DESCRIPTION

This invention relates to a method manufacturing high-comfort shoes and shoes manufactured using the method.

In the specific technical field it is known that shoes of the same or similar type or model which are then made in different versions with a low, medium and/or high heel can be designed. In the context which follows the term low heel will refer to heels in which the vertical height of the heel is not more than approximately 30 mm, by high heels will be meant shoes in which the vertical height of the heel is approximately 60 mm or more and by medium heel will be meant shoes in which the vertical height of the heel lies between the two extremes indicated above.

It is also known that in the absence of heels or other artificial means of elevation the human foot discharges the body weight onto the ground in a percentage of approximately 53% through the posterior part, in the vicinity of the heel, and the remaining approximately 47% through the anterior part, in the vicinity of the area of plantar support.

In the manufacture of comfortable shoes provision is made for the use of insoles which can in some cases comprise one or more padded portions. Despite the presence of this padding it is nevertheless the case that comfort in wearing the shoes decreases rapidly as the vertical height of the heel increases. The technical problem to which this invention relates is that of improving the shoe wearer's perceived comfort irrespective of any change in the vertical height of its heel. This problem is overcome by the invention by means of a method for manufacturing high-comfort shoes and a shoe manufactured in accordance with the method which take advantage of the teaching provided in one or more of the appended claims.

The invention thus teaches preferred arrangements of the insole padding to improve the distribution of the body load at the insole/foot interface, correlating this distribution with the height of the shoe's heel.

It has in fact been observed that as the height of the heel is altered in models of the same or similar type there is an appreciable improvement in the user's perceived comfort if the concentration of padding is increased in the plantar portion and decreased in the heel portion as the vertical height of the heel increases.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will be more particularly apparent from the detailed description of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment illustrated by way of indication in a non-restrictive way with reference to the appended drawings in which :

- Figures 1 to 3 illustrate three diagrammatical views in lateral elevation of shoes of similar type having heels of different height,

- Figures 4 to 6 are three diagrammatical views in lateral elevation of three corresponding insoles for the shoes in the preceding figures,

- Figures 7 to 8 are three views in cross-section along the three planes which pass through the lines VII-VII, VIII-VIII and IX-IX respectively of the insoles for the shoes in the preceding figures.

In the figures la, b, c respectively indicate three shoes of similar type (in the example three women's shoes of the court type are illustrated) which macroscopically differ from each other in the vertical extent (height) of the corresponding heel 2a, b, c. These three shoes represent an example of a line of shoes according to the meaning which will be illustrated in greater detail below.

This invention can however also be applied to other types of shoes, for example sandals, clogs, slippers or boots.

In all three shoes there is a sole 3 with a plantar portion 4 and a heel portion 5 which are longitudinally opposite each other. Sole 3 includes a padded insole 7 which may be either of the fixed type (attached to the layers of sole 3) or removable, merely inserted into shoes la-c to partly or wholly cover the inner surface of sole 3.

In plantar portion 4 and in heel portion 5 insole 7 has a corresponding localised increase in padding which will be subsequently referred to as the plantar padding 8 and the heel padding 9.

Insole 7 may have both paddings 8, 9 (Figures 5 and 8) or only the heel padding 9 (Figures 4 or 7) or only the plantar padding 8 (Figures 6 and 9). The localised increases in padding are provided through corresponding cushions 8a, 9a whose thickness is locally added to plantar portion 4 or heel portion 5. These cushions are added to an insole 7 of otherwise substantially uniform thickness.

The method according to this invention is essentially based on the fact that a correlation has been found between the height of heels 2a, b, c and the corresponding plantar and heel padding to maximise the comfort of the shoe.

It has in particular been found that the insole for a low heel 2a, that is for a heel of not more than 30 mm in height, has a clear predominance of padding in heel portion 5, which can be quantified as 80-100% of the volume of the padding. In other words, in the case of a low heel 2a the insole will have a greater thickness in heel portion 5 deriving from cushion 9a which therefore results in more padding in that portion than is used in low-heeled shoes. It is obvious that other technical solutions to achieve a predominance of padding in heel portion 5, for example obtained by a particular conformation of the insole in that portion, may also be used in place of cushion 9a.

With reference to Figures 3, 6 and 9, the insole for a high heel 2c, that is for a heel of 60 mm or more in height, is instead provided with a clear predominance of padding (75-100% of the volume of padding) in plantar portion 4 and less padding (0-25% of the volume of padding) in heel portion 5.

With reference instead to Figures 2, 5 and 8, the insole for a medium heel 2b, of height between 30 and 60 mm, is provided with padding distributed in a substantially equal way between heel portion 5 and plantar portion 4, that is with 50% of the padding in plantar portion 4 and 50% of the padding in heel portion 5. More generally, in the case of a medium heel some variability in the percentage distribution of padding between plantar portion 4 and heel portion 5 in comparison with the preferred values mentioned above may be allowed, and this can be quantified as a range of between 40 and 60% in the percentage padding in plantar portion 4 and a corresponding percentage in heel portion 5.

It will therefore be seen that the method of manufacturing described here lends itself particularly well to the manufacture of a line of shoes, understood to be a series of shoes having substantially similar macroscopic characteristics, apart from the height of heel used.

It should be understood that in addition to the height of the heel and the consequent difference in padding deriving from application of the method according to this invention shoes included in the same line according to this invention may also differ in other features, in particular aesthetic features or features directly associated with a different height of heel. For example the sole, although having similar characteristics, may also be shaped differently between the different shoes to adjust to the various heights of heel, these modifications being in any event obvious to those skilled in the art.

In other words, a group of shoes which are manufactured from the same basic components, for example uppers and a sole, although differing in their accessory characteristics, will form a line of shoes in the meaning according to this invention. In particular shoes included in one and the same line may be manufactured using the same machinery, and may differ in those accessory characteristics described above.

A line of shoes manufactured according to the method according to this invention will therefore comprise at least two shoes having similar macroscopic characteristics but different types of heel (that is shoes which may be manufactured using the same machinery in high, medium and/low- heel versions) in which provision is made for an insole 7 in which the concentration of padding is increased in plantar portion 4 and decreased in heel portion 5 as the vertical height of heel 2a, 2b, 2c increases.

As a consequence, in the line of shoes according to this invention shoes having a low heel 2a, that is of a height not more than 30 mm, will have an insole padded with a predominance of approximately 80-100% of padding in heel portion 5, shoes with a high heel 2c, that is having a height of more than 60 mm, will have an insole padded with a predominance of approximately 75-100% of padding in plantar portion 4 and those with a medium heel 2b, that is of height between 30 and 60 mm, will have an insole provided with padding almost equally distributed between said heel portion 5 and said plantar portion 4.

The invention therefore achieves the results proposed providing an easy and effective method for increasing the comfort of shoes which are similar in type but which differ in height of heel in such a way that the comfort experienced is essentially the same for both shoes having a medium or low heel and shoes having a substantially higher heel.