CA1145932A - Footbed insole cushion - Google Patents
Footbed insole cushionInfo
- Publication number
- CA1145932A CA1145932A CA000353547A CA353547A CA1145932A CA 1145932 A CA1145932 A CA 1145932A CA 000353547 A CA000353547 A CA 000353547A CA 353547 A CA353547 A CA 353547A CA 1145932 A CA1145932 A CA 1145932A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- insole
- plastics material
- insole cushion
- cushion according
- region
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A43—FOOTWEAR
- A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
- A43B21/00—Heels; Top-pieces or top-lifts
- A43B21/24—Heels; Top-pieces or top-lifts characterised by the constructive form
- A43B21/32—Resilient supports for the heel of the foot
Landscapes
- Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The invention provides an insole cushion comprising a single layer of resilient closed cell foamed plastics material compression molded to form a generally planar main region adapted to lie against a shoe insole and having in a heel region thereof an upwardly flared marginal portion shaped to fit around the wearer's heel.
The invention provides an insole cushion comprising a single layer of resilient closed cell foamed plastics material compression molded to form a generally planar main region adapted to lie against a shoe insole and having in a heel region thereof an upwardly flared marginal portion shaped to fit around the wearer's heel.
Description
This invention relates to an insole footbed cushion of the type which, for example, may be used in an athletic shoe.
Athletic shoes are becoming increasingly popular and the public is becoming increasingly demanding with regard to these shoes, particularly their comfor-t and shock absorption characteristics. As shoes must inevitably be produced in standard sizes, it is often difficult ~or a discerning customer to find a satisfactory shoe if his foot size is nat close to that of a standard last. In such a case, the role of the insole cushion becomes ver~ important because the customer is able to modify a standard shoe to meet his requirements more exactly.
Even to a customer whose foot does fit the standard shoe size, an insole cushion can improve comfort and shock absorption.
Furthermore, it can be replaced at minimum cost when worn or soiled without requiring the purchase of new shoes.
Various forms of insole cushions are known. One such form is made by continuously spreading latex foam sheets onto a textile backing. The foaming is produced by mechanical means and leads to large and open cells. These readily absorb liquid and wear tests have shown that crumbling o~ the foam is a common type of failure for this form of insole cushion.
Furthermore, considerable capital investment is required to make such insole cushions. Such insole cushions were also ~?
generally flat and would tend to move around within the shoe unless they were cut exact~y to the right size.
Various other forms of insole cushions have been tried, although these would suffer from the dlsadvantages of high cost, movement in the shoe, poor shock absorption or high water retention. Insole cushions are very low cost items and it is extremely important to be able to employ mass production techniques, while at the same time providing an insole cushion not suffering from these disadvantages.
5~3~
Accoraingly, the present invention provides an insole cushion comprising 2 layer of resilient closed cell foam plas-tics material compression molded ~rom a sheet of the material to form a generally planar main region adapted to lie against a shoe insole and having in a heel region thereof an upwardly flared marginal portion shaped to fit around a wearer's heel.
The upwardly flared marginal portion in the heel re, gion not only increases wearer comfort but also renders the size of the insole less critical for any particular shoe size.
If the main region of the insole cushion is slightly too small for the shoe, the upwardly flared marginal portion wedges against the upstanding walls of the shoe upper in the heel re~
gion. This firmly holds the insole cushion in place within the shoe and thus reduces any tendency for it to slip around during use. Furthermore, it also helps to mold the insole cushion around the wearer's heel and improve comfort.
The closed cell structure of the plastics material reduces surface water absorption and also helps to ensure better compressibility and recovery during use.
The plastics material is preferably low density poly-ethylene or EUA (ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer) or a mixture thereof having a microcellular structure. This helps to mini-mize cell collapse during compression molding thereby to improve still further the compressibility of the finished product.
Desirably, the upper surface of the insole cushion is covered with a layer of terry cloth to improve comfort and also to absorb water. The layer of terry cloth may be cemented to plastics sheets prior to compression molding.
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way o~ e~ample anl~, with Xe~erence to the accompan~ing draw-ings, in whi~c~
~ i5 an underneath vie~ o a preform for making ~ ~ ~ S ~ 3 insole cushions;
Pig. 2 iS a longitud~nal section taken along the line II-II of Fi~. l;
Fiy. 3 is a perspective view of a completed insole cushion.
The insole cushion blank shown in Fig. 1 is made in the foll4wing manner. Firstly, a large sheet of low density foamed resin having a microcellular structure is provided~
The resin is formed from the following composition:
Parts Ultrathene 637 (trademark) 90.00 Alathon 3175 (trademark) 10.00 Zinc oxide 1.00 Stearic acid 1.00 Cellmic CAP 124 (trademark) 10.00 Perkadox 14/40 (trademark) 4.5 116.5 Curing 8 minutes - 160 C
The foamed resin has the following properties:
Expan~ion 120%
Specific Gravity 0.066 Hardness IRHD ~28 Split Tear Stress N/2.5 cm 14,5 A layer of terry cloth 2 is then bonded to the foamed resin sheet by uslng any suitable known cement. Blanks of the general shape of the preform shown in Fig. 1 are then diecut from the sheet and at the same time provided with a central slit 3 extending part way into the blank.
The sheets from which the blanks are cut have a thickness o~ ~pp~oximatel~ 0.6 cm.
The ~lanks are then preheated at 12nC for 3 minutes and then preformed in a cold mold for 1 minute to provide the preform 1. The cold mold is preferably a bladder mold of the ~LS~3~
type described in our copending application serial No. 329,544 filed on Jul~ 9, 1979.
Prior to trimming, the molded preform has the shape shown in Fig. l. The preform comprises two insole cushion forms having a generally planar main region 4 with an upwardly flared marginal portion 5 extending around a heel region of the insole cushion. The marginal portion 5, in the embodiments shown, is also shaped at 6 to extend under the arch of a wearer's foot and form an arch support.
During molding embossed lines 7 are impressed on the preform 1. In the embodiment shown, three arcuate lines are shown corresponding to three different shoe sizes. To complete the manufacture of an insole cushion, thè preform is trimmed to form two complete insole cushions. It is trimmed around one of the lines 7 to provide the desired size and around the dotted line llto remove excess material from the preform.
The rear portion of the main region ~ is defined, on the underneath of the insole, by the contour 8 separating the planar psrtion of the insole cushion from the upwardly flared marginal portion 5. This contour is of such a size that it will fit into any shoe having a size corresponding to any one of the lines 7. The rear portion lies against the insole of the shoe, but an accurate fit is not critical ~ecause if it slightly too small, the marginal flared portion engages the upstanding walls of the heel region of the shoe upper and preventsmovement of the insole cushion within the shoe. A
front portion of the main region 4 is defined by the periphery of the insole cushion which is cut along one of the lines 7 according to the shoe size.
Three different sizes of insole cushions can there-fore be made from the preform l simply by cutting along any one of the lines 7 and trimming the remaining portion of the ~4~i~3Z
preform as desired. This is achieved because, owing to the presence of the upwardly flared marginal portion 5, an exact fit of the rear portion of the main region 4 is not critical.
In the embodiment described, the toe region 9 of the completed insole cushion has a thickness of about .3 cm which increases to about .4 cm in a region 10 adjacent the arch support region 6. The region 10 of slightly increased thickness provides a metatarsel cushion for the foot of the wearer. The arch support region 6 is convexly curved and shaped to fit comfortably under the arch region of the wearer's foot.
Because of its simple construction, the described insole cushion can be manufactured cheaply using mass production techniques. The molding of a preform from which a number of insoles to fit different sized shoes can be made simply by trimming helps further to reduce the cost of manufacture. It is not necessary to mold an insole cushion separately for each possible shoe size. The flared marginal wall 5 not only increases wearer comfort b~ partly surrounding the heel and also providing a metatarsal cushion and arch support, it also ensures that the insole cushion is firml~v wedged against the walls of the upper of the shoe and therefore movement of the insole cushion within the shoe is avoided.
It is indeed extremely surprising that such an insole cushion can be molded from a foamed plastic material. Generally, it would be thought that the cells of foamed plastic would collapse on compression and that it would not be posslble to provide sufficient resilience in a single layer of compressed foam plastic to form an effective insole cushion. Surprisingly, it has been found that, provided the closed cell structure is employed, such plastics material can be compression molded to give the desired three dimensional shape of the insole cushion. The resulting compressed product still has good ~ ~ ~ S ~ 3Z
resilience and shock absorption properties. Advantageously, the material has a microscoplc cell size which minimize cell collapse during compression and ensures optimum resilience sf the compressed product, and a compression set of approximately 50%.
The plastics material employed has some degree of cross linking to make is partially thermosetting, although it also retains some degree of plasticity.
The optimum average cell size for the microcellular plastics material is .02 to .05 mm.
..
.
Athletic shoes are becoming increasingly popular and the public is becoming increasingly demanding with regard to these shoes, particularly their comfor-t and shock absorption characteristics. As shoes must inevitably be produced in standard sizes, it is often difficult ~or a discerning customer to find a satisfactory shoe if his foot size is nat close to that of a standard last. In such a case, the role of the insole cushion becomes ver~ important because the customer is able to modify a standard shoe to meet his requirements more exactly.
Even to a customer whose foot does fit the standard shoe size, an insole cushion can improve comfort and shock absorption.
Furthermore, it can be replaced at minimum cost when worn or soiled without requiring the purchase of new shoes.
Various forms of insole cushions are known. One such form is made by continuously spreading latex foam sheets onto a textile backing. The foaming is produced by mechanical means and leads to large and open cells. These readily absorb liquid and wear tests have shown that crumbling o~ the foam is a common type of failure for this form of insole cushion.
Furthermore, considerable capital investment is required to make such insole cushions. Such insole cushions were also ~?
generally flat and would tend to move around within the shoe unless they were cut exact~y to the right size.
Various other forms of insole cushions have been tried, although these would suffer from the dlsadvantages of high cost, movement in the shoe, poor shock absorption or high water retention. Insole cushions are very low cost items and it is extremely important to be able to employ mass production techniques, while at the same time providing an insole cushion not suffering from these disadvantages.
5~3~
Accoraingly, the present invention provides an insole cushion comprising 2 layer of resilient closed cell foam plas-tics material compression molded ~rom a sheet of the material to form a generally planar main region adapted to lie against a shoe insole and having in a heel region thereof an upwardly flared marginal portion shaped to fit around a wearer's heel.
The upwardly flared marginal portion in the heel re, gion not only increases wearer comfort but also renders the size of the insole less critical for any particular shoe size.
If the main region of the insole cushion is slightly too small for the shoe, the upwardly flared marginal portion wedges against the upstanding walls of the shoe upper in the heel re~
gion. This firmly holds the insole cushion in place within the shoe and thus reduces any tendency for it to slip around during use. Furthermore, it also helps to mold the insole cushion around the wearer's heel and improve comfort.
The closed cell structure of the plastics material reduces surface water absorption and also helps to ensure better compressibility and recovery during use.
The plastics material is preferably low density poly-ethylene or EUA (ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer) or a mixture thereof having a microcellular structure. This helps to mini-mize cell collapse during compression molding thereby to improve still further the compressibility of the finished product.
Desirably, the upper surface of the insole cushion is covered with a layer of terry cloth to improve comfort and also to absorb water. The layer of terry cloth may be cemented to plastics sheets prior to compression molding.
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way o~ e~ample anl~, with Xe~erence to the accompan~ing draw-ings, in whi~c~
~ i5 an underneath vie~ o a preform for making ~ ~ ~ S ~ 3 insole cushions;
Pig. 2 iS a longitud~nal section taken along the line II-II of Fi~. l;
Fiy. 3 is a perspective view of a completed insole cushion.
The insole cushion blank shown in Fig. 1 is made in the foll4wing manner. Firstly, a large sheet of low density foamed resin having a microcellular structure is provided~
The resin is formed from the following composition:
Parts Ultrathene 637 (trademark) 90.00 Alathon 3175 (trademark) 10.00 Zinc oxide 1.00 Stearic acid 1.00 Cellmic CAP 124 (trademark) 10.00 Perkadox 14/40 (trademark) 4.5 116.5 Curing 8 minutes - 160 C
The foamed resin has the following properties:
Expan~ion 120%
Specific Gravity 0.066 Hardness IRHD ~28 Split Tear Stress N/2.5 cm 14,5 A layer of terry cloth 2 is then bonded to the foamed resin sheet by uslng any suitable known cement. Blanks of the general shape of the preform shown in Fig. 1 are then diecut from the sheet and at the same time provided with a central slit 3 extending part way into the blank.
The sheets from which the blanks are cut have a thickness o~ ~pp~oximatel~ 0.6 cm.
The ~lanks are then preheated at 12nC for 3 minutes and then preformed in a cold mold for 1 minute to provide the preform 1. The cold mold is preferably a bladder mold of the ~LS~3~
type described in our copending application serial No. 329,544 filed on Jul~ 9, 1979.
Prior to trimming, the molded preform has the shape shown in Fig. l. The preform comprises two insole cushion forms having a generally planar main region 4 with an upwardly flared marginal portion 5 extending around a heel region of the insole cushion. The marginal portion 5, in the embodiments shown, is also shaped at 6 to extend under the arch of a wearer's foot and form an arch support.
During molding embossed lines 7 are impressed on the preform 1. In the embodiment shown, three arcuate lines are shown corresponding to three different shoe sizes. To complete the manufacture of an insole cushion, thè preform is trimmed to form two complete insole cushions. It is trimmed around one of the lines 7 to provide the desired size and around the dotted line llto remove excess material from the preform.
The rear portion of the main region ~ is defined, on the underneath of the insole, by the contour 8 separating the planar psrtion of the insole cushion from the upwardly flared marginal portion 5. This contour is of such a size that it will fit into any shoe having a size corresponding to any one of the lines 7. The rear portion lies against the insole of the shoe, but an accurate fit is not critical ~ecause if it slightly too small, the marginal flared portion engages the upstanding walls of the heel region of the shoe upper and preventsmovement of the insole cushion within the shoe. A
front portion of the main region 4 is defined by the periphery of the insole cushion which is cut along one of the lines 7 according to the shoe size.
Three different sizes of insole cushions can there-fore be made from the preform l simply by cutting along any one of the lines 7 and trimming the remaining portion of the ~4~i~3Z
preform as desired. This is achieved because, owing to the presence of the upwardly flared marginal portion 5, an exact fit of the rear portion of the main region 4 is not critical.
In the embodiment described, the toe region 9 of the completed insole cushion has a thickness of about .3 cm which increases to about .4 cm in a region 10 adjacent the arch support region 6. The region 10 of slightly increased thickness provides a metatarsel cushion for the foot of the wearer. The arch support region 6 is convexly curved and shaped to fit comfortably under the arch region of the wearer's foot.
Because of its simple construction, the described insole cushion can be manufactured cheaply using mass production techniques. The molding of a preform from which a number of insoles to fit different sized shoes can be made simply by trimming helps further to reduce the cost of manufacture. It is not necessary to mold an insole cushion separately for each possible shoe size. The flared marginal wall 5 not only increases wearer comfort b~ partly surrounding the heel and also providing a metatarsal cushion and arch support, it also ensures that the insole cushion is firml~v wedged against the walls of the upper of the shoe and therefore movement of the insole cushion within the shoe is avoided.
It is indeed extremely surprising that such an insole cushion can be molded from a foamed plastic material. Generally, it would be thought that the cells of foamed plastic would collapse on compression and that it would not be posslble to provide sufficient resilience in a single layer of compressed foam plastic to form an effective insole cushion. Surprisingly, it has been found that, provided the closed cell structure is employed, such plastics material can be compression molded to give the desired three dimensional shape of the insole cushion. The resulting compressed product still has good ~ ~ ~ S ~ 3Z
resilience and shock absorption properties. Advantageously, the material has a microscoplc cell size which minimize cell collapse during compression and ensures optimum resilience sf the compressed product, and a compression set of approximately 50%.
The plastics material employed has some degree of cross linking to make is partially thermosetting, although it also retains some degree of plasticity.
The optimum average cell size for the microcellular plastics material is .02 to .05 mm.
..
.
Claims (10)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. An insole cushion comprising a layer of resilient closed cell plastics material compression molded from a sheet of the material to form a generally planar main region adapted to lie against a shoe insole and having in a heel region there-of an upwardly flared marginal portion shaped to fit around the wearer's heel.
2. An insole cushion according to claim 1, wherein the closed cell plastics material has a microcellular structure.
3. An insole cushion according to claim 2, wherein the plastics material is low density polyethylene.
4. An insole cushion according to claim 3 t wherein the plastics material is a mixture of low density polyethylene and an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer.
5. An insole cushion according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plastics material is a foam.
6. An insole cushion according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is thickened in a region intended to lie under the metatarsal region of the foot to provide a metartarsal cushion.
7. An insole cushion according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a front portion of the flared marginal portion is convexly shaped to provide an arch support for the wearer's foot.
8. An insole cushion according to any one of claims 1 to 3, having a layer of terry cloth bonded to its upper surface.
9. An insole cushion according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plastics material is compression set to approximately 50%.
10. An insole cushion as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the average cell size of the plastics material lies in the range .02 to .05 mm.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000353547A CA1145932A (en) | 1980-06-06 | 1980-06-06 | Footbed insole cushion |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000353547A CA1145932A (en) | 1980-06-06 | 1980-06-06 | Footbed insole cushion |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1145932A true CA1145932A (en) | 1983-05-10 |
Family
ID=4117137
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000353547A Expired CA1145932A (en) | 1980-06-06 | 1980-06-06 | Footbed insole cushion |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1145932A (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4627179A (en) * | 1985-07-10 | 1986-12-09 | Action Products, Inc. | Shock absorbing insole construction |
| WO1999004968A2 (en) * | 1997-07-24 | 1999-02-04 | Trexel, Inc. | Lamination of microcellular articles |
-
1980
- 1980-06-06 CA CA000353547A patent/CA1145932A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4627179A (en) * | 1985-07-10 | 1986-12-09 | Action Products, Inc. | Shock absorbing insole construction |
| WO1999004968A2 (en) * | 1997-07-24 | 1999-02-04 | Trexel, Inc. | Lamination of microcellular articles |
| WO1999004968A3 (en) * | 1997-07-24 | 1999-04-08 | Trexel Inc | Lamination of microcellular articles |
| US6235380B1 (en) | 1997-07-24 | 2001-05-22 | Trexel, Inc. | Lamination of microcellular articles |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |