ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,369,674, issued on July 29.
"Industrial shoe protector" was invented by Jeffrey N. Woods (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An industrial shoe protector includes a tongue portion, and a canopy lace and canopy portion connected to said tongue portion. The industrial shoe protector protects laces and stitching of an industrial shoe from sparks caused by welding, high speed cutting and other similar activities. The canopy portion has two lace securing slits. The industrial shoe protector is configured to secure to an industrial shoe by inserting laces of the industrial shoe through the slits in the canopy portion with the tongue...