GB2496186A - An item of footwear to remind a wearer to walk with a correct loading pattern - Google Patents

An item of footwear to remind a wearer to walk with a correct loading pattern Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2496186A
GB2496186A GB201119151A GB201119151A GB2496186A GB 2496186 A GB2496186 A GB 2496186A GB 201119151 A GB201119151 A GB 201119151A GB 201119151 A GB201119151 A GB 201119151A GB 2496186 A GB2496186 A GB 2496186A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
footwear
item
pad
text
foot
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB201119151A
Other versions
GB201119151D0 (en
Inventor
Asher Moe Clark
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
TERRA PLANA INTERNAT Ltd
Original Assignee
TERRA PLANA INTERNAT Ltd
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by TERRA PLANA INTERNAT Ltd filed Critical TERRA PLANA INTERNAT Ltd
Priority to GB201119151A priority Critical patent/GB2496186A/en
Publication of GB201119151D0 publication Critical patent/GB201119151D0/en
Publication of GB2496186A publication Critical patent/GB2496186A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A41—WEARING APPAREL
    • A41B—SHIRTS; UNDERWEAR; BABY LINEN; HANDKERCHIEFS
    • A41B11/00—Hosiery; Panti-hose
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B3/00—Footwear characterised by the shape or the use
    • A43B3/0036—Footwear characterised by the shape or the use characterised by a special shape or design
    • A43B3/0057—S-shaped
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B7/00—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements
    • A43B7/14—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts
    • A43B7/1405—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form
    • A43B7/1415—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form characterised by the location under the foot
    • A43B7/1425—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form characterised by the location under the foot situated under the ball of the foot, i.e. the joint between the first metatarsal and first phalange
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B7/00—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements
    • A43B7/14—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts
    • A43B7/1405—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form
    • A43B7/1415—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form characterised by the location under the foot
    • A43B7/145—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form characterised by the location under the foot situated under the toes, i.e. the phalanges
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B7/00—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements
    • A43B7/14—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts
    • A43B7/26—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with toe-spacers or toe-spreaders

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Epidemiology (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)

Abstract

An item of footwear such as a sock 6 has a pad 13 serving as reminder or inducement to a person to walk with a loading pattern which extends under the ball of the foot and continues along the big toe. The pad is provided on a sole portion 9, underneath a region 12 adjacent the ball of the foot of the person. There may be provided a textured area in the region of the pad which serves to bring a wearers attention to the presence of the pad. The pad may extend under the big toe or a separate pad 13A may be further provided under the big toe. The big toe may be contained in an individual pocket 10 which may also be provided with a pad.

Description

Gait Improvement System This invention relates to a gait improvement system, which may be incorporated in a sock, or in an insole for a boot, shoe, sandal or the like, or may be incorporated in such a boot, shoe, sandal or the like itself.
A significant proportion of the human population, when shod with footwear such as a boot, shoe or sandal, walk with the outer edge of each foot loaded in preference to the remainder of the foot, this loading continuing up the foot from the heel to the region of head of the fourth or fifth metatarsal, and then along the toes on that side of the foot. This foot loading pattern is associated with pain and poor performance.
It has been found that a better loading pattern is when the load extends adjacent the outer edge of the foot from the heel region, but then crosses over the foot to the ball of the foot -adjacent the head of the first metatarsal -and continues along the big toe. People can be taught to walk with this loading profile but they may lose concentration and revert to the poorer loading profile.
Viewed from one aspect, the present invention provides an item of footwear having a sole portion which is arranged to lie underneath the sole of the foot of a person wearing the footwear, wherein the sole portion is provided with a pad arranged to be positioned underneath a region adjacent the ball of the foot of the person, the presence of the pad serving as a reminder or inducement to the person to walk with a loading pattern which extends under the ball of the foot and continues along the big toe.
Viewed from another aspect, the present invention provides a method of teaching a person to walk with a loading pattern which extends under the ball of the foot and continues along the big toe; in which the person is provided with an item of footwear having a sole portion which is arranged to lie underneath the sole of the foot of the person, the sole portion having a pad which is positioned underneath a region adjacent the ball of the foot of a user, the presence of the pad serving as a reminder or inducement to the person to walk with said loading pattern.
Preferably, said loading pattern extends adjacent the outer edge of the foot from the heel region, before crossing over the foot to adjacent the ball of the foot.
Preferably there is a textured area between the body of the pad and the sole of the wearer's foot which serves to bring a wearer's attention to the presence of the pad.
The textured area may comprise a plurality of portions which protrude towards the foot of a person. These portions may be resilient and of natural or synthetic rubber, or of a polymeric plastics material. The protruding portions may be provided as an array of dots, for example of rubber or other material which has been printed onto the item of footwear. The pad itself may provide the textured area, and in some embodiments the pad may be constituted by a plurality of protruding portions.
The purpose of the pad and, if provided, the textured area is to create a noticeable physical sensation which will help train the wearer's body to assume the correct gait and loading pattern. The texturing enhances this sensation. The body's awareness of the torces acting on it is known as proprioception.
In a preferred arrangement, the pad is positioned under at least part of the head of the first metatarsal. In another preferred arrangement the pad is positioned under at least part of the head of the first metatarsal and at least part of the head of the second metatarsal. In some arrangements the pad extends partially along the big toe.
A pad as described above may optionally also be provided underneath a portion of the big toe of a user, remote from the ball of the foot. A textured area as described above may also be provided underneath a portion of the big toe of a user, remote from the ball of the foot. Such a pad or textured area underneath a portion of the big toe of a user, remote from the ball of the foot, may be used as an alternative to the pad or textured area in the region of the ball of the foot.
The pad may be of a resilient material such as of natural or synthetic rubber, or of a polymeric plastics material. Alternatively, the pad may be of leather. The pad is preferably sufficiently dense for it to be readily noticeable by a wearer. Preferably the pad has a thickness of at least about 1 mm, for example being about 1.5 mm or about 2.5 mm thick. The thickness of the pad may be up to about 2 mm, or up to about 2.5 mm, or up to about 3 mm. As noted above, the pad may comprise a plurality of portions which also serve to provide a textured area.
In a preferred embodiment the item of footwear is a sock. In such an arrangement the pad may be provided in a pocket formed in the sock. Alternatively, the pad may be stitched and / or adhered to the material of the sock, preferably on the exterior of the sock. The textured area is preferably formed on the inside surface of the sock so that it will directly contact the foot of a wearer. In one embodiment a series of protrusions is provided both on the inner surface and the outer surface of the sock, thus providing the functions of the pad and a textured region.
In a preferred arrangement of a sock, there is provided a separate toe portion for the big toe which contains the big toe and isolates it from the remaining toes. This helps to localise the position of the pad.
It will be appreciated that the item of footwear could be an insole for a shoe, boot, sandal or the like with which a wearer is shod, which could be either removable or a permanent part of the footwear. However an advantage of the item of footwear being a sock is that it will work with any shoe, boot or sandal. Another advantage is that a textured area will act directly on the foot of a wearer, rather than acting through a sock which could nullify the effect.
Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a pathological foot loading pattern with inappropriate loading of the metatarsal heads; Figure 2 shows another pathological foot loading pattern, in this case over pronation.
Figure 3 shows an ideal loading pattern which can be achieved by means of the present invention; Figure 4 shows one embodiment of a sock in accordance with the invention; FigureS shows a cross section on the line A-A of Figure 3; Figure 6 shows a detail of a textured legion; Figure 7 shows another embodiment of a sock in accordance with the invention; and Figure 8 shows a cross section on the line A-A of Figure 7.
Referring now to Figure 1, a foot 1 is shown on which a normal and pathological loading pattern is shown by arrow X. It passes from the heel, along the outer edge of the foot and then over the head of the fourth metatarsal and along the third and fourth toes 2 and 3.
Figure 2 shows the foot 1 with another normal and pathological foot loading pattern shown by arrow Y. It passes from the heel, along the outer edge of the foot and then over the ball of the foot.
Figure 3 shows a preferred loading pattern obtained in accordance with the invention, indicated by arrow Z, which turns in to the ball of the foot 4 and then turns again and extends up the big toe 5.
Figure 4 shows a first embodiment of a sock 6 for encouraging a wearer to adopt the loading pattern of Figure 3. The sock has an ankle portion 7, a heel portion B and a sole portion 9. It will be appreciated that the sock may not need an ankle portion with a cuff. At the end of the sole portion 9 is an individual pocket 10 to receive the big toe. The remaining four toes are received in a separate pocket 11.
In the region of the ball of the foot 12 is provided a pad 13 of, for example 1 mm to 2 mm thick, which may be a dense piece of material -such as a disc or oval -or separate pieces of material or nodules. The material used for the pad may be leather, or rubber, or a plastics material, for example.
As shown in the section of Figure 5, in this embodiment, the pad comprises a portion 15 on the inside of the sock having a number of protrusions 16, and a matching portion 17 on the outside of the sock provided with protrusions 18. As shown in Figure 6, there is an array of protrusions which in this case from an oval although other profiles may be used. There may be a mat carrying the protrusions 16 and a mat carrying the protrusions 18, which are printed on or adhered to the sock. Alternatively the individual portions 16 and 18 may be applied to the sock, for
example by printing.
In the alternative embodiment of Figure? a sock 19 is provided with separate pad in the region of the ball of the foot. As shown in the section of Figure 8, the pad 20 is contained within a pocket defined by a further piece of sock material 21 stitched around its periphery to the sole of the sock as indicated at 22. Rubber protrusions 23 are printed directly on the upper surface of the material 21.
Otherwise the sock corresponds to that of Figure 4 In other embodiments, a separate pad such as pad 20 may be stitched directly to the material of the sock. In addition, or alternatively, adhesive may be used to attach the pad 20 to the sock. The inner surface of the sock may provided with protrusions printed directly onto the material of the sock.

Claims (1)

  1. <claim-text>CLAIMS1. An item of footwear having a sole portion which is arranged to lie underneath the sole of the foot of a person wearing the footwear, wherein the sole portion is provided with a pad arranged to be positioned underneath a region adjacent the ball of the foot of the person, the presence of the pad serving as a reminder or inducement to the person to walk with a loading pattern which extends under the ball of the foot and continues along the big toe.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said loading pattern extends adjacent the outer edge of the foot from the heel region, betore crossing over the foot to adjacent the ball of the foot.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 2, wherein said loading pattern extends from adjacent the ball of the toot and along the big toe.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein there is a textured area in the region of the pad which serves to bring a wearer's attention to the presence of the pad.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 4, wherein the textured area comprises a plurality of portions which protrude towards the foot of a person.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. An item of footwear as claimed in claims, wherein the portions are resilient.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 6, wherein the portions are of rubber which has been printed onto the item of footwear.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the protrusions constitute at least part of the pad.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 8, wherein the pad is further constituted by a plurality of portions which protrude away from the foot.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. An item of footwear as claimed in any of claims ito 7, wherein the pad is attached to the item of footwear by stitching or adhesive.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. An item of footwear as claimed in any of claims ito 7, wherein the pad is in the form of an insert in a pocket formed in the item of footwear.i2. An item of footwear as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the pad is positioned under at least part of the head of the first metatarsal.13. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 12, wherein the pad is positioned under at least part of the head of the first metatarsal and at least part of the head of the second metatarsal.14. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein the pad extends partially along the big toe.15. An item of footwear as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a fUrther pad is provided underneath a region of the big toe remote from the ball of the foot.16. An item of footwear as claimed in claim 15, wherein there is a textured area in the region of the further pad which serves to bring a wearer's attention to the presence of the further pad.17. An item of footwear as claimed in any of claims 1 to 14 wherein a textured region is provided underneath a region of the big toe remote from the ball of the foot.18. An item of footwear as claimed in any preceding claim, in the form of a sock.19 An item of footwear as claimed in claim 18, wherein the pad is provided on the exterior of the sock.20. An item of footwear as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein there is provided a separate toe portion for the big toe which contains the big toe and isolates it from the remaining toes.21. A method of teaching a person to walk with a loading pattern which extends under the ball of the foot and continues along the big toe; in which the person is provided with an item of footwear having a sole portion which is arranged to lie underneath the sole of the foot of the person, the sole portion having a pad which is positioned underneath a region adjacent the ball of the fool of a user, the presence of the pad serving as a reminder or inducement to the person to walk with said loading pattern.22. A method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the item of footwear is as claimed in any of claims ito 20.</claim-text>
GB201119151A 2011-11-07 2011-11-07 An item of footwear to remind a wearer to walk with a correct loading pattern Withdrawn GB2496186A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB201119151A GB2496186A (en) 2011-11-07 2011-11-07 An item of footwear to remind a wearer to walk with a correct loading pattern

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB201119151A GB2496186A (en) 2011-11-07 2011-11-07 An item of footwear to remind a wearer to walk with a correct loading pattern

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB201119151D0 GB201119151D0 (en) 2011-12-21
GB2496186A true GB2496186A (en) 2013-05-08

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB201119151A Withdrawn GB2496186A (en) 2011-11-07 2011-11-07 An item of footwear to remind a wearer to walk with a correct loading pattern

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2518590A (en) * 2013-08-02 2015-04-01 Marks Spencer Plc A Garment

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5564989A (en) * 1995-08-31 1996-10-15 Larsen; Erling A. Golf swing training device
US6237256B1 (en) * 1998-08-12 2001-05-29 Sunnybrook And Women's College Health Sciences Centre Balance-enhanced insert for footwear
DE20307699U1 (en) * 2003-05-17 2003-08-28 Eco Ehrlichster Gmbh & Co Kg Socks, anatomically shaped in particular regarding difference between right and left foot, and provided with massaging sole area
US20060026740A1 (en) * 2004-08-09 2006-02-09 Vargas Stacey L Pilates sock with tactile posture feedback
GB2447644A (en) * 2007-03-16 2008-09-24 Univ Plymouth An apparatus for enhancing proprioception in the foot of a subject
WO2012021919A1 (en) * 2010-08-20 2012-02-23 Timothy Charles Heathcote Footwear for modern dance and method of manufacturing same
WO2012058725A1 (en) * 2010-11-05 2012-05-10 Pointe Noir Pty Ltd Protective footwear

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5564989A (en) * 1995-08-31 1996-10-15 Larsen; Erling A. Golf swing training device
US6237256B1 (en) * 1998-08-12 2001-05-29 Sunnybrook And Women's College Health Sciences Centre Balance-enhanced insert for footwear
DE20307699U1 (en) * 2003-05-17 2003-08-28 Eco Ehrlichster Gmbh & Co Kg Socks, anatomically shaped in particular regarding difference between right and left foot, and provided with massaging sole area
US20060026740A1 (en) * 2004-08-09 2006-02-09 Vargas Stacey L Pilates sock with tactile posture feedback
GB2447644A (en) * 2007-03-16 2008-09-24 Univ Plymouth An apparatus for enhancing proprioception in the foot of a subject
WO2012021919A1 (en) * 2010-08-20 2012-02-23 Timothy Charles Heathcote Footwear for modern dance and method of manufacturing same
WO2012058725A1 (en) * 2010-11-05 2012-05-10 Pointe Noir Pty Ltd Protective footwear

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2518590A (en) * 2013-08-02 2015-04-01 Marks Spencer Plc A Garment
GB2518590B (en) * 2013-08-02 2017-10-11 Marks Spencer Plc A Garment

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Publication number Publication date
GB201119151D0 (en) 2011-12-21

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)