Shoe sole for triple-time stepping

The present invention relates to a shoe sole for triple-time stepping that includes: a front portion having a front end gently inclined upward, and a bottom portion in even contact with the ground; a rear portion having a second cutout inclined upward at an angle of about 15 to 17° from a rear end of the front portion, and a first cutout inclined upward at an angle of about 15 to 25° from a rear end of the second cutout; a first recess formed upward in a predetermined depth on a boundary portion between the front portion and the second cutout; and a second recess formed upward in a predetermined depth on a boundary portion between the second cutout and the first cutout. The improved shoe sole enables a tri-time stepping on walking to remarkably mitigate a fatigue with a massage effect produced from a proper stimulation of the flow of energy to prevent flat-foot walks and promote metabolism and blood circulation, and disperses the impact force caused by the weight to prevent diseases such as arthritis, back pain, muscle pain, or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. The Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a shoe sole for triple-time stepping. More particularly, this invention relates to a shoe sole for triple-time stepping that has the rear portion inclined in two steps at a predetermined angle to achieve a triple-time stepping in a natural and accurate manner.

2. Related Prior Art

As shoes are considered as a means for protecting feet from external impact force, a number of functional shoes of various shapes and structures have been suggested for the purpose of providing good comfort.

In general, shoes mitigate the transmission of the impact force produced from a pedestrian's weight to the vertebra. An ideal walking gait, so called “a triple-time stepping”, is well known that a procedure of landing is followed in the order of a heel, a sole, and toes.

A conventional shoe has a heel attached to the rear portion of a shoe sole that is formed on a flat bottom surface. Such a conventional shoe has some drawbacks that a load caused by the pedestrian's weight is concentrated on the heel on walking to transmit the impact force to the vertebra, inducing pains on waist, shoulders, neck and the like, and causing deformation of toes. Also, since no triple-time stepping is achieved, the pedestrian is susceptible to fatigue while walking.

In view of the matter described above, a shoe has been proposed that the rear portion of a shoe sole has a height lower than that of the remainder portion, as shown inFIG. 1. With this construction, the shoe has a cutout1firstly touched on the ground on walking, thereby increasing a muscular strength and reforming a walking gait, without achieving a triple-time stepping.

To solve this problem with the above-constructed shoe, the applicant of the present invention has suggested a shoe for triple-time stepping as disclosed in Patent Application No. 239854 (under the title of “Healthful Shoe”).

The shoe of the cited patent includes, as shown inFIG. 2, a bottom portion2of a shoe sole in contact with the ground; front and rear recesses3and4formed on either side of the bottom portion2; and front and rear cutouts5and6inclined upwardly from the front and rear recesses3and4to the front and rear sides of the shoe sole, respectively.

This shoe construction is designed to achieve a triple-time stepping on walking that a procedure of landing is followed in the order of the rear cutout6, the bottom portion2, and the front cutout5.

However, the shoe construction concentrates a load mostly on the heel of the shoe sole on walking, so it only achieves a dual-time stepping rather than a triple-time stepping and makes the standing posture considerably uncomfortable and unstable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing and other problems encountered in connection with the prior art, and to provide a healthful shoe that has a rear portion of the shoe sole inclined in two steps to enable a natural triple-time stepping and decentralizes/mitigates the impact force during the movement of the pedestrian's weight to minimize the fatigue on walking.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a healthful shoe that can correct the walking gait and promote the blood circulation for health improvement.

To achieve the above objects of the present invention, there is provided a shoe sole for triple-time stepping that includes: a front portion having a front end gently inclined upward, and a bottom portion in even contact with the ground; a rear portion having a second cutout inclined upward at an angle of about 5 to 17° from a rear end of the front portion, and a first cutout inclined upward at an angle of about 5 to 25° from a rear end of the second cutout; a first recess formed upward in a predetermined depth on a boundary portion between the front portion and the second cutout; and a second recess formed upward in a predetermined depth on a boundary portion between the second cutout and the first cutout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 3is an exemplary perspective view of a healthful shoe employing a shoe sole of the present invention. The shoe sole of the present invention includes front and rear portions10and20.

The shoe sole, which is the undermost part of the shoe in direct contact with the ground, is manufactured in various shapes and structures with different materials in consideration of walking comfort, ground landing force, durability, and other conditions.

According to the present invention, the shoe sole is divided into front and rear portions10and20. The front portion10is gently inclined upward to a front end, which downwardly extends back to a bottom portion in even contact with the ground. The rear portion20is inclined upward to a rear end in two steps.

More specifically, the shoe sole of the present invention is substantially the same as the conventional shoe sole in that the front end of the front portion10is gently inclined upward and extends back to the bottom portion in even contact with the ground.

Characteristic to the present invention, as shown inFIG. 4, the rear portion20is inclined backward in two steps, with a second cutout22formed on the front of the front portion and inclined at an angle of about 5 to 17°, and a first cutout21formed on the rear of the front portion and inclined at an angle of about 5 to 25°. Particularly, the rear portion20is curved upward to form a first recess30on the boundary portion between the front and rear portions10and20, and a second recess40on the boundary portion between the first and second cutouts21and22.

In the rear portion20, the first cutout21firstly touched on the ground on walking is inclined at an angle of about 5 to 25°, and the second cutout22formed in front of the first cutout21is inclined at an angle of about 5 to 17° more gently than the second cutout21.

The size of the human foot is generally dependent upon the body stature, i.e., height and weight, but front and rear portions of the foot mostly have a constant proportion. Most preferably, the front and rear portions of the shoe sole have a proportion of 63% 37% with respect to the front end of the first recess30.

In the rear portion20having a proportion of 37% in the shoe sole, the first cutout21has a proportion of 13 to 19% and the second cutout22has a proportion of 18 to 24% with respect to the front end of the second recess40, as shown inFIG. 6.

Regarding both ends of the first recess30, i.e., both lateral sides of the shoe sole, as shown inFIGS. 7 and 8, the lateral gap1between the upper and lower ends is in the range of 3 to 5 mm so that the bottom side has a width smaller than that of the topside in the first recess30.

In the present invention, the shoe sole has a height slightly different from portion to portion in consideration that the foot size is somewhat dependent upon the body stature as stated previously. Namely, as shown inFIG. 9, the vertical height on the front end of the first recess30, i.e, the sole thickness A, the height B from the ground to the rear end of the first cutout21, and the height C from the height B to the uppermost end of the rear end of the rear portion20are differently determined. For a shoe size of more than 275 mm, the vertical height A on the front end of the first recess30starting the rear portion20is about 31 mm, the height B from the ground to the rear end of the first cutout21of the rear portion20being about 27 mm, the height C from the lower end of the first cutout21to the uppermost end on the rear end of the rear portion20being about 32 mm.

For a shoe size of 260 to 270 mm, as shown inFIG. 10, the vertical height A on the front end of the first recess30starting the rear portion20is about 30 mm, the height B from the ground to the rear end of the first cutout21of the rear portion20being about 26 mm, the height C from the lower end of the first cutout21to the uppermost end on the rear end of the rear portion20being about 32 mm.

For a shoe size of 245 to 255 mm, as shown inFIG. 11, the vertical height A on the front end of the first recess30starting the rear portion20is about 29 mm, the height B from the ground to the rear end of the first cutout21of the rear portion20being about 25 mm, the height C from the lower end of the first cutout21to the uppermost end on the rear end of the rear portion20being about 35 mm.

The shoe sole for triple-time stepping according to the present invention as constructed above enables a natural triple-time stepping on walking. The mechanism of the shoes with the shoe sole of the present invention can be described as follows.

On walking with the shoes employing the shoe sole as constructed above, the first cutout21of the rear portion20is firstly landed on the ground for the first step.

Thereafter, when the center of the body is moved for a forward step, the second cutout22is landed on the ground subsequent to the first cutout21, as shown inFIG. 13.

As the center of the body is shifted from the rear portion20to the front portion10while the second cutout22is on the ground, the bottom portion of the front portion10gets in contact with the ground, as shown inFIG. 14.

As such, the load caused by the weight mostly concentrated on the rear portion20is dispersed to the first cutout21of the rear portion20and the second cutout22in sequence, and the center of the body is more shifted forward to disperse the load to the front portion10to enable a triple-time stepping and relieve transmission of the impact force caused by the weight to the vertebra.

Particularly, the dispersion of the load to the first and second cutout21and22deforms the second recess40and the first recess30in sequence to mitigate the impact force and more reduce the fatigue on the feet on walking for a long time.

Further, when standing still on the shoes with the shoe sole of the present invention, one can maintain a good posture with stability whatever portion of the shoe sole is in contact with the ground, as shown inFIG. 15.

While having a natural triple-time stepping on the shoes with the shoe sole of the present invention, the load is appropriately distributed according to the state of the shoe sole in contact with the ground to maintain a stable walking with a good posture, as shown inFIG. 16. Hence, this prevents the problem with a walking on the conventional shoes as shown inFIG. 17that the pedestrian cannot keep a good walking gait to concentrate the load on the joints and the vertebra.

The sole height is given differently depending on the size of the shoe, as shown inFIGS. 9,10and11, so as to achieve a triple-time stepping adequate to the pedestrian's body stature.

Both lateral sides of the shoe sole having the first recess30is recessed downward from the upper end to the lower end as much as a predetermined gap, as shown inFIGS. 7 and 8, in such a manner that the bottom side of the shoe sole on the boundary portion between the front and rear portions10and20has a width smaller than that of the topside. This supports a part of the foot sole inclined inwardly to keep the pedestrian from having a flat-foot walks and stimulates the flow of energy with a massage effect to promote metabolism and blood circulation.

In addition, when the landing procedure is followed from the first cutout21of the rear portion to the second cutout22and the bottom side of the front portion10while standing still on the shoes with the shoe sole of the present invention, a load caused by the weight is shifted to the hatched portion ofFIG. 18to achieve contraction and relaxation of the Achilles tendon and promote blood circulation in the arrow direction.

FIGS. 19A to 19Gshow examples of shoes using the shoe sole of the present invention.

When walking on the shoes with the shoe sole of the present invention, the first and second cutouts21and22are in close contact with the ground elastically, the pedestrian has his/her body tensed from bottom to top to keep a straight posture and maintain the vertebra straight for a good posture. Furthermore, the weight of the body can be properly dispersed during walking or exercise without a load on the joints or the waist, so a straight posture can prevent diseases such as arthritis, back pain, muscle pain, or the like.

In particular, walking on the healthful shoes according to the present invention increases amounts of oxygen inhalation, free fatty acid, and glycerol in the body to promote activation of the metabolism.

As described above, the present invention provides a shoe sole for triple-time stepping with an improved structure that the shoe sole is divided into front and rear portions10and20, the rear portion20being inclined in two steps to have first and second cutouts21and22, with a boundary portion between the front and rear portions10and20and a boundary portion between the first and second cutouts21and22being recessed upward in a predetermined depth. The improved shoe sole of the present invention remarkably mitigate a fatigue on walking, has a massage effect produced from a proper stimulation of the flow of energy to prevent flat-foot walks and promote metabolism and blood circulation, and disperses the impact force caused by the weight to prevent diseases such as arthritis, back pain, muscle pain, or the like.