IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A SHOE, ESPECIALLY A WALKING SHOE

Abstract: The invention relates to improvements in a shoe, particularly a walking shoe with a sole structure (1) including an outer sole (2) with an anti-slip tread pattern (3), an intermediate sole (4) which insulates against cold and is shock absorbent, as well as an optional, loose, inner sole placeable against the intermediate sole. The outer sole is built up internally with at least one stabilizing pad (5) for obviating inversion, eversion and pronation, and has an extension with a specially shaped configuration over at least the inward portion of the foot arch portion (10) and the major portion of the shoe heel portion (7).

Description: Improvements in or relating to a shoe, especially a walking shoe The inventive improvements presented here relate to a shoe, particularly a rambling or walking shoe having a sole structure including an outer sole with an anti- slip tread pattern, an intermediate sole for shock absorption and insulation against cold, and an op¬ tional, removable, inner sole for placing against the intermediate sole. On the market today there are a number of different shoe types, which are suited to different fields of use and implemented such that, to a great extent, they obviate incorrect foot attitudes. This has been carried furthest for running shoes, but for walking shoes there is still much to be desired with regard to convenience and sufficient support, as well as prevention of dis¬ comfort and injury to the user. The incorrect foot attitudes that can occur are supination (toeing-in, i.e. twisting the forepart of a foot so that its sole tends to face inwards), pronation (toeing-out, i.e. the sole tends to face outwards) , inversion (inward twist¬ ing of the heel) and eversion (outward twisting of the heel) . Movements of the heel and foot forepart are thus executed about completely different axes, of which the foot has four. This signifies that a person who, for example, tends to twist the heel inwardly, may either pronate, supinate or be neutral in the foot forepart. Similarly, a person who is neutral in the heel can either pronate or supinate. This of course requires individual correction of both heel and foot forepart if an incorrect foot attitude is to be obviated. An extensive, armed forces study shows that about 75% of those tested had proneration, about 10% had supina¬ tion and about 15% were neutral. Incorrect foot atti- tudes lead, inter alia, to problems with knee joints, heel tendons, periosta and back anomalies. It is thus of the greatest importance that foot attitude is corr¬ ect in the use of walking shoes, where a person may perhaps carry 15-25 kg during a week's walking tour. At present there is no walking shoe on the market that provides for all the mentioned foot attitude devia¬ tions, although there is a profusion of models that, to a varying degree, cater for different areas of these deviations. The object of the invention presented here is to ach¬ ieve improvements in shoes, particularly walking shoes of the type mentioned in the introduction, where the disadvantages in walking mentioned above have been fully addressed. The distinguishing features of the invention are disclosed in the accompanying claims. As a result of the invention, there have now been achieved improvements in a shoe, that excellently fulfil their purpose, while also being simple and cheap to implement. The inventive shoe is laterally stable, and twists neither outwardly nor inwardly, due to a stabilizing pad built up internally in the outer sole. This pad corrects inversion, eversion and pronation. In addition, the sole is completely stable laterally, since its outer tread pattern is some millimeters prouder than the inner along the length thereof. The sole has an anti-slip tread pattern with at least one flexing groove in the region of the big toe portion of the shoe, together with the toe portion of it having an upward curvature, thus obtaining an anatomically corr¬ ect shoe function, which permits the foot to flex naturally. The good anti-slip pattern of the shoe tread is also implemented such as to prevent the accumulation of dirt, while a bevel at its heel portion affords a softer heel set-down, although it is laterally stable and does not roll. The sole has also been provided with a stiffness that is well balanced, and to advantage for its shock-absorbing ability, this stiffness not being sufficient to cause muscle damage in the shin area of the leg. The inner sole is loose and has a rough text¬ ure, which enables a good grip while restraining the foot from any tendency to glide in the shoe. The loose inner sole also affords the possibility of more pre¬ cisely correcting any remaining wrong foot attitudes by the insertion of loose wedges for the foot forepart and/or shock-absorbing heel wedges, these wedges being made of a material having a well balanced density. The height of these wedges may be adjusted, since there are perforations along their edge portions allowing the thickest part of the respective wedge to be torn off, thus to achieve desired correction of the remaining wrong foot attitudes. The invention will now be described in more detail with the aid of preferred embodiment examples of the respec¬ tive improvements and with reference to the accompany¬ ing drawings where: Fig. 1 illustrates a sole structure for a shoe in accordance with the present invention, as seen from its right side in relation to the body. Fig. 2 is a plan view from above of the structure in Fig. 1, without an inner sole, and showing the extent of the stabilizing pad. Fig. 3 illustrates the structure of Fig. 1, as seen from its left side in relation to the body, Fig. 4 is a plan view from below of the structure in Figs. 1-3 and Figs. 5-7 are plan views of a foot forepart wedge and two heel wedges intended to more precisely obviate, in combination with the inner sole, any remaining wrong foot attitudes. As will be seen from Figs. 1-4, in preferred embodi¬ ments of the invention, a shoe, particularly a walking shoe, has a sole structure 1 including an outer sole 2 with anti-slip tread pattern 3 and an intermediate, shock-absorbing, cold-insulating sole 4. The shoe may also accommodate a loose inner sole (unillustrated on the drawings) placed on top of the intermediate sole. The outer sole 2 is preferably made from rubber and has a good anti-slip pattern 3 for its tread, which does not collect dirt. An intermediate sole 4 arranged on it is intended for insulation against cold and is prefer¬ ably made from polyurethane of the proper hardness for obtaining well balanced shock absorption, there being under this sole 4 at least one stabilizing pad 5 built into the outer sole for correcting pronation, inversion and eversion. The pad 5 has a configuration such that it extends along the inside 6 of the outer sole 2, i.e. between outer sole 2 and intermediate sole 4, substan¬ tially to cover the entire width of the sole structure heel portion 7, excepting a small circle segment 8 at its outer portion 9 , which is intended to meet a sub¬ structure first as the shoe is used. The pad subse¬ quently continues forward over the foot arch portion 10 of the sole 2 to the termination 11 of this portion at the toe portion 18 of the sole 2 , and such that it is delimited laterally in relation to the remaining sole portion 13 by a boundary line 14, which extends from the termination 11 to termination 15 immediately for¬ ward of heel portion 7, the line 14 extending in an S- shape between these two terminations with its middle section extending superposed on the centre line of the sole. Extra stabilizing pads 5 may be used if this is found to be necessary. These pads are denoted by dashed lines in Fig. 2, and are placed in front, or to the rear, of a flexing groove 16 in the tread of the sole 2. The thickness of pad 5 may vary along its length and width, and also as a result of the material properties used for it. If some form of plastics is used, its thickness will preferably vary between 0,5 and 5,0 mm. The sole 2 has been made completely stable by its outer tread protuberances being made about 2 mm proud of the inner ones all the way round, thus giving the outer sole 2 a concave appearance in cross-section. As will be more clearly seen from Fig. 4, to facilitate natural flexing of the foot the sole 2 has a tread pattern for the foot forepart that includes at least one flexing groove 16, which extends arcuately with its convexity 17 facing towards the toe portion 18 of the sole. In addition, this portion 18 has an upward curva¬ ture or rise of between 10 and 20 mm, which is benefi- cial to the user's toe joints, as well as making the shoe more easy to walk with. The loose inner sole may be combined with a foot fore¬ part wedge 19 and/or a heel wedge 20, these being depicted in Figs. 5-7 and made from shock-absorbing material of a density well balanced for withstanding pressure, and are intended for more precise obviation of any remaining wrong foot attitudes. Since the wedges 19, 20 are provided along their thick edge portions with perforations 21-23, their major thickness may be adjusted for further correction by tearing off the thickest portion along the respective perforations 21- 23. In summary, it may be added that a walking shoe, in¬ cluding a sole structure in accordance with the present invention, appears to be the first on the market that has been built up from start using the latest orthope¬ dic technology, resulting in a shoe which is light and stable, configurated to allow a comfortable and natural step, built up such as to substantially obviate in¬ correct foot attitudes, and is also provided with detail solutions and material selections for countering the effects of water, cold and rough terrain.

Claims: Claims 1. Improvement in a shoe, particularly a walking shoe, having a sole structure (1) including an outer sole (2) with an anti-slip tread pattern (3), an inter¬ mediate sole (4) for shock absorption and insulation against cold, and an optional, removable inner sole for placing against the intermediate sole, characterized in that the outer sole (2) is internally built up with at least one stabilizing pad (5) for obviating inversion, eversion and pronation, said pad having an extent along the inside (6) of the outer sole (2) such as substanti¬ ally to cover the entire width of the shoe heel portion (1) , excepting a small circle in segment (8) thereof above the outer portion (9) of the heel portion (7) , the outer portion (9) being intended to meet a sub¬ structure first as the shoe is used, said extension of said pad from the heel portion (7) continuing forward along the foot arch portion (10) of the outer sole (2) and at least up to the termination (11) of said pad in the area of the portion (10) before the big toe portion (12) of the outer sole (2) , said extension of said pad being delimited against the remaining portion (13) by a boundary line (14) extending from the termination (11) or from the outer sole toe portion (18) and sloping backward such as to terminate at the opposing outer portion (15) of the outer sole (2) immediately rearward the heel portion (7) . 2. Improvement as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the boundary line (14) has an S-shaped exten¬ sion, the middle portion of which is superposed on the centre line of the outer sole (2) . 3. Improvement as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the outer sole (2) includes a front and a rear stabilizing pad (5) . 4. Improvement as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the outer sole (2) has a concave shape in cross-section. 5. Improvement as claimed in claim l, characterized in that at its big toe portion (12) the outer sole (2) has in the tread pattern (3) at least one flexing groove (16) , extending arcuately over the entire width of the sole (2) with its convexity (17) facing towards the toe portion (18) of the sole (2) . 6. Improvement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the toe portion (18) of the sole (2) has an upward curvature. 7. Improvement to an inner sole as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the removable inner sole may be combined with a wedge (19) for the foot forepart and/or a wedge (20) for the foot heel, the wedges being made from shock-absorbent material of an density balan¬ ced for withstanding pressure for more precise obvia- tion of wrong foot attitudes. 8. Improvement as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the wedges (19, 20) have perforations (21-23) extending along their edge portions and juxtaposed different correction heights, by which perforations the wedges (19, 20) are adjustable to the correction re¬ quirement in question by tearing off a portion thereof along said perforations.

Inventors: BERGSTROEM EJE, HOEGLUND LARS, BERGSTROEM, EJE, HOEGLUND, LARS
Applicants: BERGSTROEM EJE, HAGLOEFS SCANDINAVIA AB, HOEGLUND LARS, BERGSTROEM, EJE, HOEGLUND, LARS
Application year: 1996
Main classification: A43B13
IPC codes: A43B7, A43B13, A43B17