U.S. patent application number 11/622334 was filed with the patent office on 2007-06-07 for insole.
Invention is credited to Peter J. Meffan.
Application Number | 20070124959 11/622334 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38117287 |
Filed Date | 2007-06-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070124959 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Meffan; Peter J. |
June 7, 2007 |
Insole
Abstract
An insole for footwear comprises a main part made of expanded
ethyl vinyl acetate. At the arch portion of the insole there is a
thin mild steel member which can be deformed by hand into an
appropriate shape to support the arch of the foot of the user. An
intermediate member of the same material lies under the heel and
arch portions of the main part and the steel member is sandwiched
between the intermediate member and the main part. An opening is
formed in the intermediate member below the heel portion. A plug
fits into this opening.
Inventors: |
Meffan; Peter J.; (Randburg,
ZA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
AKERMAN SENTERFITT
P.O. BOX 3188
WEST PALM BEACH
FL
33402-3188
US
|
Family ID: |
38117287 |
Appl. No.: |
11/622334 |
Filed: |
January 11, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/28 ; 36/35R;
36/43 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B 7/223 20130101;
A43B 7/142 20130101; A43B 13/38 20130101; A43B 7/144 20130101; A43B
7/226 20130101; A43B 17/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
036/028 ;
036/043; 036/035.00R |
International
Class: |
A43B 13/18 20060101
A43B013/18; A43B 21/06 20060101 A43B021/06; A43B 13/38 20060101
A43B013/38 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 27, 2006 |
ZA |
2006/09191 |
Claims
1. An insole consisting of a main part which in use is inserted
into footwear and which comprises a heel portion, an arch portion
and a front portion; and a deformable member made of a material
that is capable of relatively easy permanent deformation.
2. An insole as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said deformable
member a thin strip of mild steel.
3. An insole as claimed in claim 2 wherein the said strip of mild
steel is of about one millimetre in thickness.
4. An insole as claimed in claim 1 wherein the deformable member is
placed only at the arch portion of the insole.
5. An insole as claimed in claim 1 wherein the main part comprises
flexible resilient sheet material.
6. An insole as claimed in claim 5 wherein the main part comprises
expanded ethyl vinyl acetate.
7. An insole as claimed in claim 1 wherein on the underside of the
main part at least the arch portion thereof is an additional
support of flexible sheet material.
8. An insole as claimed in claim 7 wherein the additional support
lies under the deformable member so that the deformable member is
sandwiched between the main part and the additional support.
9. An insole as claimed in claim 7 wherein the additional support
extends under the heel portion of the main part.
10. An insole as claimed in claim 1 wherein there is an opening at
the heel portion of the insole and wherein there is an upper part
on the upper side of the main part which covers the said
opening.
11. An insole as claimed in claim 9 wherein the additional support
is provided below the heel portion of the main part with is an
opening and wherein an upper member is provided on the upper side
of the main part to cover the opening.
12. An insole as claimed in claim 11 further comprising a closure
member is provided for the opening, the closure member comprising a
bottom part and a smaller upper part which fits within the
opening.
13. An insole as claimed in claim 12 further comprising an
accessory which fits between the said bottom part and the
additional support and which has an aperture that registers with
the said opening.
14. An insole as claimed in claim 13 comprising a plurality of
accessories which fit between the said bottom part and the
additional support.
15. An insole as claimed in claim 13 in which the accessory
comprises an annular member having a central aperture which
registers with the said opening.
16. An insole as claimed in claim 1 wherein there are markings on
the main part to enable a user to cut the main part to the
appropriate size to fit into footwear of various sizes.
17. An insole as claimed in claim 14 wherein the markings are
provided on the underside of the main part.
18. An insole as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a closure
member is provided for the opening, the closure member comprising a
bottom part and a smaller upper part which fits within the opening.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to insoles for use in footwear.
[0002] An insole comprises a heel portion to support the heel of
the foot, an arch portion to lie below the arch of the foot and a
front portion on the side of the arch portion remote from the heel
portion. An insole normally comprises a soft resilient material
which cushions the foot in use. The insole may also be an orthotic
device which is normally shaped to provide support for the arch of
the foot. Such an orthotic device is usually made to the
specification of a podiatrist and as such is quite an expensive
item.
[0003] According to one aspect of the invention there is provided
an insole consisting of [0004] a main part which in use is inserted
into footwear and which comprises a heel portion, an arch portion
and a front portion; and [0005] a deformable member located at the
arch portion which is capable of relatively easy permanent
deformation.
[0006] By the term "relatively easily permanent deformation" is
meant that the item which can be deformed by hand but which when so
deformed takes a generally permanent shape from which it would
normally not be altered by the weight of the foot standing on the
insole. A particular deformable member capable of relatively easy
permanent deformation is a member comprising a thin strip of mild
steel typically being a strip of mild steel of about one millimetre
in thickness. The deformable member would normally be placed only
at the arch portion of the insole.
[0007] The main part normally comprises flexible resilient sheet
material such as expanded ethyl vinyl acetate. Conveniently on the
underside of the main part at least the arch portion thereof is an
additional support of flexible sheet material which preferably lies
under the deformable part so that the deformable member may be
sandwiched between the main part and the additional support. The
additional support preferably also extends under the heel portion
of the main part.
[0008] At the heel portion of the insole there is preferably an
opening which is covered on the upper side of the main part by an
upper member normally formed by part of the same material as the
main part so that in use the spur of the heel would rest on the
upper member above the opening so that there would be sufficient
"give" to protect the spur of the heel from shock during
walking.
[0009] Desirably a closure member is provided for the opening, the
closure member comprising a bottom part and an upper part which
fits within the opening. All the above parts are preferably bodies
of revolution.
[0010] On the upper or preferably the lower side of the main part
there are preferably markings to enable a user to cut the main part
to the appropriate size to fit into footwear of various sizes.
[0011] Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of
example with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0012] In the drawings:--
[0013] FIG. 1 is an underside view of an insole of the
invention,
[0014] FIG. 2 is a plan of the insole,
[0015] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the underside of
the insole, and
[0016] FIG. 4 is a detail exploded view of the insole with an
additional support, and
[0017] FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 1,
[0018] Referring now to the drawings there is shown an insole 10
for a shoe. The insole 10 comprises a base part 12 that is of a
shape that would fit into a very large shoe. The base part 12 is
made of a resilient flexible sheet material conveniently expanded
ethyl vinyl acetate of about three millimetres thickness.
[0019] The main part 12 comprises a forward portion 14, a heel
portion 16 and an arch portion 18 which in use support the front of
the foot, the heel and the arch respectively.
[0020] The underside 20 of the main part 12 is of a light colour.
On the underside 20 of the forward portion there is printed a
number of guidelines 22 which correspond respectively to the shape
of the forward part of the sole of shoes of different sizes.
Reference numerals are printed on the underside to indicate the
size of the shoe that the insole 10 would fit if cut on the each
particular guideline 22.
[0021] Running under the heel portion 16 and extending under the
arch portion 18 and part of the forward portion is an intermediate
member 24 which is made of a resilient flexible sheet material
conveniently expanded ethyl vinyl acetate of about five millimetres
thickness. The intermediate member 24 is bonded to the underside of
the main part 12.
[0022] Sandwiched between the intermediate member 24 and the base
part 12 is a deformable member 26 formed from mild steel sheet of
one millimetre thickness. This deformable member 26 has a concave
inner wall 28 and a convex outer wall 30. The walls 28 and 30 are
joined by rounded end parts 32 to give the deformable member 26 a
generally kidney shape. This deformable steel part 26 is bonded to
the facing surfaces of the intermediate member 24 and the main part
12.
[0023] The heel portions 16 of the main part 12 and the rear of the
intermediate member 24 have registering semi-circular rear portions
34. A circular opening 36 of a radius about three quarters of the
radius of the rear portion 34 and being concentric with the rear
portion 34 is formed in the intermediate member 24.
[0024] On the upper side of the heel portion 16 is a disc-shaped
cover member 38 located coaxially with the opening 36. The cover
member 38 comprises the same material as the base part 12. On the
underside of the heel portion 16 is a plug 40 comprising a circular
bottom member 42 on which is coaxially mounted a smaller diameter
circular projection 44 that fits within the opening 36. The annular
portion of the bottom member 42 outside the projection 44 rests
under and supports the intermediate member 24. The cover member 38,
the bottom member 42 and the projection 44 all are made from the
same sheet material as the intermediate part.
[0025] In use, the forward portion 14 of the base part 12 is cut
along an appropriate guide line 22 to fit a selected shoe. The user
will now manipulate by hand the insole 10 so that the deformable
steel member 26 is bent to an appropriate shape to provide support
for the arch of the user. The plug 40 is fitted to the insole with
the projection 44 fitting into the opening 36. The insole 10 is
inserted into a shoe.
[0026] The user can now insert his/her foot into the shoe. The
insole 10 will provide a resilient support for the foot. The steel
part 26 will provide a generally permanent support for the arch of
the foot. The spur of the heel of the user will be located above
the opening 36 so that there will be substantial "give" when the
heel of the shoe meets the ground to protect the heel of the user.
However excess distortion of the of the cover member 38 is
prevented by the plug 40.
[0027] It will be seen that the intermediate parts serve to raise
the heel to accommodate the weight transfer on to the ball of the
feet.
[0028] In a modification as illustrated in FIG. 5, an annular
accessory 46 is provided. The accessory which is made of the same
material as the plug 40 has an outer diameter the same as the
bottom member 42 of the plug an a central opening 48 of the same
diameter as the opening 36. The accessory 46 is applied to the
underside of the insole 10 between the insole and the bottom member
42 of the plug 40 with the opening 48 registering with the opening
36 and with the projection 44 fitting into the opening 48. The
accessory 46 provides additional resilience to the heel part of the
insole and thus improved comfort for the heel of the user. In
addition the annular accessory builds up the height of the insole
10 at the heel portion 16.
[0029] The accessory is preferably provided with bonding material
on each of the annular surfaces covered with protective sheeting.
This protective sheeting would be removed before tie application of
the accessory to the plug and to the intermediate member so that
the accessory 46 will bond thereto.
[0030] One or more identical additional annular accessories can be
provided lying coaxially with accessory 46 to build up still
further the height of the insole 10 at the heel portion 26. This
will help compensate a user who has legs of slightly different
length. Furthermore the height of the heel portion will accommodate
the weight transfer on to the ball of the foot and indeed two
insoles, one in each shoe, should be used for this purpose.
[0031] We have found that the steel member 26 can be deformed by
hand into the appropriate shape to provide an arch support but will
be of sufficient strength that it takes a generally permanent shape
from which it would not normally be distorted back to the original
position by the weight of the body of the user being applied to the
part 24 through the arch of the foot of the user. In other words
the steel member is capable of relatively easy deformation as
herein defined. Thus the insole may act as an orthotic without the
costs normally incurred in purchasing a pre-manufactured item.
Subsequent changes can also be made by hand to the deformed portion
of the steel part 26 if desired.
[0032] As is apparent a single size insole may be provided which is
capable of use in most sizes of shoes by the user cutting along the
appropriate guideline 22.
[0033] We have also found that ethyl vinyl acetate is particularly
satisfactory because it is water repellant, odour free and
washable.
[0034] In a modification (not, shown) the main part and the
intermediate member with the deformable steel member located
appropriately therein many be formed by injection moulding.
Similarly the plug member 40 and the accessory/ies 46 may be formed
by injection moulding. In this case the guidelines and reference
numerals may be formed as indentations or low projections instead
of being printed.
[0035] The invention is not limited to the precise constructional
details hereinbefore described. For example, the insole may
comprise other resilient material. The thickness of the base
portion 12 may vary from about one millimetre to six millimetres.
At the heel portion the height of the insole may extend to about
eighteen millimetres. The size of the steel part may vary as
desired and may indeed extend across the entire width of the arch
part of the insole. Any other material which is capable relatively
easy deformation may be used in substitution for the steel
part.
[0036] The colour of the insole may vary provided that the guide
lines and reference numerals are clearly visible.
* * * * *