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US 5,842,292 AGranted
Shoe insert
AssigneeKathy J. Siesel
InventorKathy J. Siesel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A shoe insert for adjusting the fit of a shoe on a person's foot. The insert is formed from resilient material and is secured within the heel area of a shoe. The insert is elongated and has a narrow central portion for engaging a person's heel between the heel bone and the achilles tendon, and a pair of enlarged lateral portions for engaging the sides of the heel. The insert also has a tapered thickness which decreases from a thick upper part toward a thin lower part of the insert.
Claims17
A device for use with a shoe, the device comprising:
- an insert formed at least in part of generally resilient material, the insert having a thickness, width and length, the width defined between upper and lower edges, wherein the length is greater than the width such that the insert has a generally elongated shape;
- wherein the insert includes a central portion having a narrow width relative to opposite lateral portions having an enlarged width;
- wherein the insert has a thick area located adjacent the upper edge of the insert and a thin area located adjacent the lower edge of the insert, and the thickness of the insert is tapered from said thick area to said thin area the angle of tapering in said central portion being greater than the angle of tapering in said opposite lateral portions.
A device for use with a shoe, the device comprising:
- an insert formed of a material that is at least partially resilient, the insert having a first surface for attachment to an interior portion of a shoe and a second surface for contacting a wearer's foot;
- wherein the insert includes upper and lower longitudinal edges extending in a first general direction, and a pair of lateral edges extending between the upper and lower longitudinal edges, the upper and lower longitudinal edges being longer than the lateral edges;
- wherein the insert has a narrow central portion for contacting the heel of a wearer's foot and two enlarged lateral portions disposed on opposite sides of the central portion for contacting the sides of a wearer's foot;
- wherein each of the central portion and the lateral portions of the insert has a maximum width defined between the upper and lower longitudinal edges, and the maximum width of the central portion is less than about one-half the maximum width of at least one of the lateral portions;
- and
- wherein the central portion and the lateral portions of the insert have respective thicknesses that are tapered in a direction extending from the upper longitudinal edge to the lower longitudinal edge, the angle of tapering in said central portion thickness being greater than the angle of tapering in said lateral portions thickness.
3 more elements
A process for adjusting the fit of a shoe on a wearer's foot, the process comprising steps of:
- providing an insert that may be configured to conform to an interior surface of a heel-receiving portion of a shoe, the insert comprising a central portion adapted to contact the back of a wearer's foot and a pair of side portions adapted to contact part of the sides of a wearer's foot, the central portion and side portions of the insert having respective thicknesses that taper from a thick edge toward a thin edge, the angle of tapering in the central portion thickness being greater than the angle of tapering in the side portions thickness;
- securing the insert to an interior surface of a heel-receiving portion of a shoe with the central portion of the insert located to contact a wearer's foot between the heel bone and the achilles tendon, and the side portions located to contact the sides of the heel bone of a wearer's foot, wherein the thick edge of the central portion of the insert is located adjacent a top of the heel-receiving portion of the shoe so that the thickness of the central portion of the insert decreases toward a bottom of the heel-receiving portion of the shoe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.