GB2050145A

GB2050145A - Sole or insole for footwear

Info

Publication number: GB2050145A
Application number: GB7943316A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: BOLLA L
Current assignee: BOLLA L
Priority date: 1979-06-07
Filing date: 1979-12-17
Publication date: 1981-01-07
Also published as: BE880519A; DE7934982U1; IT7960923V0; PT71360A; FR2458239A1; NL8003232A; FR2458239B3

Abstract

A footwear sole or insole comprises lower and upper pliable layers 2, 1 joined at their edges, e.g. by welding, as at 12. Transverse joint lines or welds 21, 22, 23, 24 divide the interior into pockets which are inflatable sufficiently to avoid the layer 1 being pressed down into contact with the lower layer 2 under the weight of the wearer. Specific pockets, independently inflatable may be provided respectively along the inner and outer metatarsal arches to permit correct knock-knees and bow legs respectively. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Sole or insole for footwear This invention concerns a sole or insole for footwear comprising several pockets and wherein two or three such pockets communicate with each other in such a way that the weight of the wearer's body is distributed over the whole surface of the foot of the wearer and thus over the whole surface of the sole or insole itself.

In the state of the art there already exist soles or insoles whose function is that of moulding itself to and conforming to the configuration of the sole of the wearer's foot.

Usually, these arrangements are full of water or other liquid and have a limited number of pockets. They have the inconvenience of being heavy and noisy, and because liquids are incompressible, afford a substantially rigid support with resilience or elasticity arising only from the constituent material of the walls. This is inconvenient, particularly for people with unhealthy feed or having imperfections in the feet themselves. Besides, generally this type of known sole or insole has generally been adapted to be employed in supporting shoes. In practice, it has been found to be preferable to return to soles of foamed plastics or of cork.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the aforementioned inconveniences and to provide an arrangement which additionally offers various advantages.

The inventor, with the intuition of genuis, has conceived a sole constructed to contain a measured quantity of gas, such as air, with the pockets destined to contain this gas subdivided into several section, some of which communicate with each other. In particular the air pockets corresponding to protruberances of parts of the wearer's foot and particularly of the heel are made of relatively reduced dimensions and are isolated from one another in such a way as to guarantee that the air cushions concerned with such zones, even when subjected to strong compressive forces, not result in points of contact between the walls and thus in points where there is no elasticity.On the contrary, the parts destined to support the concave surfaces of the foot and in particular the metatarsal arch are subdivided into communicating pockets which thus conform to and divide up the foot, adapting themselves to the various conditions arising in walking about. Additionally, the presence of gas renders the sole light and eliminates noise.

According to one variation, the sole or insole may incorporate orthopaedic modifications for correcting knock knees or bow legs.

Such a modification consists in providing two longitudinal air pockets which respectively support the inner and outer metatarsal arches and which are independently inflatable. In practice, by inflating the pocket corresponding to the inner metatarsal arch more, one corrects knock knees, and by inflating the pocket corresponding to the inner metatarsal arch more, one corrects bow legs.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan of a sole or insole constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a section through the sole or insole of Fig. 1, taken in accordance with the line ll-ll of Fig. 1; and Figure 3 is substantially a repetition of Fig.

2 but showing the sole or insole in use, and the wearer's foot supported on it.

The illustrated embodiment of the footwear sole or insole according to the invention comprises two pliable or flexible layers 1 and 2, e.g. of a plastics sheet material, joined along their edges 1 2 and also along transverse lines 21, 22, 23 and 24 and along an arcuate line 11 along the sole or insole. The transverse joint lines 21 and 22 connect with the edge join 1 2 and thus form two air pockets 3 and 4 while the joint lines 22 and 24 form a single air pocket 5 composed of sectors 5' 5" and 5"' with connections between them provided by interuptions 50 in the joint lines 11, 23. The pockets 3, 4 and 5 are filled with gas by a known method, that is to say, by means of a syringe or by means of an appropriate valve (not shown in the drawing).The quantity of air or other gas introduced must be such that, when subject to the greatest pressure which the sole or insole must be able to support, the walls 1 and 2 will not contact with each other since that would eliminate the cushioning effect of the sole or insole.

As can be seen from Fig. 3, in use, the sole matches with and marries itself, by its two walls 1 and 2 respectively, to the sole of the wearer's foot. The specific pressure to which the sole or insole is subjected is thus spread over the surface of the entire foot and is minimised. The foot is supported in all its parts, including the inner metatarsal arch substantially without the possibility of high pressures, for example occurring at the heel, for example during a jump, causing the walls 1 and 2 to enter into contact with each other.

Thus the use of the sole or insole can achieve a noticeable improvement in comfort in all possible conditions of load and deformation.

According to one variation, the sole or insole may incorporate corrective orthopedic modifications for cases of knock knees or bow legs. This modification consists in rendering the two longitudinal air pockets 5' and 5", which respectively support the inner and outer metatarsal arches, independently inflatable. In fact, the fact of inflating the part 5' corresponding to the inner metatarsal arch more serves to correct knock knees, whilst inflating the part 5" corresponding to the outer metatarsal arch more serves to correct bow legs.

According to one practical embodiment of the present invention, at least the upper surface of the wall 1 is lightly corrugated in such a way as to ensure free circulation of the air beneath the sole of the foot.

In practice the dimensions and the positions of the joins between the walls 1 and 2, but not the materials employed, can vary, from those illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A sole or insole for footwear having substantially the form of a bladder comprising two or more pockets characterised in that it is filled in one or more pockets with a gas such as air.

2. A sole or insole as claimed in Claim 1 characterised in that the quantity of gas or air filled into the bladder is such that, during normal walking or during particular stressing, the opposite walls forming the pockets are prevented from coming into contact with each other.

3. A sole or insole as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 characterised in that at least two of the pockets, or sectors of the bladder, communicate with each other.

4. A sole or insole as claimed in Claim 3 characterised in that there are three communicating pockets or sectors.

5. A sole or insole as claimed in Claim 4 characterised in that two of the communicating pockets are matched and have longitudinal dispositions while a third communicating pocket has a transverse disposition.

6. A sole or insole as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 characterised in that at least one of the air pockets or sectors is closed.

7. A sole or insole as claimed in Claim 6 characterised in that the closed air pocket is located at least partially to correspond with the heel.

8. A sole or insole as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that it has five sectors or air pockets, of which three communicate with each other and two are closed, the two closed pockets being located to correspond to the heel.

9. A sole or insole as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the upper surface of the upper wall is corrugated in such a way as to constitute a labrynth of air circulation and of containment of deodorising substances.

1 0. A sole or insole which is orthopaedic and suitable for correction of knock knees, characterised in that an air pocket along the inner metatarsal arch is inflatable independently of the other pockets in such a way as to confer a corrective effect to knock knees.

11. A sole or insole and suitable correction of bow legs characterised in that an air pocket along the external metatarsal arch is inflatable independently of the other pockets in such a way as to be able to confer a corrective effect to bow legs.

1 2. A sole or insole substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.