The present invention relates to a boot jack for gripping a boot to assist a user in removal of the user's foot therefrom.
Boot jacks, of the general type having a frame and a plate, secured to the frame, having a U-shaped notch for receiving and gripping a wearer's boot for removal, are well known. In the simplest form, the plate is upwardly and forwardly inclined. The wearer places one foot on the back of the plate and inserts the boot on the other foot in the U-shaped notch. An upward movement of the leg, and a simultaneous downward pivoting of the user's foot about the ankle to align the foot with the leg, enables the foot to be removed from the boot. Such boot jacks may be used for cowboy style boots, but are also useful for other types of boots including overboots worn by persons in wet or snowy conditions, worn directly on the wearer's feet or over shoes on the feet.
Patents of general background interest describing and illustrating boot jacks are U.S. Pat. No. 835,147 of H. Weber issued Nov. 6, 1906; U.S. Pat. No. 624,473 of C. Fredman et al issued May 9, 1899; U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,942 of M. Johnson issued Mar. 10, 1959; U.S. Pat. No. 1,178,109 of J. H. Staubly issued Apr. 4, 1916; Swedish Patent No. 166,129 published Feb. 3, 1959; U.S. Pat. No. 606,947 of H. Strate issued Jul. 5, 1898; U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,661 of K. L. Williams issued Jan. 20, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,346 of L. Drouillard et al issued Sep. 1, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,784 of Turner issued Sep. 24, 1991; Swiss Patent No. 21010 of Ernest Meyer dated Feb. 14, 1900; German Patent No. 59346 of W. Sonnemann, dated Oct. 14, 1891 and British Patent No. 664,096 of Krohnke published Jan. 2, 1952.
In most of these prior art boot jack and related devices, one leg must be placed behind the other, for removal of a boot, and/or there is an upward motion of the leg, controlled by muscles at the hip and knee joints, as illustrated in FIGS. 1a, b and c, to permit removal of the boot. In addition, in many previous bootjacks, the surface the foot undergoing boot removal is always flat and horizontal. This restricts the range of plantar flexion to a "tuber angle" of approximately 33.degree.-40.degree. . More particularly, these devices only utilize muscles which act upon the hip and knee joints. While these joints are being flexed, in order to pull the foot vertically upwards, the ankle and metatarsophalangeal joints become passively plantar flexed as they are pushed against the roof of the boot, which is held in a fixed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,959 of Jerry issued Feb. 11, 1992 describes and illustrates a boot jack of a type having a wire frame defining a V-shaped notch having a downward incline towards the front. Again a user must place one leg behind the other, for holding the jack and a similar upward leg and foot motion, as previously described herein, is required for removal of one's foot.
British Patent No. 1,001,980 of A. E. Clements Limited published Aug. 18, 1965 describes and illustrates a boot jack having upwardly and inwardly oriented converging walls defining a U-shape, for gripping a user's foot, and a platform outwardly extending to the sides and behind these walls. While the user can place one foot beside the other during removal of a boot from one foot, again a similar upward motion of the leg and knee is required in removal of the foot from the boot. A somewhat similar platform construction is taught in Swiss Patent No. 1,220 of Lingner & Kraft dated Jul. 12, 1889. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,959, British Patent No. 1,001,980, and Swiss Patent No. 1,220 all do not utilize a leverage mechanism of the foot about the ankle joint.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative construction of boot jack which is simple to construct and yet easy and effective in operation for removal of a users foot from a boot.