Shoe and ankle support therefor
OwnerThomas C. Culpepperinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A shoe is provided with an ankle support member to reduce the risk of ankle injury. The ankle support member is a stiff resilient piece of bendable sheet material including a base portion, and a plurality of lateral and medial strips which are inclined upwardly and rearwardly. The base portion has a U-shaped horizontal cross section which extends into and is bonded to the shoe sole. Some lateral strips are connected to medial strips to form inverted support loops behind the wearer's heel. Other lateral and medial strips have free upper ends which are curved toward each other in a transverse direction, and their stiffness deters lateral movement of the ankle to reduce a risk of ankle injury.
Claims13
A shoe adapted to be worn on a foot of a wearer, comprising,
- a sole for underlying the wearer's foot,
- an upper for receiving the wearer's foot, said upper having its periphery attached to the sole so that the upper and the sole enclose the wearer's foot,
- an ankle support member formed of a stiff resilient bendable material including a base portion which is U-shaped in horizontal cross section so as to extend laterally of, behind, and medially of a heel of the wearer's foot, said ankle support member having a plurality of lateral strips and a plurality of medial strips, said lateral and medial strips having their lower ends attached to said base portion and being inclined upwardly and rearwardly, at least one of said lateral strips and at least one of said medial strips being heel strips which are connected together in a rear part of the shoe to form an inverted loop behind the wearer's heel, at least two of said strips being top strips which are located medially and laterally of the wearer's ankle and extend vertically higher than said heel strips, said heel strips and top strips having a stiffness which deters lateral movement of the ankle to reduce a risk of ankle injury.
An ankle support member for a shoe adapted to be worn on a foot of a wearer, comprising,
- a body of a stiff resilient bendable material including a base portion which is U-shaped in horizontal cross section so as to extend laterally of, behind, and medially of a heel of the wearer's foot, said ankle support member having a plurality of lateral strips and a plurality of medial strips, said lateral and medial strips having their lower ends attached to said base portion and being inclined upwardly and rearwardly, at least one of said lateral strips and at least one of said medial strips being heel strips, at least two of said strips being top strips which are located medially and laterally of the wearer's ankle and extend vertically higher than said heel strips, said heel and top strips having a stiffness which deters lateral movement of the ankle to reduce a risk of ankle injury.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.