US20060090372A1

US20060090372A1 - Shoe replicating benefits of mountain climbing

Info

Publication number: US20060090372A1
Application number: US10/974,997
Authority: US
Inventors: Hwi Kim
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-10-28
Filing date: 2004-10-28
Publication date: 2006-05-04

Abstract

A pair of shoes for maintaining the elevation of a mountain for a wearer even while walking on a plane (street) is provided. The shoes of the current application have a front sole that is much higher than the heel thereof. The front sole is developed in a distorted trapezoidal form. The upper side of the front sole, the longest side of the sole, is adhered to an upper, which carries the wearer's foot, from the waist of the shoe to the toe portion thereof. One of the sides of the front sole that faces the heel direction of the shoe is in a convex arcuate shape. The front sole has cushioning means, such as air pockets, deep grooves, and springs for compression thereof while walking. Insole of the shoe of the current application is made of silicon rubber containing powders of bio-ceramics, loess and charcoal. Pluralities of protrusions are developed on the foot-contacting surface of the insole. Inclined insole enabling the same effect with a plane shoes is also provided.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Diseases of adults such as obesity and stress come from the lack of enough exercise. Mountain climbing is one of the most popular and most simple exercises for people of all ages. However, it is very hard to make time and go out to a mountain area, especially for those living in a city area far away from the mountains and lacking time for exercise. The shoes of current application recreates for the wearer the incline and therefore posture of mountaineering while the wearer is walking on a street of flat road. It is purpose of the current application to provide shoes for those people who wish to climb mountains for exercise and other benefits, but have no time to head to a mountain.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shoes that replicate the incline and benefits of mountain climbing while walking on a plane, especially, shoes having a front sole much higher than the heel of the shoes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,757 to Jackinsky illustrates a shoe having a forwardly inclined heel with the advantages of an arcuately tapered toe. The rear portion increases linearly in thickness in the forward direction, the sole's overall thickness being correspondingly increased. The forward portion is of forwardly decreasing thickness, the sole tapering arcuately to forward termination of the shoe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,073 to Robinson illustrates a walking shoe that is provided with a reverse wedge, i.e., one which increases in thickness in the forward direction. The reverse wedge terminates forwards of the shoe heel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,672 to Fasse illustrates a boot over sole and carrier attachment for boots, such as ski boots. The boot over sole is characterized by a wedged thickness, which compensates for the unnatural leg angle imposed by ski boots. The tread of the over sole is preferably of dovetail grooves to provide good traction and to allow the over soles of a mating pair to be easily interlocked.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,104 to Calkin, et al. illustrates a conventional ski boot provided with a walking attachment configured as a removable, curved sole arranged with toe and heel straps configured to be clipped over the front and rear ledges of the boot, the deepest portion of the curved sole being located under the ball of the foot for allowing the foot to rock rearward, thus enabling the leg to be straightened at the knee for normal walking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,476 to Anderie illustrates a running shoe comprising a front sole of hard plastic material for mounting gripping elements, and a support member arranged behind the rearmost gripping elements, of elastically deformable material. In order to ensure that it is better possible to maintain a foot attitude required for optimum running efficiency, the support member is a wedge member which increases in thickness in a rearward direction and which comprises a relatively hard but elastically pressure-deformable material, wherein the underside thereof is disposed approximately in one plane with the front sole, and the wedge member extends at least with its portion associated with the outer edge of the sole, into the shank region of the sole.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,445 to Brisco illustrates a walking sole accessory for a ski boot is disclosed. The accessory includes a sole having a convex bottom surface and means for attaching the sole to a ski boot. The attachment means are operated manually and adjust to accommodate a wide range of boot sizes. The walking sole accessory allows a ski boot wearer to enjoy a comfortable walking gait.
None of the prior art illustrates a shoe with a trapezoidal front sole that is much higher than the heel and starts from the waist of a shoe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Diseases of adults such as obesity and stress mainly come from lack of enough exercise. Mountain climbing is an extremely popular and simple exercise for people of all ages. The shoes of current application recreates for the wearer the incline and therefore posture of mountaineering while the wearer is walking on a street of flat road. It is purpose of the current application to provide shoes for those people who wish to climb mountains for exercise and other benefits, but have no time to head to a mountain. The shoes refer all the shoes such as sandals, sneakers, dress shoes, golf shoes, and boots. The shoes of the current application have a front sole that is much higher than the heel thereof. The front sole is developed in a distorted trapezoidal form. The upper side of the front sole, the longest side of the sole, is adhered to an upper that carries the wearer's foot by various means such as band combined with protuberances and grooves, glue, and Velcro®s from the waist of the shoes to the toe portion thereof. One of the sides of the front sole that faces the heel direction is in a convex arcuate shape. The front sole has cushioning means such as air cushion and springs for compression thereof when walking. Insole of the shoe of the current application is made of material containing silicon rubber, bio-ceramics, loess and charcoal. Inclined insole rendering the same effect to a plane shoes is also provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing the leg and foot arrangement of a wearer of the shoes of the current application.
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the shoe of current application.
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of walking in shoes of prior arts.
FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of walking in shoes of current application.
FIG. 5 is a front view of the shoe with the front sole of current application.
FIG. 6 is a side view of the sandal of current application.
FIG. 7 is a perspective rear view of the sandal of current application showing protrusions developed on the insole of the sandal.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of sandal having an attachment means.
FIG. 9 is an exploded drawing of the sole and the sandal.
FIG. 10 is a side view of a front sole engaged sandal by attachment means.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an inner sole for raising the front part of a wearer's foot.
FIG. 12 is a schematic side view showing the folding of the ankle of a user wearing a shoe with the insole of current application.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a golf shoe with a trapezoidal front sole of current application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing the leg (1) and foot (2) arrangement of a wearer of the shoe (3) of the current application. The angle (4) between the foot (2) and the leg (1) is less than 85 degrees. The purpose of providing a shoe of the current application is to minimize this angle (4) to simulate the posture of a person who is mountain climbing.
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a shoe (3) of current application. The front sole (5) of the shoe (3) of current application is in a distorted trapezoidal shape. The sole (5) is developed from the waist (6) of the shoe (3) to the front tip (7) along with the longest side thereof. A side (8) facing the heel (9) of the shoe (3) is in a convex arcuate shape. A flat side (10) and front side (11) are in a straight-line shape. Air pockets (12) and small springs (13) providing a compressive repulsion force to the sole (5) are developed inside thereof. This shape and position of the front sole (5) is totally different from the prior arts. All the prior arts illustrate soles in a triangular wedge shape developed throughout the entire length of the bottom of the shoes.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the side (8) of the front sole (5) that faces the heel (9) touches the ground. In this position, the sole of the foot of the wearer is fully stretched and the angle (4) between the leg (1) and foot (2) is minimized. At the same time the muscle in the calf of the leg (1) is stretched, stimulating the sole, foot and calf of the wearer. This does not happen when a user wears the shoes of prior arts.
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of walking in a shoe (14) with wedge type front sole (15) of prior arts. When a user walks wearing a shoe (14) with wedge type front sole (15) of the prior arts, the heel (16) touches the ground (17) first, the flat side (18) of the front sole touches the ground and then the heel (16) takes off from the ground. FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of walking in a shoe (3) with trapezoid type front sole (5) of current application. In this case, the heel (9) touches the ground first, the arculated heel facing side (8) touches the ground, and then the heel (9) takes off from the ground. In these steps, the maximum of the angle (4) between the leg (1) and foot (2) of the wearer is maintained much lower than the prior arts' angle (4′). Therefore, more stimulation is transferred to the foot and leg of the wearer. However, there is a limit to decreasing the angle (4) because of the limit of the joint of a human ankle. If the front sole (5) is too high, simply walking straight is impossible. FIG. 5 is a front view of the shoes (3) with trapezoid shape front sole (5) of current application. Desirable height (19) of the front sole (5) falls in the range of 5 cm to 15 cm, depending on the position in the front sole and height of the heel (9), in the range of 0.3 cm to 2 cm.
FIG. 6 is a side view of a sandal (20) of current application showing pluralities of deep grooves (21) developed on the front sole (22). That grooves (21) provide compressive repulsion force to the front sole (22). Air pockets (12) and small springs (13) that are shown in the FIG. 2 are another option for the compressive repulsion force. FIG. 7 is a perspective rear view of the sandal of FIG. 6 showing protrusions (23) developed on the insole (24) of the sandal (20). The protrusions (23) have a massaging effect on the sole of the wearer. The protrusions (23) and insole (24) of the sandal (20) are made with same material comprised of silicon rubber containing powders of bio-ceramics, loess and charcoal.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of sandal (25), a detachably attached front sole (26) sandal, having an attachment means (27). The front sole (26) may be the same as the one shown in FIG. 6 and that shown in FIG. 2. Whatever the apparent look, the front sole is engaged to the sandal (25) by means of protrusions (28) and grooves (29). FIG. 9 is an exploded drawing of the sole (26) and the sandal (25) showing protrusions (28) developed on the sole (26) and grooves (29) developed on the bottom surface of the sandal (25) for receiving the protrusions (28). The band type attachment means (27) is attached to the front sole (26). Both ends of the attachment means have Velcro® (30) on the surface thereof. FIG. 10 is a side view of the sandal (25) engaging a front sole (26) by attachment means (27). The wearer uses this sandal (25) for normal walking by undoing the attachment means (27) and taking off the sole (26) from the sandal (25). This detachably attached front sole (26) is applicable to any of shoes of the current application.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an inner sole (31) for raising the front part of a wearer's foot. By inserting the inner sole (31) into shoes (32) having a flat inside bottom, a wearer can enjoy the same effect as that of climbing a mountain. FIG. 12 is a schematic side view showing the folding of the ankle of a user when apply the insole (31) into a shoes (32) having flat inside bottom. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a golf shoe (33) with a trapezoidal front sole (34) of current application. Spikes (35) are developed on the bottom of the heel (36) and a side (37) facing the heel (36).

Claims

1. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture of mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street is provided with trapezoidal front soles, which are developed from the waist of the shoes to the front tip along with the longest side thereof,

a side of which facing the heel of the shoe is in a convex arcuate shape, a flat side and front side are in a straight-line shape; and

air pockets and small springs for providing a compressive repulsion force to the sole are developed inside thereof.

2. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 1, wherein the trapezoidal front soles are detachably attached to the shoes via band type attachment means, both ends of which have Velcro® on the surface and both of the other ends are attached to the front sole, with the aid of protrusions developed on the soles and grooves developed on the bottom surface of the shoes for receiving the protrusions.

3. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 1 and claim 2, wherein the height of the front sole is in the range of 5 cm to 15 cm depends on the position in the front sole.

4. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 1, claim 2 and claim 3, wherein the pair of shoes is sandals.

5. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 1, claim 2 and claim 3, wherein the pair of shoes is sneakers.

6. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 1, claim 2 and claim 3, wherein the pair of shoes is dress shoes.

7. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 1, claim 2 and claim 3, wherein the pair of shoes is boots.

8. A pair of shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 1, claim 2 and claim 3, wherein the pair of shoes is golf shoes.

9. A pair of golf shoes for simulating the posture while mountain climbing of a wearer while walking on a plane street in claim 8, wherein spikes are developed on the bottom of the heel and on a side facing the heel.