Patent Publication Number: US-8533980-B2

Title: Map for footwear

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to footwear for training, developing and enhancing proprioceptive and kinesthetic skills and neuromuscular control, and particularly to a map formed on a sole of footwear. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Proprioception refers to the ability to know where a body part is located in space and to recognize movements of body parts (such as fingers and toes, feet and hands, legs and arms). Kinesthesia is a related term, and refers to the sensation by which position, weight, muscle tension and movement are perceived. In some of the medical literature, proprioception refers to the conscious and unconscious appreciation of joint position, while kinesthesia refers to the sensation of joint velocity and acceleration. Proprioception is often used interchangeably with kinesthesia, and herein as well, the terms will be used interchangeably. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,287 to Elbaz and Mor describes novel proprioceptive and kinesthetic exercise apparatus, which provides significant advantages over other prior art apparatus, such as tilt boards or shoes with a single protrusion. The apparatus includes two bulbous protrusions protruding from the underside of footwear, instead of the single ball of the prior art boards and shoes. One of the protuberances is positioned more posteriorly than the other protuberance. The extra protrusion may significantly increase the possibilities and enable walking, and accelerate and improve the results of proprioceptive and kinesthetic treatment plans. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention seeks to provide further features to U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,287, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. As is described more in detail hereinbelow, in the present invention improved mounting provisions are provided for the proprioceptive (biomechanical) elements that includes a map for unique and easy mounting of the elements on the footwear. 
     There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a footwear assembly including footwear including a sole and a map formed on the sole, and at least one proprioceptive element mountable on the sole, the map and the at least one proprioceptive element each including markings, wherein an alignment of the markings of the at least one proprioceptive element with the markings of the map uniquely defines an orientation and position of the at least one proprioceptive element with respect to the sole. Typically, the footwear assembly includes a pair of such proprioceptive elements, one positioned more posteriorly than the other. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the markings of the map include an orderly set of hexagons, and each hexagon is sub-divided into six triangles. Each hexagon may be marked with a number and each triangle of the hexagon may be numbered (but not necessarily marked). 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the markings of the proprioceptive element include four markings spaced 90° apart. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a simplified pictorial illustration of footwear having a map for unique orientation of a proprioceptive element mounted thereto, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a simplified pictorial illustration of a first proprioceptive element mounted on the footwear of  FIG. 1 , showing the first position code that defines the orientation of the first proprioceptive element mounted on the footwear; and 
         FIG. 3  is a simplified pictorial illustration of a second proprioceptive element mounted on the footwear of  FIG. 1 , showing the second position code that defines the orientation of the second proprioceptive element mounted on the footwear. 
         FIG. 4  is a simplified pictorial illustration of a cross sectional view of footwear including a sole and representative proprioceptive elements protruding from the sole. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     As mentioned above, U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,287 describes novel proprioceptive and kinesthetic exercise apparatus, which includes two bulbous protrusions protruding from the underside of footwear. One of the protuberances is positioned more posteriorly than the other protuberance. These bulbous protrusions are also referred to as proprioceptive elements. 
     Footwear  10  preferably comprises a support member having a periphery in a shape of a shoe sole with an upper surface  44 . In the illustrated embodiment, the upper surface  44  is indented with a peripheral ridge, but it is appreciated that other configurations of upper surface  44  are within the scope of the invention. Footwear  10  may be attached to a foot of a user (not shown) by means of a boot  48  and/or fasteners  50 , such as but not limited to, VELCRO straps, buckles, shoe laces, and the like. Boot  48  may be fashioned for attachment to the user&#39;s foot with or without fasteners  50 . Similarly, fasteners  50  may be used to attach footwear to the user&#39;s foot without boot  48 . 
     Two bulbous protuberances  52  may protrude from a lower surface  54  of support member  42 . Each protuberance  52  may have a curved outer contour  56 . The cross-section of the contour  56 , that is, either the cross-section taken with respect to a longitudinal axis  58  ( FIG. 6 ) of support member  42  (corresponding to the shape seen in  FIG. 6 ) or the cross-section taken with respect to a latitudinal axis  60  ( FIG. 6 ) of support member  42  (corresponding to the shape seen in  FIG. 5 ), or any other cross-section, may have any curvilinear shape. For example, the contours  56  may have the shape of a conic section, that is, the shape of a circle, ellipse, parabola or hyperbola. The various cross-sections of the contours  56  of protuberance  52  may be shaped identically or differently. 
     As seen clearly in  FIG. 4 , one protuberance  52  may be positioned more posteriorly than the other protuberance  52 . As seen in  FIG. 6 , the protuberances may be positioned on a common longitudinal axis of support member  42 , such_as the centerline  58  of support member  42 , and on opposite sides of the latitudinal midline  60 . As seen in  FIG. 4 , the rearward protuberance  52  may be positioned generally underneath a calcaneus (heel, ankle) support portion  53  of support member  42 , while the forward protuberance  52  may be positioned generally underneath a metatarsals support portion  55  and/or phalanges support portion  57  of support member  42 . 
     Alternatively, as indicated by broken lines  63  in  FIG. 6 , one of the protuberances  52  (e.g., the forward one) may be aligned on a longitudinal axis  64  offset from centerline  58 , and the rearward protuberance  52  may be positioned offset from axis  64 , such as on the centerline  58 . It is appreciated that the above are just some examples of positioning the protuberances  52 , and many other possibilities exist within the scope of the invention. 
     The protuberances  52  may be constructed of any suitable material, such as but not limited to, elastomers or metal or a combination of materials, and may have different properties. For example, the protuberances may have different resilience or hardness, such as having different elasticity properties or Shore hardness. The protuberances  52  may protrude by different amounts from the lower surface  54  of support member  42 . 
     Reference is now made to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , which illustrate footwear  10  having a map  12  for unique orientation of a first proprioceptive element  14  mounted thereto, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     The footwear  10  has a sole  16  upon which map  12  is formed. Map  12  may be formed in a variety of manners, such as but not limited to, by printing, stamping, embossing on sole  16 , or may be injection molded together with the sole  16 . Map  12  comprises markings and first proprioceptive element  14  comprises markings. When the markings of first proprioceptive element  14  are aligned with the markings of sole map  12 , the orientation and position of first proprioceptive element  14  with respect to the sole  16  is uniquely defined. 
     The map markings may include an orderly set of coordinates (e.g., Cartesian, polar and others). In the non-limiting illustrated embodiment, the map markings comprise an orderly set of hexagons, each hexagon being sub-divided into six triangles. Each hexagon is marked with a number (such as from  1 - 69 ) and each triangle of the hexagon is numbered (but the triangles are not necessarily marked with the numbers), such as from  1 - 6 , triangle number  1  being at an upper right portion of the hexagon, triangle number  2  being at a right portion of the hexagon, triangle number  3  being at a lower right portion of the hexagon, triangle number  4  being at a lower left portion of the hexagon, triangle number  5  being at a left portion of the hexagon, and triangle number  6  being at an upper left portion of the hexagon. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, one or more protuberances  52  may be slidingly mounted on support member  42 . For example, protuberance  52  may be mounted on a track  66  ( FIG. 4 ) formed in the lower surface  54  of support member  42 , and may be selectively positioned anywhere along the track and fastened thereto. Track  66  may extend along a portion of the shoe sole or all along the length of the shoe sole. Alternatively or additionally, the amount of protrusion of protuberance  52  may be adjusted, such as by mounting protuberance  52  with a threaded fastener  68  ( FIG. 5 ) to support member  42  and tightening or releasing threaded fastener  68 . 
     As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,287, the proprioceptive element is movably mounted along a track  18  formed in the bottom of sole  16 . In the present application, first proprioceptive element  14 , as seen in  FIG. 2 , comprises markings such as A, B, C and D, spaced 90° apart. First proprioceptive element  14  is secured to track  18  (by a mechanical fastener, such as a screw, not shown). The A marking is aligned with triangle number  4  of hexagon number  5  and the C marking is aligned with triangle number  6  of hexagon number  55 . This uniquely defines the orientation and position of first proprioceptive element  14  with respect to sole  16 . Since the footwear shown in  FIGS. 1-3  is the left shoe, the first position code that defines the orientation of the first proprioceptive element  14  mounted on the footwear  10  is LFA 5 . 4 /C 55 . 6 . L stands for “left shoe”, F stands for the front (first) proprioceptive element, A is the A marking of first proprioceptive element  14 ,  5 . 4  stands for hexagon  5 , triangle  4 , C is the C marking of first proprioceptive element  14 , and  55 . 6  stands for hexagon  55 , triangle  6 . 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 3 , which illustrates a second proprioceptive element  20  mounted on footwear  10 . In this example, the second position code that defines the orientation of second proprioceptive element  20  is LRA 8 . 3 /C 42 . 6 . L stands for “left shoe”, R stands for the rear (second) proprioceptive element, A is the A marking of second proprioceptive element  20 ,  8 . 3  stands for hexagon  8 , triangle  3 , C is the C marking of second proprioceptive element  20 , and  42 . 6  stands for hexagon  42 , triangle  6 . 
     The complete position code for this exemplary, non-limiting shoe is thus LFA 5 . 4 /C 55 . 6  LRA 8 . 3 /C 42 . 6 . 
     Other polygons, shapes and sub-divisions can be used for the map. 
     It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art.