US1080303A - Bunion-rectifier. - Google Patents

Description

W. M. SGHOLL. BUNION RECTIFIER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, 1911.

Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

a in w WILLIAM M. SGI-IQLL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BUNION-BECTIFIER.

Specification of Letters I'atent.

Application filed July 31, 1911.

Patented Dec. 2,1913.

Serial No. 641,557.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. SoHoLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bunion-Rectifiers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in bunion rectifiers or devices adapted to be worn in the shoe to restore the foot to normal healthy condition.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a device which may simultaneously tend to remove the cause of the bunion and aid in curing the aflection already developed.

More particularly, my invention contemplates the provision of a single device which may be worn in the shoe and which is so constructed that the relatively displaced metatarsal and phalangeal bones of the great toe may be returned to normal condition and that the removal of swelling of the bursa, or of a false bursa, at the point of articulation of said bones, may be efitected by the synergistic action of a close-fitting rubber shield, in which the sweat and heat from the foot shall be confined in the locality of the bunion. Thus, by a combined pressure of the phalangeal bone to correct position and a healing of present affection, my invention effects complete removal of the bunion.

In the drawings, wherein I have shown an advantageous embodiment of my invention, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken through the center of the device, showing in dotted lines the first metatarsal and phalangeal bones of the foot; and Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1, I have shown the complete device adapted to be made in an integral structure of rubber, or like substance, by molding. In such illustrated construction, 5 indicates in general a resilient wedge'shaped insert to lie between the first or great toe and the second toe, 6 indicates in general the bunion shield to overlie the bunion and surrounding portion of the foot, and 7 indicates a shank or connecting portion which unites the toe insert 5 and shield 6 so that each holds the other in place with the affected joint effectively positioned therebetween, and the flexible shank thereunder.

Specifically, the toe insert or wedge member 5, constituting the pressure-applying member for pressing the great toe outwardly toward its correct position, comprises a vertical, longitudinally elongated, column structure 8, preferably hollow for greater resiliency, and having its forward end 9 wider than its rear end 10, thus permitting the insert to lie comfortably between the great and second toes and yet to apply efl'ective outward pressure upon the great toe near the extremity thereof. Extending outwardly from the column portion 8, at its top and bottom, are relatively thin flanges 11 and 12, respectively, lying in horizontal planes and of an elongated shape corresponding to the elongated shape of the column 8, such flanges, when the device is applied to the foot, lying respectively over and under the adjacent great and second toes.

As shown in Fig. 2, the connecting shank 'FeXtends out laterally from the lower flange 12, and merges at its other end into the end of the bunion shield, to be described, such shank being relatively thin to underlie the great toe, but of suflicient strength to hold the parts together and perform its intended functions.

The bunion shield 6 extends rearwardly from its point of connection to the shank 7, and as shown in Fig. 3, stands generally vertical, or at substantial right angles to the shank 7. In structure, the shield provides a uniformly curved outer surface 13 to conform to the inner surface of the shoe, and an inner surface shaped to conform to the outer fleshy surface of the foot at the point of and surrounding the bunion and to lie in close contact with the surface of the foot, so that the retention of sweat and heat from the foot may act to aid in reducing the swollen joint. Such inner surface, as shown in the longitudinal section of Fig. 2, comprises the opposite inner, curved surfaces 1 1 and 15, meeting the outer surface 13 at the ends of the shield to form thin edges, as at 16-16, and merging together at the center to form a pocket into which the bunion shall snugly fit; and as shown in the vertical section of Fig. 3, the curved surfaces 1 1 and 15 (15 only being visible in the figure) are curved inwardly along the longitudinal center of the shield, the longitudinal curves shown in Fig. 2 and the vertical curves shown in Fig. 3 forming a composite curvature for intimate contact along the outer surface of the foot. Thus, it will be seen that the bunion lies in the pocket 17, and that the synergistic effect of the rubber shield which overlies the bunion and surrounding fieshy surface greatly enhances the effectiveness of the device in returning the foot to healthy condition, for not only does the action of the toe-insert 5 to press the phalangeal bones out toward proper position reduce the likelihood of increased growth of the bunion, but the action of the shield to reduce the affection already developed renders the action of the insert more effective, by taking down the swelling, so that the two mutually aid each other and hasten the cure.

Structurally, the device is advantageous in that the engagement of the insert between the toes acts to hold the shield in position over the bunion and vice versa, so that there is no danger of displacement of either member, and each member is held in more eifective contact by the rubber shank, the shield being pulled inwardly upon the bunion and the insert outwardly against the displaced toe.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

As an article of manufacture,- a bunion rectifier comprising, in an integral rubber structure, a hollow upright toe spreading post ovate in horizontal section with its sides converging toward their rear portions, said post having horizontal top and bottom flanges; a longitudinally extended bunion.

shield, shaped to form a bunion pocket to overlie a bunion, having an uninterrupted interior surface, forming the inside of a continuous wall, and having its continuous Wall very thin over the crest of the bunion pocket, thin throughout the portions from the crest of said pocket to the contiguous side walls, and thickened in front of and in rear of the pocket, and a shank 7, connecting the lower edge of the thickened front portion to the base of the .toe spreader, whereby the separated post and front thickened portion of the guard may receive the toe therebetween, mutually to position each other, and the thinness of the wall in a line transverse to the bunion-pocket-crest may permit fiexion of the guard to retain the es tablished relation of the spreader and front portion of the guard, without disturbing the relation of the front and rear thickened portions of said guard to the foot.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM M. SCHOLL.

In the presence of-- Fomin BAIN, MARY F. ALLEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. G.

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