Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Sheet including cover or casing – Foamed or expanded material encased
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-28
2001-08-28
Copenheaver, Blaine (Department: 1771)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Sheet including cover or casing
Foamed or expanded material encased
C036S00300B, C036S044000, C428S218000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06280815
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention provides custom-formable shoe inserts.
BACKGROUND
A wide variety of stock shoe inlays are currently available for helping to accommodate a number of foot conditions, or to adjust biomechanical parameters that affect foot, leg, and back pain during walking and running. Stock shoe inlays, available in pre-made shapes and sizes, are intended to provide one or more of the following functions: heel cushioning, longitudinal arch support, take up of extra room in shoe, and absorption of odors. Although stock shoe inlays are often convenient (they can be simply placed in the shoe and used immediately) they lack a custom fit and are not always able to provide the customer's desired function.
Custom fit shoe inserts, meant to fit directly to an individual's shoe, also exist. One such insert is composed of a bladder shaped to fit into a shoe and containing a water foamable resin. When water is injected into the bladder, the resin foams, causing the bladder to become shaped to the foot. Unfortunately, this insert is inconvenient to form and also inherently lacks porosity. The lack of porosity can make the insert feel sweaty and uncomfortable. Another insert is composed of a gel contained within membrane layers. When pressure is exerted against the insert, the gel moves to accommodate the shape of the foot. Again, this insert lacks porosity. Yet another insert is composed of a series of bladders into which air is pumped to achieve support under a foot. Unfortunately, this insert lacks a true custom fit and also lacks porosity.
Alternatively, professionally crafted custom shoe inserts are available that are custom-shaped to an individual's feet. These inserts are typically constructed by a trained professional to provide additional functionality, including heel pad containment, lateral arch support, more effective longitudinal arch support, and correction for abnormal biomechanics, such as pronation and supination. These professionally crafted custom-shaped inserts can be expensive. Previous custom-shaped shoe inserts are typically constructed by (i) preparing a mold of the foot, for example with Plaster-of-Paris; (ii) forming the custom shoe insert components on the mold, for example by thermoforming; and then (iii) machining the construction to fit the shoe. Taken together, all of these steps can take days or weeks to complete.
What is needed is a custom-formable, preferably porous, shoe insert that is easy and inexpensive to customize.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an easy to use shoe insert that custom form to and permanently retains the shape of the foot that it will support and the shoe in which it will be used. As used herein, the term “shoe insert” is meant to include inserts for all forms of footwear, including, for example, pedestrian and athletic shoes and boots of all kinds (e.g., work boot and ski boots), etc. The insert is comprised of (i) a conformable, porous substrate layer (at least a portion of which is impregnated with a storage-stable, settable resin) and (ii) an outer layer, impervious to the settable resin, but at least a portion of which is pervious (e.g., accessible or permeable) to an activator, and surrounding all sides of the substrate layer. In preferred embodiments, the custom formed shoe insert also comprises a component that provides a cooling effect to over-come heat build up in the shoe (e.g., heat buildup caused by the R-value of the shoe and/or insert or by heat from the environment). The cooling effect could occur during the setting of the resin and during use of the custom shoe insert.
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Anderson Richard E.
Ersfeld Dean A.
Mallo Richard A.
McGurran Kelly T.
Ruegsegger Michael L.
3M Innovative Properties Company
Copenheaver Blaine
Florczak Yen Tong
Roché Leanna
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