EP0100067A2

EP0100067A2 - Sole construction and shoe construction

Info

Publication number: EP0100067A2
Application number: EP83107148A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Joseph P. Famolare, Jr.
Original assignee: Famolare Inc
Current assignee: Famolare Inc
Priority date: 1982-07-22
Filing date: 1983-07-21
Publication date: 1984-02-08
Also published as: FI832653A0; BR8300613A; NO832440L; JPS5946901A; AU1633883A; DK335483A; ZA834571B; DK335483D0; FI832653A; EP0100067A3

Abstract

@ A shoe construction comprising an inner sole carried on an outer sole, the inner sole having an upper surface which conforms to the anatomical undersurface of the foot and from which extend projections for massaging the foot, the shoe further comprising a thin layer overlying the inner sole and anchored so as to establish a floating region interior of the periphery of the layer and overlying the inner sole upper surface.

Description

Background of the Invention

This invention relates to shoe constructions and, in particular, to shoe constructions adapted to massage the foot of the user when.worn.
Various shoe constructions have been proposed which incorporate means for massaging the foot of the user during walking. Massaging of the foot provides improved circulation of the blood which, in turn, helps to relieve soreness and improve muscle tone. The result is an overall improvement in the physical well-being of the user.
In one class of known shoe construction, massaging of the foot of the user is effected by projections which extend upwardly from the shoe inner sole. U.S. patent 2,734,286 discloses this type of construction embodied in a sandal having resilient bars or nodules which provide massaging action through fore and aft movement of the foot over same. In U.S. patent 4,047,310 another sandal is disclosed. In this case the upper surface of the inner sole is contoured to follow the plantar surface or anatomical undersurface of the foot and a plurality of uniformly distributed rigid studs extend above the inner sole surface. These studs are disclosed as ranging in height from 2 to 6 mm and as being shortened or absent in particular areas where little or no massaging is desired.
U.S. patent 4,095,353 discloses a sandal in which a plurality of highly flexible, closely spaced, relatively long, thin, equal height projections extend from the inner sole surface and provide massaging as a result of substantial flexing during walking or foot movement. The projections extending from the inner sole of the sandal in U.S. patent 3,722,113 are also yieldable in various directions but in this case have heights which themselves follow the anatomical contour of the undersurface of the foot. Similar projections are utilized in the sandal of U.S. 3,757,774.
In U.S. 3,595,244, the projections are in the form of ridges which extend across the inner sole surface in irregular order, and at varying lateral expanse, height and spacing to provide selective massaging. In areas where massaging is unnecessary or would be painful, no ridges are provided. U.S. 4,075,772 also discloses ridge type projections. These projections vary in height to follow the anatomical contour of the foot.
A further sandal is taught in U.S. 3,859,727 wherein the outer sole of the sandal has an inclined plane configuration and supports an inner sole having projections for massaging. In German Offenlengungsschrift 2619410, the inner sole of a sandal is provided with holes or apertures into which can be inserted pegs for providing massaging of the feet. By moving the pegs various foot areas can be massaged.
As is apparent from the above, the primary use to date of foot massaging projections in shoe constructions has been in sandals. However, these projections have been taught as being used on inner soles for regular shoes, as is mentioned in U.S. 3,722,113.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a shoe construction which is adapted to utilize projections for foot massaging in an effective and pleasing manner.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shoe construction which is adapted to utilize projections for foot massaging in a manner which makes the construction readily usable with conventional walking shoes.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the above and other objectives are realized in a shoe construction comprising an inner sole having an upper surface which follows the anatomical contour of the undersurface of the foot and from which extend projections for massaging the foot. The shoe construction further comprises a layer or lining disposed over the inner sole and anchored so as to provide a floating or suspended region inward of the layer periphery and overlying the upper surface of the inner sole. The presence of the floating region provides a pleasing interaction of the foot with the underlying foot supporting projections during walking or movement of the foot.
In one embodiment of the shoe construction to be disclosed hereinafter, the anchoring of the thin layer provides a plurality of floating sub-regions along the length of the inner sole. These floating sub-regions correspond to particular areas of the foot where massaging is most desirable. The anchoring further provides anchored sub-regions in areas where massaging is less desirable or unnecessary. In accordance with this construction, a toe sub-region, a ball sub-region, a shank or arch sub-region and a heel sub-region are established as floating sub-regions and the interface regions therebetween as anchored sub-regions.
In a further aspect of the invention, the floating sub-regions are subjected to increased pressure. This is realized in the aforementioned construction by contouring the outer sole to have crest regions overlying the toe, ball, shank and heel floating regions, respectively, of the thin layer. In such case the valley regions of the outer sole overlie the anchored regions and the overall construction benefits from the increased pressure, as well as from the load bearing benefits of the four wave outer sole.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other features and aspects of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of a shoe construction in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view of the shoe construction of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the shoe construction of FIG. 1 taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of a modification of the shoe construction of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the shoe construction of the invention; and
FIG. 6 shows the shoe construction of the invention embodied in a conventional shoe.

Detailed Description

In FIG. 1, a shoe construction in accordance with the invention is shown in the form of a sandal 1 having conventional straps 2 for securing the sandal to the foot of the wearer. The sandal 1 comprises an outer sole 3 having an upper surface 4 whose contour is shaped to follow the anatomical contour of the foot. The lower surface 5 of the sole 3 is provided with four crests 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d and three intervening trough regions 5a', 5b' and 5c' whose location and function will be discussed hereinbelow. Typically, the sole 3 can be constructed from hard rubber or other suitable material.
Supported on the upper surface 4 of the outer sole 3 within a peripheral upstanding rim 6 is an inner sole 7 having an upper surface 9 over which are distributed projections 8. A layer of padding 11 is sandwiched between the inner sole 7 and outer sole 3 for cushioning purposes. Both the pad 11 and the inner sole 7 follow the upper surface 4 of the outer sole 3 and thus also conform to the anatomical surface of the foot. Likewise, the upper surfaces of the projections 8 define a seating surface which conforms to such anatomical surface.
Preferably, the inner sole 7 and projections 8 are made of a resilient material and the projections are of the same shape and of equal size in which case they will be referred to herein as "plosives". Also, preferably the projections are arranged in equally spaced rows and are similarly equally spaced within each row to provide a uniform distribution over the surface 9. As shown, the projections are in plosive form, each having a cylindrical shape and a rounded top. Typical dimensions for the projections might be a height of about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch and a diameter of about 1/8 of an inch. A typical row-to-row spacing might be 3/16 to 1/4 of an inch and a typical projection-to-projection spacing within a row might also be 3/16 to 1/4 of an inch. The inner sole 7 and padding 11 can be joined to the outer sole by conventional techniques such as, for example, gluing, stitching, etc.
As can be appreciated, the presence of the projections 8 causes a massaging of the foot of the wearer of the sandal 1 when the wearer is walking or moving his or her foot. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, such massaging is enhanced by providing a further thin layer or lining 12 of cloth, calves skin or other suitable material over the inner sole 7. The lining 12 is anchored and dimensioned relative to the inner sole so as to provide a floating or suspended region 14 (i.e., a region free of connection to the inner sole 7) interior of the layer periphery 13 and over the inner sole upper surface 9.
In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the periphery 13 of the layer 12 is anchored between the padding 11 and the outer sole 3. The interior region 14 of the layer is also anchored about its entire perimeter 14a and across its lateral extent at positions 14b, 14c and 14d by stitching 15. An intermediate connecting portion 16 of the lining 12 connects the periphery 13 and perimeter 14a and extends along the sidewall 7a of the inner sole 7 and along a rim portion 9a. of the upper surface 9. The latter rim portion, preferably, and as shown is devoid of projections 8 so that the projections 8 lie primarily in the central area of the undersurface of the foot.
The aforesaid anchoring of the interior region 14 establishes four floating sub-regions 17, 18, 19 and 21 each of which acts to provide a more pleasing interaction of the foot region commensurate therewith with the underlying projections 8. The interface areas established by the stitching 15, in turn, define anchored sub-regions 22, 23 and 24.
In accordance with this embodiment of the invention and as shown in FIG. 2, the positions 14b, 14c and 14d are selected so that the floating sub-regions 17, 18, 19.and 21 are successively commensurate with a forwardmost toe region, an intermediate ball region, an intermediate shank or arch region and a heel region, i.e., the major bone regions, of the foot. The anchored sub-regions 22, 23 and 24, in turn, are commensurate with the foot cartilage regions joining these bone regions. The floating sub-regions are thus placed at areas in which maximum massaging of the foot is needed and the anchored sub-regions where minimum or no massaging is needed. An overall pleasing and effective massaging action is thereby achieved.
While the above anchoring and resulting massaging are considered advantageous, by varying the anchoring of the lining 12 any desired type of massaging effect can be realized over the length of the inner sole 7. In general, sub-regions corresponding to foot areas where massaging is desired should be left floating and sub-regions corresponding to foot areas where little or no massaging is desired should be anchored.
In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the sanaal 1 is further adapted to facilitate the massaging resulting from the flcating sub-regions. In particular, means is provided for enabling increased pressure to be applied to these floating sub-regions during wearing of the sandal 1. In the case shown, this is realized via the crests 5a through 5d which are commensurate with the floating sub-regions 17, 18, 19 and 21, respectively, and are situated at the four normal weight bearing locations of the foot, i.e., the toes, ball, shank and heel. While the crests 5a through 5d facilitate massaging, the valley regions 5a' through 5c', have the opposite affect and advantageously reduce massaging in the anchored regions 22, 23 and 24.
As can be appreci-ated, surface configurations other than the four wave configuration of the outer sole surface 5 can be utilized for selective increased pressure application and, furthermore, other techniques for applying pressure (e.g., a flat outer sole with denser material underlying the floating sub-regions) might also be used. However, the depicted four wave construction (this construction is disclosed in U.S. patent 3,936,956, assigned to the same assignee hereof) is highly advantageous in that it provides support at the four weight bearing points of the foot. Thus, such construction is beneficial in the latter regard, as well as in regard to its enhancement of the desired massaging.
It should also be noted that the application of selective increased pressure can be made to conform to the particular distribution of floating sub-regions used in a given shoe construction. Thus, increased pressure can be provided to some or all these regions, while decreased pressure can be applied to some or all of the anchored sub-regions.
FIG. 4 shows a modification of the shoe of FIGS. 1 to 3 in that the projections 8 on the inner sole 7 are eliminated in areas of the surface 9 in the vicinity of the positions 14b, 14c and 14d (only position 14c is actually shown) so as to facilitate anchoring of the layer 12 at these positions. In this case, the anchored sub-regions can also be of increased extent along the length of the inner sole so as to more closely encompass the foot cartilage are as.
FIG. 5 illustrates a further modification of the invention wherein the entire area of inner region 14 is allowed to float. In this case, anchoring of the layer 12 is only at the periphery 13, this being accomplished by sandwiching of the periphery between the outer sole 3 and the padding 11. This type of construction also provides pleasing massaging over desired foot areas.
FIG. 6 illustrates the floating layer type construction of FIG. 5 embodied in a more conventional or standard type shoe having an outer sole 51 also of standard construction. In this case, the shoe comprises a body portion 52 (shown in dotted line) for housing the upper portions of the wearer's foot.
It should be noted that the floating region 14 of the layer 12 is also advantageous in that it allows the user of the shoe construction 1 to gradually experience the projections 8. As a result, the shoe can be immediately continuously worn, with the user becoming gradually and comfortably accustomed to the shoe as the projections and the massaging effect become more pronounced. This break-in period can be controlled by varying the thickness and type of material used for the layer 12. Increased thickness and/or tougher materials will provide a longer break-in period and thinner and/or softer materials a shorter break-in period.
It should be also noted that the spacing between the floating region 14 of the layer 12 and the projections 8 has been greatly exaggerated in the drawings for illustrative purposes. In actuality, the portions of the floating region above each projection will be in contact with same or will become so after continued use of the sandal.
In all cases, it is understood that the above- described arrangements are merely illustrative of the many possible specific embodiments which represent applications of the present invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can readily be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, for example, instead of eliminating projections in the regions 14b, 14c and 14d as contemplated in the embodiment of FIG. 4, the projections in these regions may be significantly reduced in size relative to those in the regions 17, 18, 19 and 21, so as to facilitate anchoring without the need for total removal. Furthermore, the conventional shoe of FIG. 6 can be constructed with the floating layer type construction of FIGS. I to 3 or modifications thereof so as to have selective floating and anchored sub-regions in the layer 12.

Claims

1. A sole construction comprising:

an inner sole having an upper surface and further having projections extending upwardly from and distributed about said upper surface for massaging the foot;

and a layer overlying said inner sole, said layer being anchored against movement so that a region of said layer interior of the periphery of said layer and overlying said upper surface is allowed to float.

2. A sole construction in accordance with claim 1 further comprising:

means for selectively anchoring sub-regions of said interior region to thereby define a plurality of floating sub-regions.

3. A sole construction in accordance with claim 2 wherein:

said floating sub-regions comprise a forwardmost toe sub-region, an intermediate ball sub-region, an intermediate shank portion sub-region and a heel sub-region. _.

4. A sole construction in accordance with claim 2 wherein:

said floating sub-regions consist of a forwardmost toe sub-region, an intermediate ball sub-region, an intermediate shank portion sub-region and a heel sub-region.

5. A sole construction in accordance with claim 3 or 4 wherein:

said anchoring means includes:

a first anchor extending across the lateral extent of said interior region at the interface of said toe and ball sub-regions;

a second anchor extending across the lateral extent of said interior region at the interface of said ball and intermediate shank portion sub-regions.

and a third anchor extending across the lateral extent of said interior region at the interface of said shank portion and heel sub-regions.

6. A sole construction in accordance with claim 5 wherein: said anchoring means further comprises:

a fourth anchor extending around the border of said interior region;

said first through third anchors beginning and ending at said fourth anchor.

7. A sole construction in accordance with claim 5 wherein:

said inner sole is devoid of projections along the paths encompassed by each of said first, second and third anchors.

8. A sole construction in accordance with claim 6 wherein:

each of said anchors comprises stitching.

9. A sole construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said thin layer comprises one of cloth and calves skin.

10. A sole construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said projections are uniformly distributed cver said upper surface.

11. A sole construction in accordance with claim 1 or 10 wherein:

said projections are in the form of plosives.

12. A sole construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said interior region extends over substantially the entire extent of said upper surface.

₁₃. A sole construction in accordance with claim 6 wherein:

said fourth anchor is interior of the periphery of said upper surface.

₁₄. A sole construction in accordance with claim 13 wherein:

said inner sole is devoid of projections between said periphery of said upper surface and said forth anchor.

₁5. A sole construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said upper surface is devoid of projections in a rim portion of said upper surface;

and said projections are disposed to encompass the central area of the undersurface of the foot.

16. A shoe construction comprising:

an outer sole;

an inner sole as claimed in claims 1 to 15, said inner sole being supported on said outer sole and having an upper surface which follows the anatomical contour of the undersurface of the foot.

17. A shoe construction in accordance with claim 16 wherein:

said periphery of said thin layer is sandwiched between said inner and outer soles and includes an intermediate portion between said periphery and said interior region which extends along the sidewall of said inner sole.

18. A shoe construction in accordance with claim 16 further comprising:

a pad disposed between said inner and outer soles.

19. A shoe construction in accordance with claim 16 wherein:

the upper surface of said outer sole follows the anatomical contour of the foot;

and said inner sole follows tne upper surface of said outer sole.

20. A shoe construction in accordance with claim 16 further comprising:

means for applying increased pressure to each of said floating sub-regions relative to said anchored sub-regions.

2₁. A shoe construction in accordance with claim 20wherein:

said means for applying pressure comprises a crest on the lower surface of said outer sole underlying each of said floating sub-regions and a trough on the lower surface of said inner sole underlying each of said anchored sub-regions.

₂₂. A shoe construction in accordance with claim 21 wherein:

each of said crests is at a different one of the normal weight bearing locations of the foot.