ADAPTABLE ORTHOPEDIC INSOLES
Orthopedic insole of the invention consists of a hollow foothold having flexible walls and containing granular filling. The upper surface of an orthopedic insole of the invention is typically molded to conform the anatomical features of a regular human foot. The granular filling contained in the lumen of the foothold and a rigid segment of its bottom wall provide for adapting the curvature angles of the top surface of the foothold to a specific pattern of the foot of a user. A user can typically make a selection from a variety of ready-made insoles having standard sizes which suit his needs. The adaptable orthopedic insoles of the invention are accommodated to common shoes and sandals, boots that are suitable for heavy work, walking, running, and or fashionable or mode shoes.
This patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/374,668 filed 22 Jan. 2009, entitled “ADAPTABLE ORTHOPEDIC INSOLES”. The aforementioned application is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates in general to orthopedic insoles in particular to insoles accommodated to a variety of footwear and adaptable to the foot of a user.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA significant portion of the population suffers from irregular or abnormal foot pattern, which are typically associated with physical discomfort induced by prolonged standing, walking and or running. Orthopedic shoes may in such cases be offered as a relief from the physical discomfort. Orthopedic insoles tailored to a user foot and specific footwear normally provide for converting common footwear into orthopedic. However an expert is typically involved with the manufacturing of orthopedic insoles. Furthermore the adaptation of orthopedic insoles to the user's feet is often associated with revisiting the expert for the accommodation and fine-tuning.
The characteristics of healthy and normal feet are prone to change by aging, which in turn might cause such physical discomfort as well. Therefore ready made orthopedic insoles, which are adaptable to the user's feet and are conformal with a variety of footwear are called for.
In accordance with the present invention an adaptable orthopedic insole is provided. The orthopedic insole of the invention consists of a hollow foothold having flexible walls and containing granular filling. The upper surface of an orthopedic insole of the invention is typically molded to conform the anatomical features of a regular human foot. The granular filling contained in the lumen of the foothold and a rigid segment of its bottom wall provide for adapting the curvature angles of the top surface of the foothold to a specific pattern of the foot of a user. A user can typically make a selection from a variety of ready-made insoles having standard sizes which suit his needs. The adaptable orthopedic insoles of the invention are accommodated to common shoes and sandals, boots that are suitable for heavy work, walking, running, and or fashionable or mode shoes.
Reference is now made to
In
The soil and vermiculite filled in the lumen of a foothold of adaptable orthopedic insole of the invention might originate from a particular origin having a spiritual or sentimental meaning, for example soil or earth material form the holy land (Israel), sand from the Sinai desert, crushed stones or rocks from the Sea of Galilee etc.
The volume of the filling material is typically lower by a few percents than the capacity of the hollow foothold. Sealing of the filling aperture is performed by filling it with glue or attaching to it a conformal cover. Air vents whose sizes are smaller than the sizes of the grains of the filling, located across sidewalls such as inner wall 64 and outer end 66 permit slow equalizing of internal air pressure with the atmosphere when the insoles are pressed by the weight of a user, thereby providing a cushioning effect.
The adaptable orthopedic insoles of the invention are accommodated to any shoe or sandal that surrounds a significant portion of the foot of a user. However in cases in which footwear that are open near the fingers and or the ankle, a substantially shallow recess located at the inner sole of the footwear and conformal with the bottom surface of the insole has to be first provided. Such a recess provides for keeping the adaptable orthopedic insole in place while being in use.
In another embodiment of the invention the insole is short, covering only a part of the footwear as shown in
A flow chart describing a method for manufacturing an orthopedic insole in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in
It should be noted that some steps of the above described process can be combined, executed repeatedly, omitted and/or rearranged.
Claims
1. An adaptable orthopedic insole for footwear comprising
- a hollow foothold having a lumen, a medial arc support, a tarsal support, a bottom wall and sidewalls;
- a rigid plate embedded in a segment of said bottom wall;
- a granular filling disposed in said lumen of said foothold, and
- wherein at least one wall of said foothold is flexible, and wherein at least one pore is located at a sidewall of said hollow foothold, and wherein the size of said at least one pore is somewhat smaller than the size of any grain of said granular filling.
2. An adaptable orthopedic insole such as in claim 1, wherein said foothold is covered from at least one of the materials of the group consisting of fabric, leather, neoprene, and nylon or similar plastic resins.
3. An adaptable orthopedic insole such as in claim 1, wherein said foothold is manufactured in standard sizes and shapes.
4. An adaptable orthopaedic insole such as in claim 1, wherein the length of said insole is shorter than the length of said footwear.
5. An adaptable orthopaedic insole such as in claim 1, wherein said granular filling disposed in said lumen of said foothold is made from at least one of the materials of the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, vermiculite, soil, earth and sand.
6. An adaptable orthopaedic insole such as in claim 5, wherein said, vermiculite, soil, earth and sand or any combination thereof originate from specific places which have spiritual and/or sentimental meaning.
7. An adaptable orthopaedic insole such as in claim 5, wherein the lumen of said insole is filled with a foamed granular material.
8. An adaptable orthopaedic insole such as in claim 5, wherein said granular material is characterized by having some degree of elasticity which allows for reversible deformation under stress.
9. A method for manufacturing an adaptable orthopedic insole comprising:
- providing mold for standard orthopaedic insole;
- injecting a moldable material to said mold;
- blow molding said injected material;
- releasing said blown injected material from said mold;
- filling said blown injected material with granular material;
- sealing area of said injection;
- covering the upper face of said blown injected material with a material selected from a group consisting of fabric, leather, neoprene, nylon, similar plastic resins or any combination thereof, and
- attaching a rigid plate in bottom face of sad blown injected material.
10. A method for manufacturing an adaptable orthopaedic insole as in claim 9, further comprising air vents which are smaller than said grains of the filling located along side walls of said blown injected material.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 23, 2009
Publication Date: Jan 27, 2011
Inventor: Armand Bitton (Hadera)
Application Number: 12/507,828
International Classification: A43B 13/38 (20060101); A43B 7/14 (20060101);