibacterial microfiber material sized to the shape of a user's foot with a void space between a big toe region and an index toe region. In one implementation, an adhesive layer comprises a sine wave multi-sectioned design configured to adhere to a user's foot. The protective footwear device can further include a perforated backing layer for sectional removal. The backing layer is configured to cover the adhesive layer until user application. Some implementations of the protective footwear device include extendable adhesive layers, easy removal tabs, traction grips, padding, rubber, or ointment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A protective footwear device comprising:
 a substrate layer including, wherein the substrate layer is shaped and sized to cover an entire bottom surface of a user's foot;   an adhesive layer affixed to a first side of the substrate layer configured to attach the substrate layer to the user's foot; and   a backing layer affixed to the adhesive layer, the backing layer configured to be removed from the adhesive layer prior to user application.   
     
     
         2 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate layer includes a void space between a big toe region and an index toe region. 
     
     
         3 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the backing layer is perforated to facilitate sectional removal of the backing layer from the adhesive layer. 
     
     
         4 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate layer includes a weave of at least one elastic fiber. 
     
     
         5 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive layer comprises two or more layers of adhesive material separated by an air permeable gap, the air permeable gap configured to provide breathability to the user's foot. 
     
     
         6 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive layer comprises a step-frequency wave pattern. 
     
     
         7 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate layer comprises at least one of synthetic antimicrobial microfiber material and synthetic antibacterial microfiber material. 
     
     
         8 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate layer comprises one or more removal pull tabs. 
     
     
         9 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate layer is configured to extend around sides of a user's foot. 
     
     
         10 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate layer comprises one or more padding material regions. 
     
     
         11 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate layer comprises one or more traction dot grips arranged on the substrate layer. 
     
     
         12 . The protective footwear device of  claim 1 , further comprising a protective layer covering at least a portion of the substrate layer. 
     
     
         13 . A method of manufacturing a protective footwear device, comprising:
 attaching a first side of an adhesive layer to a first side of a substrate layer;   attaching a backing layer to a second side of the adhesive layer; and   cutting the backing layer, the adhesive layer, and the substrate layer in a shape of a human foot.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein cutting the backing layer, the adhesive layer, and the substrate layer in the shape of a human foot includes cutting a void space in between a big toe region and an index toe region. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein cutting the backing layer, the adhesive layer, and the substrate layer further comprises cutting one or more removal pull tabs on the protective footwear device. 
     
     
         16 . A method of using a protective footwear device comprising:
 removing a backing layer from an adhesive layer in the protective footwear device;   applying the protective footwear device to a bottom surface of a user's foot, wherein applying the protective footwear device includes:
 affixing a portion of the adhesive layer to a first region of the bottom surface of the user's foot; 
 stretching the adhesive layer to conform to the bottom surface dimensions of the user's foot; and 
 pressing the adhesive layer firmly against remaining exposed regions of the bottom surface of the user's foot, thereby affixing a remaining adhesive layer to the user's foot. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein affixing the portion of the adhesive layer to a first region of the bottom surface of the user's foot includes affixing the portion of the adhesive layer to a heel region of the user's foot, and affixing the remaining adhesive layer to the user's foot includes affixing the adhesive layer to a toe region with a void space between a big toe region and an index toe region. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein removing the backing layer from the adhesive layer further comprises removing sections of perforated portions of the backing layer. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising removing the protective footwear device from the user's foot with one or more removal pull tabs. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising stretching the protective footwear device to extend around sides of a user's foot.