Corrective shoe

Oct 1, 1940. i. sabel et al 2,216,630

CORRECTIVE SHOE

Filed Dec. 23, 1937

<img file="US2216630A_D0001.tif" />

Patented Oct. 1, 1940

2,216,63ft

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,216,630 CORRECTIVE SHOE Isadore Sabel, Philadelphia, Pa., and Laurie S. Macdonald, Brockton, Mass.; said Macdonald ? assignor to Thompson Bros. Shoe Co., Brockton,

Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts

Annlication December 23, 1937, Serial No. 181,344 (Cl. 36—8.5) attempts to roll· its. foot or to walk on the outside edge of the outer sole of the shoe or the side of the shoe as a whole.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts 5 to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a. plan view of a shoe for the left foot made in accordance With the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the shoe jo shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view along line 3—3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an- end elevational view of the heel shown in Fig. 1. I³

The shoe shown in the drawing is illustrative of the application of our invention to a shoe ma.de by the well-known Goodyear welt process, and includes the upper 10, the two side members, viz., the inside quarter 1I , and the outside quarter 12, of which the adjacent edges are spaced apart on either side of the medial vent 13, each quarter being provided with a row of eyelets 14, for the reception of the usual shoe laces, the inturned bottom edges' of the upper 10 being at- ₂₅tached by the usual stitching to the welt 15 and .. to the lip of the inner sole 16.

Preferably, in accordance with the teaching of bur prior patent referred to above, the whole forepart of the shoe shown herein is swung out- ₃θ wardly until the medial axis of the forepart forms an approximately straight line extension of the medial axis of the heel portion. For comparison, Figure 1 of the drawing shows in dotted lines the position of the forepart of a left shoe for a 35 normal foot, the longitudinal medial axis of the forepart of which shoe intersects at an obtuse angle the medial longitudinal axis of the heel portion, sit a point somewhat in advance of the breast line of the heel, such medial axis of the ₄₀forepart being inclined substantially inwardly ^:with respect to the medial axis of the heel portion. .

Also in accordance with our prior'patent we prefer to provide the improved shoe with a stiff- 45 ening counter which is extended on .the outer side of the shoe, as at IT, to approximately the position of the outside ball point of the shoe sb as to form an anchorage for the subtending portion of the ball area of the upper. 50

Iii a shoe having these features the inserted foot of the child is held in what may be termed an over-corrected position with the forepart of the foot well outside of the normal position, thus greatly facilitating the permanent correction of 55

Claims.

Our invention relates to a corrective shoe and more especially to a shoe for use on a foot which has been operated on to correct the deformity known as club-foot, specifically, that form of 4 club-foot technically known as talipes varus.

Club-foot may be congenita! or acquired—the latter being chiefly due to infantile paralysis. The. most common forms of congenital club-foot are talipes varus, in which the foot is turned in10 wards and shortened, the inner edge of the foot being raised so that the child walks on the outer edge, and talipes equino-varus, wherein in addition the heel is drawn up. Generally it is impossible to twist or coax congenital club-foot into 15 improved condition and radical treatment is prescribed wherein the surgeon makes a subcutaneous division of tendons and ligaments or sometimes,by means of a free transverse incision, sees exactly what structures are at fault and in need 20 of division—skin, faciae,tendons, ligaments; everything, in short, which prevents the easy rectification of the deformity, and operates accordingly.

There is great danger after an apparently suc25 cessful operation for the foot to constantly, relapse into its old position, especially after the plaster cast of braces are removed, and it is attempted to exercise the foot. In our prior patent No. 1,952,684, issued March 27, 1934, we have 30 disclosed s, form of shoe for use on a foot which has been operated on to correct the above deformities, the shoe of our prior patent being constructed on lines to overcome the existing tendency of the forepart of such a foot to turn in35 wardly, the shoe at the same time providing the desirable freedom of movement to the muscles and bones of the foot to permit walking, or the like, without discomfort to the child wearing the shoe,

The present invention relates to still further improvements in shoes of this nature, and one of the principal objects of the invention is to bring about a form of shoe which may not only hold the foot in corrected position but which is 45 capable of opposing or counteracting any tendency of the child, in walking, to roll or twist the foot, together with the shoe, back towards its original uncorrected position and to support its weight on the outside edge of the shoe.

In a more specific aspect it is an object of the invention to bring about a form of shoe of the above type, and especially an outer sole therefor, which. is so constructed and arranged, as to force the foot and shoe thereon back into the 55 normal corrected foot position whenever the child

2,216,630 a foot by overcoming its tendency to return to its original distorted condition. While the improvements of our prior patent have been satisfactory in the accomplishment of their intended 5 purpose, nevertheless we have found that in use there exists in many cases a tendency on the part of the child to walk on the outer edge of its foot and sometimes to roll the same so that it walks on the outside edge portions of the outer 10 sole, thus defeating the purpose of the shoe in holding the foot in corrected position. The further improvements in our shoe for overcoming this difficulty, as well as to give added advantage to the shoe in exercising the corrected foot 15 in a manner such as to overcome the inherent tendency thereof to return to its original position, will now be described.

The welt 15 on the inner side of the shoe is provided with the usual or normal extension 20 while along the outer side of the shoe the welt, as at 18, has a relatively wide extension. The outer sole 19, is stitched to the welt in the usual manner and along its outside edge 21 is of greatly increased thickness as compared to its inner 25 edge 22. Preferably the increased thickness of the shoe bottom along its outer side is produced by a wedge lift 23, inserted between the outer sole 19 and the welt 15, the thick portion of. the wedge extending along the outside edge of the 30 shoe bottom, the wedge being skived to taper inwardly to a thin edge extending approximately along the medial line of the shoe and from one end to the other.

The outer sole 19, on the inner side of the shoe, 35 is flush with the outer edge of the welt while, on the outer side of the shoe, the sole 19 flares downwardly and outwardly to bring about an extension of the sole in. excess of that of the welt at this point. It will also be noted that the heel 24 at its outer side like-wise flares downwardly and outwardly in conformity with the sole 19. It would be within the invention to give the welt 15, at the outer side of the shoe, an extension equal to that of the outer sole but, by means of ₄₃ the flare given to the sole, and heel in connection with the rolled or rounded outer edge 25 of the welt, we are able'to obtain the important results hereinafter described while minimizing the visual effect of the wide extension, so that _ΰ0 the shoe does not look greatly different from the usual shoe.

The extended portion of the counter on the outer side of the shoe forms an anchorage against which the forepart of the foot is held in cor55 rected position by the upper, when the latter is laced, the counter not only serving to keep the forepart in the prescribed position but, in case the child should tend to roll its foot and attempt to walk on the. outer flared edge of the 60 sole, serving to keep the foot from sliding towards this edge of the shoe. Thus, when the weight is placed on a foot so rolled the foot is held in a position spaced inwardly of the Outer edge of the bottom of the shoe, this outer edge 65 forming a fulcrum point about which the shoe is swung back into its intended position with the bottom of the sole resting on the ground.

As pointed out above, the child during the. act of walking, tends to swing the corrected foot '70 back towards its uncorrected position, that is to say, with the forepart of the foot swung inwardly and upwardly. The shoe disclosed herein counteracts this unconscious tendency of the child . even in such extreme cases as ..where the child 75 attempts to walk on the' outside edge of the foot.

During its normal use the improved shoe, through the provision of an outersole whose bottom face is at an angle to the bottom of the foot, constantly flexes the foot in a direction away from the unconscious tendency of the child and through 5 the exercise given to the foot in this manner effectively overcomes the tendency of the foot to return to its uncorrected position? Furthermore, the combination of the wedge in the shoe bottom together with the flare given to the outer- 10 sole on its outside edge creates a condition wherein if the child attempts to roll its foot to the extent of walking on the outside edge of the outersole that portion of the outersole which, under these conditions, will contact the ground 15 is located not only markedly below but also laterally to the outside of the shoe, so that when the weight of the child is placed on the foot the shoe will force the foot back to its corrected position. The construction thus not only pre- 20 vents the child in extreme cases from rolling its foot out of corrected position to the point where the child walks on the outside edge of the shoe but in all cases constantly, exercises the foot by flexing it. in a direction away from the uncor- 25 rected position thereof.

In practice the shoes are preferably made with extra heavy single soles, wedged about ¹A on the outer border, and include a rigid steel shank, which is, however, not shown herein as it does Sb not form a part of the invention. The thickness of the wedge may, of course, be varied in accordance with the amount of outward swing necessary in individual cases.

While we have shown and described a pre- 35 ferred form of the invention, it will be readily understood that it is not to be limited to the details shown, but is capable of modification, and variation within the spirit of the invention , and the scope of the. appended claims. 40