Two-part shoe insert

Abstract

A shoe insert includes an upper member formed of a cushioning material and comprising a plurality of cylindrical first posts on a bottom, a plurality of first spaces among the first posts, and a plurality of apertures formed on a portion of either side of the upper member; and a lower member formed of a cushioning material and comprising a plurality of bossed holes on a top, a plurality of cylindrical second posts on the top, and a plurality of second spaces among the bossed holes and the second posts; wherein the first posts are inserted into the second spaces with the second posts and the bossed holes engaging with the bottom of the upper member.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to shoe inserts and more particularly to a two-part shoe insert.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] A shoe insert is a removable insole which accomplishes any of a number of purposes including daily wear comfort, foot and joint pain relief from arthritis, overuse, and injuries, orthopedic correction, smell reduction, athletic performance, or even increasing the wearer's height or correcting for discrepancies in leg length.

[0005] An endless array of shoe insert is commercially available. Most insoles of athletic shoes are formed of a cushioning material (e.g., rubber, foam or the like) whose uppermost surface is covered by cloth or leather which contacts the sock of the wearer's foot. One problem with this type of insole is that the rubber or foam absorbs moisture from the sock like a sponge and does not allow the sock to dry. The cloth or leather top layer of some insoles are provided with tiny, spaced perforations to help channel away the moisture from the sock and provide ventilation, but the moisture is not prevented from being absorbed by the insole and simply flows back through the perforations to the sock.

[0006] Notwithstanding the conventional shoe inserts, the invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a shoe insert comprising an upper member formed of a cushioning material and comprising a plurality of cylindrical first posts on a bottom, a plurality of first spaces among the first posts, and a plurality of apertures formed on a portion of either side of the upper member; and a lower member formed of a cushioning material and comprising a plurality of bossed holes on a top, a plurality of cylindrical second posts on the top, and a plurality of second spaces among the bossed holes and the second posts; wherein the first posts are inserted into the second spaces with the second posts and the bossed holes engaging with the bottom of the upper member.

[0008] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a shoe insert according to the invention;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper member showing its bottom;

[0011] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled upper member and lower member;

[0012] FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 3;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3;

[0014] FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing another configuration of the post, the bossed hole and the post of different densities;

[0015] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the shoe insert to be put in a shoe prior to use;

[0016] FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the elastic deformation of the shoe insert;

[0017] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the shoe insert according to the invention; and

[0018] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the shoe insert according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 10, a shoe insert in accordance with the invention comprises the following components as discussed in detail below.

[0020] An upper member 1 is made of a cushioning material such as rubber, foam or the like and comprises a plurality of cylindrical posts 11 on a bottom. A plurality of spaces 12 each is provided to separate any two adjacent posts 11. A plurality of apertures 13 are formed on a portion of either side of the upper member 1.

[0021] A lower member 2 is also made of a cushioning material such as rubber, foam or the like and shaped the same as the upper member 1. The lower member 2 comprises, on a top surface, a plurality of bossed holes 21 divided into a first section on a rear portion and a second section adjacent to the toes, a plurality of cylindrical posts 22 divided into a first section on a toe portion and a second section on an intermediate portion (i.e., corresponding to the arched part of the foot), and the second section of the bossed holes 21 is formed between the first section of the posts 22 and the second section of the posts 22. A plurality of spaces 23 each is provided to separate any two adjacent bossed holes 21, two adjacent posts 22, or adjacent post 22 and bossed hole 21.

[0022] Height of the post 22 is equal to that of the bossed hole 21. Height of the post 22 is greater than that of the post 11. The upper member 1 may be put on the lower member 2 in a vertical alignment relationship with the posts 11 disposed in the spaces 23 and the posts 22 and the bossed holes 21 contacted the tops of the spaces 12 (i.e., the bottom of the upper member 1) (i.e., assembled as shown in FIG. 4).

[0023] In use, a wearer may put the assembled shoe insole in a space 31 of a shoe 3. Next, the foot of the wearer may exert a force to press the upper member 1 against the lower member 2 (as indicated by arrows P) to elastically deform and shorten the bossed holes 21 and the posts 22 (see FIG. 8). In FIG. 8, it is seen that the bossed holes 21 and the posts 22 are compressed greatly to expand transversely to urge against the posts 11. Also, the posts 11 are slightly compressed when they contact the bottoms of the spaces 23. In addition, the apertures 13 allow air passing between a shoe insole (not numbered) of the shoe 3 and a sock (not shown) worn on the foot of a wearer to aid in drying the sock.

[0024] Weight of the wearer will be transmitted to the shoe sole via the foot and the shoe insert. Also, substantial portion of the weight is transmitted to portions of the shoe insert other than the intermediate portion thereof. Thus, these portions of the shoe insert are elastically deformed greatly. It is envisaged by the invention that the greatly deformed bossed holes 21 may transmit the weight to the posts 22 and the posts 11. This has the benefit of preventing the foot from being injured.

[0025] It is contemplated by the invention that the upper member 1 may have different thicknesses, and the densities of the posts 11, the bossed holes 21 and the posts 22 may be different as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 10 and 11 in other embodiments.

[0026] While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A shoe insert comprising: an upper member formed of a cushioning material and comprising a plurality of cylindrical first posts on a bottom, a plurality of first spaces among the first posts, and a plurality of apertures formed on a portion of either side of the upper member; and a lower member formed of a cushioning material and comprising a plurality of bossed holes on a top, a plurality of cylindrical second posts on the top, and a plurality of second spaces among the bossed holes and the second posts; wherein the first posts are inserted into the second spaces with the second posts and the bossed holes engaging with the bottom of the upper member.

2. The shoe insert of claim 1, wherein height of each of the second posts is equal to that of each of the bossed holes.

3. The shoe insert of claim 1, wherein height of each of the second post is greater than that of each of the first posts.