US1926033A - Orthopedic device - Google Patents

Description

Sept. l2, 1933. H. R, BYNUM 1,926,033

ORTHOPEDIC DEVICE Filed April 20, 1931 Patented Sept. 12, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE 1 Claim.

My said invention relates to an orthopedic device, intended for relieving various abnormal conditions of the feet. It is well known that the feet are often distorted by shoes which do 5 not t properly as, for example, shoes which are too short. Such shoes prevent the foot from extending to its normal length and the natural effect is to cause the foot to spread at about the line where the toes are joined to the foot proper. It is impracticable to apply pressure directly to the joints for bringing the foot back to the normal position of its parts, since this causes irritation and pain to the patient. One object of my invention is to provide means in connection with the footwear which applies pressure to the sides of the foot just back of the joints at the rear end of the toes, whereby the pressure will not fall directly on the joints but on the bones of the foot back of such joints. In this "20, way the necessary pressure can be applied for straightening out the toes to normal position, all without any undue pain or irritation.

In the practice of my invention I use what may be called cushion ball footwear, i. e., the footwear has embodied therein a resilient mass or enlargement at the point where pressure is intended to be applied tothe foot. Various kinds of pads have heretofore been used for the purpose of producing pressure on a part of "Jo the foot and also for other purposes, but these pads have not been connected to the footwear and therefore show a decided tendency to wander away from the place of application due to the relative movement of parts occurring in walking or otherwise moving the foot either with or relatively to the shoe. Pads have also been anchored in place in the treatment of the feet, either by bandages wrapped about the foot and in other ways known to those skilled in the art 401 but, so far as I know, it is new to anchor such pads in place by forming them permanently on the foot covering, whether this bea shoe or a stocking or the like.

Referring to the drawing, which is made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts,

Fig. 1 is a plan of a shoe with the devices of my invention applied thereto, parts being broken away for clear disclosure,

Fig. 2, a side elevation of a shoe having parts broken away for similar reasons,

Fig. 3, a horizontal section of a shoe,

Fig. 4, a vertical section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5, a partial elevation of a sock having my improvements applied thereto, and

Fig. 6, a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

In the drawing, reference character 10 indicates a shoe having an outer layer 11, usually made of leather or other very durable material. An inner layer of cloth or the like is indicated at 12. Between the layers 11 and 12 a pair of resilient pads 13 are anchored at opposite sides of the shoe, as by inserting the lower ends of the pads between the insole and the outersole `of the shoe and fastening all these parts together.

The pads 13 may be made of any suitable resilient material and of suitable thickness for the purpose of applying pressure to the metatarsal bones in such a way as to bring them back to normal position, these bones being ordinarily sprung outwardly somewhat at the front ends, adjacent their point of connection to the bones of the toes, which are commonly turned in to an abnormal position in the case of troublesome feet. It will be understood that the pads in different pairs of shoes will be of different thickness and differently positioned according to the nature of condition to be treated, i.e., they may be at different points along the length of the shoe or otherwise differently positioned to suit conditions, being preferably anchored at their lower ends between the outer sole and the inner sole, though they can alternatively be fastened in some other way between the outer and the inner lining of the shoe. In most cases the condition to be remedied will require pressure at the sides of the foot, so as to bear against the metatarsal bones back of the joint with the phalanges, but in other cases pressure will need to be exerted downwardly upon one or more of the metatarsal bones back of such joint and the pads must be located according to the need of the patient. It will be understood 'that this is intended to be done at the factory where the shoes are made and that preferably a dealer will carry in stock the various styles of shoes necessary for treatment of the various abnormal conditions found in the feet of patients. The pad is intended to be soft so that it will protect the ball of the foot by providing soft contact points, as compared with the hard surface of the ordinary leather used in the upper of a shoe. The purpose may be stated as essentially to apply pressure opposed to that which has caused the abnormal condition and thereby return the foot to normal and comfortable position while affording opportunity for the stretched ligaments to return gradually to their normal length and condition, or at least to re- 110 lieve pain when the ligaments have become permanently distorted.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have illustrated how a cushion ball pad 14 may be applied to or incorporated in a stocking or sock l5. It is intended that the pad be permanently secured to the stocking and While the pad is shown in Fig. 6 as being in one piece it will preferably, though not necessarily, be in two parts, one at Veach side of the foot as in the case of the shoe hereinbefore described. Whether the pad be in one or more parts it may be sewed to the stocking or otherwise permanently secured in the desired position for treatment of the foot.

In a preferred form of the stocking the cushion ball pad may be incorporated in the stocking during the process of manufacture by sup.- plying a thick heavy soft yarn to the knitting needles for a part only of each course in the stocking from the point indicated at 16 in Fig. 6 to the point indicated at 17, so that there will be a heavily reinforced area at the sides of the foot and underneath the same or even at the sides only, in which 'latter case the yarn would have to be fed to and removed from the needles twice in each course of knitting.Y The reinforcing yarn would be supplied to the needles only over such a suitable part of the length of the stocking as for example that indicated in Fig. 5. Such a cushioning arrangement knitted into the stocking or otherwise permanently secured thereto will hold its place with greater certainty than if an attempt were made to bandage the foot without an adhesive.

Such soft resilient cushions as herein described are of great advantage in that they make it possible for each joint of the toes to form its own matrix and thus give the greatest ease to the foot, since naturally the bony parts will make a deeper imprint than will softer parts' and these cushions permit such action whereas the upper of a shoe does not do so to any great extent and the inner sole is generally quite distinctly non-yielding.

It will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the device of my invention as above described all without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawing and Vdescribed in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claim.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A shoe having resilient pads between the outer layer and the lining of the shoe in position to press only against the outermost metatarsals at opposite sides of the foot behind the joints between the metatarsals and the phalanges, the pressure being exerted only at the rear of such joints.

HUGH R. BYNUM.

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