US1959247A - Corrective shoe - Google Patents

Description

H. H. MINOR CORRECTIVE SHOE May 15, 1934.

Filed Jan. 14; 1933 3mm HenryEMinoW attempt;

Patented May 15, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates in general to shoes and more particularly has reference to an improved corrective arch supporting structure.

It is well known that one of the most common forms of defects of the human foot has to do with defectsin the arch of the foot and the existence of deformed and weak arches.

One of the more prevalent means for treating such defects of the arches of the feet is to place within the shoe of the patient a device for supporting the arch either permanently or until it is strong enough to stay up without a support. For this purpose, various types of supports have been resorted to, among them being a separate piece made of metal or other stiff material and having an upwardly projecting portion adapted to fit under the arch of the foot and support the same in its proper position; Also, a number of different shoe constructions have been devised for the purpose of providing a support for the arch which support is integral with the shoe itself.

Among constructions of the latter class are shoes in which a piece of leather adapted to support the arch has been either made integral with the inner sole or secured to the inner sole.

In cases where such a piece of leather is made integral with the inner sole, if the ordinary relatively soft leather is used for the inner sole, the piece adapted to support the arch is too soft and flexible to retain its shape, and will quickly be bent down so as to be useless. If the inner sole is made of stiff enough material to enable the arch supporting portion to retain its shape, it

will be too stiff and hard to form a comfortable inner sole. Furthermore, in blanking out inner soles with the extra arch supporting portion integral therewith, it toe of one inner sole outline against the heel of another inner sole outline. It therefore requires a much larger sheet of leather to blank out the same number of soles, and the wastage is found to be much greater.

Where the arch support has been formed of a separate piece ofgrain leather or other stiff material and secured to the inner sole, great difficulty has been involved producing the shoe because the arch support is necessarily secured to the inner sole early in the process and thereafter hinders the carrying out of the remaining necessary steps of manufacture. Also, the inner sole, being relatively soft and pliable, is not sufficiently strong to maintain the arch support in its proper position. Instead, the arch support will tend to tip over and become useless, at the same time 5 distorting the inner sole.

In many cases also, arch supports have been formed of metal. These supports however, have merely supported the arch more or less rigidly, taking all the load of supporting the arch from becomes impossible to fit the the muscles, and allowing no movement to encourage the muscles to take a part of the load.

In all of these forms, great difficulty has been experienced because of the fact that when a support is placed on the arch portion of the shoe, the load thus placed on the arch of the shoe will cause it to sag and cause the outer sole to pull away from the welt and the inner sole.

, Thus, the supports previously devised have either proven ineffective to accomplish the desired result, have not proven durable enough to stand up in service or have proven to be so expensive and impractical to manufacture that they have not achieved success.

One object of this invention is therefore to provide a shoe with an arch supporting construction which will furnish ample support for the arch of the foot, and which will at the same time be relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacure.

Another object of this invention is to provide a construction of the type referred to in which the arch support will add to the strength of the shoe itself particularly to reinforce the construction of the shoe making it impossible for the arch of the shoe to rip out and sag as is very prevalent in all corrective type footwear due to excessive pressure of broken down feet or arches as well as the insertion of metal arch appliances.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shoe with an arch support having the desirable amount-of strength and stiffness to properly support the arch without rigidity, allowing the foot necessary exercise and giving a massaging effect to the muscles of the foot which restores normal circulation, without at the same time introducing into the remainder of the shoe construction any undesirable features.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shoe construction having an arch supporting saddle to which insertions of felt and materials generally used for this purpose by doctors may be added and anchored to change the effect of the saddle in accordance with the requirements of the'individual patient.

Another object of this invention is to provide an arch supporting saddle built on top of the insole to allow it to hug the arch of the foot more closely than any known built in support thus producing a bandaging effect when the shoe is laced on the foot.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it being distinctly understood that the same are by way of illustration and example only and are not to be taken as in any way limiting the scope of this invention. The spirit and scope of this invention are to be limited only by the prior art taken in connection with the accompanying claim.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing in which like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe having the upper cut away so as to illustrate the construction of the arch support of this invention.

Figure 2 is an elevation of a shoe embodying this invention, parts of the same being broken away and shown in section for the purpose of illustrating various details of construction.

Figure 3 is a section taken along the line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring to Figure 1, the illustration shows the lower portion of a shoe consisting of the outer sole 1, the welt 2, and the inner sole 3. These are all preferably formed in the ordinary manner, andhave attached thereto also in the customary manner a heel 4 for the purpose of supporting the heel portion of the foot.

The outer sole 1 of the shoe is usually made of a relatively stiff grain leather, which may be molded and formed on a last while wet, so that when dry it will serve to give the shoe the necessary stiffness and form to prevent it from getting out of shape. This outer sole is also necessarily quite heavy in order to withstand the wear which is given to it in use. The welt 2 and the inner sole 3 are formed of a relatively soft leather from which the grain has been removed so that it may flex and form a comfortable support for the sole of the foot, and so that it will not wrinkle or crack in service with consequent discomfort to the wearer.

The heel 4 is usually formed of some relatively hard substance such as laminations of stiff leather, wood, or other suitable composition. The upper 5 is usually made of soft pliable leather, and is formed so as to snugly encase the upper portions of the foot.

In assembling the parts, the inner sole 3 is usually slit or channeled in its under surface as at 6, and the projection 7 thus formed is stitched to the lower edge of the upper 5 and to the welt 2 as shown at 8. The outer sole 1 is then stitched along its edges as at 9 to the outer edge of the welt 2.

In addition to the structure just described, this invention contemplates the use of an additional strip of leather 10 for the purpose of forming the arch supporting saddle. This strip of leather 10 is first cut out in the form shown in the drawing, being tapered both at its upper and lower edges so as to eliminate the shoulders which would otherwise'beformed, and which would impair the comfort of the wearer. This piece 10 is preferably formed of a grain leather the same as is the outer sole 1, so that it may be molded and shaped in the same manner as the outer sole, and will retain its shape so as to form an efficient arch support.

After the other parts of the shoe have been assembled in the manner described above, the part 10 is then secured on top of the inner sole as illustrated in Figure 3 by means of stitching 11 passing through the outer sole 1, the welt 2,the upper 5, theinner sole 3, and the member 10, forming what I have chosen to call a flexi-rigid saddle for supporting the arch of thefoot.

It will thus be seen that an arch supporting saddle is formed which may be quickly and easily secured to and made a part of the shoe, that this saddle is moldable and possesses the necessary stiffness to cause it to retain its molded shape and hug tightly to the inside longitudinal arch and thus serve as an efficient arch supporter, and that a means has been provided for firmly securing this member to the shoe that it will reinforce the construction of shoe at its weakest point of strain and not detract from the strength of the shoe or any of its parts. On the other hand, the member 10 will be firmly supported so that it cannot be permanently displaced by the bending of any one of the members going to make up the shoe, and by its'own stiffness and the fact that a considerable portion of its surface is in a plane at an angle to the plane of the sole of the shoe, it is enabled to lend considerable strength and stiffness to the necessary mold in the shank. The structure described is inexpensive and yet it is more effective than anything which has been previously devised.

In use, it has been found that this arch supporting saddle will support the arch of the foot in a flexi-rigid manner as distinguished from a rigid manner. That is, while the support is substantially rigid, yet it possesses a slight fiexibiilty or give sufficient to enable it to massage and exercise the muscles, thus restoring normal circulation therein and encouraging them to assume the load of supporting the arch themselves.

In connection with the utility of the arch supporter which has been provided, it is further noted that .a physician or other persons seeking to correct the arch of the wearer, may place upon or beneath the member 10 such padding as he may deem sufficient for the purpose of causing the member 10 to exert a greater supporting force against the arch of the foot. The effect of the support is thus variable to accommodate the various needs of the wearer, and may be changed from time to time in accordance with the progress made by the patient.

It is further noted that in carrying out this invention the hair side of the leather forming the arch support saddle 10 is placed uppermost and next to the foot of the wearer. Because of the well known tendency of leather to curl towards its hair side, it will be seen that it will tend to remain in proper position and press against the arch of the foot rather than to flatten out as would be the case if it were otherwise disposed or if it were a part of the insole made of flexible split leather, etc.

It will therefore be readily apparent that a means has been provided for carrying out all'the objects of thisinvention in a new and improved and most economical manner.

What I claim is:

A shoe comprising an outer sole of stiff grain leather," an upper of soft flexible split leather, an inner sole of soft flexible split leather, an arch supporting saddle of stiff grain leather, said saddle having one edge in contact with the upper surface of the inner sole and the other edge disposed upwardly at an inclination with respect to the inner sole and having its hair side continuous and disposed toward the foot of the wearer, whereby the natural tendency of grain leather to curl toward its hair side will cause it to bear against and more firmly support the arch of the foot, and securing means for firmly anchoring said stiff grain leather saddle through the soft split leather inner sole directly to the stiff grain leather outer sole, whereby said shoe will have a soft comfortable inner sole and a firmly anchored stiff arch supporting saddle having a natural tendency to curve toward the foot of the wearer.

HENRY H. MINOR.

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