Spin'em high heel shoes
This invention incorporates a rotating spindle inside the high heel of a dress shoe, which transforms the downward heel impact into rotational energy, thus absorbing the impact while massaging the foot. The spindle is visible from the outside of the heel and has decorative crystals, lights or other eye catching ornamentation to attract attention when the spindle rotates. The rotating spindle also passes vibrations through the wearer's skeletal system for a soothing effect.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to footwear, and is particularly concerned with high heel shoes typically worn by women. More particularly, the present invention relates to ornamentation and features of the heel both for fashion and for the therapeutic benefits that the invention provides.
Conventional high heeled footwear is often uncomfortable, tiring and even painful to wear and to walk in. There are several medical problems associated with wearing high heels, including foot, ankle, knee, hip and lower back problems. Yet many women still wear high-heeled footwear regularly because it can make the wearer more stylish and taller.
The discomfort and pain from wearing high-heeled footwear arises because high-heeled footwear significantly alters the wearer's stance/posture and natural walking gait cycle. In flat shoes, the weight distribution is approximately 5% over the phalanges, 40% the metatarsals, 5% over the midfoot, and 50% in the heel area of the foot. Thus body weight is relatively evenly distributed between the front and rear parts of the foot. High-heeled footwear alters the angle that the wearer's foot projects forwardly from the leg, so that the weight load of the body cannot be supported in the same way as the foot in a natural position. In a high-heeled shoe with a two inch heel, 70% of the wearer's body weight is borne by the balls of the wearer's foot. As heel height increases, the percentage of body weight carried by the balls of the foot is increased. The raised heel causes disproportionate loading in the forefoot and slippage of the foot into the toe part when standing or walking. A substantial percentage of high-heeled shoe wearers report pain associated with the wearing of such footwear within one to four hours of typical walking, standing, and sitting found in a work or social environment. In many high-heeled shoes the steep ramp of the shoe causes the foot to slide downwardly, crowding and cramping the toes. Without a doubt, high heeled shoes are uncomfortable to stand in or walk in for long periods of time.
Foot problems from wearing high heeled shoes also arise because regular use of high heels causes calf muscles and tendons to shorten relative to their normal length without shoes.
The higher the heel height, the more contracted the calf muscles will become over time. At first, the symptoms include a temporary effect in which the calf muscles can still be stretched out after wearing high heels all day. Eventually, a permanent shortening of the muscles and tendons occurs. Once shortened, there is a risk that the Achilles tendons can tear if the calf muscles and Achilles tendons are stretched beyond their new shorter length. Ironically, there are many women who cannot wear flat shoes because of this problem, and the pain associated with it. To avoid this problem a women must remember to stretch the muscles and tendons after wearing high heels.
Normal walking involves at each step a “heel strike” when the heel comes in contact with the ground, a “roll” from the heel through the ball of the foot, and then lifting the ball of the foot from the ground at the end of the step. The heel strike can be jarring driving the force of impact up through the skeletal system.
2. Related Art
Previous patents seek to partially absorb the jarring heel strike by incorporating springs and/or shock absorbing materials in the heel and shoe sole. This does reduce the impact, but does nothing to massage the foot. There is therefore an opportunity a device which transforms the energy into a massaging action, along with the ornamental side effect that this invention provides.
SUMMARYThis invention incorporates a rotating spindle inside the high heel of a dress shoe, which transforms the downward heel impact into rotational energy, thus absorbing the impact while massaging the foot. The spindle is visible from the outside of the heel and has decorative crystals, lights or other eye catching ornamentation to attract attention when the spindle rotates. The rotating spindle also passes vibrations through the wearer's skeletal system for a soothing effect. The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:
The embodiment as disclosed herein provides for a heel with a spindle 104 actuated by a mechanical device as portrayed in
Alternative embodiments can be provided that result in similar motion, which by example could include, but are not limited to, a small battery powered motor that actuated by the closing of contacts in the plastic heel tip 111.
Claims
1. The apparatus and methods substantially as disclosed herein.
2. A high heel for women's or men's shoes that incorporates a rotating spindle inside the heel that can be viewed from the outside of the heel.
3. The high heel in claim 1 with a decorated spindle that has eye catching designs such as LED lights, crystals, mirrors, or other similar ornamentation of both the heel structure, the rotating spindle or both.
4. The spindle in claims 1 and 2 that can be rotated when mechanical pressure is exerted on the heel of by the inclusion of a battery in the design.
5. A high heel with an inner shaft that rotates when pressure is applied to the heel causing massaging sensations in the wearer's skeletal system.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 21, 2012
Publication Date: Mar 27, 2014
Inventor: Todd Jones
Application Number: 13/573,538
International Classification: A43B 21/00 (20060101);