Interactive on-demand orthotic vending machine and method of producing orthotic including disc version

Abstract

An orthotic vending machine may comprise a measuring apparatus and an orthotic fabricating apparatus. The measuring apparatus may comprises a plurality of probes capable of sensing pressure at various pixels on the underside surfaces of the person's feet at various configurations and determining the heights at the various pixels for the various configurations. The fabricating apparatus fabricates custom orthotics based on the sensed information from the measuring apparatus.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefits of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 709,878, filed Aug. 19, 2005, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Also, this application claims the benefits of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 793,446, filed Apr. 20, 2006, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH / DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not ApplicableBACKGROUND[0003]The present invention relates to an orthotic vending machine, a method of measuring a pressure distribution on underside surfaces of a person's feet, a method of fabricating orthotics, a method of marketing orthotics in a retail environment, and a process of delivering custom products (e.g., customized orthotics, etc.) at the Point of Purchase.[0004]The human foot is an engineering marvel having an intricate biomechanical composition of twenty-six bones, thirty-three joints and a complicated arra...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is an orthotic vending machine that can provide a pair of customized orthotics to a user in a retail shoe store or clinic setting. The vending machine measures the pressure distribution on the user's feet and recommends a pair of shoes and orthotics that will provide optimal biomechanical positioning. The user can then try the shoes and orthotics to see how they feel. The vending machine promotes the sales of orthotics by providing a convenient and fast solution for users who do not have to wait for customized orthotics to be fabricated. The vending machine uses a plurality of probes and a support plate to measure the height and pressure distribution on the user's feet. The user can input the manufacturer and model of shoes to simulate how they will feel with the customized orthotics. The vending machine provides an idea of how the shoes will feel without the orthotics and optimizes the distribution of pressure on the user's feet to accommodate optimal biomechanical positioning."

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, a manufacturer's inserts (insoles) provided with the purchased shoes may be sub-optimal for the user because the manufacturer's inserts (insoles) may not bring the distribution of pressure on the underside surfaces of the user's feet to optimal biomechanical positioning.

For example, the arch regions of the manufacturer's insert may be too hard, too soft, too high or too low for the user thereby applying too much or too little pressure under the arches of the user's feet.

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