Patent Application
20130081306
The present invention relates to an insole installed in the bottom inside a shoe to contact the human sole for supporting a sole of the human foot and absorbing the pressure shock, and more particularly, to an insole being made of a plurality of materials having varying degree of hardness depending on the insole region, wherein the respective materials are combined to form a single layer, considering the different pressure distribution depending upon a foot sole portion by a human load.
Conventionally, an insole is installed in the bottom inside a shoe to contact the human sole for supporting, protecting human foot and absorbing the pressure shock, and most of them generally has a shape similar to the sole of a human foot and some specific portion of the insole is protruded in order to support the concave portion of a foot. And the insole is entirely made of single material, foam resin of elasticity and restoration, such as urethane foam and so forth.
When a sole is contacted to the earth on walking, a uniform pressure distribution is not transmitted to the sole of a human foot through the entire section of the sole. For example, the forward portion of a midfoot (see definitions in Description of Embodiments) and the heel of a rearfoot (see definitions in Description of Embodiments) receive relatively much higher pressure applied thereon, whereas the concave of a midfoot (see definitions in Description of Embodiments) scarcely receives the pressure applied thereon.
Therefore, an insole made of a single material cannot effectively reflect on or cope with the different pressures applied to the different portions of the sole respectively, and especially cannot absorb much higher pressure-shock concentrated on specific protruded portion of the foot, so that long time walking with a shoe having a single-material insole causes to the foot aches and feels easily fatigue.
In order to solve the said problems, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0388223 disclosed a foaming insole consisting of respectively different hardness of a fore portion and a rear portion of the insole.
The disclosed foaming insole of prior art, however, cannot absorb sufficiently all the pressure shocks on different pressure portions of the foot sole, because the said insole is manufactured by using the materials having simply different hardness of the fore portion and rear portion of the insole without considering the pressure distribution of a foot sole on the biomechanical data. That is to say, although the received pressures to be contacted the forefoot and the toes in the fore portion of an insole are different one another, the said insole is made of a single material, thereby it being not possible to distribute the pressure shocks uniformly.
And among the insoles being sold in the market, it is disclosed that some insole is additionally attached by the insole piece having low hardness on the specific portion of the basic insole. However, since such an insole has a structure of the double-laminated layers having respectively different hardness, the attached material of the said insole art gives a person with the shoe to feel a different sensation due to the different thickness between the attached piece and the non-attached base insole. Furthermore, the insole having the attached insole piece has disadvantages in that air permeability thereof is not good because the attached piece on the basic insole is attached by adhesive agent, and also the attached piece may be easily removed from the basic insole.
In order to solve the problems of prior arts as mentioned, the present inventors have conducted extensive studies the changes of the pressure and shape of the foot when wearing on shoe in aspect of biomechanics, and as a result have found that the said drawback can be removed by providing an insole preparing by a plurality of materials having varying degrees of hardness depending on the insole region. Accordingly, the purpose of the present invention provides an insole wherein the insole is made of a plurality of materials having varying degrees of depending on the insole region, and the respective materials are combined to form a single layer, and the upper surface of the insole has a shape corresponding complementarily in shape to a sole of human foot such that the insole has complementary shapes corresponding to the rearfoot, the midfoot and the forefoot thereby providing almost bare-foot sensation on insole installed inside shoe of the present invention.
In order to attain the above object, one aspect according to the preferable embodiments of the present invention provides an insole installed inside a shoe to contact each foot sole portion of the human forefoot (A), a midfoot (C) and a rearfoot (B), respectively; and the insole is made of plurality of materials having varying degrees of hardness depending on the insole region, and the respective materials are combined to form a single layer.
Preferably, the insole comprises: a base plate (10) including one among a forefoot hole (11), a midfoot hole (13) and a rearfoot hole (12), which holes correspond to one of the portions (A), (B) and (C) in their regions, respectively; and an inner plate (20) including one among a forefoot support (21), a midfoot support (23) and a rearfoot support (22), which are inserted into one of the holes (11), (12) and (13), respectively; and wherein the base plate (10) and the inner plate (20) are manufactured with materials having varying degrees of hardness relative to one another.
More preferably, the inner plate (20) has a heel hole (22a) formed in the rearfoot support (22), and the first plate (22b) which has different hardness of materials from the inner plate (20) is inserted into the heel hole (22a).
Still more preferably, the inner plate (20) has a forward hole (23a) formed in the midfoot support (23), and the second plate (23b) which has different hardness of materials from the inner plate (20) thereof is inserted into the forward hole (23a).
According to the present invention, the insole has a shape corresponding complementarily in shape to a sole of human foot, and is made of a plurality of materials having varying degrees of hardness depending on the insole region, and as a result, the insole of the present invention effectively can absorb the big pressure shocks concentrated on the protruded portions of the foot sole, whereas the portion of not-much pressure on the insole is not nearly deformed to improve fitting power thereof and provides almost bare-foot sensation with the insole installed inside a shoe.
Differing from the prior art, which attaching the insole piece of the different material having different hardness onto the basic insole to form two or more laminated-layers, the present invention, the pressure-shock absorbing materials such as the first and the second plate are fitted, complementarily in shape, into the holes formed on the basic insole to be assembled into only one layer without any over-and-over laminated layers to resultantly avoid the different sensation between the materials of different materials. The present invention has further advantages in that it is possible to avoid the using of any adhesive agent, and also gaps between the materials of different materials provide the improved air permeability to promote dryness of sweat and easily to exhaust or suppress bad smell and provide comfortable wearability of a shoe having the insole of the present invention therein.
The present invention relates to an insole installed inside a shoe to contact each foot sole portion of the human forefoot (A), midfoot (C) and rearfoot (B), which is made of a plurality of materials having varying degrees of hardness depending on the insole region, wherein the respective materials are combined to form a single layer. Preferably, the insole for a shoe comprises: a base plate (10) with any one of a forefoot hole (11), a midfoot hole (13) and a rearfoot hole (12) formed therein corresponding to one of respective foot regions (A), (B) and (C); and an inner plate (20) including one or more of a forefoot support (21), a midfoot support (23) and a rearfoot support (22) to be inserted into one of the holes (11), (12) and (13), respectively, wherein the base plate (10) and the inner plate (20) are manufactured with materials having varying degrees of hardness relative to one another.
Hereinafter, the present invention according to embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the insole illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
As illustrated on
Of course, the pressure distributions thereof are not identical to each other according to an individual walking habits or postures, respectively. However, in light of the general pressure distribution for the common person, the pressure distribution of the sole can be generally divided into three portions. The first portion 1 among the three portions has relatively higher pressure, and is distributed on both some part of the heel of the rearfoot (B) and forward part of the midfoot (C). The second portion 2 thereof has relatively lower pressure than that of the first portion 1, and is distributed on some parts of grounding toes and some parts along around the first portion 1. Finally, the third portion 3 thereof has relatively the lowest pressure among the three portions, and is distributed on the rest of the sole except for the portions 1 and 2, including some concave parts of an arch type in the sole.
Based on the pressure distribution for the foot sole in light of a view of the biomechanics, as mentioned above, the present invention is intended to provide an insole installed inside a shoe and contacted each sole part of a human foot corresponding to the forefoot (A), the rearfoot (B) and the midfoot (C), is characterized in that each insole thereof comprises plurality of materials having varying degrees of hardness depending on the portions of the pressure distribution, and the materials of the insole are combined to form a single layer. The structure of the insole will be described in more detail as exemplary embodiments, with reference to
With reference to
Of course, according to a modified embodiment of the present invention, the insole may not include one or two among the forefoot hole (11), the midfoot hole (13) and the rearfoot hole (12). In other words, the insole may include selectively only one or two selected from the forefoot hole (11), the midfoot hole (13) and the rearfoot hole (12). Such a modified embodiment is also within the scope of the present invention.
Such a base plate (10) may be made of for example the material of the third portion (3) which has the highest hardness or the lowest elasticity among the three portions materials because of the lowest pressure distribution thereof. As long as the hardness of the materials for the base plate (10) is 65˜80, preferably 68˜76, based on ASKER C TYPE, the kinds of the materials used is not particularly limited. The materials used for the base plate (10) include for example, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) foam, polyurethane (PU) foam and so forth.
On the other hand, in case that the base plate (10) includes one or more of the holes (11), (12) and (13), the insole has an inner plate (20) with which the holes (11), (12) and (13) are matched complementarily in shape. More specifically, the inner plate (20) fills fittingly one of the possible holes (11), (12) and (13) with itself to be a single layer when assembled with each other. The filled hole may be any one of the three holes (11), (12) and (13) according to the embodiments of the present invention.
As illustrated in
In case that the relatively higher hardness base plate (10) are combined with the relatively lower hardness inner plate (20) as described above, the relatively soft inner plate (20) receives the relatively higher pressures than the base plate (10) so as to effectively obtain a shock-absorbing effect. Also, because an insole having the base plate (10) and the inner plate combined complementarily with other becomes a single layer without any laminating on basic insole, the insole of the present invention can avoid to make an insole having a laminated layer on the basic insole layer of prior art, and can improve the fitting sensation thereof without the difference feeling.
Additionally, the inner plate (20) of the present invention may also have further-much lower hardness material separately therein regardless of said lower hardness material. More specifically, the inner plate (20) may has a heel hole (22a) formed on a rearfoot support (22) corresponding to the heel of the human foot in their regions. The heel hole (22a) receives fittingly the first plate (22b) of which hardness is different from that of the inner plate (20), preferably lower than that of the inner plate (20).
In case of the structure mentioned above, because the heel portion has relatively highest pressure distribution (the first portion) as illustrated in
According to such a technical ideal of the present invention, additionally, the inner plate (20) may have a forward hole (23a) formed on a midfoot support (23) corresponding to the forward middle portion of the human foot in their regions. The forward hole (23a) receives fittingly the second plate (23b) of which hardness is different from that of the inner plate (20), preferably lower than that of the inner plate (20).
Accordingly, because the forward portion of the midfoot like a heel portion has relatively highest pressure distribution (the first portion) as illustrated in
Because the materials used for the first plate (22b) and the second plate (23b) have relatively softer than that of the inner plate (20), the degree of the hardness of the materials for the plates (22b) and (23b) are hardly measured based on ASKER C TYPE. Therefore, converted to Shore Hardness, when the hardness of the materials for the plates (22b) and (23b) are 60˜72, preferably 62˜70, the kinds of the materials used is not particularly limited. The materials used for the plates (22b) and (23b) include for example, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam, polyurethane (PU) foam and so forth.
As described above, assembled with the different materials in hardness thereof depending on the insole region thereof, the insole may have an Convex-concave portion (15) corresponding complementarily to the toes of a human foot in shape, respectively, on forward edge part thereof corresponding to the forefoot, so that the forward part of the insole can be formed to complementarily match with toes of foot in shape to improve wearability and fitting feeling (See
Also, the base plate (10) may has a midfoot concave support (16) protruded upwardly to be formed in the form of arch in one side of the third portion 3 in the base plate (10). The midfoot concave support (16) has relatively higher hardness and corresponds, complementarily in shape, to the sole of the midfoot (C) to support the sole of the midfoot, and resultantly improve the fitting sensation on shoe having the insole of the present invention.
Similarly, in case of a forefoot concave support (17) protruded upwardly to be formed between the forefoot hole (11) and the midfoot portion hole (13), in other words, be corresponded, complementarily in shape, to the concave of the forefoot (A) or the concave between the toes and the midfoot (C), the forefoot (A) has relatively higher hardness to support the concave of the forefoot (A), and resultantly also improve the fitting sensation.
Further, in case that both the base plate (10) and the inner plate (20) have the first plate (22b) and the second plate (23b) inserted therein respectively, if each of the first plate (22b) and the second plate (23b) has air holes of small diameter penetrated through vertically, not only sweat accumulation in the insole can be prevented and but also cause of bad smell can be diminished because air can be well vented vertically through the air holes.
As shown in
Accordingly, it is preferable to fixedly wrap the entire surface of the insole with a cover (30) which is preferably well-ventilative fabric material. The cover (30) may be adhered to the exterior surface of the insole by fusion in order to avoid using adhesive agent. Alternatively, the cover (30) may be adhered by fusion to only upper surface of the insole because only the upper surface to which the cover (30) is adhered can support the shape of the insole.
With reference to
Accordingly, the first plate (22b) and the second plate (23b) may have an uplifted (or upwardly protruded) different heights higher than that of the inner plate (20) to minimize the sensation of difference. The different heights of the plates (22b) and (23b) may be 0.5˜1.0 mm.
More preferably, the first plate (22b) and the second plate (23b) is protruded upwardly to form the shape of an arch based on sectional view such that the heights of the protrusion of the plates (22b) and (23b) are the same as those of the inner plate (20) in the boundary portions between the plates (22b) and (23b) and the inner plate (20), and are gradually increased in the inner direction of the boundary.
As shown in
Of course, the air holes are not particularly limited to be located on the specific region of the base plate (10). For example, in case of the inner plate (20) with the first and the second plates (22b) and (23b) assembled, each plate may has the air holes, if necessary. In other words, the entire sections of the insole may have the air holes, if necessary.
According to one modified embodiment of the present invention, the base plate (10) includes the midfoot concave support (16) for supporting the midfoot (C), and is extended from the midfoot concave portion (16) to an edge of the rearfoot (B) to support the edge of the portion B. The midfoot concave support (16) and the extended portion of the plate (10) around the edge of the portion B are integrally formed with each other.
The inner plate (20) includes the forefoot support (21) for supporting the whole part of the forefoot (A), the midfoot support (23) integrally extended from the forefoot support (21) except for the portions occupied by the midfoot concave support (16), and the rearfoot support (22) integrally extended from the midfoot support (23) to the inner portion of the edge of the rearfoot B to finally support the middle portion of the rearfoot (B). The materials of the base plate (10) and the inner plate (20) are different from each other in the hardness thereof, preferably the hardness of the base plate (10) is higher than that of the inner plate (20). The degrees of the hardness and the kinds of materials used for the plates are selected from the hardness and the kinds of materials mentioned above in the previous embodiments.
Furthermore, the rearfoot support (22) of the inner plate (20) has a heel hole (22a) formed in the region being contacted with the heel of the foot. The first plate (22b) is fittingly inserted into the heel hole (22a). The material of the first plate (22b) is different from that of the inner plate (20) in hardness, and preferably has lower hardness than that of the inner plate (20).
Still furthermore, the midfoot support (23) of the inner plate (20) may have the forward hole (23a) into which the second plate (23b) is inserted. The hardness of the material of the second plate (23b) is different from that of the inner plate (20), and preferably has lower hardness than that of the inner plate (20). The degrees of the hardness and the kinds of materials used for the plates are selected from the hardness and the kinds of materials mentioned above in the previous embodiments.
As described above, the present invention is characterized in that the insole has a plurality of materials having varying degrees of hardness depending on the insole region, and the respective materials of the insole are combined to form a single layer. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments of the invention described above. However, as long as modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, they should not be misconstrued as a departure from the scope of the invention itself.
The insole of the present invention is made to be similar to the human foot sole in shape thereof, and has a plurality of materials having varying degrees of hardness in accordance with the pressure distributions of the materials generated upon grounding. Therefore, the insole of the present invention can effectively absorb pressure-shocks generated from the pressure-concentrated portions by deforming the corresponding portions thereof, and the pressure-not-concentrated portions are scarcely deformed to improve the fitting ability and provide wearability of shoe almost similar to bare-foot feeling.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2009-0049383 | Jun 2009 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2009/003347 | 6/23/2009 | WO | 00 | 8/8/2012 |
