Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A43—FOOTWEAR
  • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
  • A43B17/00—Insoles for insertion, e.g. footbeds or inlays, for attachment to the shoe after the upper has been joined
  • A43B17/14—Insoles for insertion, e.g. footbeds or inlays, for attachment to the shoe after the upper has been joined made of sponge, rubber, or plastic materials
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29D—PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE
  • B29D35/00—Producing footwear
  • B29D35/12—Producing parts thereof, e.g. soles, heels, uppers, by a moulding technique
  • B29D35/122—Soles

Definitions

• the present invention relates in general to orthopedic and in particular to orthopedic insoles accommodated to a variety of footwear and adaptable to the foot of a user.
• Orthopedic shoes may in such cases be offered as a relief from the physical discomfort.
• Orthopedic insoles tailored to a user foot and specific footwear normally provide for converting common footwear into orthopedic.
• an expert is typically involved with the manufacturing of orthopedic insoles.
• the adaptation of orthopedic insoles to the user's feet is often associated with revisiting the expert for the accommodation and fine- tuning.
• Fig. 1 is an isometric view of an orthopedic insole according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the orthopedic insole shown in Fig.1 in which its bottom face is shown;
• Fig. 3 is transverse sectional view of a foothold of the orthopedic insole shown in Fig. 1 ;
• Fig. 4 is an isometric view of an orthopedic insole according to another embodiment of the present invention.
• Fig. 5 is a flow chart describing a method for manufacturing an orthopedic insole in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention
• an adaptable orthopedic insole is provided.
• the orthopedic insole of the invention consists of a hollow foothold having flexible walls and containing granular filling.
• the upper surface of an orthopedic insole of the invention is typically molded to conform the anatomical features of a regular human foot.
• the granular filling contained in the lumen of the foothold and a rigid segment of its bottom wall provide for adapting the curvature angles of the top surface of the foothold to a specific pattern of the foot of a user.
• a user can typically make a selection from a variety of ready-made insoles having standard sizes which suit his needs.
• the adaptable orthopedic insoles of the invention are accommodated to common shoes and sandals, boots that are suitable for heavy work, walking, running, and or fashionable or mode shoes.
• Adaptable orthopedic insole 10 has inner face 12 and outer end 14, tarsal support 16, an optional metatarsal support 18 sloping upwards and medial arc support 20.
• Medial arc support 20 slopes longitudinally towards outer end 14.
• Elongated rigid plate 40 is embedded in bottom face 42 of adaptable orthopedic insole 44. The frontal and rear segments of bottom face 42 are uncovered by rigid plate 40 permitting the deformation of the corresponding portions of adaptable insole 44 concomitantly with respective rotational movements of the tarsal and metatarsal portions of a user.
• FIG. 3 a sectional view along line AA of a foothold of the adaptable orthopedic insole shown in Fig. 2 is shown.
• Upper face 60 of the foothold 62 of the orthopedic insole downwardly slopes from inner wall 64 towards outer wall 66.
• Rigid plate 68 is embedded in the outside face of bottom wall 70 of foothold 62.
• the foothold of adaptable orthopedic insoles of the invention is made of flexible materials. Footholds are manufactured in standard sizes and shapes such as by blow molding utilizing PVC, polyethylene, or other plastic resins.
• Rigid plates are manufactured also in standard sizes and are typically made of metal such as aluminum. The rigid plates are typically attached into conformal recesses located at the external surface of the bottom face of the foothold.
• the footholds are typically further covered such as by fabric, leather, neoprene, and nylon or similar plastic resins.
• the lumen of a foothold of adaptable orthopedic insole of the invention is filled with granular material such as polyethylene through a dedicated filling aperture that is typically located at a sidewalk
• the volume of the filling is typically lower by a few percents from the capacity of the hollow foothold. Attaching such as by gluing conformal cover to the filling aperture then closes the filling within the lumen of an insole.
• Air vents whose sizes are smaller than the sizes of the grains of the filling, located across sidewalls such as inner wall 64 and outer end 66 permit slow equalizing of internal air pressure with the atmosphere when the insoles are pressed by the weight of a user, thereby providing a cushioning effect.
• the adaptable orthopedic insoles of the invention are accommodated to any shoe or sandal that surrounds a significant portion of the foot of a user.
• a substantially shallow recess located at the inner sole of the footwear and conformal with the bottom surface of the insole has to be first provided.
• Such a recess provides for keeping the adaptable orthopedic insole in place while being in use.
• the insole is short, covering only a part of the footwear as shown in Fig. 4 to which reference is now made.
• Elongated rigid plate 74 is embedded in the bottom face of the adaptable orthopedic insole.
• FIG. 5 A flow chart describing a method for manufacturing an orthopedic insole in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in Fig. 5 to which reference is now made.
• a mold in standard shape for an orthopedic insole is provided.
• a moldable material such as PVC, polyethylene, or any other suitable plastic resin is injected to the mold.
• BM blow molding
• the hollow insole that is formed in the molding process is released from the mold.
• the hollow insole is filled with granular material and in step 99 the area of the injection is sealed.
• the foothold is covered such as by fabric, leather, neoprene, nylon or similar plastic resins.
• a rigid plate is attached in bottom face of orthopedic insole. It should be noted that some steps of the above described process can be combined, executed repeatedly, omitted and/or rearranged.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=38981879

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (16)

Family Cites Families (11)

• 2007
  • 2007-07-23 WO PCT/IL2007/000923 patent/WO2008012809A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-07-23 EP EP07789978A patent/EP2048982A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-07-23 US US12/374,668 patent/US20100011618A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2007-07-23 CN CN2007800345857A patent/CN101610692B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events