Shoe last and method for providing a shoe having an improved heel rest

Abstract

A shoe last and a method of using the shoe last to manufacture shoes that minimize the tendency of a wearer's foot to create increased pressure at the area of the ball of a wearer's foot are disclosed herein. The improved heel rest design relieves this pressure at the ball area of the foot by allowing the body weight to be more concentrated at the heel portion of the wearer's foot by redistributing the user's weight toward the heel portion and away from the ball of the foot.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This U.S. patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 893,876 filed on Oct. 21, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIGURE SELECTED FOR PUBLICATION[0002]FIG. 4.BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE[0003]1. Field of the Disclosure[0004]The present disclosure relates generally to an apparatus for and a method of manufacturing footwear. More specifically, this disclosure relates to a shoe last and shoes, e.g., high-heeled shoes, manufactured with the shoe last that are configured to minimize or prevent the tendency of a wearer's foot to slide forward thereby creating increased pressure at the area of the ball of a wearer's foot.[0005]2. Description of the Related Art[0006]Shoe-making lasts are often considered to be the most important component in the manufacture of shoes. A shoe-making last is a mold over which shoes are made. The shoe-making last is preferably solid and three-dimensional. Th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]With conventional high-heeled shoes, the foot tends to slide forward thereby creating increased pressure at the area of the ball of a wearer's foot. In an aspect of the present disclosure, the heel rest disclosed herein relieves this pressure at the ball area of the foot by allowing the body weight to be more concentrated at the heel area of the wearer's foot rather than at the ball of the foot. The heel rest may include a concave portion or region at the heel. In an aspect of the present disclosure, the heel rest design may redistribute the user's weight toward the heel and away from the ball of the foot, thereby placing the foot in an optimal position for high-heeled shoes and restoring balance such that the wearer's stride is more natural.

[0019]In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a shoe last for forming a shoe may include a body including a heel region including a surface and a sole surface. The sole surface may have a thickness that is substantially uniform along its length, and may be smoothly contoured. The sole surface may include at least three distinct planar surfaces including a toe box portion, a heel portion, and an arch support portion positioned therebetween. The toe box region may have a generally uniform height to facilitate the accommodation of the toes of a foot therein since toes generally have a uniform thickness along their length. The transition between the toe box and the arch support portion may be smooth or have a curved contour therebetween such that the transition between these portions does include a sharp edge or angle therebetween. The heel region and the heel portion of the sole surface may define a first angle therebetween. The surface of the heel region and the arch support portion may define a second angle therebetween. The surface of the heel portion and the arch support portion may define a third angle therebetween. The second and the third angles may be different. The heel portion of the sole surface may have a concave shape. The toe box, heel, and arch support portions may each include a surface, each of which may be on a different, non-parallel plane. The concave shape of the heel portion of the sole may include an apex, the apex being spaced apart from the surface of the heel region by a distance that may be between 3 and 8 millimeters inclusive, and may preferably be about 5 millimeters. The depths of the toe box and heel portions may be approximately equal, that is the toe box and heel portions may have points that their respective surfaces that are about equally spaced from a base plane of the sole surface.

[0025]Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a shoe last for providing or creating a heel rest in a shoe positioned at an angle substantially parallel with the ground surface so as to redistribute the pressure on the ball of a wearer's foot to the heel of the wearer.

[0027]It is still further an objective of the present disclosure to create shoes, preferably high-heeled shoes, which are biomechanically more in harmony with the shape of the human foot to reduce and eliminate the shortcomings of shoes produced with conventional lasts.

[0028]An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a shoe last which may be readily sized and graded to produce shoes for a large variety of wearers.

[0029]In an aspect of the present disclosure, shoes may be manufactured with the shoe last of the present disclosure that incorporate the unique design of the disclosure shoe last, thereby providing comfort, stability, and proper weight distribution to a wearer.

Problems solved by technology

Conventionally, while a cast of a foot might be utilized for measurement purposes to make a custom pair of shoes, a foot cast cannot function as a shoe last.

Because of the differences between a human foot and a conventional shoe last, shoes made with a conventional shoe last fail to work in harmony with the human foot.

However, the heel of a human foot is not elevated and has no such heel pitch.

As such, the heel seats of conventional shoe lasts are generally unnaturally raised to different heel elevations to accommodate the heel for the footwear being manufactured.

Therefore, conventional shoe last technology dictates that the footwear manufactured thereon will unnaturally affect the weight bearing and propulsion characteristics of the foot.

A major drawback with conventional shoe lasts is that the flat bottom sole surface dictates that a flat, rigid piece of sole material be attached to footwear upper material at the sharply-angled shoe last line, thus producing footwear that has an excessive angled feather edge.

This increases the risk of ankle injuries.

The drawbacks of the sharply-angled feather edge of a shoe made from conventional lasts are exacerbated by the elevation of the heel seat, the recession of the toe, and the unnatural forward pitch of the heel seat, thus resulting in undue pressure on the ball of the wearer's foot.

This results in undue pressure on the ball 16 or forefoot 12 regions of the foot 10, which may result in jamming of the toes 13.

Such undue pressure on the ball or forefoot regions of the foot may result in a burning sensation in these areas of the foot, and may also result in fatigue and / or discomfort.

Images