US3517928A

US3517928A - Weighted shoe

Info

Publication number: US3517928A
Application number: US844951A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gerard F Shanahan
Original assignee: GERARD F SHANAHAN
Current assignee: GERARD F SHANAHAN
Priority date: 1969-07-25
Filing date: 1969-07-25
Publication date: 1970-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 1987-06-30

Description

- June 30, 1970 G. F. SHANAHAN WEIGHTED SHOE Filed July 25 1969 INVENTOR GERARD F. SHANAHAN BY Jame/r1011 24,421 qu iamw ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,517,928 WEIGHTED SHOE 7 Gerard F. Shanahan, 11729 Devilwood Drive, Potomac, Md. 20854 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 519,353, Jan. 7,1966, which is a continuation-impart of application, Ser. No. 320,037, Oct. 30, 1963. This application July 25, 1969, Ser. No. 844,951

Int. Cl. A63b 23/04 U.S. Cl. 272-57 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shoe providing therapeutic advantages to the wearer, having a flat weight-receiving member inside the shoe and coextensive with the sole and having a plurality of vertical openings spaced over its area and being open to the interior of the shoe whereby they may selectively receive light-weight plugs or heavy weights. The openings are positioned on the opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the weight receiving member so that certain medical and therapeutic eflFects may be produced by selective and relative positioning of the plugs and weights.

RELATION TO OTHER CASES This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 519,353, filed Jan. 7, 1966, for Weighted Shoe, now abandoned, which was a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 320,037, filed Oct. 30, 1963, for Therapeutic Shoes, now abandoned.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates broadly to footwear and, more particularly, to shoes and shoe parts having such structure, function and utility that the body of the wearer is physically benefitted by wearing the shoe, for example by strengthening the muscles of the legs and other parts of the body and by improvement or correction of physical defects.

It has heretofore been proposed, and is now broadly known, to provide shoes for human use which have weights associated with them. These weighted shoes have never been widely used or commercially available, and it is believed that this has been due to fundamental and important deficiencies in their basic concept and their structure. My invention has to do with such weighted shoes for human use, and departs fundamentally and radically from all known concepts and structures of such shoes to provide weighted shoes which have new and basically different structure and mode of operation and use, which have already won wide commercial and professional acceptance, and which have proved the beneficial results of their use in actual wear.

It has been the principal object of my invention which is achieved by the shoe structures and shoe parts dis closed herein, to provide a shoe having incorporated therein a part of parts which will add to the shoe either a fixed Weight or a weight which may be varied as desired by the wearer, or as directed by a physician, thereby to adjust to any desired degree the weights carried in the two shoes normally Worn, and to arrange them in a pattern providing a desired therapeutic result.

The invention is described in the following specification and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view through a weighted shoe according to the invention, and

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the weight-receiving part of a weighted shoe according to the invention 3,517,928 Patented June 30, 1970 "ice and the leather plugs and weights associated with the weight-receiving member.

This invention contemplates the provision of a pair of substantially identical, left and right shoes to be worn by a human being, male or female, each of which shoes is provided with means adding substantial weight to the shoe, although for purposes of this specification and the appended claims only one shoe of a pair will be described. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the weight adding means is permanently built into the shoe but is so constructed and arranged that the total weight thereof may be varied as desired. This shoe comprises an upper 2 of conventional design which may be slightly larger in inside vertical dimension than a conventional shoe of the same size, for a reason which will become apparent. The interior of this upper member is provided with a leather lining member 4, as shown in FIG. 2. The side walls of the upper and lining members are brought downwardly at each side of the shoe to form the shoe upper into conventional shape, and adjacent their free edge parts they are stitched, as at 6, to the depending edge flange 8 of inner sole 10, which is within the shoe and closes the upper at its lower part. This line of stitching also unites these parts to the upwardly extending part 12 of an exterior welt 14, the lower part of which is stitched at 16 to the bottom sole 18.

Within such space and permanently laminated to the upper surface of inner sole 10 there is provided in accordance with the invention a flat weight receiving member 20 which has the same shape and substantially the same size as the inner sole 10 and therefore substantially fills the area defined by the lower depending side wall parts of the upper member 2. This member is formed of material such as leather, is preferably approximately onehalf inch thick, and is shaped substantially as the sole of the human foot, having a forward part 22 and a heel part 24. The forward part 22 is provided with five openings and the heel part 24 is provided with two openings 8, all of which openings extend entirely vertically through the weight member. One of the openings, 26a, in the forward part is at the front of the weight-receiving member and extends across it and is substantially semi-circular in shape, while two of the other openings in the forward part, 26b and 260, are rearward of opening 26a and are positioned side-by-side laterally of the weight member, and the remaining

forward openings

26d and 26e are positioned side-by-side rearwardly of the openings 26b and 260 and are also positioned laterally of the weight mem her, and each of these four openings has its outer edges shaped to conform to the side edges of the forward part of the weight member. The openings in the forward part are defined and separated by a grid system formed of the material of the weight-receiving member remaining after the holes 26a to 2612 are cut. Thus, the lateral rib 30 separates the front opening from the next rearward openings 26b and 260 and a lateral rib 32 separates openings 26b and 260 from the

rear opening

26d and 26e. The openings 26b and 26d lie on one side of a longitudinally extending partition 32 which extends along the longitudinal center line of the weight receiving member and intersects the lateral ribs 30, 32 at right angles; and also intersects at right angles a third lateral rib 36 which separates the openings 26d and 261; from the heel openings.

The heel part 24 of the weight-receiving member has two laterally spaced, longitudinally extending

openings

38, 40 in it which are separated by a rib or partition 42 which is aligned with the forward longitudinal partiof this the weights may be positioned and arranged with respect to these axes in order to cause any desired forces to be exerted by the weights on one side or the other of the foot.

In accordance with the invention there are provided for each Weight-receiving member 20 a plurality of plugs which are generally designated by numeral 40 in the drawings and which are preferably formed by cutting the member 20 to form therein the weight-receiving openings 26a to 26s and 40, 42. The leather (or other material) plugs 40 which are produced by cutting the weightreceiving member are permitted to remain within the respective openings when that member is assembled within the shoe, and when so assembled a removable sock liner 42, consisting of a thin leather strip and usually a layer of spongy material, shaped to conform to the shape of the weight member 20, is placed over the upper surface of the weight-receiving member and the plugs in the openings therein.

In further accordance with the invention there are provided for each weight-receiving member a plurality of weights 44 which may be made of lead or any other heavy metal or other material. Each of these weights is shaped to conform to the size and shape of one of the openings 26a to 26@ and 40, 42 in the weight-receiving member and has the same thickness as that member, and therefore in the embodiment of the invention which is being described and illustrated seven weights will be provided and will be of the same size and shape as the openings 26a to 26a and 40, 42 respectively.

At any time, either before or after the Weight member is built into the shoe, each of the leather plugs which normally fill the openings in the weight member may be removed and replaced by that one of the heavy weight members which corresponds in size and shape to the removed plug. This removal of plugs and replacement with weights is accomplished through the open interior of the shoe after partially or entirely removing the sock liner 42 which covers the weight member and the plugs or weights therein. It will be apparent that by a proper combination of retained leather plugs and heavy weights the distribution of Weight over the entire area of the shoe may be adjusted and varied as desired. Thus, a beginner who wishes only to strengthen his leg and other muscles may leave in all of the leather plugs except one and replace only that one with a heavy weight. As he grows more used to the weighted shoe he may replace a progressively increasing number of leather plugs with weights until all of the leather plugs have been so replaced, at which time he will be carrying maximum weight in each shoe.

The weight-receiving member 20 will normally be permanently connected to the (insole) by being united thereto in any suitable way, and its upper surface will be perfectly uniform regardless of whether the openings therein are filled by the leather plugs or by the weight members, as in all embodiments of the invention the upper surface of the weight-receiving member, formed as it is by the peripheral wall and transverse and longitudinal partitions which define the openings, is at a uniform level with the upper surfaces of the leather plugs and weight members within the holes. Therefore, either with or without the sock liner which covers the upper surface of the weight member, complete comfort will be provided to the bottom of the foot.

In an important manner of use of weighted shoes having a weight-receiving member constructed in accordance with the invention, the weights in the forward and heel parts of the two shoes may be selectively positioned and adjusted by direction of a physician to produce desired results in the treatment of various physical disorders. Thus, use of both heel weights gives a considerable amount of weight in the heel of the shoe, thus increasing the strength of the largest muscle group in the calf of the leg, namely the gastrocnemius and the soleus group. If desired, strength can be given to the posterior tibial tendon and muscle together with the gastroc and soleus by using only the weight for opening 38 in the heel portion of the shoe. The openings in the forward part of the Weight-receiving member are also arranged in order to permit specific results to be accomplished by proper disposition and arrangement of the weights in that part of the shoe. Thus, if all of the compartments to 26a to 26e, inclusive, are filled with weights this will give a maximum amount of weight in the forefoot which will strengthen all the tibial and the peroneal muscle groups. If desired, the toe extensors such as the hallucis longus and the other toe extensors could be worked on only by using primarily, or solely a weight in opening 26a. Also, weights in openings 26a and 260 could be used solely in order to strengthen the anterior tibial muscle. If this muscle is extremely Weak to start with 26e alone would be used and then increased to 260. Weights in openings 26b and 26d can be used solely to exercise the peroneal muscle groups. If these are too weak to support and to lift both weights then one alone can be used. If all weights are used in their positions further strengthening of the quadriceps and hamstring muscles will take place, together with the back and abdominal muscles.

I claim:

1. A shoe for use by human beings to produce, when worn, selectively determinable therapeutic results beneficial to the body, said shoe comprising an upper and a sole assembly, said sole assembly comprising a Weightreceiving member of generally fiat configuration and being substantially coextensive with the sole assembly said Weight-receiving member having a front part to underlie the ball part of the foot and a rear part to underlie the heel part of the foot, the front part having a plurality of vertical openings therein which open at the upper surface of the weight-receiving member into the interior space of the shoe some of which are disposed on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the weight-receiving member and of the shoe, the heel part of the weight-receiving member having two vertical openings therein which open at the upper surface of the weight-receiving member into the interior space of the shoe and are disposed at opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the weight receiving member and of the shoe, a plurality of light-weight plugs which are respectively shaped to fit removably within the openings in the weight-receiving member, and a plurality of weights which are respectively shaped to fit removably within the openings in the weightreceiving member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,637,565 8/1927 Gordon 27257 1,741,419 12/1929 Jones 128586 2,424,159 7/1947 Goetz.

FOREIGN PATENTS 18,208 10/ 1899 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner R. W. DIAZ, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 36-25