US1079736A

US1079736A - Instep-support.

Info

Publication number: US1079736A
Application number: US52396009A
Authority: US
Inventors: James W Arrowsmith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1909-10-22
Filing date: 1909-10-22
Publication date: 1913-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 1930-11-25

Description

J. w. ARROWSMITH.

INSTEP SUPPORT;

APPLIOATION FILED 001. 22, 1909.

Patented NOV. 25, 1913.

the same time permit the support of the said.

JAMES W. ARROWSMITH, 0F MORRISTOWN,-NEW JERSEY.

INSTEP-SUIPORT.-

rotates.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

Application filed October 22, 1909. Serial No. 523,960.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JAMES W. Annow- SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Morristown, in the county of Morris and 'State of New Jersey, have 1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in Inst-ep-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements relate to devices for supporting the arch of the human instep when the same is weakened or injured from any cause and for restoring the same to its normal condition when flattened or other,- wise deformed, as by the progress of the disease called flat-foot. Their objects are, among others, to provide a strong, light and durable support of this character which may be fitted to various degrees or kinds of deformity; to provide means for absorbing to a certain extent the shock to the system of the wearer at each step taken due to the inelastic condition of the natural arch and at arch and the treatment of the deformity to be carried on, and to so construct and arrange the parts designed for the carrying out of the above objects that they will cooperate with one another in various ways.

The invention consists in the construction, combinationand arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the said drawings Figure 1 is a plan of a covered instep support embodying the improvements. Fig 2 is an underside view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 3-3of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

The plate A consists of a body portion adapted to fit the normal'undersurface of the instep arch and a side portion adapted to fit the inside of the said normal arch. At the forward end the plate extends to the anterior part of the metatarsus, but the rear portion is cut away so that it does not reach the base of the calcaneum or os-calcis, the rear edge being oblique to the longitudinal axis of the plate, and the plate being thinner along this edge than in the body portion.

The cover B is .of the usual form and consists of a non-metallic substance, such as leather, molded to fit the plate, extending beyond the same a suitable distance and secured thereto at points near the line of junction of the body and side portion by rivets or like fastenings C C.

Above the rear portion of the plate A and extendlng backward therefrom in substantial conformity to. the shape and area of the heel portion of the cover is an auxiliary plate D which may be of leather or other nonmetallic substance or of light flexible metal as desired. This plate is secured to the main plate and cover by the rivet C passing through all three of the parts and also by the line of stitching E by which its forward edge is attached to the cover B.

Between the heel portion of the cover and the plate D a spring or cushion F is located. This cushion may be made of sponge, rubber or other suitable material having a high degree of elasticity. and is secured in position bythe rivet C' which passes through it at its forward part. This cushion F is beveled as it approaches the plate A, as shown at F and the plate is also beveled at its upper side along the rear edge so that the thickness of the plate and the cushion at the point where they overlap is not greater than the thickness of the cushion alone back of that point. The cushion is'jpreferably cemented or otherwise attached to the heel portion of the cover and to the auxiliary piece or plate D.

It will be seen that in the construction herein described and shown the ordinary metal support is supplemented by a cushion for one of the extremities of the instep arch, and the parts so constructed and arranged "that the metal support has suificient base length and other proportions to perform its functions while at the-same time the cushion acts independently as well as in cooperation with the said support, within the area to be supported.

What I claim-is: '1. The combination of a metallic instep arch support consisting of a plate conforming to the instep arch and adapted to extend from the anterior portion of the metatarsus to the base of the calcaneum on one side and being cut away at its rear end on a line running from one side of the plate to the other forward of the said calcaneum base, the cover secured to the upper side of I said plate near its rea-rmost extremity and "extending back of the same to a'point behind the calcaneum, fastening means by which the said cover is so secured, a piece of flexible material secured to the plate by the same fastening as the cover and extending from that point to the back of the calcaneum, and a cushion of elastic material also 15 a single fastenin secured to the latenear its rearmost point and extending ackward beneath the base of the calcaneum. I

2. The combination of a metallic plate adapted to fitthe arch of the instep, and having its rear edge cut away from one side to the other sothat one 'side edge is within the base of the 1 instep arch, a cover secured thereto, extending backward beneath the heel, a heel piece of flexible material coextensive with the heel portion of the cover and secured theretoat its forward edge, a cushion of elastic material between the heel I portion of the cover and the heel piece, and extending through the cover, cushion an heel piece and through the plate near its rearmost extremity whereby the said parts are all secured together.

'3. The combination of a metallic instep arch support consisting of a plate conforming to the instep arch and extending from the anterior portion of the metatarsus to the base of the calca'neum-on one side along one longitudinal edge and to a point forward of the same alongjthe opposite edge, the back edge of the said plate being oblique to the longitudinal axis of the same, a cover secured tothe upper side of the said plate near its rearmost extremity and extending back of the same to a point behind the calc'aneum, and a piece of flexible material secured to the plate between the cover and the plate and extending from that point to I the back of the calcaneum, said piece of flexible material having a forward portion of reduced thickness.

4. A device of the character described comprising in its construction an elastic nonmetallic heel cushion, a metallic arch support extending from'a point at the forward portion of the heel base to a point beneath the ball of the foot, and conforming, substantially to the instep arch between these points, the heel cushion having its major portion non-coincid'ent with the plate and the plate having its major portion non-coincident with the cushion.

5. A device of the character described comprising'in its construction an elastic nonmetallic heel 'cushion, a metallic arch support extending from a point at the forward portion of the heel base to a point beneath the ball of the foot and conforming substantially to the instep arch between these points, the heel cushion having its major portion non-co-incident with the plate and the plate having its major portion non-coincident with the cushion, and a portion of the rear edge of the plate being forward of the cushion.

Witness my hand this 19th day of October, 1909, at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York.

JAMES w. ARROWSMITH.

Witnesses S. J. Cox,

E. W. Somme, Jr.