US20220071344A1

US20220071344A1 - Mat Structure and Sole Structure

Info

Publication number: US20220071344A1
Application number: US17/455,517
Authority: US
Inventors: Yi-Chen Tseng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Hi Max Innovation Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-09-15
Filing date: 2021-11-18
Publication date: 2022-03-10

Abstract

A sole structure includes: an anti-skid layer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and a soft layer which are superimposed upon one another. With the characteristic of the elastic piece being elastically deformable, a rebounding force can be produced to act on the foot to stimulate the ligaments and muscles of the foot, which consequently corrects flatfootedness.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/414,463, filed on May 16, 2019, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 15/266,749, filed on Sep. 15, 2016, the entire specifications of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a foot stimulating structure, and more particularly to a mat structure. The present invention further relates to a sole structure.

Description of Related Art

Flatfoot is a condition in which the arch of the foot has flattened out, and generally includes pseudo flatfoot, flexible flatfoot and rigid flatfoot. Among them, the pseudo flatfoot is common in toddlers due to the fatty of the foot hides the arch formation, and the arch of the foot will gradually be visible as the toddlers grow up. Flexible flatfoot is the most common flatfoot and caused by ligament laxity. Therefore, a lot of therapeutic products for the treatment of flatfoot appeared in the market, for instance, corrective shoes.
However, the flatfoot corrective shoes in the market are very expensive, and the user will feel uncomfortable when wearing the corrective shoes for a long time.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY

One objective of the present invention is to provide a foot stimulating mat structure which is capable of massaging the foot, relieving pressure and correcting the flatfoot.
To achieve the above objects, a mat structure provided by the invention comprises: an anti-skid layer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and a soft layer which are superimposed upon one another;
the anti-skid layer is made of anti-skid material;
the rigid layer is attached to one side of the anti-skid layer, one surface of the rigid layer has a wavy shape and includes at least one convex portion and at least one concave portion, a surface of the convex portion has an arc-shaped shape, and the concave portion is located between two said convex portions;
the elastic piece is a wavy piece having one surface attached to the surface of the rigid layer, and made of an elastically deformable material, a wavy shape of the elastic piece matches with a shape of the surface of the rigid layer, the elastic piece has a plurality of projections and recesses connected one another, the projections are attached to the surface of the convex portions, the recesses are located in the concave portions, and curves of the projections and the recesses are arc-shaped;
the soft layer has one surface attached to another surface of the elastic piece, and the material of the soft layer is softer than that of the rigid layer.
A mat structure for mounting a shoe body, comprising: an anti-skid layer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and a soft layer which are superimposed upon one another;
the anti-skid layer being made of anti-skid material;
the rigid layer being attached to one side of the anti-skid layer, one surface of the rigid layer having a wavy shape and including at least one convex portion and at least one concave portion, a surface of the convex portion has an arc-shaped shape, and the concave portion being located between two said convex portions;
the elastic piece is a wavy piece having one surface attached to the surface of the rigid layer, and made of an elastically deformable material, a wavy shape of the elastic piece matching with a shape of the surface of the rigid layer, the elastic piece having a plurality of projections and recesses connected one another, wherein the projections and the recesses are arc-shaped and arranged at intervals, every two said adjacent projections and a corresponding one of the recesses between the every two said adjacent projections together define an accommodating space, the projections are attached to the surface of the convex portions, the recesses are located in the concave portions;
the soft layer having one surface attached to another surface of the elastic piece, wherein the soft layer is disposed in the accommodating spaces and located between two said adjacent projections, and the material of the soft layer is softer than that of the rigid layer; and
an insole layer attached to another surface of the elastic piece, wherein the insole layer covers the elastic piece and the soft layer, the projections directly abut against the insole layer.
As can be seen from the foregoing, with the characteristic of the elastic piece being elastically deformable, a rebounding force can be produced to act on the foot to stimulate the ligaments and muscles of the foot, which consequently corrects the flatfoot. Furthermore, the projections directly abut against the insole layer, so that the projections stimulate the sole of the user' foot through the insole layer, which considerably improves the effect of stimulating the sole of the user' foot.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the mat structure in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing that a user steps on the mat of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross sectional view of the sole structure of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the elastic piece;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an elastic piece;

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elastic piece;

FIG. 6B is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the elastic piece;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elastic piece;

FIG. 7B is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the elastic piece;

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elastic piece; and

FIG. 8B is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the elastic piece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1-2, a mat structure in accordance with the present invention comprises: an anti-skid layer 10, a rigid layer 20, an elastic piece 30, a soft layer 40 which are superimposed upon one another.
The anti-skid layer 10 is made of anti-skid material which can be PVC and rubber.
The rigid layer 20 is attached to one side of the anti-skid layer 10, one surface 20A of the rigid layer 20 has a wavy shape which is close to a sine wave type. The rigid layer 20 includes at least one convex portion 21 and at least one concave portion 22. The convex portion 21 is a protruding portion, and the surface 20A of the convex portion 21 has an arc-shaped shape for stimulating the foot of the user, and the concave portion 22 is located between the two convex portions 21.
The elastic piece 30 is a wavy piece having one surface attached to the surface 20A of the rigid layer 20, and made of an elastically deformable material, such as a metal sheet made of aluminum or titanium, or Chromium Molybdenum Vanadium Steel, or a sheet made of other materials which are elastically deformed after being subjected to a force, such as a soft thermoplastic or the like. The wavy shape of the elastic piece 30 matches with the shape of the surface 20A of the rigid layer 20 such that the elastic piece 30 has a plurality of projections 31 and recesses 32 connected one another, the projections 31 are attached to the surface 20A of the convex portions 21, the recesses 32 are located in the concave portions 22, and the curves of the projections 31 and the recesses 32 is arc-shaped.
The soft layer 40 has one surface attached to another surface of the elastic piece 30, such that the elastic piece 30 is located between the soft layer 40 and the rigid layer 20. The material of the soft layer 40 is softer than the material of the rigid layer 20. Preferably, the soft layer 40 fills the recesses 32 and can be made of materials such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), chemically crosslinked polyethylene foaming material (XPE), expandable polyethylene (EPE Expandable Polyethylene), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
A preferred embodiment can further include a simulation layer 50 having one surface attached to another surface of the soft layer 40, and another surface of the simulation layer 50 is a simulation surface 51 which can simulate the touch of beach, grassland and rocky land.
A sole structure for mounting on a shoe body U, please refer to FIGS. 3-8B, and the sole structure includes: an anti-skid layer 60, a rigid layer 70, an elastic piece 80, a soft layer 90 which are superimposed upon one another.
The anti-skid layer 60 is made of anti-skid material which can be PVC and rubber.
The rigid layer 70 is attached to one side of the anti-skid layer 60, one surface 70A of the rigid layer 70 has a wavy shape which is close to a sine wave type. The rigid layer 70 includes at least one convex portion 71 and at least one concave portion 72. The convex portion 71 is a protruding portion, and the surface 70A of the convex portion 71 has an arc-shaped shape for stimulating the foot of the user, and the concave portion 72 is located between the two convex portions 71.
The elastic piece 80 is a wavy piece having one surface attached to the surface 70A of the rigid layer 70, and the elastic piece 80 has a wavy shape which is close to a sine wave type and is made of an elastically deformable material, such as a metal sheet made of aluminum or titanium, or Chromium Molybdenum Vanadium Steel, or a sheet made of other materials which are elastically deformed after being subjected to a force, such as a soft thermoplastic or the like. The wavy shape of the elastic piece 80 matches with the shape of the surface 70A of the rigid layer 70 such that the elastic piece 80 has a plurality of projections 81 and recesses 82 connected one another in sequence. The projections 81 and the recesses 82 are arranged at intervals, and the curves of the projections 81 and the recesses 82 are arc-shaped, so that the appearance of the elastic piece 80 is continuously wavy. For example, two adjacent projections 81 are connected by one of the recesses 82, and two adjacent recesses 82 are connected one of the projections 81. The elastic piece 80 includes a top surface 80A and a bottom surface 80B opposite to each other. The bottom surface 80B of the elastic piece 80 is attached to the surfaces of the convex portions 71 and the concave portions 72, the positions of the projections 81 correspond to the positions of the convex portions 71, the positions of the recesses 82 correspond to the positions of the concave portions 72. The two adjacent projections 81 and the recess 82 between the two adjacent projections 81 together define an accommodating space 83, and the elastic piece 80 includes a plurality of accommodating spaces 83 on the top surface 80A, and the projections 81 are provided for pressing against and stimulating the soles of the user's feet.
In this embodiment, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the elastic piece 80 includes a front end 85 and a rear end 86 opposite to each other. The front end 85 corresponds to the position of the user's toes, and the rear end 86 corresponds to the position of the user's heel. An extending direction between the front end 85 and the rear end 86 is a longitudinal direction X. The elastic piece 80 includes an inner side 87 and an outer side 88 opposite to each other. The inner side 87 corresponds to the inner side of the foot, the outer side 88 corresponds to the outer side of the foot, the inner side 87 is closer to the other shoe body U than the outer side 88, an extending direction between the inner side 87 and the outer side 88 is a transverse direction Y, and the transverse direction Y is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X. A length of the elastic piece 80 in the longitudinal direction X is greater than that of the elastic piece 80 in the transverse Y, the projections 81 and the recesses 82 of the elastic piece 80 are arranged in sequence along the longitudinal direction X, and the projections 81 and the recesses 82 extend along the transverse direction Y.
In a preferred embodiment, please refer to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the distances between adjacent projections 81 are different, it is defined that the elastic piece 80 includes a forefoot section 80F and a heel section 80R. The forefoot section 80F is closer to the front end 85 than the heel section 80R, the heel section 80R is closer to the rear end 86 than the forefoot section 80F, and an arch section 8M is connected between the forefoot section 80F and the heel section 80R. A distance between every two adjacent projections 81 in the forefoot section 80F is a first distance D1, a distance between every two adjacent projections 81 in the heel section 80R is a second distance D2, a distance between every two adjacent projections 81 in the arch section 80M is a third distance D3, and the third distance D3 is greater than the first distance D1 and the second distance D2, so that the density of the projections 81 in the heel section 80R and the forefoot section 80F is relatively higher while the density of the projections 81 in the arch section 80M is relatively lower, and as a result, the heel and forefoot of the user can get greater stimulation and massage. However, the first distance D1, the second distance D2, and the third distance D3 can be changed according to user's needs. For example, when the elastic piece 80 is provided to relieve plantar fasciitis, the third distance D3 will be smaller than the first distance D1 and the second distance D2, which further makes the density of the projections 81 in the arch section 80M higher than the density of the projections 81 in the heel section 80R and the forefoot section 80F.
In a preferred embodiment, please refer to FIGS. 7A and 7B, the respective projections 81 and the recesses 82 are arranged in sequence along the longitudinal direction X, and extend along the transverse direction Y, each of the projections 81 includes a horizontal groove 811, and the horizontal groove 811 extends along the transverse direction Y, so that each of the projections 81 forms two sub-projections 812, and the two sub-projections 812 are located at two opposite sides of the horizontal groove 811, and the two sub-projections 812 can provide a better massage effect.
In a preferred embodiment, referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, a width of each of the projections 81 of the elastic piece 80 along the longitudinal direction X is a first width L1, a width of each of the recesses 82 of the elastic piece 80 along the longitudinal direction X is a second width L2, the first width L1 gradually decreases from the inner side 87 to the outer side 88, and the second width L2 gradually increases from the inner side 87 to the outer side 88. The first width L1 on the inner side 87 of the elastic piece 80 is larger than the second width L2, and the first width L1 on the outer side 88 of the elastic piece 80 is smaller than the second width L2. As a result, the inner side of the user's foot can be stimulated.
The soft layer 90 is disposed in the accommodating space 83 of the elastic piece 80 and located between two adjacent projections 81, and the soft layer 90 does not fully covers the projections 81, such that the elastic piece 80 is located between the soft layer 90 and the rigid layer 70. The projections 81 can directly abut against the sole of the user's foot. The material of the soft layer 90 is softer than the material of the rigid layer 70. The soft layer 90 can be made of materials such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), chemically crosslinked polyethylene foaming material (XPE), expandable polyethylene (EPE Expandable Polyethylene), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
A preferred embodiment can further include an insole layer A attached to another surface of the elastic piece 80. The insole layer A covers the elastic piece 80 and the soft layer 90, the projections 81 directly abut against the insole layer A, so that the projections 81 stimulate the sole of the user' foot through the insole layer A.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the soft layer 90 is only disposed in the accommodating space 83, but does not completely cover the projections 81, so that the projections 81 can directly abut against the sole of the user's foot or contact the insole layer A to greatly enhance the effect of stimulating ligaments and muscles.
In another embodiment, please refer to FIG. 5, the projections 81 and the recesses 82 are arranged in sequence along the transverse direction Y, and extend along the longitudinal direction X. Two ends of each of the projections 81 and the recesses 82 respectively extend to the front end 85 and the rear end 86. Similarly, the convex portions 71 and the concave portions 72 of the rigid layer 70 are also arranged along the transverse direction Y in sequence, so that different positions of the sole of the foot can be massaged continuously along the longitudinal direction X as the center of gravity shifts while the user is walking. In addition, the user can shift the center of gravity of the sole of the foot when standing, so that the center of gravity is transferred from the inner side of the sole to the outer side, and then from the outer side back to the inner side. In this way, the sole of the foot can be fully massaged when the user stands.
What mentioned above are the structural relations of the main components, and for the operation and function of the embodiment, reference should be made to FIG. 1-3.
When a user steps on the mat structure or the sole structure of the present invention, a load is provided on the elastic pieces 30, 80 to cause deformation of the elastic pieces 30, 80. When the stress of the foot F disappears, the elastic pieces 30, 80 will restore the original shape to provide the foot F a rebounding force to stimulate the ligaments and muscles of the foot F, thereby achieving the purpose of correcting the flat foot.
In addition, although the rigid layers 20 and 70 are harder than the soft layers 40 and 90, the rigid layers 20 and 70 will still deform to a certain extent when subjected to a force, thereby providing the foot F a reaction force in a timely manner, which can also give the elastic pieces 30, 80 margin of deformation.
It is worth mentioning that, since the shape of the rigid layers 20, 70 are wavy, and the material of the soft layers 40, 90 is softer than the material of the rigid layers 20, 70, so when walking on the mat or the sole, the user can receive the stimulating generated by the arch deformation and height change of the convex portions 21, 71 and the concave portions 22, 72, which consequently boosts the strength of the ligament and muscle of the foot. Besides, acupuncture points of the foot F can also be stimulated to effectively improve blood circulation.
In addition, the novel sole structure of the invention can mainly give the foot F different position stimulations every time the user steps out. In detail, since the center of gravity will be shifted from the heel to the front of the foot, when the user is walking. During the gravity shifting, the sole structure is given stress at different positions, and when the elastic pieces 30, 80 of the sole structure elastically restore shape, the rebounding force can give the foot F considerable stimulation, and then massage the feet and relieve stress.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A mat structure for mounting a shoe body, comprising: an anti-skid layer, a rigid layer, an elastic piece and a soft layer which are superimposed upon one another;

the anti-skid layer being made of anti-skid material;

the rigid layer being attached to one side of the anti-skid layer, one surface of the rigid layer having a wavy shape and including at least one convex portion and at least one concave portion, a surface of the convex portion has an arc-shaped shape, and the concave portion being located between two said convex portions;

the elastic piece is a wavy piece having one surface attached to the surface of the rigid layer, and made of an elastically deformable material, a wavy shape of the elastic piece matching with a shape of the surface of the rigid layer, the elastic piece having a plurality of projections and recesses connected one another, wherein the projections and the recesses are arc-shaped and arranged at intervals, every two said adjacent projections and a corresponding one of the recesses between the every two said adjacent projections together define an accommodating space, the projections are attached to the surface of the convex portions, the recesses are located in the concave portions;

the soft layer having one surface attached to another surface of the elastic piece, wherein the soft layer is disposed in the accommodating spaces and located between two said adjacent projections, and the material of the soft layer is softer than that of the rigid layer; and

an insole layer attached to another surface of the elastic piece, wherein the insole layer covers the elastic piece and the soft layer, the projections directly abut against the insole layer.

2. The mat structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the anti-skid material is PVC or rubber.

3. The mat structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic piece includes a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to each other, the bottom surface is attached to surfaces of the convex portions and the concave portions, and the accommodating spaces are located on the top surface.

4. The mat structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic piece includes a front end and a rear end opposite to each other, an extending direction between the front end and the rear end is a longitudinal direction, the elastic piece includes an inner side and an outer side opposite to each other, an extending direction between the inner side and the outer side is a transverse direction, the projections and the recesses of the elastic piece are arranged in sequence along the longitudinal direction, and the projections and the recesses extend along the transverse direction.

5. The mat structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein distances between the respective adjacent projections are different, the elastic piece includes a forefoot section and a heel section, the forefoot section is closer to the front end than the heel section, the heel section is closer to the rear end than the forefoot section, an arch section is connected between the forefoot section and the heel section, a distance between every two adjacent projections in the forefoot section is a first distance, a distance between every two adjacent projections in the heel section is a second distance, a distance between every two adjacent projections in the arch section is a third distance, and the third distance is greater than the first distance and the second distance.

6. The sole structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic piece is made of aluminum or titanium, or Chromium Molybdenum Vanadium Steel.