Removable gaiter for protecting footwear

Abstract

A removable gaiter for protecting footwear includes an upper, enveloping the foot of the user, which is associated with a sole and is provided with eyelets for laces for tying, and includes an upper portion, which when deployed envelops the area of the tibia of the user, and is connected to a lower portion, which when deployed envelops the area of the instep. The lower portion is provided, on the lower perimeter edge, with first elements for temporary engagement with complementarily-shaped grip elements associated with and protruding laterally from the upper in an area above that of the heel of the sole.

1 . A removable gaiter, for protecting footwear, the removable gaiter comprising: an upper, enveloping the foot of a user, which is associated with a sole and is provided with eyelets for laces for tying, and further comprising an upper portion, which when deployed envelops an area of a tibia of the user, and is connected to a lower portion, which when deployed envelops an area of instep, said lower portion being provided, on a lower perimeter edge, with first means configured for temporary engagement with complementarily-shaped grip means associated with and protruding laterally from said upper in an area above that of a heel of said sole. 
     
     
         2 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 1 , further comprising second means configured for temporary engagement with at least one of said laces and third means for temporary engagement of lower lateral ends of said upper portion and said lower portion once coupled together. 
     
     
         3 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 1 , wherein a zipper is attached to lateral edges of said upper portion and said lower portion to draw said upper and lower portions together so as to envelop, when deployed, said areas of the instep and of said tibia. 
     
     
         4 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 1 , wherein said upper portion and said lower portion are made with a same soft material, which is configured to be, for each one or separately, partially or completely waterproof. 
     
     
         5 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 1 , wherein, in a condition in which said gaiter is not associated with said footwear, the gaiter is configured to be arranged on a plane that gives the gaiter a substantially frustum shape with curved lateral edges. 
     
     
         6 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 1 , wherein said first means for temporary engagement are constituted by two tabs which are coupled, by means of a rivet, to said lower perimeter edge of said lower portion in an area adjacent to a vertical central axis to said gaiter in the condition in which said gaiter is opened out on a plane. 
     
     
         7 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 6 , wherein, externally to said lower perimeter edge, a U-shaped fork protrudes from each of said two tabs, and a tooth protrudes from a base in a direction of said tab and a free terminal end thereof is directed, once said gaiter is associated with said footwear, externally to said upper. 
     
     
         8 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 7 , wherein a length of said teeth is shorter than a length of lateral wings of said U-shaped fork. 
     
     
         9 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 1 , wherein said grip means are associated with and protrude laterally from said upper in an area that lies above that of the heel of said sole. 
     
     
         10 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 7 , wherein said grip means are constituted by bands, metallic or made of a resilient material, shaped substantially like an Ω (omega) and arranged substantially parallel to said sole transversely to said upper at the heel area. 
     
     
         11 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 10 , wherein a shape of said teeth and of each one of said bands is such as to define, once said bands are associated with said upper, a space to allow an insertion of said tooth into the space. 
     
     
         12 . The removable gaiter according  claim 10 , wherein the shape of said teeth and of each one of said bands is such as to allow said tooth to be locked onto an upper perimeter edge of said band. 
     
     
         13 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 10 , wherein the shape of said teeth and of each one of said bands is such as to allow said teeth to be disengaged from said band following a pressure applied on said teeth by a finger of the user or following a pressure applied on said tabs in a direction of said upper and subsequently in the direction of said sole. 
     
     
         14 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 11 , wherein an insertion of said tooth occurs by the user positioning the tooth under said band at said space and subsequently pulling said gaiter upward. 
     
     
         15 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 7 , wherein a disengagement between said first means for temporary engagement and said grip means occurs by compressing the free terminal end of said tooth toward said upper and simultaneously pushing said gaiter downward. 
     
     
         16 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 1 , wherein said second means for temporary engagement to at least one of said laces are constituted by a hook protruding from a vertex of a substantially triangular flap one side of which is stitched to said gaiter at an end of said lower perimeter edge. 
     
     
         17 . The removable gaiter according to  claim 16 , wherein a cap of an automatic press-stud is placed on a face of said substantially triangular flap directed away from said lower portion and cooperates with a socket associated with another face of said gaiter to which said substantially triangular flap is fixed, tapes of a zipper being associated with lateral edges of said upper portion and said lower portion to draw the lateral edges together so as to envelop, when deployed, said areas of the instep and of the tibia.