Cuboid pad

Abstract

A human shoe sole has foot supporting upper surface including a first region for supporting the first, second, third, fourth and optionally fifth metatarsal heads of the foot of the wearer when the human shoe sole is worn; a second region for supporting the wearer's heel when the shoe sole is worn; and a section bridging the first section and the second section. The shoe sole includes a cuboid pad immediately forward the second section configured to underlie essentially the central interior region of the cuboid bone of the wearer, The cuboid pad includes an obliquely running groove or notch on a superior surface of the cuboid pad arranged to align with the location of the peroneus longus tendon of the wearer.

Claims

1. A human shoe sole having foot supporting upper surface including a first region for supporting the first, second, third, fourth and optionally fifth metatarsal heads of a foot of a wearer when the human shoe sole is worn; a second region for supporting the wearer's heel when the shoe sole is worn; and a section bridging the first section and the second section, wherein the shoe sole includes a cuboid pad immediately forward the second section configured to underlie essentially the central interior region of the cuboid bone of the wearer, wherein the cuboid pad includes an obliquely running groove or notch on a superior surface of the cuboid pad arranged to align with the location of the peroneus longus tendon of the wearer.

2. The human shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the groove or notch on the superior surface of the cuboid pad is in the form of a flattened cylindrically shaped groove or notch.

3. The human shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the groove or notch on the superior surface of the cuboid pad runs at about 50° to an imaginary line bisecting the human shoe sole, and oriented laterally to medially of the shoe sole.

4. The human shoe sole of claim 1, formed as an integral structural element of a shoe or boot.

5. The human shoe sole of claim 1, formed as an insole of a shoe or boot.

6. The human shoe sole of claim 1, formed as a separate removable element of a shoe or boot product.

7. The human shoe sole of claim 1, formed as a sock liner or removable insole for a shoe or boot.

8. The human shoe sole of claim 1, formed as an aftermarket insole for a shoe or boot.

9. The human shoe sole of claim 1, formed as a custom or prefabricated foot orthotic.

10. The human shoe sole of claim 1, formed directly into the foot supporting surface of a shoe or boot.

11. The human shoe sole of claim 10, wherein the shoe comprises a sandal, a flip-flop or a molded footwear product.

12. The human shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the cuboid pad is 1-2 mm at its highest point.

13. The human shoe sole of claim 1, wherein the cuboid pad groove or notch is about 1 mm deep measured from a high point on the cuboid pad.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will be seen form the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a side view and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the bones of a human foot; in which the cuboid bone is highlighted and the peroneus longus tendon is shown.

(3) FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a footwear sole incorporating a notched cuboid pad in accordance with present disclosure;

(4) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the footwear pad of FIG. 3; and

(5) FIG. 5 is a top plan view showing details of a footwear sole of FIG. 3, with contour lines taken at 0.2 mm superimposed thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) As used herein the term “foot supporting surface” is used interchangeably with “sole” and “inner sole”, and may include full, or three quarter soles, and half soles or heel pads and may be a structure built into or forming an integral element of a footwear product such as an insole board, or as a separate element, including, e.g. a sock liner or removable insole, an after-market insole device, or a custom or prefabricated foot orthotic, which may be inserted into a footwear product post-manufacture. The element also may be molded into or formed in the foot supporting surface of a shoe such as sandal or flip-flop or other form of molded footwear product.

(7) Referring to FIGS. 3-5 of the drawings, there is disclosed a left foot footwear sole 10 having a cuboid pad in accordance with the present disclosure. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that the right footwear sole will be a mirror image of the illustrated left footwear sole.

(8) The footwear sole has a heel section 12 which starts at the back of the sole 10 and runs forward towards the front of the sole and is configured to underly the heel of the wearer's foot and includes medial and lateral regions 11 and 13, respectively, corresponding to the inner and outer sides of the sole 10. The forefront section 16 essentially starts at point 18 where the head of the first metatarsal head of the wearer's foot overlies the sole 10. A midsection 14 bridges the heel section 12 and the forefoot section 16 and is configured to underly the arch of the wearer's foot. The forefoot section 16 includes a depression or area of reduced support 30 configured to underlie the first metatarsal head of the wearer, i.e., in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 8,166,674, issued May 1, 2012 to Howard J. Dananberg, one of the inventors hereof, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference The region of depressed area 30 may be formed of a resiliently deformable material that offers less resistance to downward movement than the regions surrounding the depressed area 30, or may be formed as a depression or contour.

(9) Insole 10 includes a heel cup 35 made in accordance with the teachings of our prior U.S. Pat. No. 10,702,008, issued Jul. 7, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Heel cup 35 is in the form of an asymmetric generally round shaped depression and includes a forward depressed extension region 38 on its medial side, which serves to reduce pressure on the plantar facia of the wearer's foot as it travels from its attachment on the medial calcaneus to the proximal phalanges. Heel cup 35 typically is 1-4 mm deep at its lowest point, preferably 2-3.5 mm deep, more preferably 2.5-3 mm deep.

(10) In accordance with the present disclosure, we provide a cuboid pad 50 immediately forward the heel cup 35 on the lateral side of the heel cup, i.e., on the lateral side in the midfoot region. Cuboid pad 50 is configured to fall essentially immediately below the central inferior region of the cuboid bone 100 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) of the wearer. Cuboid pad 50 typically is about 20 mm long, and 1-2 mm at its highest point, preferably 1-1.5 mm high, more preferably 1-1.25 mm high. Cuboid pad 50 includes a groove or notch 54 about 12.5 mm wide, and about 1 mm deep, running from the lateral to medial side of the foot at an oblique axis angle of 50° relative to an imaginary line 52 running from the center of the heel section 12 to the center of the forefoot section 16 of the footwear sole 10, and is arranged to align with the peroneus longus tendon of the foot of the wearer. While the cuboid pad 50 is oriented slightly oblique to imaginary line 52 from the center of heel section to the center of the toe section of footwear sole 10, groove or notch 54 on the superior surface of the cuboid pad 50 is oriented to run close to 90° perpendicular to the elongate orientation of the cuboid pad 50 and is oriented essentially to run in a direction of within about 50° to a lateral to medial orientation. As so formed, the peroneal tendon of a wearer is accommodated within the groove or notch 54 and is free to assume its normal function. Thus, we are able to correct for over supination, without causing or exacerbating plantar fasciitis.

(11) Various changes may be made in the foregoing disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. For example, while the footwear sole has been described as comprising a full footwear sole, underlying the heel, arch and forefoot regions of the wearer's foot, the footwear sole could comprise a shortened sole such as a ¾ sole, i.e., essentially extending from the heel to line 60. Also, the foot supporting surface having a cuboid pad in accordance with the present disclosure may be formed in a heel piece only, i.e., essentially extending from the heel to line 62. The cuboid pad and heel depression also may be formed in a molded footbed such as for a flip-flop or sandal.

(12) Various other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.