FILED OF INVENTION :

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing and designing footwear. It more particular relates to a method of manufacturing and designing footwear to accommodate foot with variation in respect to length, width, shape or height of arch of the foot. Further, it relates to the footwear made according to the invented method.

DESCRIPTION PRIOR ART :

Conventional method of footwear manufacturing involves employing known foot measuring techniques like measuring the foot by thread or tape or scale with respect to the length and girth (at various sections) of the foot. However, in this method parameters like the height of arch, shape or form of the foot are not considered which makes this measurement technique inefficient for designing footwear. The footwear manufactured by using the said measuring technique are less comfortable and may hurt and create painful conditions.

The footwear in the prior art is manufactured in such a way that the toe box in the front of the said footwear is used to hold the shoe as a socket and the toe and the toe balls are used as an extension to hold the said footwear in its, place, thereby disallowing any forward or lateral movement of the foot. This further compresses the foot at the metatarsal area and deforms the foot. It leads to development of hardening of skin near the ball of the big and small toe unless the ball width of the shoe is sufficient. Conventional footwear do not accommodate beyond certain fixed widths.

BIS standards follow the English Shoe/ Footwear Standards, which do not cater to Indian feet, which are usually broader than their Caucasian counterparts.

Indian Standards 15196 : 2002 prescribes requirements, and methods of sampling and test for plastic lasts for use in footwear industry. The standards provide the measurement of the footwear last by tabulated standards relating to girth measurement

of the last, length and the width. However, it totally ignores factors like the different forms, height of the arch and shapes of the foot. The ball position is at a standard 2/3 ^rd length distance of the last, measured from the heel. However, it does not correspond to the actual ball position of the foot. In fact, the existing standards completely ignore the unique characteristics of the foot and relate only to the footwear last used in making the footwear. . Studies show that Indian feet are typically wider by 10-12% as compared to the existing standards, even at the ball position. The ball position of the typical Indian foot is also at a 10-15mm deviation from the existing standards. Therefore, unknowingly Indian feet step into shoes that are not designed as per their correct requirements. In other words, if the shoe fits properly, it must be by sheer luck. ^■

Another footwear making technique is to take the plan of the foot by marking around the foot by pencil and then measuring the girths individually and then by modifying the footwear last accordingly, to manufacture the footwear. However, since this method is a custom procedure, it is expensive, time consuming, requires highly skilled labour and is not an off-the-shelf solution.

Another custom solution is to take a mould of the foot by either using plaster of Paris, or a hardenable, shell forming fabric or any like method used to take a mould. The Footwear is then made using this mould as the footwear last. .

It will thus be seen from a-review of the foregoing prior art references that the prior art thus perceives a need for a permanent orthosis, which may electively be worn throughout one's life, Which may be easily donned and inserted inside a patient's modified Street Shoe ^' .

The factors of improper footwear that lead to foot Problems and Wounds are: -

1) Foot deformity takes place leading to higher plan-tar pressures.

2) Calluses develop and cause high pressures leading to self-injury and breakage of skin.

3) Wounds ^' on the dorsum of the foot due to pressure and rubbing of the upper.

4) Burning sensation due to uneven soles.

5) Foot ache due to unnatural position of foot in the shoe.

6) Halux Vulgus and crowding of toes due to pointed shoes.

Therefore, there is a need for properly designed footwear especially for persons with wider foot or high orjόw arch, or for persons with diabetes or persons prone to diabetes or having Neuropathy.

OBJECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION :

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing and desinging of footwear. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a method of manufacturing and designing footwear which will fit properly..

The present invention leads to a method for manufacture and design of a Footwear and Footwear that prevents the damages caused due to footwear, which is not fitting properly.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION :

The footwear is constructed using parameters like length, width, shape and the height of the arch of the foot. In other words, the form of the foot forms the footwear. The present footwear design system fails to cater especially to persons with wider foot or high or low arch or persons with diabetes or persons prone to diabetes or having Neuropathy; The footwear constructed by considering- new parameters as described herein help in reducing the possibility of external trauma and self-injury, thereby minimizing the chances of ulceration and eventual amputation of the affected foot in extreme cases.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERED EMBODIMENTS :

The invention will now be described below and with reference to the accompanying drawings, however the said description including figures and tables are only illustrative and in no way limit the scope of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings :

Fig.l shows how length and width of the foot is measured;

Figs. 2 to 4 show three common foot shapes P, Q & R.

The footwear are constructed employing four parameters namely the length of the foot, the width of the foot, the shape of the foot and the height of the arch of the foot as below:

1) Maximum Length of the foot in the direction of the axis of the foot. i.e. the line passing through the apex of the heel and the second metatarsal of the foot. It is shown in the accompanying Fig. No. 1, marked AB.

2) The width of foot is the maximum width of the forefoot at right angles to the axis of the foot. The maximum width on either side of the axis in the region of the forefoot is measured and added to get the width of the foot. This is explained in the accompanying Fig No.l wherein AB is the axis of the foot and the width of the foot is CD + EF. It is then converted into & represented as percentage of the length of the foot.

3) three common foot types categorize the shape of the foot,

(a) A foot, both sides of which are curved in the same direction and normally the width of the toes are smaller than the ball width or tread width. (P)

(b) A triangular or a V shaped foot. (Q)

(c) A foot, which is symmetrically curved on both sides, narrowing after the heel, widening towards the metatarsal heads, and the toes fanning outwards. (R)

The aforesaid shapes P, Q and R are more particularly shown in the accompanying figures 2 Io 4 respectively. ^{• •}

(4) Height of the Arch of the foot: height of the arch of the foot is characterized as high, low and normal. In high arch conditions the lateral arch rarely touches the ground while walking. In normal arch condition the lateral arch touches the ground. In low arch condition i.e. flat foot condition most of the medial arch portion also touches the ground. It can be observed and defined.

The different parameters, which are used to design and manufacture footwear according to this invention, are more particularly set out in the following tables.

Table No.l- Describes the range of the length of the foot in different ranges and each range is denoted by a alphabet starting from Alphabet 'A'.

TABLE 1

S 293-299 T 299-305

Table No.2 - Describes the width of the foot measured as a percentage of the length of the foot.

TABLE 2

WIDTH OF THE FOOT AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE FOOT

Upto 46%

^' Upto 44%

Upto 42%

Upto 40%

Upto 38%

Upto 36%

Upto 34%

Table No.3 - Describes the form of the foot and each form is denoted by an alphabet namely 'F, 'Q'/R'.

TABLE 3

Table No.4 - Describes the height of the arch of the foot as High (H), Low (L) and Normal (N). .

TABLE 4

The footwear moulds, patterns or lasts prepared using the combination of the above parameters cater to each specific kind of foot, while a range of parameters accommodate different forms of foot within the specified range.

ADVANTAGES

1) Footwear for different persons across any combination of length, Width, Shape and Arch available off the shelf.

2) Less expensive to manufacture.

3) No fixed ballpoint as in conventional footwear. Conventional footwear last has ballpoints at fixed position relative to the footwear last. By elimination of the fixed ballpoint design, the footwear is able accommodate feet of different ball positions.

4) Provision for thick pressure sock inside the footwear.

5) Wide and high toe box to accommodate the deformities like Halux Erectus (condition where the toe points upwards), Hammer Toes (condition where the toes point downwards), Crowding of toes.

6) No restriction on different types of soles and soling techniques.

7) Most of the corrective supports like wedges, scooping and other offloading techniques usually alter the structure and/ or the shape of the shoe. The provision of a thick pressure sock inside the footwear enables those corrective

supports and offloading techniques to be provided on the pressure sock itself, thereby leaving the structure and/ or the shape of the footwear unchanged. 8) Entire Plan-tar skin surface can rest on the pressure sock and special moulded foot beds or cradle insoles can be accommodated in the same footwear if required, especially in the event of deformity, amputation or ulcer. It can be replaced with another pressure sock after the healing of ulcer. Thus the need for replacing the entire footwear is eliminated, resulting reduction in economical burden.'

The working of the present invention will now be explained with the help of the following example, wherein the said example describes the invention and in no way limits the same.

Example- 1

Consider a foot having

Length = 236mm at foot axis

Width = 42% of mean foot length

Shape = P

Arch of the foot = Normal

The said foot has the number G 42 P N as per the 4 tables accompanying this specification.

By using all the corresponding parameters from the said 4 tables, footwear last, molds or patterns are made and the footwear is constructed there from.

Example- 2

Consider a foot having

Length = 268mm at foot axis

Width = 43.5% of mean foot length

Shape = Q