Item of footwear
AssigneeFitflop Limited
InventorsMarcia Kilgore, David Cook
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An item of footwear for increasing leg-muscle and/or lower-abdominal-/back-muscle tone comprising: a securing means for securing the item of footwear to a foot of a user; and a sole comprising at least an upper layer, for engaging a foot of a user in use or a further upper layer, and a lower layer, for engaging the ground in use, wherein the upper layer comprises two or more materials of different compressive resistances, or densities, arranged as a frontal/toe region, an arch region and a heel region, the sole is arranged such that application of a user's weight, during use, causes instability in at least one portion of the upper layer, which requires balance correction by a user.
Claims47
An item of footwear for increasing leg-muscle and/or lower-abdominal-/back-muscle tone comprising:
- a securing means for securing the item of footwear to a foot of a user;
- and
- a sole comprising at least an upper layer, for engaging a foot of a user in use or a further layer, and a lower layer, for engaging the ground in use,
- wherein the upper layer comprises a first material of relatively lower compressive resistance or density sandwiched between two materials of relatively higher compressive resistances or densities, said materials being arranged as a frontal/toe region, an arch region and a heel region, the sole being arranged such that application of a user's weight, during use, causes instability in at least one portion of the upper layer, which requires balance correction by a user.
(canceled)
An item of footwear for increasing leg-muscle and/or lower-abdominal-/back-muscle tone comprising:
- a securing means for securing the item of footwear to a foot of a user;
- and
- a sole comprising two or more materials of different compressive resistances, or densities, arranged as a frontal/toe region, an arch region and a heel, the sole being arranged such that application of a user's weight, during use, causes instability in the at least one portion of the upper-sole, which requires balance correction by a user,
- wherein the sole comprises an upper surface, for receiving a foot of a user or an upper layer of sole, and a lower surface, for contacting the ground or a lower layer of sole, the upper surface and the lower surface being closer together at the frontal/toe region than they are at the heel region to aid comfort and provide the feel to a user of a normal item of footwear.
(canceled)
An item of footwear for increasing leg-muscle and/or lower-abdominal-/back-muscle tone comprising:
- a securing means for securing the item of footwear to a foot of a user;
- and
- a sole comprising two or more materials of different compressive resistances, or densities, arranged as a frontal/toe region, an arch region and a heel region, the sole being arranged such that application of a user's weight, during use, causes instability in the at least one portion of the upper-sole, which requires balance correction by a user,
- wherein the thickness of the sole tapers from the heel to the frontal/toe region, to aid comfort and provide the feel to a user of a normal item of footwear.
(canceled)
(canceled)
An insole for use with an item of footwear, for increasing leg-muscle and/or lower-abdominal-/back-muscle tone, the insole for receiving at least a portion of a foot of a user in use,
- the insole comprises two or more materials of different compressive resistances, or densities, arranged as a frontal/toe region, an arch region and a heel region, the insole being arranged such that the application of a user's weight, during use, causes instability in the portion of the insole, which requires balance correction by a user.
(canceled)
(canceled)
A method of moulding part of an insole or a sole of a shoe comprising:
- (a) providing an arch region of first material of relatively lower compressive resistance or density;
- (b) providing a frontal/toe region and heel region of second material of relatively higher compressive resistance or density;
- (c) placing the arch region between the frontal/toe region and the heel region within a mould;
- and
- (d) bonding the frontal/toe region, the arch region and the heel region together to form a unitary insole or sole of a shoe having a wobble effect which, in use, requires balance correction by a user.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.