Boots – shoes – and leggings – Boots and shoes – Occupational or athletic shoe
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-17
2002-07-23
Kavanaugh, Ted (Department: 3728)
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Boots and shoes
Occupational or athletic shoe
C482S079000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06421935
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to therapeutic shoes, and more particularly, to low impact exercise shoes designed to stretch and to strengthen foot, leg, and buttocks muscles and tendons. The present invention may be considered in a broader context to be a lower body exercise device, as it is not necessary that the shoes be used in walking or travel. The present shoes have soles with asymmetric curvature in their longitudinal direction (i. e., toe to heel), and are longitudinally reversible to place the greatest curvature beneath either the forward or rearward portion of the foot, as desired.
2. Description of Related Art
Exercise shoes having various shapes and features have been previously constructed for exercise, therapy, and recreation purposes. Some shoes have been developed which have longitudinally convex soles, upon which the wearer may rock forwardly and rearwardly for foot, ankle, and lower leg muscle exercise. These convex sole shoes of the prior art are all unidirectional, i.e., have a specific toe and heel orientation and cannot be reversibly worn. Thus, they provide exercise or flexion of either the anterior or posterior muscle groups, but cannot be reversed to provide muscle exercise for the complementary muscle group.
Accordingly, a need will be seen for an exercise shoe of simple unitary construction that can be used for anterior foot stretches and other exercises and, alternately, reversed for posterior foot flexion exercises. The present rocking shoe invention responds to this need with different embodiments, each having the common feature of a sole with a longitudinally asymmetric convex curvature and longitudinal reversibility, to allow a wearer to position the portion of the sole having the greatest curvature beneath either the forward or the rearward portion of the foot, as desired, to exercise and strengthen corresponding muscle groups.
A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions in comparison to the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,561,516 issued on Nov. 17, 1925 to Anton Glowa, titled “Footgear,” describes devices for wearing over the shoes, for lengthening the stride of the wearer during walking. The devices each include a pair of generally laterally disposed convex arcuate rods therebeneath, upon which the wearer rocks or rolls the foot forwardly while walking. An additional spring loaded plunger is located just behind the heel, which absorbs some of the energy when the heel contacts the underlying surface during walking, and returns that energy to rock the foot forward for the next step. The Glowa appliance does not have a longitudinally asymmetric sole to provide variable radii of rotation during use, as provided by the present rocking shoe invention, and moreover cannot be reversibly worn on the shoe, due to the rearwardly disposed plunger.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,214,052 issued on Sep. 10, 1940 to Harry L. Good, titled “Exercising Boot,” describes a device for application over an existing shoe, for lower body exercise. The Good boot generally comprises a pair of laterally disposed vertical plates extending beneath a flat sole portion. A compound convex heel plate is provided and the forward ends of the lateral plates have convex curvature, but the central portions of the lower plate edges are straight, rather than providing continuous curvature beneath the foot, as in the present invention. Moreover, the shape of the Good boot and particularly its heel closure and attachment straps, precludes longitudinal reversal of the device. In any event, Good does not disclose any difference between the curvature of the heel and toe portions of his boot, unlike the longitudinally asymmetric and continuous curvature of the present rocking shoe.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,810,213 issued on Oct. 22, 1957 to Jerry J. Jonas, titled “Footgear,” describes footwear having an arcuate convex curved sole with a uniform radius of curvature. An alternate embodiment provides two spaced apart and generally vertically disposed plates having arcuate lower edges, rather than a single sole plate. The Jonas footgear differs essentially from the present rocking shoe, in that (1) the sole curvature is of constant and uniform radius and symmetrical from heel to toe, whereas the sole curvature of the present shoe is asymmetric, with a smaller radius at one end than the other; and (2) Jonas provides separate attachment straps configured particularly to fit around the forward portion of the ankle and over the toes, thus precluding fore and aft reversibility, as provided by the present invention. Due to the symmetrical shape of the sole of the Jonas footgear, Jonas has no motivation to provide reversibility, as the same effect would be attained regardless of the longitudinal orientation of the shoe, due to the symmetrical configuration of the sole.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,427 issued on Jan. 2, 1968 to Nathan L. Paves, titled “Exercise Rocker,” describes a single platform for a person to stand upon with both feet, unlike the separate shoes of the present invention. The Paves platform has a generally I-shaped structure therebeneath, with the opposed flanges of the I disposed to the left and right ends and the web of the I extending laterally therebetween. The center portion of the web is parallel to the platform upper surface, with the ends tapering to the narrower flanges. The flanges also taper at their forward and aft ends, in a like manner. No curvature is provided in this supporting structure; all of the defining edges are straight lines. Moreover, the Paves platform cannot be reversed between fore and aft directions, due to the heel stops provided at the rearward edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,508 issued on Oct. 14, 1969 to Richard E. Baker et al., titled “Exercising Device For Rocking The Foot To Exercise The Lower Leg,” describes a shoe having a flat sole with a relatively small radius convex curved toe portion. The upper or insole area has a generally sinusoidal curvature, with the forward or toe end being about five times the height of the heel portion, i. e., the toes are elevated considerably above the heel when the Baker et al. shoe is worn. The attachment straps and a lateral heel retaining pin cannot be rearranged to provide for reversal of the Baker et al. shoe, whereas the present rocking shoe is longitudinally reversible to provide exercise for a wider range of muscle groups than the Baker et al. shoe is capable of providing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,558 issued on Jun. 10, 1980 to Vincent J. Bivona, titled “Exercise Shoes For Simulated Jogging,” describes a shoe having a longitudinally convex curved sole and flat insole. However, the Bivona shoe is longitudinally symmetrical, having the same curvature forwardly and rearwardly of the center, unlike the present rocking shoe invention. The greatest degree of curvature, i. e., smallest radius, is in the center of the sole of the Bivona shoe, whereas it is disposed to one end of the present rocking shoe invention. While Bivona provides a longitudinally symmetrical sole, he positions the attachment strap closer to one end than the other, thus precluding longitudinal reversal of his shoe. The longitudinally symmetrical sole of the Bivona shoe does not provide any motivation for longitudinal reversal, in any event.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,996 issued on Feb. 3, 1981 to Pierre A. Grapin et al., titled “Walking Aid Device,” describes a shoe intended to increase the length of the stride. The sole comprises a longitudinally arcuately curved plate, with a flat insole surface extending across the inner portion of the arc. The foot attachment straps are asymmetrically arranged, and include a single central heel strap which attaches to a collar which passes around the ankle. Grapin et al. do not disclose any means of rearranging their straps to allow longitudinal reversal of their walking aid, nor do they have any motivation to do so, due to the symmetrical configuration of the arcuate sole. The Grapin et al. device is mor
Kavanaugh Ted
Litman Richard C.
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