Insole for high-heeled footwear

Abstract

Insole (28) for high-heeled footwear (26), wherein the insole (28) comprises a lifting structure (34) arranged to lift the metatarsal heads (24) and to flatten the angles of the metatarsal phalangeal joints (22).

Claims

1. Insole for high-heeled footwear, wherein the insole comprises a lifting structure that upon insertion into the high-heeled footwear is arranged to lift the metatarsal heads and to flatten the angles of the metatarsal phalangeal joints of a foot of a wearer; and wherein the lifting structure comprises three sections with decreasing thickness in a direction towards a toe region of the footwear, the three sections comprising a rearmost section furthest from the toe region, a foremost section, and a middle section between the rearmost section and the foremost section; wherein the rearmost section, the foremost section, and the middle section respectively protrude from a lower surface of the insole or from an upper surface of the insole; and wherein the foremost section is elevated 1-3 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the foremost section protrudes, the middle section is elevated 3-5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the middle section protrudes, and the rearmost section is elevated 5-7 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the rearmost section protrudes; or wherein the foremost section is elevated 0.5-1.5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the foremost section protrudes, the middle section is elevated 1.5-2.5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the middle section protrudes, and the rearmost section is elevated 2.5-3.5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the rearmost section protrudes.

2. The insole according to claim 1, wherein the lifting structure is constituted by an elevated bar extending substantially transverse to a longitudinal direction of the insole.

3. The insole according to claim 1, wherein the lifting structure is arc-shaped and a concave side of the arc-shaped lifting structure faces a heel region of the insole.

4. The insole according to claim 1, wherein the lifting structure is integrally formed with regions of the insole adjacent to the lifting structure.

5. The insole according to claim 1, wherein the insole is a partial insole.

6. The insole according to claim 1, wherein a rearmost section of the three sections of the lifting structure is wider than a foremost section of the three sections of the lifting structure.

7. The insole according to claim 6, wherein the rearmost section extends over substantially the entire width of the insole.

8. The insole according to claim 6, wherein the foremost section is centrally positioned along a width direction of the insole and has a mean width occupying 30-80% of the width of the insole.

9. The insole according to claim 6, wherein a middle section and the foremost section of the three sections of the lifting structure together form a triangle and the width of the middle section and the foremost section linearly decreases from a full width next to the rearmost section to a single point at a front edge of the insole.

10. The insole according to claim 1, wherein the lifting structure is made of a shock absorbing material.

11. High-heeled footwear, comprising an insole: wherein the insole comprises a lifting structure arranged to lift the metatarsal heads and to flatten the angles of the metatarsal phalangeal joints of a foot of a wearer; and wherein the lifting structure comprises three sections with decreasing thickness in a direction towards a toe region of the footwear, the three sections comprising a rearmost section furthest from the toe region, a foremost section, and a middle section between the rearmost section and the foremost section; wherein the rearmost section, the foremost section, and the middle section respectively protrude from a lower surface of the insole or from an upper surface of the insole; and wherein the foremost section is elevated 1-3 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the foremost section protrudes, the middle section is elevated 3-5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the middle section protrudes, and the rearmost section is elevated 5-7 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the rearmost section protrudes; or wherein the foremost section is elevated 0.5-1.5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the foremost section protrudes, the middle section is elevated 1.5-2.5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the middle section protrudes, and the rearmost section is elevated 2.5-3.5 mm with respect to the lower surface or the upper surface of the insole from which the rearmost section protrudes.

12. The high-heeled footwear according to claim 11, wherein the insole is a built-in insole.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further details, advantages and aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1: schematically represents a side view of bones in a foot;

(3) FIG. 2: schematically represents a side view of a high-heeled shoe with an insole having uniform thickness;

(4) FIG. 3a: schematically represents a top view of an insole having a lifting structure;

(5) FIG. 3b: schematically represents a side view of the insole in FIG. 3a;

(6) FIG. 4a: schematically represents a bottom view of another insole having a lifting structure;

(7) FIG. 4b: schematically represents a side view of the insole in FIG. 4a; and

(8) FIG. 5: schematically represents a side view of a high-heeled footwear with the insole of FIGS. 4a and 4b.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(9) In the following, an insole and a high-heeled footwear, such as a high-heeled shoe, comprising the insole will be described. The same reference numerals will be used to denote the same or similar structural features.

(10) FIG. 1 schematically represents a side view of bones in a foot 10. The foot 10 comprises five metatarsals or metatarsal bones 12 located between the tarsal bones 14 and the phalanges. The phalanges are the bones in the toes and each toe except the large toe comprises a proximal phalange 16, an intermediate phalange 18 and a distal phalange 20. The large toe only has two phalanges. A metatarsal phalangeal joint 22 joins each metatarsal 12 to a respective proximal phalange 16. The metatarsal heads 24 are the ends of the metatarsals 12 closest to the proximal phalanges 16.

(11) FIG. 2 schematically represents a side view of a high-heeled shoe 26 with an insole 28 having uniform thickness. The shoe 26 comprises a heel 30 of approximately 12 cm. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the shoe 26 positions the foot 10 with a sharp angle between the metatarsals 12 and the proximal phalanges 16. The proximal phalanges 16 are oriented substantially parallel with a horizontal plane 32 and the metatarsals 12 are angled approximately 80 with respect to the horizontal plane 32. As a consequence, a high load is imposed on the forefoot and the wearer risks to be injured. Moreover, this high-heeled footwear 26 requires an unnatural walking style.

(12) FIG. 3a schematically represents a top view of an insole 28 for high-heeled footwear 26 having a lifting structure 34 and FIG. 3b schematically represents a side view of the insole 28 in FIG. 3a. The lifting structure 34 is arranged to lift the metatarsal heads 24 from the position as illustrated in FIG. 2 and to flatten the angles of the metatarsal phalangeal joints 22, i.e. the angles between the respective metatarsals 12 and proximal phalanges 16.

(13) The insole 28 in FIGS. 3a and 3b is flexible and has a substantially uniform thickness in the regions outside the lifting structure 34. As can be seen in FIG. 3b, the lifting structure 34 comprises a raised section 36 of the shock absorbing material PORON attached to an upper surface 38 of the insole 28. However, the lifting structure 34 may alternatively be produced integrally with the insole 28. Other shock absorbing materials than PORON are also conceivable.

(14) The lifting structure 34 is positioned at a distance from a front edge (i.e. the left end in FIGS. 3a and 3b) that is approximately 30% of the entire length of the insole 28, as seen in a longitudinal direction 40 of the insole 28. The longitudinal direction 40 constitutes the forward walking direction when the insole 28 is arranged in a footwear 26.

(15) The lifting structure 34 is constituted by an elevated bar extending substantially transverse to the longitudinal direction 40 of the insole 28. In FIGS. 3a and 3b, the lifting structure 34 protrudes from the upper surface 38 of the insole 28.

(16) Furthermore, the lifting structure 34 is substantially arc-shaped. The arc shape is substantially parallel with the upper surface 38 of the insole 28 adjacent to the lifting structure 34 and the concave side of the arc faces a heel region 42 of the insole 28. The arc-shape of the lifting structure 34 is designed and placed to substantially conform to a line interconnecting the metatarsal phalangeal joints 22 of the foot 10.

(17) FIG. 4a schematically represents a bottom view of another insole 28 having a lifting structure 34 and FIG. 4b schematically represents a side view of the insole 28 in FIG. 4a. Mainly differences with respect to FIGS. 3a and 3b will be described.

(18) The lifting structure 34 in FIGS. 4a and 4b comprises three sections 36, 44, 46 next to each other and having decreasing elevations towards a toe region 48 of the insole 28. The lifting structure 34 thereby forms three steps. Each section 36, 44, 46 protrudes from a lower surface 50 of the insole 28. The rearmost section 36 is substantially identical to the raised section 36 in FIGS. 3a and 3b. The rearmost section 36 is protruded or elevated 6 mm, the middle section 44 is elevated 4 mm and the foremost section 46 is elevated 2 mm from the lower surface 50 of the insole 28.

(19) As can be seen in FIG. 4b, the three sections 36, 44, 46 are attached to the lower surface 50 of the insole 28. However, also this lifting structure 34 may alternatively be produced integrally with the insole 28.

(20) As can be seen in FIG. 4a, the rearmost section 36 is wider than the foremost section 46 of the lifting structure 34. The middle section 44 has a width lying between the widths of the rearmost section 36 and the foremost section 46. Here, the width direction 52 is directed perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 40 of the insole 28.

(21) The rearmost section 36 of the lifting structure 34 conforms to the local width (i.e. the width of the insole 28 where the rearmost section 36 is positioned) and is substantially flush with the outer periphery of the insole 28. As can be seen in FIG. 4a, the middle section 44 and the foremost section 46 together form a triangle and the width of the middle section 44 and the foremost section 46 linearly decreases from a full width next to the rearmost section 36 to a single point at the front edge of the insole 28. That is, the middle section 44 substantially forms a parallelepiped shaped segment of the triangle and the foremost section 46 forms a triangle. The mean width of the foremost section 46 is approximately 50% of the local width of the insole 28.

(22) FIG. 5 schematically represents a side view of the high-heeled footwear 26 in FIG. 2 but with the insole 28 of FIGS. 4a and 4b. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the lifting structure 34, in particular the rearmost section 36 of the lifting structure 34, lifts the metatarsal heads 24 substantially vertically. Thus, the metatarsal heads 24 are positioned higher within the footwear 26 than with the insole 28 of uniform thickness in FIG. 2.

(23) Furthermore, FIG. 5 illustrates that the insole 28 with the lifting structure 34 rotates the proximal phalanges 16 in a counter-clockwise direction and rotates the metatarsals 12 in a clockwise direction (as seen in FIG. 5). In other words, the proximal phalanges 16 are more inclined with 3o respect to the horizontal plane 32 and the metatarsals 12 are less inclined with respect to the horizontal plane 32 in comparison with the position of the foot 10 in FIG. 2. Thereby, the angles of the metatarsal phalangeal joints 22 are flattened and the load imposed on the forefoot can be reduced by moving this load (or a at least a part of this load) back on the foot 10.

(24) The lifting structure 34 further enables a better rolling of the foot 10 with the high-heeled footwear 26. That is, the wearer of the high-heeled shoes 26 is given a push forward when walking or moving. This rolling effect is further improved by the lifting structure 34 (here implemented with the three sections 36, 44, 46) having a decreasing thickness in a direction towards a toe region 48 of the footwear 26.

(25) While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to what has been described above. For example, it will be appreciated that the dimensions of the parts may be varied as needed. Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention may be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.