Abstract:
An insole ( 20, 90, 110 ) provides for adjustable pediatric support characteristics for a user&#39;s foot. One or more pairs of stacked rotor and stator resilient elements ( 34, 36 ) are supported by the insole. Each pair of resilient elements is characterized by having a greater resiliency when the rotor is oriented along or at 90° with respect to the stator. The rotor is relatively movable with respect to the stator to effect different orientations of the paired rotor and stator and enables the blending of the respective resiliences of the pair and, thereby, for providing the adjustable pediatric support characteristics. A plurality of rotor and stator pairs enables adjustments for different parts of the foot and for differences between an individual&#39;s feet.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional applications Ser. Nos. 60/221,321 filed Jul. 28, 2000 and No. 60/253,979 filed Nov. 29, 2000. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to insoles for footwear and, more particularly, to means and methods for adjusting and varying the degree and resiliency of support for one or both feet.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art and Other Considerations  
           [0005]    The narrow part of the sole of a shoe under the instep, called the shank piece, ideally should flex to a certain degree as one walks or runs, to avoid restraining the natural functioning of the foot. Because no one foot is exactly like another, when an adjustment is required, the adjustment must be tailored to the specific foot under consideration. Such tailoring may be obtained by an existing commercially available insole or by a specially constructed insole, such as prescribed or formulated by a podiatrist or other professional. The latter construction may be expensive and, therefore, not a viable option to many. Independent adjustment for differently formed feet or different foot problems between the feet is not easily and possibly inexpensively obtainable. Regardless, any adjustment of the bending movement in one or more zones within a shoe is not easily obtainable.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    These and other problems and considerations are successfully addressed and overcome by the present invention. An insole comprises one or more internally supported pairs of stacked resilient elements. Each supporting element has at least two axes intersecting one another and is characterized by having a greater resiliency along a first of the axes than along a second of the axes. The elements are relatively movable with respect to one another to enable relative movement of their respective axes to vary the combined resiliency between the elements and, thereby to provide adjustable podiatric support characteristics in the insole.  
           [0007]    Preferably, each element is configured as a spring-like disc, with one being stationary with respect to the remainder of the insole, to thereby act as a stator, and the other being rotatable with the stator. Also preferably, the latter disc, or a rotor, is circular, so that it may be retained within circular confines in the insole and be turned, such as by a screwdriver type tool which may be inserted through an appropriate opening in the bottom of the insole so as to engage a slot formed in the rotor. The use of slots in the rotor forms a visible method of visibly determining the orientation of the rotor with respect to the stator.  
           [0008]    The spring-like disc may take such configurations as a thin spring flat leaf or a spider, and the components of the disc may also be differently formed so as to provide a uniformly or differently programmed resiliency. For example, a circular disc containing parallel strips secured within a peripheral supporting ring, provides different resiliency among the several shorter and longer strips, if the strips have the same widths; however, by tailoring the widths of the several individual strips, their resilient characteristics may be made uniform, or otherwise programmed, as desired.  
           [0009]    Several advantages are afforded by the present invention. The resilient characteristics of an insole are easily and relatively inexpensively obtained. The insole as a whole or in part may be quickly and simply tuned or tailored to the individual foot by the professional or by the individual. Tuning may be effected independently for the two feet, and in as simple a manner as by a screwdriver or like tool. Orientation of the resiliency/stiffness characteristics are made visible. The size of the adjustable elements permits use of the present invention in a wide variety of shoes, whether of a fashionable or work version, or a low or high-heel type.  
           [0010]    Reduction to some extent is possible of tendinitis or related problems due to wearing higher heel shoes by using the invention with such shoes and setting the adjustments on the very low side, as a conceivable method to allow the shanks of the legs to bend more easily, thus resulting in exercising more and reducing the tendon brittleness increase with time in wearing high heels. Due to anatomical differences of feet or legs for many people, individual right and left side shank-piece adjustment will be beneficial.  
           [0011]    A low cost, reliable and functional method is provided for a fit in a thin insole area, where no visibility for styling considerations is important.  
           [0012]    Other aims and advantages, as well as a more complete understanding of the present invention, will appear from the following explanation of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings thereof. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a first embodiment of an insole embraced by the present invention, showing interior elements thereof in phantom;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the FIG. 1 embodiment, portraying an entry way to interior elements, which are shown in phantom;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a view, in cross-section, of the first embodiment taken along line  4 - 4  of FIG. 3;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a view of an interior portion of the first embodiment taken at a first level or layer to depict a stationary resilient member or stator;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a view of an interior portion of the first embodiment taken at a second level or layer to depict a stationary resilient member or rotor;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the central section illustrated in FIG. 6 and showing a first orientation between the rotor and the stator to produce one of the many adjustably resilient stator-to-rotor combinations provided by the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is a view similar to that depicted in FIG. 7, but showing a second orientation between the rotor and the stator, in which the rotor is turned 90° with respect to that of the stator, to produce another adjustably resilient combination;  
         [0021]    FIGS.  9 - 13  illustrate, in plan and cross-sectional views, different spring configurations of the stator and/or rotor useful in carrying out the concepts of the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 14 is a second embodiment of the present invention depicting different positionings of three stator-to-rotor combinations for enabling specific adjustably resilient combination to different parts of the foot;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 15 is a view of an assembly of four spring elements oriented along parallel axes to provide a maximum stiffness or resilient characteristic to the insole, as being dependant upon whether all their parallel axes are parallelly or orthogonally disposed with respect to the underlying spring element; and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 16 is a view of the four FIG. 15 spring elements differently rotated to dispose their respective axes in a differently angled orientation thereamongst, so as to illustrate varying degrees of stiffness and resiliency for application to different parts of the foot. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]    As illustrated in FIGS.  1 - 8 , which related to a first embodiment of the present invention, an insole  20  comprises a plurality of layers, as best shown in FIG. 4, such as layers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28 , which are secured together to provide a complete unit for insertion into the shoe of and for support of an individual. Layer  26 , as the bottom layer, may comprise a soft cushion material. Layer  28 , as the top layer, may comprise a finishing layer. Layers  26  and  28  therefore form supporting outer layers for intermediate layers  22  and  24 .  
         [0026]    Intermediate layers  22  and  24  include respective openings  30  and  32  for receipt of a first and second resilient elements  34  and  36 . Together, first and second elements form a pair of stacked first and second resilient elements which are supported by a supporting medium comprising at least layers  22  and  24 . For the embodiment illustrated in FIGS.  1 - 8 , resilient element  36  is fixed with respect to the supporting medium of layers  22  and  24 , and may be referred to as a stator. Stator element  36  is configured to have axes  36   x  and  36   y  disposed normally with respect to one another. Resilient element  34 , however, is disposed to be moveable, in particular rotatable, within opening  30  and, therefore, with respect to the supporting medium. Accordingly, resilient element  34  may be referred to as a rotor. Rotor element  34  is configured to have axes  34   x  and  34   y  disposed normally to one another.  
         [0027]    To enable turning of rotor  34 , a slot  38  (see FIGS.  2 - 4  and  6 - 8 ) is formed at its center, and an opening  40  is provided in bottom layer  26  to afford access to slot  38 . As illustrated in FIG. 4, a screwdriver  42  or like tool, having a tip  44  which is shaped similarly to that of the slot, is insertable through opening  40  and, therefore, can engage the slot and turn resilient rotor element  34 . Slot  38  also provides a visible indicator as to the orientation of rotor element  34  with respect to fixed stator  36 . The assembly is so enclosed that it is made water tight, with the only exposed surfaces being the slot and immediately adjacent rotor area; preferably, a rubber washer and/or other protection is placed over and/or around the slot and its area during assembly of the insole. The assembly may also contain suitable thin gasket or washer layers which can flex while providing an effective seal against entry of moisture or other liquid.  
         [0028]    Should it be found that any movement between the elements tend to be too tight, a Teflon, silicone, or similar coating may be inserted or otherwise employed. If. However, there is too mush slippage, a thin rubber washer or suitable material can be used.  
         [0029]    As best depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8, resilient rotor element  34  is shown as comprising a circular thin disc formed, for example, of spring steel, stainless, or any other suitable material. Stator element  36  may take any configuration, and is depicted as a rectangular thin sheet, also formed, for example, of spring steel, stainless, or any other suitable material. The combined rotor and stator elements may have a total thickness of approximately 0.06″ to 0.1″ which will fill within the thickness range of typical suitable shanks of insole  20  of approximately 0.15″ to 0.3″ thick.  
         [0030]    The rotor element includes a closed periphery  46  having open spaces  48  therein which form a link  50  connecting opposed sides of the periphery. As depicted, link  50  lies on axis  34   x  and, because of the existence of the link and the absence of any connection dissected by axis  34   y,  rotor element  34  is more resilient about axis  34   y  than about axis  34   x.    
         [0031]    Stator element  36  comprises a single thin spring flat leaf which cannot move but can spring to some degree, up and down, as one walks or runs due to the change in alternately placing all the body weight on the heel and toes of the foot as they cause the shoe to meet the ground.  
         [0032]    When the rotor and stator elements are aligned so that their respective axes  34   y  and  36   x  are aligned, as shown in FIG. 7, the combined resiliency due to this orientation, is the greatest. When the rotor and stator elements are aligned so that their respective axes  34   x  and  36   x  are aligned, as shown in FIG. 8, the combined resiliency due to this orientation, is the least.  
         [0033]    Both the stator and the rotor, in particular the rotor, may be configured as depicted in FIGS.  9 - 13 . Rotor element  60  of FIGS. 9 and 10 is configured as a disc and comprises an annular periphery  62  and a plurality of leaves  64  of uniform widths, formed by slitting the material from which the rotor disc is fabricated. A slot  68  is formed in the center leaf to enable turning of the rotor with respect to the stator. Because the lengths of the leaves are not equal, the resiliency characteristics of this rotor disc vary across its diameter. Should such resiliency characteristics be desired to be uniform or otherwise programmed, a rotor disc  70 , as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 may be employed, having a periphery  72  supporting a plurality of leaves  74  whose widths vary according to the program. Leaves  74  are formed by slits  76 . As in the case of the prior rotor, a slot  78  is placed in the centrally located leaf. Other rotor element configurations may be employed, as desired. An example thereof is depicted in FIG. 13, in which a rotor  80  comprises a periphery  82  and a spider-like plurality of leaves  84  supported on a central hub  86 , in which a turn-effecting slot  88  is located.  
         [0034]    Reference is now made to FIG. 14 which depicts an insole  90  housing three spring elements  92 ,  94  and  96  in its insole shank  98 , in which each in combination with its mating portion of the stator, or three individual stators if desired, to provide three pairs of stacked first and second resilient elements supported by insole  90  as the supporting medium. The stacked pairs including spring elements  92 ,  94  and  96  are respectively positioned to form adjustments for the respective medial side, center and outside of the shank. Each spring element is provided with its slot, generally identified by indicium  100 , for individual adjustment of the respective paired rotor-stator elements by proper individual orientation thereof. This embodiment is useful, for example, to advantage for a two or three adjustment of the shank is for toeing the shoes in or out and, therefore, it will be possible to adjust and correct for related abnormal foot conditions.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate a further embodiment of an insole  110  depicting an assembly of four spring element pairs in which the rotor resilient spring elements of each are shown, comprising an element  112  and its parallelly disposed leaves  114 , an element  116  and its parallelly disposed leaves  118 , an element  120  and its parallelly disposed leaves  122  and an element  124  and its parallelly disposed leaves  126 . Each rotor spring element is paired with its stator element which may be a portion of a leaf spring, such as leaf spring  36  of FIGS.  1 - 8 , or an individual piece. Slots, as generally identified by indicium  128 , are engageable with a tool, such as the tip of a screwdriver, for turning the individual rotor elements into an orientation to provide a desired degree of resiliency or stiffness.  
         [0036]    The orientations of the four elements  112 ,  116 ,  120  and  124  along their parallel axes provide maximum stiffness or resilient characteristics to the insole, as being dependant upon whether all their parallel axes are parallelly or orthogonally disposed with respect to the underlying spring element. For the toe and heel portions of insole  110  extending in the direction of double-headed arrow line  130 , the orientations of these four elements produce a maximum stiffness in the insole. If they were rotated 90° with respect to that shown in FIG. 15, these orientations would produce maximum resiliency in the insole.  
         [0037]    When the four rotor elements of FIG. 15 are turned to those depicted in FIG. 16, the four spring elements provide different spring characteristics. Specifically, element  112  provides about a 70% stiffness direction to the left, element  116  provides a minimum stiff direction, element  120  provides a maximum stiffness direction, and element  124  provides about a 70% stiffness direction toward the right.  
         [0038]    The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16 can be used to provide the benefits of protection from excessive shock to the heel and forefoot sections of the feet for walking, running and engagement in active sports.  
         [0039]    The quadrature preferred arrangement can be made to be about a 1½″ to 3″ square assembly with a total thickness of approximately 0.063″ to 0.2″ for typical shank embedment. The four adjustment slots can be located on the bottom of the shank or on the bottom inside of the shoe or other footwear. It is evident that the four zones will be able to achieve variations in flexibility. Discrete effects on supination, pronation and other variations in support of arches, and other areas of the feet is made possible with the present invention. By varying the spring temper and material used for the spring plates, additional choices of lighter to heavier duty models can be made.  
         [0040]    The present invention may use a shorter or a full length metal insole, which is shaped flat, thin, or have a spring-back. The insole may rest on the upper inside of the shoe, and be removable and re-insertable for adjustable angle positioning. There can be several areas of location such as one or more discs in the medial arch area and in the metatarsal areas. Various pads, attachments and the like can be placed over this spring-back insole to provide soft adjustable cushioning as well as a flat spring-back, and with adjustable intensity and variable direction of lateral forces. Attachment of pads may be effected by hook and loop attachment systems, and connected to provide lateral stability. The metal flat plates can be made of thicker or thinner sheet materials to provide heavier or lighter zones of plantar support and spring-back action. The areas can have plates of stiffer materials or more dead soft temper materials. The materials can be spring steel, beryllium copper or a host of other materials, such as fiberglass or carbon fibre. The flat discs can be smaller or larger in diameter to suit specific plantar aspect areas. Thus, the present inventive enhanced design affords a totally adjustable spring-back and shock absorber insole which can be used for virtually any type of footwear.  
         [0041]    The spring-back section can be made relatively thin and, together with the cushioning section, can total from 0.1″ for standard use to about 0.25″ for heavy duty work or athletic use. For improved visibility of the round disc with serrated variable and directional areas, the spring-back assembly can have a bottom layer about 0.004″ thick. The discs are about 0.01″ thick and the top layer is a clear sheet of approximately 0.006″ polypropylene or other suitable material, with the bottom layer laminated with about a 0.0005″ layer of polypropylene or other suitable material. The holes in the center sheet can be loaded with the discs and the upper clear plastic sheet can be permanently bonded to the thin 0.0005″ plastic layer on the lower sheet. The result can be a thin, approximately 0.0006″+0.0005″+0.004″ or 0.015″ typical thickness. These dimensions can be reduced to total 0.01″ and provide a thin, rugged, flat, flexible, and adjustable, unique plantar aspect, protective foot exerciser and comfort device.  
         [0042]    The metal plates can provide a cooling effect as they can conduct heat away from the warm heat generating areas.  
         [0043]    Although the invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, it should be realized that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.