WO2005046379A1

WO2005046379A1 - Shoe insole and method of manufacturing the same

Info

Publication number: WO2005046379A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/002883
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seok Cheol Kang
Original assignee: Seok Cheol Kang
Priority date: 2003-11-12
Filing date: 2004-11-09
Publication date: 2005-05-26

Abstract

Disclosed is a shoe insole. The shoe insole includes a shock absorbing pack to absorb impact transmitted to the ankles, knees and waist, thereby protecting them from impact and alleviating herniated lumbar disc and cervical disc, and contains a functional material in a form of being injected into the pack, such as an aromatic, a natural disinfecting agent, a deodorizing agent or a drug, thereby preventing foot odor and treating diverse foot infections. Since the shock absorbing pack is divided into a front part and a rear part, which are connected to each other by a connection channel, the shoe insole improves walking balance. Also, the present invention discloses a method of manufacturing such a shoe insole.

Description

SHOE INSOLE AND METHOD OF M-NUFACTTRING THE SAME

Technical Field

The present invention relates, in general, to a shoe insole and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a shoe insole including a shock absorbing pack to absorb impact which may be transmitted to the ankles, knees and waist, thereby protecting them from impact and alleviating herniated lumbar disc and cervical disc, as well as containing a functional material in a form of being injected into the pack, such as an aromatic, a natural disinfecting agent, a deodorizing agent or a drug, thereby preventing foot odor and treating diverse foot infections .

Background Art

People generally wear shoes to protect the ankles or the waist from impact while walking or running by absorbing the impact applied from the ground, and to prevent the soles of the feet from being pricked with sharp objects. A shoe is typically composed of an upper and a sole. The upper of the shoe is a part of the shoe above a sole and includes vamp, quarter, throat, toe box and tongue. The sole provides the bottom of the shoe and includes an outsole typically made of rubber as a main material and a midsole typically made of polyurethane as a main material. The sole further includes an insole that contacts the sole of a foot of a wearer and an insole board placed below the insole. After an upper is formed, an outsole and a midsole, separately formed, are attached to the lower edge of the upper on a shoe assembly line. The insole, having a shape identical to that of the midsole, is formed through injection molding using polyurethane in a shape that closely contacts the sole of a foot. The insole also has cloth, such as a sweat-absorptive non-woven fabric or cotton, attached to an upper surface thereof using an adhesive. In addition, during the injection molding of polyurethane, a plurality of depressions or projections are formed on the insole to absorb and thus reduce and release impact while walking or running. The shoe upper, covering the dorsum of a foot, and the shoe sole, contacting the sole of the foot, are primarily manufactured as separate parts on separate lines. The two parts are then assembled with each other on an assembly line to produce a finished product, a shoe. However, the shoe manufactured by the aforementioned process includes a midsole having a simple composition of polyurethane and an insole, placed on the midsole, which is made of the same material as the midsole and has a predetermined thickness, with fabric attached to an upper surface of the insole. Due to this construction, conventional shoes are able to absorb impact when a wearer walks or runs and thus reduce impact to some extent, but are always soaked with sweat inside, thereby causing offensive odors and eventually making it impossible for a person to wear the shoes for a prolonged period of time. In addition, the conventional shoes have another problem in that such wetness promotes the growth of specific fungal species causing athlete's foot, thereby causing athlete's foot.

Disclosure of the Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems encountered in the prior art, and a major object of the present invention is to provide a shoe insole including a shock absorbing pack to absorb impact which may be applied to the ankles, knees and waist, thereby protecting them from the impact and alleviating herniated lumbar disc and cervical disc, as well as containing a functional material in a form of being injected into the pack, such as an aromatic, a natural disinfecting agent, a deodorizing agent or a drug, thereby preventing foot odor and treating diverse foot infections, and a method of manufacturing such a shoe insole. Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoe insole including a shock absorbing pack inserted into the shoe insole and containing a functional material therein, the shock absorbing pack separated into a front part and a rear part which are connected to each other by a connection channel to maintain the sole of a foot in a horizontal state while walking, thereby improving the walking balance of the foot, and a method of manufacturing the shoe insole. In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a shoe insole, comprising: forming a hollow shock absorbing pack having an inlet; injecting a functional material into the pack through the inlet of the pack; sealing the inlet of the pack containing the functional material therein; compressing upper and lower pack parts of the sealed pack using a hot press, partially thermally fastening the upper and lower pack parts to each other; forming a casing having a plurality of through holes; and bonding the pack to the casing after the pack is inserted into the casing, thus covering the pack with the casing. In addition, the present invention provides a shoe insole fabricated through injection molding to have a structure closely contacted to the sole of a foot and having a sweat-absorptive fabric attached to an upper surface thereof by an adhesive, the shoe insole comprising: an airtight shock absorbing pack separated into a front part and a rear part that are connected to each other by a connection channel; and a casing covering the pack and having a cushioning ability.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a process of manufacturing a shoe insole according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the process of manufacturing the shoe insole according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is an exploded sectional view of a shoe insole according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a latitudinal sectional view of the shoe insole according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a plan view of a shoe insole according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the shoe insole according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a shoe insole according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a shoe insole according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a partially sectioned side view of a shoe in which a shoe insole according to the present invention is placed; and FIGS. 10a to 10b are views showing the practical use of a shoe insole according to the second, third or fourth embodiment of the present invention, wherein the shoe insole is placed in the shoe.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, a shoe insole A according to the present invention includes a shock absorbing pack 10 and a casing 20. The shoe insole A, which is placed on an inner bottom surface of a shoe, not shown, has main functions of preventing friction from being generating when the sole of a foot directly contacts an upper surface of the sole of the shoe while walking or running, and absorbing sweat generated while walking or running to some extent, thereby preventing the inside of the shoe from being soaked with sweat. Also, the shoe insole A has an auxiliary function of absorbing impact transmitted through the shoe sole and thus cushioning the impact. The shock absorbing pack 10 positioned inside the shoe insole A is designed to have the following main functions: it allows the weight of the wearer's body to be evenly distributed throughout the sole of a foot; it cushions the impact generated upon contact with the ground by widely distributing the impact; and it keeps feet from sweating and protects foot odor and athlete's foot. To achieve these functions, the shock absorbing pack 10 is provided in an airtight form and includes an upper pack part 11 and a lower pack part 12 each of which has a shape entirely identical to that of a midsole or the sole of a foot. The upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 are attached to each other at edges thereof using a heat sealer or a high- frequency sealer in order to make the pack 10 airtight. The pack 10 is integrated into a single body with an inlet 13 on a surface thereof to inject a functional material, to be described later, into the pack 10. In addition, after the functional material is injected into the pack 10 through the inlet 13, the inlet 13 is thermally sealed to maintain the pack in an airtight state. Then, the upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 are partially thermally fastened to each other using a separate hot press, thereby maintaining the functional material in designated regions other than the fastened region and partially swelling the pack 10. The upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 of the shock absorbing pack 10 are preferably made of highly elastic polyurethane. ^■ The functional material injected into the pack 10 is preferably selected from among an aromatic, a natural disinfecting agent, a deodorizing agent and a drug. The aromatic is preferably selected from among coffee, peppermint and lavender flavors . The casing 20 is designed to cover the upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 and an edge of the pack 10 containing the functional material, thus preventing the pack 10 from being disrupted by the weight of the wearer' s body and/or from moving in a shoe. To achieve this object, the casing 20 includes an upper casing part 21 and a lower casing part 22. The upper casing part 21 is formed as a single body with a depressed rim 23 having a predetermined depth and has a plurality of through holes 24 and 24' provided on an upper surface thereof. Also, the lower casing part 22 is formed as a single body with a prominent rim 25 having a predetermined height in a manner of allowing the depressed rim 23 to engage with the prominent rim 25. The shoe insole A as designed above is manufactured by a process comprising steps S10 to S60, as follows. First, at step S10 of forming a shock absorbing pack to contain a functional material, the pack 10 is shaped to have a hollow structure having an inlet 13 on a surface thereof by tightly sealing the edges of upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 using a heat sealer or a high-frequency sealer. At step S20 of injecting a functional material into the pack 10, a nozzle, not shown, is inserted into the inlet 13, and the functional material is injected into the pack 10 through the inlet 13 in an amount capable of swelling the pack 10 and thus providing a predetermined pressure to the pack 10. To satisfy various desires of wearers, the functional material preferably includes an aromatic selected from among coffee, peppermint and lavender flavors. More preferably, in addition to the aromatic, the functional material further includes a deodorizing agent for preventing foot odor, and a natural disinfecting agent and a drug for inhibiting the growth of bacteria responsible for athlete's foot and other bacteria. At step S30 of sealing the inlet 13 of the pack 10, after the functional material is injected into the pack 10 through the inlet 13 at step S20, the inlet 13 is thermally sealed using a heat sealer or a high-frequency sealer, thereby preventing the functional material contained in the pack 10 from leaking from the pack 10. At step S40, to prevent the functional material contained in the pack 10 at a specific region from being displaced to a side by the weight of the wearer' s body and prevent the upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 from separating from each other due to the displacement of the functional material, the upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 of the sealed pack 10 are compressed using a hot press. Thus, the upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 are partially thermally fastened to each other. This compression allows the functional material to be maintained in a designated region other than the fastened regions and thus makes it possible for the pack 10 to swell. At step S50 of forming a casing 20 including an upper casing part 21 and a lower casing part 22, the upper casing part 21 is formed to have a depressed rim 23 having a predetermined depth along an edge thereof and have a plurality of through holes 24 and 24' provided on an upper surface thereof. The lower casing part 22 is then formed as a single body with a prominent rim 25, provided along an edge thereof, having a predetermined height. At step S60 of bonding the pack 10 to the casing 20, the last step of manufacturing the shoe insole, the whole or a portion of an upper surface of the lower casing part 22 is coated with an adhesive, and the pack 10 is placed onto the upper surface of the lower casing part 22 and attached thereto to be immobilized. Also, the lower surface and the edge of the upper casing part 21 are coated with the adhesive. The upper casing part 21 is placed onto the lower casing part 22, with the pack 10 interposed between the two casing parts 21 and 22, in such a way that the depressed rim 23 provided along the edge of the upper casing part 21 is fitted to the prominent rim 25 of the lower casing part 22, thereby attaching the upper and lower casing parts 21 and 22 to each other. In the above mentioned embodiment of the present invention, the shoe insole is fabricated to include the pack 10 containing the functional material therein, and the pack 10 is formed to be swollen by the functional material maintained in a designated region which is formed by partially thermally fastening the upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 to each other using a hot press. However, the pack 10 may be designed to have a rib-shaped structure ranging from the ball of the foot to the heel, which is caused to be swollen by the functional material and to have a connection channel 30 between two divided regions by partially thermally fastening the upper and lower pack parts 11 and 12 to each other, as shown in FIG. 5. This rib-shaped structure allows the functional material to move through the connection channel 30 from the front to the rear of the pack 10 or in reverse, thereby making it possible for the pack 10 to more effectively absorb impact. That is, while walking or running when the heel of a shoe is removed from the ground and the front of the shoe contacts with the ground, the front of the foot presses the front part 10-1 of the pack 10, and the functional material contained in the front part 10-1 of the pack 10 moves to the rear part 10-2 of the pack 10 through the connection channel 30. Thus, the rear part 10-2 of the pack 10 expands in proportion to the pressure applied from the foot to the front part 10-1 of the pack 10 and fills a space between the rear of the foot and the shoe insole, thereby providing walking stability. According to the same principle as described above, while walking, when the front of the shoe is removed from the ground and the heel of the shoe contacts the ground, the rear part 10-2 of the pack 10 is pressed by the rear of the foot, resulting in the functional material contained in the rear part 10-2 of the pack 10 moving to the front part 10-1 of the pack 10 through the connection channel 30. Thus, the front part 10-1 of the pack 10 expands due to pressure form the heel of the foot, and the expanded front part 10-1 of the pack 10 fills a space between the front of the foot and the shoe insole, thereby providing walking stability. On the other hand, when a wearer stands upright, the front and heel of a foot press the front part 10-1 and the rear part 10-2of the pack 10, respectively. Due to the pressure on the front and rear parts 10-1 and 10-2 of the pack 10, the functional material in the front and rear parts 10-1 and 10-2 rushes to the connection channel 30. Thus, the connection channel 30 expands in proportion to the weight of the wearer's body and thus supports the arch of the foot, resulting in the weight of the wearer' s body being distributed throughout the sole of the foot when standing upright . As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the casing 20 to which the pack 10 containing the functional material is attached includes through holes 24, 24' and 24", which have a shape identical to the shape of the pack 10 expanded by the functional material. As shown in FIG. 7, which illustrates another embodiment of the present invention, a connection channel 30a is located not in a position corresponding to the middle of the sole of a foot but in a position corresponding to the arch of the foot. That is, when a shoe insole is desired to be used for a left shoe, the connection channel 30a is designed to be located on the right. When the shoe insole is desired to be used for a right shoe, the channel 30a is designed to be located on the left . Based on this positional modification of the connection channel 30a, an additional through hole 24" is formed at a position of the casing 20 corresponding to the connection channel 30a. When the front part 10-1 and the rear part 10-2 of the pack 10 are pressed by the weight of the wearer' s body, the functional material contained in the pack 10 moves to the connection channel 30a, and the connection channel 30a is swollen. The swollen connection channel 30a bulges out through the through hole 24", thereby supporting the arch of a foot. In the present invention, the shock absorbing pack 10 is injected with the functional material. If desired, instead of using the functional material, air having a predetermined pressure may be injected into the pack 10. In addition, the connection channel 30 or 30a, connecting the front part 10-1 and the rear part 10-2 of the pack 10, is designed as a single passage, as described above. If desired, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of connection channels 30a' may be provided for effectively moving the functional material and swelling the pack 10 more. When a person stands upright while wearing a shoe fitted with a shoe insole having the connection channel 30, 30a or 30a' connecting the front part 10-1 and the rear part 10-2 of the pack 10, as shown in FIG. 10a, the weight of the wearer's body is evenly distributed to the heel, toes and ball of the foot. In this situation, the front and rear parts 10-1 and 10-2 of the pack 10 are pressed, and the functional material contained therein moves to the connection channel 30, 30a or 30a', causing the middle region of the pack 10 to swell, thereby supporting the sole of a foot. The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purpose for describing the shoe insole and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the present embodiments . It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Industrial Applicability As described hereinbefore, the shoe insole of the present invention, by virtue of a pack contained therein, absorbs impact transmitted to the ankles, knees and waist . Thus, the shoe insole is capable of protecting them from impact and alleviates herniated lumbar disc and cervical disc. Also, since the pack contains a functional material such as an aromatic, a natural disinfecting agent, a deodorizing agent or a drug, the shoe insole is effective in preventing foot odor and treating diverse foot infections . Further, since the shock absorbing pack is divided into a front part and a rear part, which are connected to each other by a connection channel, the shoe insole of the present invention improves walking balance.

Claims

1. A shoe insole fabricated through injection molding to have a structure closely contacting the sole of a foot , and having a sweat-absorptive fabric attached to an upper surface thereof by an adhesive, the shoe insole comprising: an airtight shock absorbing pack; and a casing covering the pack and having a cushioning ability.

2. The shoe insole according to claim 1, wherein the shock absorbing pack has a hollow structure identical to a shape of a midsole, which includes an upper pack part and a lower pack part and is shaped in such a way that the upper and lower pack parts are partially fastened together and swollen at remaining regions .

3. The shoe insole according to claim 1, wherein the shock absorbing pack is formed using polyurethane to contain a functional material selected from among an aromatic, a natural disinfecting agent, a deodorizing agent and a drug.

4. The shoe insole according to claim 1, wherein the casing includes an upper casing part and a lower casing part, wherein the lower casing part is integrated into a single body with a prominent rim having a predetermined height, and the upper casing part is integrated into a single body with a depressed rim having a predetermined depth and has a plurality of through holes provided on an upper surface thereof .

5. The shoe insole according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the shock absorbing pack includes a connection channel to move therethrough a functional material contained therein.

6. The shoe insole according to claim 5, wherein the connection channel swells by migration of the functional material to support on arch of the foot.

7. The shoe insole according to claim 5, wherein the shock absorbing pack is formed using polyurethane in such a way that front and rear parts of the pack are connected to each other by the connection channel, thus having a rib- shaped structure.

8. A method of manufacturing a shoe insole, comprising: forming a hollow shock absorbing pack having an inlet; injecting a functional material into the pack through the inlet of the pack; sealing the inlet of the pack containing the functional material therein; compressing upper and lower pack parts of the sealed pack using a hot press, thus partially thermally fastening the upper and lower pack parts to each other; forming a casing having a plurality of through holes; and bonding the shock absorbing pack to the casing after the pack is inserted into the casing, thus covering the pack with the casing .