US2178651A

US2178651A - Arch support

Info

Publication number: US2178651A
Application number: US249580A
Authority: US
Inventors: Seigle William
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1939-01-06
Filing date: 1939-01-06
Publication date: 1939-11-07
Anticipated expiration: 1956-11-07

Description

W. S'EIGLE ARCH SUPPORT Nov. 7, 1939.

Filed Jan. 6, 1939 ATTORN Patented Nov. 7, 1939 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to arch supports and more particularly to an arch support construction which may be embodied in a support for either the metatarsal or longitudinal arch of the foot.

My invention further relates toan improvement over the constructions disclosed in my Patents No. 1,763,260, No. 1,763,261, No. 1,807,758 and No. 1,848,203, the first two of which were issued on June 10, 1930 and the latter two'of which were issued respectively on 'June 2 1931 and March 8, 1932.

As is well known to those familiar with the art no single arch support has ever been developed which will remedy all different types of arch trouble, or which can be used in treating the same type arch trouble in various individuals. The arches in the feet of various individuals vary in height, in degree of breakdown, in muscle tone, and in length. For properly supporting the arches in the feet of various individuals, then, the following must be considered: the degree of resilience needed; the area over which the resilience is to be distributed; the range or maxi mum movement which is best for restoring the individual arch being treated; and some means of resiliently limiting the movement permitted while at the same time maintaining the proper resilience within the prescribed range of movement.

It is the chief object of my invention, therefore, to provide an arch support construction which embodies a spring support for the arch, yet which permits the substitution ofone spring for another in order to secure the proper or prescribed resiliency, and which also embodies a means for resiliently limiting the movement per mitted the arch, which limiting means is also subject to quick removal and replacement for permitting the proper or prescribed range of movement for the particular arch being treated, with a special relation to the resiliency of the spring chosen for treating that particular arch.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an arch support construction which when used for supporting the longitudinal arch of the foot permits the distribution throughout the length and breadth of the arch of a plurality of resilient supporting means of varying heighths, having varying degrees of resiliency and having varying respective ranges of movement; which by proper support of various parts of the arch being supported will aid greatly in restoring the bones of the foot to their natural positions and will also aid in restoring tone to the muscles whose function it is to normally maintain the arch in proper position; and which not only has these special attributes but which is also possessed of the usual attributes of simplicity, cheapness of manufacture, and reliability.

The details in the construction of a preferred form of my invention, together with other objects attending its production, will be better understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, which is chosen for illustrative purposes only, and in which,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through an arch support embodying one form of my invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, taken through an arch support embodying another form of my invention; and,

Figure 3 is a plan view of an arch support which may be considered to embody either or both of the forms of my invention shown in Figures 1 and 2, and simply shows one preferred distribution of the resilient means used in supporting the longitudinal and metatarsal arches of the foot.

In general the invention embodies, as the resilient means for supporting the arch, a volute or spiral spring 5 in combination with a resilient bumper 6 preferably made of sponge rubber or the like, for limiting the maximum extent of collapse of the spring.

In the Figure 1 embodiment'of the invention one end convolution of the spring 5 is seated within an annular groove 7 which is cut into the side wall of a circular recess 8 in a base or insole 9-. The outwardly projecting annular shoulder H) of the recess 8 serves to firmly hold the spring in its position on said base, yet due to the material of which said spring is made, it may easily be removed from the annular groove 7 and replaced if desired with a spring having a difierent degree of resiliency. As will be seen in both Figures land 2 the bumper 6 has a central portion which is semi-elliptical in crosssection and a surrounding annular'fiange which is substantially of the same outside diameter as the inside diameter of the end convolution of said spring 5. This flange serves to maintain the bumper 8 in a central position within the convolutions of the spring, and also to keep the bumper 6 seated on the base 9.

As previously explained a number of, these springs and bumpers may be distributed at desired points on the base 9 simply by providing a plurality of circular recesses 8 in said base. Referring to Figure 3 it will easily be seen that I contemplate the use of springs having convolutions of different diameters. Also by varying the cross sectional diameter of the wire of which the spring is constructed, as well as the material of which the wire is made, it is possible to provide springs having the exact degree of resiliency desired. For instance spring II in Figure 3 is of larger diameter than any of the other longitudinal arch supporting springs. In treating a particular arch it may be that the greatest support is needed at the approximate center of the location of the spring H. In this case a spring of comparatively great resistance to deformation can be used, while the surrounding springs l2, l3, l4 and [5 may be springs having a lesser degree of resistance. Also the height of the surrounding springs would ordinarily be less than the height of the central spring ll, At the same time it might be further desired to have the spring l5 permit a greaterrange of vertical movement for, that particular portion of the arch than should be permitted for the proper treatment of that portion of the arch which is supported by the spring l2. In this casea comparatively low resilient bumper would be used to resiliently limit the downward movement of that portion of the arch supported by the spring l5, while a bumper of greater height would be used in limiting the permitted deformation of the spring l2. Also instead of simply varying the height of the bumpers 6 the same effect might be obtained, and is within the scope of this invention, by making the bumpers of materials having different degrees of resiliency or elasticity.

In marketing these arch supportsI contemplate that supports constructed according to the Figure l embodiment of the invention will be stocked by the merchant, doctor, chiropodist, or podiatrist, who will in addition stock a number of sizes of springs having varying degrees of rigidity or resistance to deformation, as well as a number of bumpers 6 also having varying degrees of resistance to deformation, thus the person prescribing treatment for a particular arch will be enabled to substitute selected springs and selected bumpers for those springs so that the arch may besupported exactly as'desired.

The Figure 2 embodiment of the invention includes the spring 5 seated within a recess [6 in a base or insole 9, and held within said recess [6 by means of a protective cover I! made of a suitable flexible material, the surface of which is cemented or otherwise suitably secured to the adjacent surface of the base or .insole 9 at all points except where it actually passes over and covers the spring 5. In addition, I provide a resilient pad I8 interposed between the cover I! and the adjacent end of the spring 5 for protecting the cover I! against injury by the end of the spring, and also for preventing theend of the spring from causing discomfort in the part of the arch being supported by the spring. In this embodiment the springs and their respective bumpers are not easily replaced. Instead supports embodying this construction will be made in various sizes, in varying degrees of resilient support, in varying ranges of permitted vertical movement, and with the major support located in various positions. The Figure 2 construction will, therefore, necessitate the carrying a much larger stock of arch supports than would. be required if the Figure 1 embodiment were stocked.

In addition to the above enumerated results produced by the two illustrated and described embodiments of my invention, the combination of the springwith the resilient bumper serves to tion permits the use of a comparatively light and resilient spring without permitting too great an axial deformation of the spring, which has been the greatest defect in previously conceived arch support constructions. In other words, the use of a very resilient spring, in previously known constructions, has resulted in such complete deformation or depression of the spring that the arch has not been properly supported when the body weight shifted to that particular arch. The very resilient spring has permitted too great a range of movement for the ailing arch. The only correction' known for such a defect has been to use a spring of greater rigidity (or less resiliency), and theme of the more rigid spring has not permitted proper flexing of the arch, and. thus has actually weakened rather than strengthened the muscles and ligaments which are supposed to hold familiar with the art to construct and use arch' supports embodying my invention. While I have described and illustrated specific embodiments of the invention I am aware that my inventive prin cipal may be embodied in a support constructed with different shaped springs and different shaped bumpers, and I do not Wish to be limited except by the prior art and by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An arch support including: a base or insole; a volute spring mounted thereon; and a resilient bumper or shock absorber positioned within said spring adapted to assume the major portion of any axially applied deforming force exerted on said spring after said spring has been deformed spring.

2. An arch support including: a base or insole;

a spiral spring mounted thereon; a protective cover of flexible material for said spring. at least a portion of the surface of said cover being secured to the adjacent surface of said insole; and

a resilient bumper or shock absorber within said spring adapted to assume the major portion of any axially applied deforming force exerted on said protective cover and consequently on the spring after said spring has been deformed to approximately half its normal length, and to resiliently limit further deformation of said spring.

3. An arch support including: a baseor insole; a spring having one of its ends mounted on said insole; a protective cover of flexible material said protective cover and consequently on the spring after said spring has been deformed to approximately half its normal length, and to resiliently limit further deformation of said spring.

WILLIAM SEIGLE.