Shoe sole to improve walking, sensory response of the toes, and help develop leg muscles

Abstract

An improvement in the design of a shoe wherein a flexible material is placed inside the shoe sole at the level over the insole and below the toes of the foot and either above or also in line with the midsole, so that the wearer's toes rest along the flexible material when the wearer's foot is inserted into the shoe. The flexible material also extends to the area at the base of the big toe and behind the ball of the foot behind the big toe under the 1st metatarso-phalange joint base of the big toe. In a variation of the present invention, the flexible material only extends under the toes and does not extend behind the big toe. Therefore, in addition to all five toes resting on the flexible material, the ball of the foot area at the base of the big toe also rests on the flexible material. By filling the frontal section of the shoe sole with the flexible material, the flexible material permits the toes to curl downward when walking. The flexible material can be any type of-gel, deformable liquid or gel containing pack, polyurethane gel, silicone, soft rubber, foam, memory soft material, neoprene, polyvinyl, polyethylene, polyurethane and any type of natural or synthetic soft flexible material to simulate walking on sand.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to the field of shoes and in particular, to a significant structural change in the construction of the sole of a shoe to provide greater mobility to the toes, which are partly immobilized today with other shoe sole designs. [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] Each year, consumers spend hundreds of millions of dollars for “walking shoes” promising to help the wearer walk “right” or more comfortably. Each year, additional hundreds of millions of dollars are spent for orthotics designed to “normalize” foot balance, stability, and gait. Podiatrists and other medical practitioners are constantly applying therapies and ancillary products to correct gait faults and re-establish “normal” gait which contributes to the muscle development and enhancement of the calf area. While such therapies provide some relief from gait-induced distress symptoms, they are largely ineffectual in re-esta...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0077] The present invention pertains to a flexible support system for the toes of the foot built inside a chamber or cavity engineered into the shoe sole and deep into the mid-sole in a contoured area shaped around the upper border of the ball of the foot at the base of the toes starting right below and including the ball of the big toe (1st metatarso-phalangeal joint) and the other digits (lesser metatarso-phalangeal joints), that will permit the toes to flex and bend downward in a grasping motion in a fashion similar to the effect of walking on wet sand giving mobility and grasping action to the toes (hallux and other digits) shifting the step propulsion from the ball of the foot (metatarsal heads) back to the toes improving gait and resulting in a more natural walk by returning the step sequence to heel-to-ball-to-toes and push-off as with bare feet. In a variation of the present invention, the flexible system described above only extends beneath the toes and does not extend to the ball of the big toe.

[0078] In particular, this invention pertains to a toe support system, which will allow the user to rest his or her toes on a deformable and flexible surface or liquid container or gel pack or other soft flexible materials. Further, in particular, this invention pertains to a support system for the toes, which includes flexible and deformable members, which deform to the contour of a particular user's toes and further disperses the load applied over a wider area to give the toes flexibility, mobility, deep cushioning support and grasping-gripping motion.

[0079] Further, this invention pertains to a toes support system that will return to the toes their natural ground-grasping action inducing a more natural gait and a walking pattern of heel-to-ball-to-toes and push-off as with bare feet, shifting the body's center of gravity and altering the equilibrium of the body column resulting in a natural step sequence similar to walking barefooted.

Problems solved by technology

While such therapies provide some relief from gait-induced distress symptoms, they are largely ineffectual in re-establishing natural gait.

Because natural gait is biomechanically impossible for any shoe-wearing person.

Natural gait and shoes are biomechanically incompatible because all shoes automatically convert the normal to the abnormal, the natural to the unnatural.

And no therapy or mechanical device, no matter how precisely designed or expertly applied, can fully reverse the gait from wrong to right.

In shoe-wearing societies a visibly faulty gait can often be corrected and made normal, but it can never be made natural as long as conventional shoes are worn.

It is biomechanically impossible because of the forced alterations from the natural in foot stance, postural alignment, body balance, equilibrium, body mechanics and weight distribution caused by shoes.

If these adjustments are sustained over prolonged periods, or by habitual use of higher heels, as is not uncommon, the strains and stresses become chronic, causing or contributing to aches of legs, back and shoulders, fatigue, etc.

In medium to higher heels, due to the reduced base of the heel top-lift, the line of falling weight shifts, causing a wobbling of the less-secure ankle, which tilts medially.

The natural plantar path of the step sequence—heel to lateral border to ball to big toe (hallux) and push-off—is forced to shift, further affecting natural gait because the toes are restricted and unable to dig-in or claw-in.

Thus a shoe heel of any height sets in motion a series of gait-negative consequences, making natural gait—meaning the barefoot form—impossible.

The thicker the sole, such as on sneakers or work boots, or the stiffer the sole, the greater the toe spring needed because of lack of shoe flexibility.

This not only imposes undue stress on the heads, but also forces an unnatural alteration of the gait pattern itself.

There are several built-in design faults with most commercial lasts, but two in particular have relevant influence on gait and calf muscle development.

This is the prime reason why virtually all shoes go out of shape with wear—because foot and shoe are mismated.

If, because of this conflict, the foot cannot function naturally inside the shoe, it cannot take a normal or natural step.

However, the combination of the foot's heat, moisture, and pressure forces the filler material to compress and “creep,” deforming its original flat surface.

Yet, in only a few thousand years, and with one carelessly designed instrument, our shoes, we have warped the pure anatomical form of human gait, obstructing its engineering efficiency, afflicting it with strains and stresses and denying it its natural grace of form and ease of movement head to foot.

Without them we would lose equilibrium and become disoriented.

Yet, much of it is denied us because of our thick-layered, inflexible shoes that shut off a considerable amount of this electromagnetic inflow and our sensory response to it.

He writes, “Modern shoes give good wear, but they also impair the foot's sensory response to the ground and earth, affecting the reflex action of the foot and leg muscles in gait.

However, when several layers of shoe bottom materials are packed between foot and ground, a certain amount of sensory blockage is inevitable, and the gait loses some of its natural energies and functional efficiency.

However, such prior shoe sole support systems primary objective and function is to provide cushioning for comfort and shock absorption and do not provide the toes the ability to flex down ward or provide grasping-gripping motion or improve or induce calf muscle tone development in a manner similar to walking on sand barefooted.

Other prior systems provide support for the heel or hind foot and at the arches or mid foot or at the ball of foot with deformable flexible materials for cushioning and shock absorption by creating a dense area of material for padding sometimes as thick as 20 mm at those points and some have cushioning materials through the entire foot, but none permit the toes to bend downward in a grasping gripping motion and none have a thick layer of deformable material only below the area where the toes will rest.

Further, none provide for a deformable flexible material or deformable liquid or gel built inside a chamber or cavity engineered into the shoe sole and deep into the mid-sole with a deepness of at least 6 mm in a contoured area underneath the toes shaped around the upper border of the ball of the foot and / or starting right below and including the ball of the big toe (1st metatarso-phalangeal joint) and the other digits (lesser metatarso-phalangeal joints), that will permit the toes to flex and bend downward in a grasping motion in a fashion similar to the effect of walking on sand giving mobility and grasping action to the toes nor will they permit the toes to bend downward to a degree enough to induce contractions to stimulate calf muscle development and growth.

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