High-Heel Shoe Insert

Abstract

Provided are, among other things, shoe inserts and methods for using them to soften the abrupt change in slope exhibited in the insole of certain shoes. One such shoe insert includes: a bottom surface having a front portion, a rear portion that is angled upwardly relative to the front portion of the bottom surface at a first angle, and a central portion having a maximum mean rate of angular increase where the first angle increases at least 30° over a shortest distance measured from the front portion of the bottom surface to the rear portion of the bottom surface; and a top surface having a front edge and a rear edge, where each position from the front edge of the top surface to the rear edge of the top surface has a second rate of angular increase that is less than ½ the maximum mean rate of angular increase exhibited in the central portion of the bottom surface.

Description

[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 644,811, filed on May 9, 2012, and titled “Insert to Modify the Sole of a High Heeled Shoe”, which application is incorporated by reference herein as though set forth herein in full.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention generally pertains to inserts for shaping, cushioning and / or support that are placed inside of shoes, especially high-heeled shoes, and also pertains to shoes having such inserts and techniques for using such inserts.BACKGROUND[0003]It is commonly recognized that certain shoes, especially high-heeled shoes, while aesthetically attractive, often cause the wearer a significant amount of discomfort. Conventional attempts to address this problem include pads that are placed in the shoe's toe box to cushion the ball of the foot and arch supports. However, the present inventor has discovered that none of these conventional approaches adequately improves comfort, and in ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004]The present invention was born out of the present inventor's discovery that a significant amount of discomfort is caused by shoe designs that result in an undue amount of the wearer's body weight being concentrated onto a small area on the ball of the foot. In order to address this problem, the preferred embodiments of the present invention involve a flexible and / or resilient insert that flattens or smoothes out the change in slope of the shoe's sole between the ball of the foot and the arch, providing a more gradual change in slope, by extending the change in slope over a longer distance.

Problems solved by technology

It is commonly recognized that certain shoes, especially high-heeled shoes, while aesthetically attractive, often cause the wearer a significant amount of discomfort.

However, the present inventor has discovered that none of these conventional approaches adequately improves comfort, and in some cases, they actually result in additional discomfort in some respect.

Images