JPS6330412Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] This invention is useful for the conservative treatment and correction of lower limb diseases such as bow legs, X legs, flat feet, knee osteoarthritis, metatarsalgia, and hallux valgus. This invention relates to the improvement of a sole plate used for raising the ground, raising the ground for cosmetic purposes, correcting the slope of the sole for sports, etc.

Conventionally, these sole plates were considered to be rigid due to their purpose, and were made of metal such as aluminum.
Hard or relatively hard materials such as hard plastic, leather, and cork were used.

However, the sole plate made of these hard materials is thick in order to provide strength and shape retention, and also has poor adhesion to the sole of the foot. As a result of being formed in a wrapping manner, the sole plate 1' becomes bulky as a whole.
Therefore, it is difficult or impossible to use the shoe by putting it inside a sock, as this will damage the sock and cause the sole plate to float. It is also difficult to use as an insole for geta, slippers, and sandals (particularly those with hooks). Therefore, they are usually inserted into the shoe or attached to the sole of the foot using a special retainer made of leather or shoelaces.

(Problem that the invention aims to solve) However, in our country, shoes are limited to outdoor use, and many people live indoors with bare feet, tabi socks, or socks, and have no choice but to rely on retainers. However, the use of holders has disadvantages such as making the footwear difficult to put on, being troublesome to wear, having a poor fit, and making the footwear sweaty and impossible to wash if it gets dirty. In addition, conventional products do not follow the movement of the soles of the feet, so they feel uncomfortable especially when walking while standing, and it takes a considerable number of days to adapt to wearing them. Furthermore, there were hygiene problems, such as sweating and dirt caused by contact with the skin, which produced an unpleasant odor (especially in the case of soles made of leather or cork).

By the way, in the case of conservative treatment or correction of lower extremity diseases, unlike temporary use for cosmetic purposes or sports (for example, skiing), it is necessary to wear the plantar plate constantly for a fairly long period of time. However, because conventional plantar plates have various drawbacks as mentioned above, many patients stop wearing them halfway (according to some data, more than 20%
(Vol. 7, pp. 665-672, July 1981) There are serious problems, such as the lack of therapeutic effects and patients who continue to wear the device complain of physical and mental pain.

(Means for solving the problem) Therefore, as a result of continuing research on various prototypes, the inventor of the present invention found that
By using silicone rubber as the material and providing a large number of small holes and band-shaped bodies, the above-mentioned drawbacks are eliminated, the effect of treatment and correction of lower limb diseases is enhanced, and the foot can be comfortably used for beauty and sports. We succeeded in providing the bottom plate.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a sole plate 1 according to the present invention. The plantar plate 1 is an example of a lateral wedge plantar plate (for the left foot) used for conservative treatment of bow legs, and is composed of a plantar plate main body 7, a band-shaped body 43, and the like. The upper surface of the plantar plate body 7 has an undulating shape that matches the sole part (the part corresponding to the reference numeral 31 in FIG. 2), and the left side 11 of the plantar plate body 7 is thickened to achieve the intended therapeutic purpose. It is wedge-shaped. The sole plate main body 7 is integrally formed of silicone rubber, and is provided with a large number of ventilation holes 2 extending from its upper surface to its lower surface. The small ventilation holes 2 are appropriately arranged on the entire surface of the sole plate main body 7 or near the center.The larger and more the ventilation holes 2, the better the ventilation, but there is a limit due to the risk of breakage and the therapeutic effect. In addition, from the point of view of cleaning, the diameter is about 0.5 to 2 mm, and the number of pieces is 10 to 50.
It seems that something of a certain degree is good.

However, since the sole plate main body 7 of the lever is made of silicone rubber, it is flexible and difficult to break, has good adhesion to the sole of the foot, and has a moderate thickness to suitably hold the load of the foot. It has hardness.
Therefore, it is no longer necessary to add extra thickness to the sole plate to give it strength and shape retention, or to make the entire body large and curved to improve the fit on the foot, as shown in Figure 2. As a result, the entire body can be made smaller and more compact than the leg portion 3. In addition, due to the use of silicone rubber, the sole plate 1 of the present invention has a very good fit (comfort when worn) with the sole part 31, and there is no slippage.
It also has the advantage of being able to respond quickly enough to the movement of the sole 31 of the foot.

The strips 43 that appear to be provided on both sides of the sole plate body 7 are actually one piece that has been embedded and molded in advance before the silicone rubber hardens. Further, the band-like body 43 is made elastic so that it can sufficiently cope with the deformation of the sole plate main body 7 due to walking motion or the like. In this example, a knitted fabric using stretch yarn is used as the strip 43, but any material may be used as long as it has stretchability. However, textile products are preferred because they are flexible, feel good on the skin, are not bulky, are lightweight, have excellent strength and breathability, and use knitted fabrics or stretchable yarns (stretch yarn, rubber yarn, spandex (trademark) yarn, etc.). Particular preference is given to using a textile fabric in whole or in part.

Hook and loop fasteners 44 were used as connectors near both ends of the strip 43. Other options include buttons, buttonholes, hooks, key hooks, and knotted strings. If the fixed end side of the band-shaped body 43 is made wide as shown in the figure, the whole sole plate 1 will come into close contact with the sole of the foot, giving a good feeling of wearing, but a thinner one may also be used in practice.

Next, the material of the sole plate main body 7 will be explained. Although silicone rubber is used for the sole plate main body 7 of the present invention, it may be mixed with various fillers, foaming agents, and other additives as long as it does not lose its properties and meets the purpose of use of the present invention. is preferable. This is because silicone rubber alone is expensive,
This is because they inherently have low intermolecular attraction and have an amorphous structure, resulting in poor tensile strength, tear strength, crack resistance, etc. In addition, when used alone, it has the disadvantage of poor workability, such as difficulty in defoaming the built-in air bubbles during kneading during production.

Therefore, the inventor of the present invention produced the sole plate main body 7 using various commonly used silicone rubber compounds, and also worked on developing a more ideal silicone rubber compound as the material for the sole plate main body 7. As a result, we developed a silicone rubber compound that is inexpensive, easy to work with, and has excellent foamability. This excellent foamability is preferable in terms of obtaining a lightweight sole plate with excellent heat retention by taking advantage of the poor defoaming properties of silicone rubber.
Of course, as the material for the sole plate main body 7 of the present invention, a normal silicone rubber compound can be used with sufficient effect, and the use of the material developed by the present inventor is not limited. A very suitable example will be explained in detail below.

This silicone rubber compound is obtained by mixing an inorganic filler and a hydrated silicic acid powder into a heat-vulcanized silicone rubber. Incidentally, silicone rubber mixed with only an inorganic filler such as calcium carbonate retains fluidity even when added in an equal amount to the silicone rubber, has good workability and improves strength, but the product It does not have much effect on increasing the volume of , only increases the specific gravity, and does not contribute to cost reduction. On the other hand, when silicone rubber is mixed with only hydrated silicic acid powder, it is possible to reduce the weight due to foaming, but it is difficult to disperse the hydrated silicic acid powder into the silicone rubber, resulting in a marked drop in fluidity and poor workability. . Therefore, these drawbacks were solved by mixing and dispersing both in silicone rubber in a certain ratio. Inorganic fillers used in it include calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate,
Various types of talc aluminum hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, calcium sulfate, calcium silicate, crushed silica, clay, mica, glass beads, micro balloons, silica balloons, etc.
Particle sizes can be used. Among these, it is preferable that the oil absorption value is low so that the fluidity does not easily decrease when mixed into silicone rubber, and that has been subjected to surface treatment such as silane treatment to increase product strength, crack resistance, etc. Particularly preferred is surface-reactive calcium carbonate whose surface is activated with a silane coupling agent. Further, from the viewpoint of reducing the weight of the product, it is preferable to use a material with a specific gravity as low as possible.

Next, the hydrated silicic acid powder functions as an inorganic filler that gives the product high strength and reduces costs.The water contained in it also creates fine and uniform small cells, which contributes to the weight reduction and foaming of the product. play a role.
Further, a blowing agent such as an organic blowing agent is not particularly required. Specifically, white carbon, which is an amorphous hydrated silicic acid powder, is used. Incidentally, pigments and other additives may be mixed freely as long as they have the desired desired characteristics. (Particularly regarding the pigment, if it is colored skin-colored together with the band-shaped body 43, it will be completely unnoticeable even when worn under nylon socks, and even women can easily use it.)

Furthermore, this preferred mixing ratio is 100 parts (by weight, same hereinafter) of heat-curable silicone rubber, 100 parts of heat-curable silicone rubber,
10 parts, 5 to 75 parts of inorganic filler and 5 to 30 parts of hydrated silicic acid powder. If the amount of the inorganic filler is more than 75 parts, the fluidity will decrease and workability will be poor, and if it is less than 5 parts, small bubbles due to foaming will not be incorporated and bumping pores will occur, which is not preferable. Particularly preferably 10 to 50 parts. On the other hand, in the case of hydrated silicic acid powder, when the amount is 30 parts or more, the fluidity is considerably lowered, and when it is 5 parts or less, it is not preferable to foam sufficiently or foam unevenly. Particularly preferably 10 to 20 parts.

For example, add 10 parts of a vulcanizing agent to 100 parts of heat-curable silicone rubber (colorless transparent liquid) and stir well.
Next, 25 parts of calcium carbonate, which has been surface-treated with a silane coupling agent in advance, and 15 parts of white carbon, which is a highly pure amorphous hydrated silicic acid powder, are mixed to obtain a highly fluid slurry. After pouring this into a mold, it is heated in a constant temperature bath at about 100°C for about 1 hour to harden. When demolded, a lightweight cured product containing fine small bubbles 5 uniformly throughout is obtained. This hardened body, that is, the sole plate main body 7 is
It has a warm feel and exhibits excellent tear strength and crack resistance.

The above-mentioned silicone rubber compound has appropriate fluidity and good foaming properties, and since it utilizes foaming, the conventionally extremely difficult defoaming process is no longer necessary, and work efficiency is greatly improved. Furthermore, the obtained product is light and has good tear strength and crack resistance. In addition, by incorporating small air bubbles, it creates a sense of warmth and has the effect of eliminating the pain of wearing it on the soles of the feet in winter. Furthermore, by incorporating inorganic fillers and foaming, manufacturing costs can be reduced significantly compared to conventional methods, and all materials are harmless and non-toxic, making it ideal as a therapeutic device to be worn on the human body.

Note that using the above-mentioned silicone rubber compound as the material of the sole plate main body 7 of the present invention,
Although this is highly preferred for the above reasons, the present invention does not limit its use, so there is no problem in adopting a common silicone rubber compound.

(Effects of the invention) As explained in detail above, the sole plate according to the invention has a wedge-shaped uneven thickness, unevenness, or warp for tilting the sole of the foot or correcting the unevenness of the sole. It has a combination of shapes, is made of silicone rubber, and is characterized by a large number of small ventilation holes that pass through the top and bottom, and an elastic band-like body for attaching and fixing it to the foot. This is a very useful device in practice and has various advantages as described below.

The sole plate body made of silicone rubber has sufficient hardness and shape retention to provide a therapeutic or corrective effect, so the bulk can be reduced and the comfort of the foot can be improved.

Since there are a large number of small ventilation holes that pass through the top and bottom, this combined with the low bulk of the sole plate body has a great effect in reducing stuffiness caused by sweating.

Since it has a stretchable band, it can be worn alone without being used as an insole for footwear, so it is suitable for long-term use in Japan, where people have a lifestyle that requires them to spend a lot of time without wearing footwear. The device is easy to wear continuously.

Since it is low in bulk, it is unnoticeable even when worn in nylon socks, even if it is colored to match the skin color, making it easy for women to use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the sole plate according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the sole plate attached to the foot, FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional sole plate. 1...... sole plate, 2...... small holes for ventilation, 4
3……Band-shaped body, 44……Help fastener,
5......Small bubbles, 7......The plantar plate itself.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. Having a wedge-shaped uneven thickness, unevenness, warpage, or a combination thereof for tilting the sole or correcting unevenness of the sole, and made of silicone rubber. What is claimed is: 1. A sole plate, characterized in that it is provided with a large number of small holes for ventilation passing through the top and bottom, and a stretchable band-like body for attaching and fixing to the foot. 2. The sole plate as set forth in claim 1 of the utility model registration claim, which is colored, particularly in skin color.