The present invention relates to a safety device and more specifically to a safety device, which will prevent damage that threatens a person's foot from underneath, such as a nail penetrating the sole of a shoe and entering the foot.

Particularly in construction work, there is a relatively great risk of standing on a nail, or other sharp object, which can easily penetrate the sole of a shoe. Thus, the costs arising from such accidents are also great.

In construction work, wide use is indeed made of so-called safety footwear, in which the aforementioned safety risk has been taken into account and the sole of the shoe has therefore been specially strengthened. Stepping on a nail creates no danger, because in footwear according to the standard a nail cannot penetrate the sole of the shoe.

An additional danger in many kinds of work is the risk caused by falling objects. A heavy object dropping or falling on top of a person's foot usually results in fractures and contusions. The aforementioned safety footwear is often also equipped with a toe reinforcement, which prevents crushing, particularly in the toe area. Of course it is obvious that, if a sufficiently great force is created on the toes, nothing will prevent contusion, but it may, however, mitigate the severity of the damage caused.

As such, safety footwear are good devices, but they are also expensive and are therefore not purchased for purposes in which they will be used temporarily or at infrequent intervals.

The present invention is thus intended to solve the problem of the lack of use of safety footwear by bringing onto the market a safety device, which is a clearly cheaper alternative. In addition, it is intended to create a safety device, which up to a certain point will also protect the toes from accidents. The aforementioned and other benefits and advantages of the present invention are achieved in the manner described as characteristic in the accompanying Claims.

In the following, the invention is examined in greater detail, with reference to the accompanying schematic figures, which show one embodiment of the safety device according to the invention.

Thus:

Figure 1 shows a top view of the safety device according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows a side view of the same safety device; and

Figure 3 shows a side view of the safety device of Figures 1 and 2 in the position in which it is during use.

Briefly, the safety device according to the invention is a shaped insole, which may be equipped with an integral toe protector.

Thus, Figures 1 and 2 show an insole part 1 , to which a toe-protector part 2 is attached with the aid of a suitable intermediate piece 3.

In the case of the upper that lies against the foot, the insole part 1 consists of a suitably comfortable layer of material, which is particularly of some fabric-like material. Beneath the surface layer there is a thermally-shaped, plastic-based, mainly essentially unified layer. After shaping, this layer will retain its shape permanently. The material can be a thermosetting plastic or a thermoplastic, which in the latter case can be re-shaped by reheating it.

The lowest layer is of a composite structure and consists of a material that specifically prevents, for example, a nail penetrating it and hitting the foot of the user. It is obvious that in this connection the intermediate layer will act in conjunction with the lowest layer.

The structure of the lowest layer can be of the same kind as that used, for example, in bulletproof vests. Though the lightness of such structures is significant, they have particularly an extremely good effect in protecting against penetration. For example, a bullet or knife blow cannot penetrate such a layer. One example of the basic properties of such a structure is that modern fibres of very high strength, such as Kevlar fibres in a suitable matrix, are used in it.

The lowest layer too can be shaped with heat, so that both surfaces of the insole will have their final shape and a structure that retain its shape.

As stated, an additional feature of the invention is that the toe protector 2 is shaped in one and the same work stage as the actual insole. In practice, this takes place by shaping the toe protector, which, with the aid of a suitable intermediate piece 3, is one and the same piece as the middle layer of the insole, in such a way as to make clear edges 2' in it. The height of these edges corresponds to the vertical dimension of the toes, with a certain margin added.

The operation and intention of the toe protector 2 are as follows. The intermediate piece 3 is of such a size that, when the toe protector 2 is folded on top of the end of the insole, the edges of the protector 2 take up a position essentially along and on top of the edges of the end of the insole. If a toe protector is not desired, the intermediate piece 3 is cut along the front edge of the insole part and the toe protector is removed. If, on the other hand, it is desired to retain it, it is folded on top of the insole part 1 and the totality is pushed inside the user's shoe. In this way, the user's foot is protected against threats coming from below while their toes too are more or less safe.

As stated above, one function of the intermediate piece is to permit the safety device to be made in only a single shaping stage. Another function is that, when the toe-protector part is folded into the use position is shown is Figure 3, the toe-protector part will automatically assume its correct position and alignment ready to be pushed inside the shoe.

Besides being able to perform the basic shaping in the shaping stage, the shapes can be emphasized, or otherwise made individually, if this is required. All in all, in order to improve the fit it would seem best to make the insole such that its edges rise slightly above the base level.

The invention is described above in the light of only a single example. It is obvious that, for example, there is a comprehensive choice of materials while remaining within the invention.