Patent Publication Number: US-2018042335-A1

Title: Front cushion pad

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority from Taiwanese Application Serial No. 105125670, titled “Front Cushion Pad,” filed on Aug. 11, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a shoe liner, in particular, it is a front cushion pad placed in shoes. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     For modern people, wearing shoes can not only prevent foot damage caused by direct contact between feet and gravel on the ground, but the shoes can also become a personal decoration for various occasions. In order to be appropriate for a variety of different occasions and activities, people have many different types of shoes, such as slippers, sandals, dressing shoes, jogging shoes, casual shoes, rain boots, high-heeled shoes, etc. Among the foregoing types of shoes, the high-heeled shoe features a lower front side and a high rear side, which is able to make a wearer appear taller and with a more appreciable stature proportion, in other words high-heeled shoes can make a person&#39;s body shape look better; accordingly, high-heeled shoes are very popular with women. 
     Although high-heeled shoes can enhance a woman&#39;s beauty, they actually also bring in certain pains to the woman. Wearing high-heeled shoes is like walking on tiptoe, which moves the body&#39;s center of gravity forward. As a result, the foot metatarsal must bear most of the body weight, which may lead to metatarsalgia or even inflammation. In addition, since the wearer&#39;s toes keep pushing forward, a few health issues may be generated accordingly, such as hallux valgus, broken skin, callouses formation, etc. 
     In order to solve the troubles resulting from wearing high-heeled shoes, some inventions have been made. For example, the Republic of China (Taiwan) utility model patent M503122 has disclosed a bottom structure for high-heeled shoes. By way of enhancing the cushion layer at shoe bottom and improving shoe&#39;s flexibility, it is able to make a woman who wears such high-heeled shoes feel more comfortable. However, the bottom structure will increase the overall thickness of the shoe bottom, which will certainly decrease the room inside the shoes. Accordingly, it makes the shoes more packed. In addition, it still cannot solve the problem of toes slipping forward. Furthermore, when using the foregoing shoe bottom structure in high-heeled shoes, because different high-heeled shoes have different shapes, the bottom structure cannot match different types of high-heeled shoes. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One major aim of the present invention is to provide a front cushion pad for high-heeled shoes, which, when used in high-heeled shoes, is able to reduce the pressure on the front of the foot and effectively prevent the foot from slipping forward. 
     In order to achieve the aim mentioned above, the present invention provides a front cushion pad that has flexibility. The front cushion pad comprises a buffering portion, a stop portion and a groove. The buffering portion is protrudingly disposed on the front cushion pad; the stop portion is protrudingly disposed on the front cushion pad and adjacent to the buffering portion; and the groove is disposed between the stop portion and the buffering portion. 
     Preferably, each of the buffering portion and the stop portion has an air pad, and said air pads are disposed within the buffering portion and the stop portion, respectively. More preferably, the front cushion pad further comprises a connection path. The connection path is disposed in the groove, and the connection path communicates the air pad within the buffering portion with the air pad within the stop portion. 
     Preferably, the front cushion pad further comprises a recess, which has been disposed on one side of the stop portion, which is opposing the buffering portion. 
     Preferably, the front cushion pad is made from a material of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomer. 
     For the front cushion pad provided in the present invention, its external shape corresponds to the ball of the foot located between the metatarsal and phalanges of the human foot. The stop portion of the front cushion pad corresponds to the phalanges of the human foot and closely supports the joints of the toes of a high-heeled shoe wearer, which can help to reduce the pressure and discomfort resulting from wearing high heeled shoes. In addition, due to its existence, the toes of a person wearing high-heeled shoes are prevented from slipping forward due to the moving forward of the center of gravity. Moreover, the front cushion pad provided in the present invention is flexible, which allows the groove to bend. Accordingly, the front cushion pad can closely support the front of a foot, as well as provide sufficient room for the foot of a person wearing high-heeled shoes. Furthermore, the air pad within the buffering portion and the air pad within the stop portion act to buffer the interaction with the ground or with the shoe bottom. Therefore, the present invention provides a front cushion pad that is able to buffer front foot pressure and effectively prevent toes from slipping forward. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying figures where: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective external view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective external view of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of one state of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention when it is in use. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of another state of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention when it is in use. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Description of element symbols: 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 10 
                 front cushion pad 
                 11 
                 buffering portion 
               
               
                 111 
                 air pad 
                 12 
                 stop portion 
               
               
                 121 
                 air pad 
                 13 
                 groove 
               
               
                 14 
                 connection path 
                 15 
                 recess 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In reference to  FIG. 1 , the front cushion pad  10  of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention has flexibility. The front cushion pad  10  comprises a buffering portion  11 , a stop portion  12  and a groove  13 . The buffering portion  11  is protrudingly disposed on the front cushion pad  10 , in addition, the external shape of the buffering portion  11  corresponds to the ball of the foot, located between the metatarsal and phalanges of the human foot; the stop portion  12  is protrudingly disposed on the front cushion pad  10  and adjacent to the buffering portion  11 , the stop portion  12  is in a crescent shape and corresponds to the phalanges of a human foot; and the groove  13  is disposed between the buffering portion  11  and the stop portion  12 . In the specific state of implementation, the front cushion pad  10  is made from a material of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomer. 
     In reference to  FIG. 2 , the second preferred embodiment of the front cushion pad  10  of the present invention is similar to the first preferred embodiment described above. In addition, the buffering portion  11  and the stop portion  12  comprise the air pad  111  and air pad  121 , respectively, the air pad  111  and the air pad  121  being respectively disposed within the buffering portion  11  and the stop portion  12 . More specifically, the front cushion pad  10  further comprises a connection path  14  and a recess  15 ; the connection path  14  is disposed in the groove  13 , the air pad  111  of the buffering portion  11  communicates to the air pad  121  of the stop portion  12  by way of the connection path  14 ; in addition, the recess  15  has been disposed on one side of the stop portion  12 , which is opposing the buffering portion  11 , and the recess corresponds to the position of the big toe joint of a human foot. In the specific state of implementation, the front cushion pad  10  is made through a high frequency press-molding approach. 
     In reference to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the front cushion pad  10  of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention is placed at a location that corresponds to the front side of foot. During use of the high-heeled shoes with the front cushion pad  10  of the present invention, the air pad  111  within the buffering portion  11  is able to reduce the pressure on foot metatarsal, and the stop portion  12  closely supports the joints of the toes, which helps to prevent toes from slipping forward due to the leaning forward of the center of gravity. In addition, the groove  13  can bend because the front cushion pad  10  has flexibility, which helps to provide sufficient room for foot when a person wearing high-heeled shoes. In another state of implementation of the present invention, the front cushion pad  10  may be disposed on an insole, within an insole or below an insole. 
     The above descriptions are just a few preferred examples of the present invention, rather than limitations to the scope of the present invention in any way. Without departing from the technical scope of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art may make any equivalent embodiments with local change or modification based on the technical contents disclosed in the present invention, which should be within the scope of the present invention as well.