WO1980000781A1

WO1980000781A1 - Footwear

Info

Publication number: WO1980000781A1
Application number: PCT/SE1979/000212
Authority: WO
Inventors: A Jansson; B Stalin
Original assignee: Skogruppen Ab; A Jansson; B Stalin
Priority date: 1978-10-20
Filing date: 1979-10-19
Publication date: 1980-05-01
Also published as: SE8004593L; FR2438981A1; SE7810933L; NO793378L; FI793254A; AU5194379A

Abstract

Footwear, in particular shoes, having a double-acting sole promoting a new type of human gait, defined as fore-foot gait. The footwear has a tread sole (1) and a protective sole (3). The tread sole (1) covers only the fore-foot (2) of the user, whereas the protective sole (3) covers the arch (4) and heel (5) portions of the user. The protective sole (3) has a maximum of flexibility and offers less mechanical protection than the tread sole (1), so that the user is discouraged from touching the ground (11) with his heels when walking.

Description

Footwear.

The present invention relates to footwear, in particular shoes, having a new double acting sole, making possible a completely new gait of the user. Shoes have since ancient times been of essentially the same design. A common feature of all prior art shoes is their adjustment to a gait starting by planting the heel on the ground and continuing with a rolling motion in a forward direction. However, this gait subjects the human body to considerable stress, mainly because of the heavy impact when planting the heel on the ground.

The present invention is based on the completely new concept that man should walk on the fore-foot, and it aims at providing a shoe having a double acting sole which promotes fore-foot gait. In this context the expression "fore-foot gait" is defined as a type of gait,which is started by planting the fore-foot - i.e. the portion in front of the foot arch - on the ground, whereupon the movement is continued by the heel being moved towards the ground in a resilient motion (however without touching the ground). The movement is then terminated in a forwardly rolling motion as in conventional gait. In order to promote, in accordance with the invention, such fore-foot gait the shoe is provided with a sole, which has a maximum of flexibility in the area behind the fore-foot and which allows the greatest possible resilient movement of the heel towards the ground.

By promoting fore-foot gait in accordance with the invention most of the disadvantages of using conventional shoes, with their inherent limitation to "heel gait", are eliminated or reduced. In addition thereto several other advantages are obtained. For example, the fore-foot gait considerably reduces the load on the body upon contact with the ground (e.g. by a factor 10) , thereby considerably reducing the stress on e.g. hip joints and knee joints, the spinal column, and so on. The shock or impact reduction should also be advantageous to periostea, muscles, tendons, muscle ligaments, and so on. The beneficial effect of the shoe according to the invention has also been confirmed by preliminary tests. For example, a female patient who had previously been able to walk only short distances because her legs became swollen recovered considerably in a very short time when starting to use shoes according to the present invention instead of conventional shoes. In fact, the patient shortly afterwords was able to make extensive excursions in the Norwegian-Swedish fjord regions. Thus, the fore-foot gait promoted by the shoes according to the invention has very beneficial effects on, among other things, the venous reflux and the blood circulation of the legs and feet. The effect of the dynamic muscle pumping work on the venous reflux is increased and improved when walking on the fore-foot. This indicates that use of the shoes according to the invention can prevent, improve or cure circulation dependent states of illness in the lower extremites.

The use of the shoe according to the invention also offers other advantages, for example improved carriage of the body, raised foot vault due to different and more favourable function of the calf muscles, and so on.

The physical design of the shoe according to the invention can be varied in many different ways within the scope of the invention. The most essential in this context is that the shoe should have a double-acting sole having, on the one hand, a tread sole portion, wich essentially covers only the fore-foot portion of the user, i.e. extends backwardly to about the beginning of the arch, and, on the other hand, a protective sole portion arranged under the arch and heel portions of the user. The last mentioned portion is soft and flexible and not suitable to serve as a tread sole, thus offering only limited mecanical protection. As the name indicates the main function of the protective sole is to protect the arch and the heel against moisture and cold, thrust and cut injures, etc., but it is not intended to be loaded when the user is walking, this load being taken up only by the tread sole. The protective sole should preferably be designed so as to subject the user to a certain discomfort if he tries to walk in conventional manner with planting the heel first. Because of the double acting sole according to the invention the fore-foot gait aimed at is promoted or forced upon a conscious (or even unconscious) user. When using the shoe according to the invention attempts - conscious or unconscious - to walk in conventional manner by planting the heel first become annoying. It is further essential that the tread sole is stable sidewise and lengthwise, so that it will not be subjected to any essential shearing deformation during use. This does not mean that the tread sole must be completely stiff, but it can have a certain elasticity in the direction of the load, for example consisting of a conventional crude rubber sole. Other suitable materials are natural leather, artificial leather and the like. The shoe according to the invention is further provided with any suitable upper leather portion (which expression, of course, also covers other materials than just leather) attached to the tread sole and possibly also to the protective sole. The shape and extension of the upper leather is, of course, chosen with regard to the desired total appearance of the shoe, thus, having a different design for sandals than for walking shoes, winter shoes, etc..

The tread sole and protective sole portions may be aligned with each other or be arranged at different levels, and they may be integral or not.

The protective sole portion can, for example, consist of flexible, non-tanned leather, whereas the tread sole portion may consist of harder, tanned leather. It is also possible to use the same material for both the tread sole and the protective sole, the differences in mechanical protective properties being obtained e.g. by making the tread sole portion thicker. When the two sole portions are not aligned with each other, the difference in level may vary from one or a few millimeters and upwardly, but it should preferably be small enough to allow the user to rest comfortably with his heels against the protective sole when not walking. Furthermore, the tread sole must not be so thick that the side stability thereof is jeopardized. In practice these requirements mean that the difference between the levels of the two sole portions preferably should not be greater than about 1.5 to 2 cms. This difference is for the rest essentially determined by the intended use of the shoe, fine shoes usually having a level difference from zero up to a few millimeters, whereas this difference may be greater for heavier foot wear such as crude rubber shoes, etc.. The tread sole does not require any specific orthopedic design, since the orthopedic effect so to speak is built-in in the fore-foot gait.

Some preferred embodiments of the shoe according to the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a schematic view in longitudinal section of a first embodiment of the shoe according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a bottom view of the shoe according to Figure 1, Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of the shoe according to the invention,

Figure Ψ is a schematic perspective view of a third embodiment of the shoe according to the invention, and

Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 of a fourth embodiment of the shoe according to the invention.

The shoe shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a tread sole 1, which essentially covers only the fore-foot portion 2 of the user. The shoe is further provided with a backwardly projecting tongue or protective sole 3, whic essentially covers the arch portion and the heel portion 5 of the user. Th thickness and the material of the protective sole 3 are chosen such that th sole offers reduced mechanical protection compared to the tread sole 1, whil at the same time having a maximum of flexibility. If desired, the protectiv sole 3 can also cover the fore-foot portion 2, the tread sole 1 being attached t the protective sole 3 (which then can be considered as corresponding to th insole or the middle sole of a conventional shoe).

A conventional upper leather 6 (which is shown schematically i dashed lines) is attached to the soles 1 and 3 in conventional manner, in thi embodiment (walking shoes or the like) extending arond the entire foot. Th upper leather 6 can, of course, be designed as a lace shoe, a gusset shoe, etc.

As appears from Fig. 1 it is a characteristic feature of the sho according to the invention (and the fore-foot gait) is that only the tread sole contacts the ground , whereas the heel 5 and the protective sole 3 are kep above ground when walking. As mentioned above, the heel 5 and the protectiv sole 3 are lowered in a resilient motion when the tread sole 1 has contacte the ground, this being schematically illustrated by the dashed position 3' of th protective sole. The lack of a heel or the corresponding on the shoe shoul also be noticed. The protective sole 3 must not be a sole in the proper sense but it may consist of an arbitrary protective layer for the arch and the heel suitably of a soft and flexible material.

It is preferred to have the heel as free as possible. When it i necessary to provide the shoe with a heel counter, etc. (for climatic or othe reasons), the same is preferably made as soft and flexible as possible. In othe types of shoes such as sandals the heel can be left completely free, and a example of such an embodiment is shown in Fig. 3. In this embodiment th upper leather 6a covers only the front part of the foot, the protective sole 3 still projecting backwards as a free tongue. A lacing 7 keeps the shoe on th foot.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a variant of the concept maximally fre heel. In this case the tread sole 1 and the upper leather 6a are designed i analogy with Fig. 3, whereas the protective sole is replaced by an ankle sock of e.g. textile material, which is attached to front portion 1, 6a of the shoe. A an alternative the shoe can also be provided with a protective sole 3a, th ankle sock 8 being attached to the protective sole.

In the above shown embodiments the shoe has had a difference i level (in Fig. 1. marked by a) between the bottom surfaces of the tread sole 1 and the protective sole 3. As mentioned above this is a preferred but not necessary feature. Fig. 5 shows a shoe having the two sole portions in alignment with each other (a = 0). The protective sole 3 may be made of a different material (softer and/or thinner) than the tread sole 1, and it can be attached to the same directly and/or via the upper leather 6. Alternatively, the protective sole and the tread sole 1 may be made from an integral piece of material, the portion forming the tread sole 1 having been stiffened, e.g. by suitable treatment, such as by tanning if the piece of material is leather. As in the previously described embodiments it is essential that the protective sole 3 is soft and flexible (so that it can follow the movements of the heel 5 up and down) and it has, compared to the tread sole 1, reduced mechanical protective ability discouraging the user to put the heel on the ground.

The invention is, of course, not restricted to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, but many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the subsequent claims.

Claims

1. A footwear having a tread sole, which essentially covers only the fore-foot part of the user, but not the arch and the heel, said footwear also comprising a flexible protective sole, which covers the arch and heel portions of the user and which offers a smaller mechanical protection than the tread sole, so that the user is discouraged from touching the ground with his heels when walking.

2. A footwear according to claim 1, wherein the protective sole has no heel or other stiffening means under the heel and arch portions of the user. 3. . A footwear according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tread sole and the protective sole are made from one and the same piece of material. Ψ. A footwear according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the tread sole is thicker than the protective sole.

5. A footwear according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bottom surfaces of the tread sole and the protective sole are arranged at different levels, said difference not being greater than permitting the user to rest comfortably on his heel when not walking.

6. A footwear according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the tread sole portion has greater hardness and mechanical protective ability than the protective sole portion.

7. A footwear according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tread sole has essentially the same length and width over its entire thickness.

8. A footwear, according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein its upper leather for the rest corresponds to a convential foot wear.