DESCRIPTION

Field of application

The present invention refers to a so-called sanitary shoe and to a related method for making it.

In particular, the invention refers to a sanitary shoe, made from an appropriate plastic material suitable for withstanding repeated washing and sterilisation treatments, shaped like a boat and defining, in a single piece, an upper and a sole having a heel part. Prior art

As is well known, a shoe, and in particular a shoe made entirely from plastic material, in order to be of the sanitary type and thus have wide and advantageous use in hospitals, in food companies, in catering establishments like company canteens and the like, must satisfy two requirements:

- it must be certain to be comfortable, in particular it must be easy and safe to put on, practical and light so as to be able to be used for prolonged periods without particular tiring;

- it must ensure a high degree of hygiene.

It is known that these two requirements are in contrast to one another. Indeed, for comfort and, in particular, for lightness, the prior art teaches to make the sole-heel of the shoe with appropriate lightened parts generally consisting of recesses of accurately studied shape, size and positioning. However, such lightening recesses are always open on the outside of the shoe and thus collector dirt. This is at the clear expense of the required hygiene that to be achieved obliges frequent careful washing, sterilisation and similar specific interventions. For the aforementioned reasons, sanitary shoes of the prior art, in particular those made entirely of plastic to which the invention refers, are substantially a compromise solution and as such are not totally satisfactory from the point of view of comfort and of hygiene.

The technical problem forming the basis of the present invention is that of devising and providing a sanitary shoe having structural and functional characteristics such as to satisfy the aforementioned two requirements in an optimal manner, thus overcoming the quoted

drawbacks with reference to the prior art. Summary of the invention

The solution idea forming the basis of the present invention is that of making a recess in the body of a sanitary shoe, and in particular in its sole-heel part, that is insulated and inaccessible from the outside of the shoe, without for this reason reducing the desired characteristics of comfort and structural strength.

Based upon such a solution idea the technical problem is solved by a sanitary shoe of the type considered previously, characterised in that it comprises at least one substantially boxed closed bearing insert, incorporated in said sole-heel part of the shoe and defining a respective recess in it.

Advantageously, said insert has a substantially foot- shaped configuration. Preferably, said foot-shaped boxed closed insert is completely embedded in said sole-heel part of the sanitary shoe.

The characteristics and advantages of a sanitary shoe according to the present invention shall become clearer from the following description of an example embodiment thereof, given for indicating and not limiting purposes with reference to the attached drawings. Brief description of the drawings In such drawings:

- Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a sanitary shoe according to the present invention; - Figure 2 illustrates a longitudinal section of the shoe of figure 1;

- Figures 3 and 4 illustrate a detail of fig. 2, in a perspective view and in a view from above respectively, in an open configuration;

- Figure 5 illustrates the same detail as fig. 3 in a closed configuration. Detailed description

With reference to such figures a so-called sanitary shoe according to the present invention is globally indicated with 1.

The shoe 1 is preferably made through injection moulding of an appropriate plastic material suitable for withstanding repeated washing and sterilisation treatments, possibly in autoclave, like for example an elastomer, preferably a copolymer like styrene-ethylene/butylenes- styrene.

The shoe 1 is of the type shaped as a boat 2, comprising, in a single piece, an upper 3 and a sole 4, in which a heel part 5 is defined.

According to the present invention, there is a device associated with the shoe 1 in the sole 4 and, more specifically, in its heel part 5, which is able to create at least one lightening recess 15, that is a sort of air bubble, of predetermined size, completely insulated and inaccessible from the outside of the shoe itself, as shall become clearer in the rest of the description.

Said lightening device essentially comprises a closed boxed bearing insert 10, having predetermined characteristics of rigidity and mechanical strength. Said insert 10 is incorporated in the heel part 5 of the sole 4 and, preferably, it is completely embedded in the plastic material that constitutes said part 5 and, with it, the entire boat 2.

The boxed and appropriately stiffened structure of the insert 10 and the chemical-physical characteristics of the predetermined plastic material are such that the presence of said insert 10 in the heel part 5 makes the desired recess 15, without for this reason reducing the characteristics of comfort and structural strength of the sanitary shoe of the present invention. Advantageously (figures 4 and 5), the bearing insert 10 is foot- shaped, having a profile matching that of the heel part 5, in which it is incorporated.

Preferably, said insert 10 comprises a half-shell 13, sealed closed on top by a cover 14, with mutual snap coupling of the respective perimetric edges 23, 23a.

As highlighted in figures 3 and 4, in order to have the desired characteristics of rigidity and mechanical strength, the inner wall of the insert 10, in particular of its half-shell 13, is equipped with stiffening ribs

18, preferably arranged according to a honeycombed design with polygonal cells, each with a substantially central hole 18a.

In accordance with a variant embodiment of the bearing insert 10, its half-shell 13 is advantageously equipped, on opposite sides of its edge 23, with two "plates" 24 and 25, variously shaped and used for example also to carry writing, designs, impressions and the like. Advantageously, as highlighted in figure 2, the shoe 1 comprises a sock 30, which constitutes an inner coating of the upper 3 and of the sole 4, to which it is fixed with conventional means and techniques. Said sock

is preferably made from elasticised cotton or else nylon, or lycra-nylon- lycra, or other similar materials suitable for making the shoe of the present invention particularly comfortable and easy to put on.

Moreover (figure 1) the upper 3 can have, near to the join of the sole 4, a plurality of aeration holes 27, as well as sculpted designs 31 in the visible surface. A substantially gutter-shaped appendix (not represented) can be foreseen in said upper 3 to avoid the dripping of liquids in the aeration holes 27.

The sole 4 can be suitably equipped with an anti-slip sculpting. A soft coating can be applied in the upper 3, at the opening for the insertion of the foot, to give greater comfort during use. Finally, advantageously, the plastic material with which the shoe 1 is made can be transparent to make a possible design motif or similar decoration of the sock 30 visible. The manufacture of a sanitary shoe 1 according to the present invention, essentially shaped as a boat 2 comprising, in a single piece, upper 3, sole 4 and heel 5, is fundamentally based upon obtaining a closed boxed insert 10, having a predetermined structural strength (characteristics of rigidity and mechanical strength) and upon incorporating such an insert 10 in the heel part 5 of said boat 2.

In order to obtain the insert 10, which preferably has a foot-shaped configuration, the injection moulding technique of an appropriate and predetermined plastic material, for example polypropylene carbonate, polybutadiene styrene and similar, is advantageously used. Preferably, moulding by such a technique is researched and designed to simultaneously obtain, at each moulding, the half-shell 13 and cover 14 parts, with the respective stiffening ribs 18, connected together, on opposite edges, by small bridges 35, sized to allow sealed snap coupling between cover 14 and half- shell 13 when moulding is complete. The boxed insert 10 thus obtained is correctly position in a mould arranged for the formation of the boat2 of the shoe of the present invention. For this purpose, said insert is equipped with appendices also known as "bearing wings" 20, 21, 22, projecting from the perimetric edge 23 thereof, in particular of the half- shell part 13 and with a plurality of spacer pegs 37.

At this point the mould is closed and the predetermined plastic material is injected into it, obtaining the boat (upper, sole and heel), in the

heel of which the insert 10 is incorporated. Advantageously, the position of the insert 10 in the aforementioned mould is selected so that it is completely embedded in the respective sole-heel 5.

Of course, the present finding can undergo numerous variants all of which are covered by the scope of protection thereof as defined by the following claims.