The subject of the invention is a medical shoe pad that during walking prevents the development of anatomical deformities caused by footwear, which contains a back part, a front part supporting the foot and is fitted with protrusions and deepenings.

It has been known for a long time that a pad made of certain natural materials - e.g. leather, cork, metal, or recently plastic - is placed between the internal lower surface of shoe soles in contact with the foot and the sole of the foot.

Some of these pads seek to reduce the stress on the feet as flexible inserts, provide better support for the feet, and, last but not least, increase the feeling of comfort.

The British patent description No. GB 1910 29083 - produced at the dawn of the last century - already included a description providing arched support for the feet, while the British patent description No. GB 264256 describes pad-like protrusions that can be placed into shoes as inserts - i.e. an early version of arch support insoles. With the subsequent spread of plastic shoes, various solutions were also developed to shape the internal, lower surface of shoe soles as pads, instead of using separate pads.

Hungarian patent description No. HU 206 607 describes a special shoe pad consisting of a set of threads containing electro-conductive threads - e.g. plastic threads with metal coating. These shoes protect the shoes against electrostatic charging and sparks, which feature may be of exceptional importance for persons working on premises affected by explosive gases. Hungarian patent description No. HU 214 608 describes a plastic shoe sole containing hollows, where the hollows are filled with 3 to 35 mm sized grains to simulate the act of natural walking.

Japanese patent document No. 6007206 describes a shoe pad made of beryllium-copper alloy. The pad has a slight wave form in the direction of the thickness of the slim metal net sheet. The pad does not provide any anatomical support, it merely reduces sweating on the feet.

The Japanese document No. 2010-264141 published under the title "Pad for footwear" describes a solution appearing to be the closest to our invention - while being actually quite a remote one. Like most known shoe pads, the Japanese shoe pad is a typical pad offering protection against fallen arches, as it has a significant arch support in the middle section to correct the deformity, and it has oblique protrusions. The sole purpose of the saw-tooth shaped wave-like form is to prevent the foot from slipping from the arch support, for example in high heel shoes. The Japanese solution does not prevent the development of stiff big toe. The very purpose of this solution is to place the weight on and support the transverse part of the foot. Arch supports help the foot in standing position only. On the contrary, our invention is not an arch support, but it is a device preventing anatomical deformities while walking. To summarise the above considerations, the features of known shoe pads are primarily dependent on the used materials. Thus, they are directly proportionate to the softness and thickness of the material. However, increasing the thickness of the material would not leave sufficient space for the foot in the footwear. The various surfaces and surface treatments used so far also fail to produce satisfactory results. Changes to the used materials - e.g. the use of gels - do not result in significant improvements either.

The advantageous healing effect of using known shoe pads can be experienced in a standing position, but people tend to move around quite often, so a solution needs to be found.

In the course of evolution, a set of load bearing mounds with the corresponding joints (tarsometatarsis) evolved on the feet behind the fingers to support movement. We have recognised that this area needs support by shoe pads with similar features to those of the load bearing mounds of human beings.

The purpose of our invention is to reduce the load on the main movement parts of the feet - such as slowing down, shock absorption, rolling, and push off - by using special shoe pads. During these movements, a precise balancing of the respective transmissions takes place. The latest analysis results that the complex motions are determined not only by the schematic longitudinal axis and transverse axis, but by a wave-like transfer of power and a multi-segmental torsional motion. Depending on the shifting of body weight and on the automated movement pattern the punctual pressure on certain parts of the foot is considered and felt as an overload. The constant overload and constant axis malfunction lead inexorably to various, often very painful foot deformities. Our purpose is to prevent the development of such deformities and to correct the harmful processes already in progress. We have recognised that the shoe pad needs to be designed for moving feet, instead of standing feet, and needs to be fitted with slight ribs that are capable of moving in any direction while bearing load and of preventing the foot from slipping away. The optimal structure of the ribs needs to be designed so that they mirror the tissue structure of the supported and load bearing mounds. In more detail, the ribs need to be similar to the anatomic and physiologic unit and macroscopic structure of the mounds. We can achieve the above goals by implementing the first part of the pad - supporting the foot - according to our invention. The surface structural implementation developed, applied, and placed onto the first half of the first part of the shoe pad according to our invention can significantly multiply the load bearing and shock absorption effect, while extending the movement dimensions of such actions. All our results are supported by extensive trials and our achievements were confirmed by clinical radiographs. The depth, shape, run, and insert direction of the ribs implemented according to our invention is a kind of mirror image of the tissue structure of the supported and load bearing mounds.

The most general implementation form of the invention is described as claim 1. Claims 2 to 6 describe advantageous implementation forms of the medical shoe pad.

The shoe pad according to our invention, and its impact on the foot, is presented in detail on drawings, where

Figure 1 shows a top view implementation form of the shoe pad,

Figure 2 shows the enlarged image of part "B" of the same shoe pad,

Figure 3 shows the side view of section "A-A" of the shoe pad presented on Figure 1 , Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the shoe pad,

Figure 5 shows the enlarged image of part "A" shown on Figure 4. Figure 1 shows clearly that ribs 3 are fitted only onto the front part 2 of the shoe pad, close to the point of the shoe. It is also clear that the figure shows only the short pad - also known as fore-pad - supporting the first part of the foot, as it does not reach the heel.

The fore-pad shown on Figure 1 consists of a front part 2 with ribs 3 and a flat back part 1, which are placed onto the base 7 of the shoe pad. It is also possible to make shoe pads reaching the heel, where the front of the pad has ribs 3 implemented according to our invention. It can be seen on Figure 2 showing the enlarged part "B" that the ribs 3 consist of a series of notches formed by protrusions 4 and interim deepenings 5. Figures 1 and 2 also show that the ribs 3 made up by wave-like protrusions 4. Figure 3 shows section "A- A" of the shoe pad. The section of the ribs 3 - having a wavelike shape when viewed from above - has a shark tooth shape, while the form holding the section, when viewed from the front, is an isosceles trapezoid 6. The lateral angle with the base 7 is 60 to 80 degrees, depending on the height of the ribs 3. We also attempted to indicate this on Figure 2 with dotted lines between the protrusions 4. In the implementation forms presented on Figures 1 to 3, the width of the top of the protrusions 4, and the distance between them, may vary.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the shoe pad, an enlarged image of part "A" of which is shown on Figure 5. This figure shows that the ribs 3 of the shoe pad used as an example consists of eleven wave-like protrusions 4, the edges of which adhere closely to the base 7 of the shoe pad 1. The width of the wave-like protrusions 4 may vary.

We designed the optimal shape of the shoe pad by adjusting the wave-like protrusion, depth, shape, run, and insert direction of the ribs.

The benefits experienced when using the shoe pad according to the invention are confirmed by clinical trials and radiographs. The most important benefits include: the pressure is significantly reduced not only during vertical movement, but also while moving horizontally or diagonally. It is also advantageous that the shoe pad prevents the foot from slipping forward; this benefit is especially useful when using the shoe pad in high heel shoes. The shoe pad provides the user with protection against longitudinal and transverse overload on the connective tissue, the corresponding joints and on the bones. Therefore it prevents foot aliments and deformities like flat foot, stiff big toe (Hallux Rigidus) or bunion Hallux Valgus. Claw toe or hammer toe is the deformity of the second, third, fourth or fifth toe. Hallux Rigidus refers to the stiffening of the big toe whereas Hallux Valgus refers to the deformity of the big toe.

It is also a significant benefit that the shoe pad increases the comfort feeling, as - due to the absence of permanent contact with the foot - it reduces sweating and local heating, thereby eliminating the frequently experienced burning of the foot. Another important benefit is the permanent foot-massaging effect during use. Use of the shoe pad is also beneficial for the entire body, as reflex zone induction is implemented through the receptors of the connecting tissue of the foot.