BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION The human foot 10, Figure 1, comprises the following areas, going from the toes up to the ankle: the phalanges 12 (the toe area, the lowermost two bones of the big toe and the lowermost three bones of the other toes), the metatarsus 14 (the"flat"of the foot, consisting essentially of the first, uppermost bone of each of the five toe digits), the tarsus 16 (the area of the bones which bridge the metatarsal bones and up to the ankle). For most people, the metatarsal region 14 has, on its upper surface towards the inner side of the foot, an upward bony projection 18. When a person arches their foot, the upper surface of the metatarsal region (also called the instep) has a convexity which, at maximum arching, varies greatly from one person to another.

For ballet dancers, a shallow maximum arch usually betokens a very strong foot, particularly for supporting the dancer when on points, but a deep maximum arch is, at least currently, considered more aesthetically pleasing to the viewer. Until now, a trend towards a deeper arch has been realised to some extent by training and exercise but mostly by selection of those dancers who naturally have a deep arch, leading to the unemployment or underemployment of those dancers who have feet which are stronger and better for performing ballet, to the detriment of the profession.

THE INVENTION The present inventor, in the course of considerable experience both as a dancer and as a teacher of ballet, has hit upon the idea of artificially enhancing the

appearance of the upper metatarsal region, so that this region appears more arched.

This can be achieved by a prosthesis-like addition.

According to one aspect of invention, there is provided a prosthesis-like addition for wearing upon the foot adapted to enhance and/or swell the appearance of the upper metatarsal region so that this region appears more arched. This is an article of wear that is added to the foot for this purpose.

According to another aspect of invention, there is provided an article of wear adapted to enhance and/or swell the appearance of an upper surface of the metatarsal region. The enhancement of the appearance of this region will be that the article will give the foot when arched the appearance of a deeper arch. The article should have a smooth fit to the foot so that its shape is not readily discernible, or at least is not distinct from the foot.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an article of wear comprising a pad adapted to be worn on an upper surface of the metatarsal region.

This is then used to enhance and/or swell the appearance of that surface so that this region appears more arched. The article may be so adapted by its size and shape, e. g. to encircle the foot and/or to fit on the upward bony projection (cuneiform bone) of the metatarsus.

Any such article may comprise a pad adapted to fit to said upper surface or region to enhance and/or swell the appearance thereof so as to give the foot when arched the appearance of a deeper arch.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an article of wear adapted to mould to an upper surface of the metatarsal region. The article, or at least part of it, e. g. a super-metatarsal pad thereof, may be flexible, elastic and/or otherwise

deformable so as to mould itself to this region when worn. This allows the article to change shape with movement of the foot, e. g. arching and straightening. Preferably, the whole article is flexible, elastic and/or otherwise deformable.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an article of wear comprising a pad adapted to mould to an upper surface of the metatarsal region to enhance and/or swell the appearance thereof. The article may be adapted to mould itself to said surface or region by being pliable, elastic and/or otherwise deformable.

The article may be adapted to fit to said surface or region by being pre-formed to a shape thereof.

Preferably, the article extends over substantially the whole of the upper surface of the metatarsal region. Whether or not it does this, the article should, for some purposes, extend over at least part of the tarsal region, e. g. to allow a more gentle sloping of the pad down to the skin near the ankle.

Such articles may be considered as pads, padding or other articles of wear, or as articles comprising pads or panting, for cosmetic and/or therapeutic purposes. Use of them can enhance a dancer's appearance, provide extra self-confidence and/or feeling of security, and therefore psychologically result in improved performance.

Preferably, the article comprises means to hold the article to the foot.

Alternatively, the article may not comprise holding means but may be held in place by the wearer's tights or ballet shoe tapes. The article may be formed as one with, or connected to, some other article of wear, e. g. be formed as one with tights or a ballet shoe.

The holding means may comprise a holding member. The term"holding member"excludes adhesive but includes e. g. a loop or band that passes under the foot

and is of the material of a super-metatarsal pad of the article and is monolithic with the pad.

The holding means may comprise an elastic band, e. g. adapted to extend under the foot. This will normally extend from one side of the super-metatarsal pad round and under the metatarsus to the other side of the pad. This band will preferably be substantially as a wide as the super-metatarsal part of the article.

The holding means may comprise tape means, e. g. tapes which pass under the foot.

The holding means may comprise adhesive, e. g. re-attachable adhesive. Such an embodiment is not favoured because it does not give the sense of security that a holding member does.

The article may comprise a latex material. The word"latex"is to be taken in its broadest sense, and includes rubber or artificial rubber, or other material made from a latex-like liquid, partially or wholly cured.

The article may be perforate to allow the skin to breathe. For example, if the article comprises a latex material, or more especially if the article comprises an elastic band holding means of an imperforate type of material e. g. latex, when the skin underneath sweats the holes or other perforation will provide ventilation to allow the sweat to dissipate.

The article preferably has a surface texture and/or colour so as to resemble flesh.

This will be useful to contemporary dancers who do not wear tights and/or ballet shoes.

The article may comprise an identification moulded into the material of the article. The identification may comprise a trade mark and/or an identification (or

coded identification) of the wearer or owner and/or a batch number of production of the article and/or an identification to indicate that the article is genuine, e. g. a passive interrogation-responsive microchip. For some of these purposes, the identification member is preferably moulded within the material of the article below the surface of the material, and possibly comprises an identification which is visible through the material and above the surface thereof, (assuming the material is sufficiently transparent.) According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing any such article, which method comprises the step of moulding at least part of the article to the shape of an upper surface of the metatarsal region by a latex moulding process. This is a process in which a latex-like liquid material is sprayed or poured into or onto a mould or mould surface, which may for example be a super-metatarsal surface or a casting thereof or of a whole foot.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing an article of wear, characterised in that, in order to fit the article to an upper surface of the metatarsal region, the article or a part thereof is moulded to the shape of the surface by a latex moulding process.

A method of producing an article of wear, characterised in that the article or a part thereof is formed to fit to the shape of an upper surface of the metatarsal region by a latex moulding process.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing an article of wear comprising a pad, characterised in that a part of the article is formed to fit to the shape of an upper metatarsal region by a latex moulding process.

Any such method may comprise any one or more of the following steps: a thin reverse cast is made of a super-metatarsal region or of a foot; a casting is made of the region or foot, e. g. by filling the reverse cast; a thin latex band is moulded around the foot or around the thin reverse cast or around the casting, e. g. by spray-moulding; a reverse model is made of the desired upper surface of the article above said region; this reverse model is affixed in its intended position to the latex band and the resulting hollow between them is filled with latex which in curing adheres to the band, or this reverse model is affixed in its intended position to the reverse cast and the resulting hollow between them this filled with latex which in curing forms a pad which is then affixed by adhesive to the band.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an article produced by any such method.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided any such article, when in use so as to enhance and/or swell the appearance of the upper metatarsal region so as to give the foot when arched the appearance of a deeper arch.

According to other aspects of the invention, there are provided a method of using any such article, or a method of enhancing the appearance of the foot, in which the article is worn upon the foot so as to give the foot when arched the appearance of a deeper arch.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a ballet performance, which is enhanced by at least one of the dancers wearing at least one such article. In this context, a ballet performance is a method of communication.

PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION RELATING TO THE DRAWINGS Reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the bone structure of the human foot; Figure 2 is a side view of an article embodying the invention in situ on a right foot; Figure 3 is a front view of the corresponding pair to the Figure 2 article in situ on a left foot; Figure 4 is a view corresponding to Figure 2, showing internal details ; Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Figure 4 of another embodiment; and Figure 6 is a series of vertical cross-sections of the Figure 2 article and mouldings used in producing it.

Referring to the drawings, an article of wear 20 is adapted to enhance and swell the appearance of an upper surface 22 of the metatarsal region 14. The enhancement of the appearance of this region will be that the article will give the foot 10 when arched the appearance of a deeper arch.

The article of wear 20 comprises a pad 24 (roughly, the area of article 20 between edges 26, 28, 30,32) adapted to be worn on the upper surface 22 of the metatarsal region 14. The article 20 may be so adapted by its size and shape, e. g. to encircle the foot 10 and/or to fit on the upward bony projection 34 of the metatarsus 14. Pad 24 has a middle region 36 about 10 mm thick at its centre over bony projection 34, thinning to about 5 mm at its edges, the pad 24 then thinning to about 1 mm towards its edges 26, 28, 30,32.

The article of wear 20 is adapted to mould to the upper surface 22 of the metatarsal region 14. The article 20, or at least part of it, e. g. the super-metatarsal pad 24 thereof, is flexible and elastic so as to mould itself to this region 14 when worn.

This allows the article 20 to change shape with movement of the foot 10, e. g. arching and straightening. In fact, the whole article 20 is flexible and elastic.

The article 20 extends over substantially the whole of the upper surface of the metatarsal region 14. For some purposes, the article 20 also extends over at least part of the tarsal region 16, to edge 38, e. g. to allow a more gentle sloping of the pad 24 down to the skin near the ankle.

The article 20 comprises means 40 to hold the article 20 to the foot 10.

As shown, the holding means 40 comprise a holding member 40 in the form of a loop or band 40 that passes under the foot 10 and is of the same material, latex rubber in this example, as the super-metatarsal pad 24 of the article 20 and is monolithic with the pad 24.

The holding means elastic band 40 extends under the foot 20, from one side 26 of the super-metatarsal pad 24 round and under the metatarsus 14 to the other side 30 of the pad 24.

In the Figure 5 article 20, the holding means comprise tape means 42, as tapes 42 which pass under the foot 20.

The article 10 is perforate to allow the skin to breathe, by means of holes 44, and has a surface texture and colour that resemble flesh.

The article 10 comprises an identification 48 moulded into the latex material of the article 10, which comprises an identification member 48 moulded within the material of the article 10 below the surface of the material. Member 48 comprises a passive interrogation-responsive microchip 48, coded for security purposes, which is not visible through the flesh-coloured upper surface of article 10 but bears on its under

surface a trade mark identification which is visible through the material and the lower surface thereof, which are there transparent.

The article 10 is produced by a method which comprises the step of moulding the article 10 to the shape of the upper surface 22 of the metatarsal region 14 by a latex moulding process. In this process, a latex-like liquid material is sprayed or poured into or onto a mould or mould surface, which is either a super-metatarsal surface 22 or a casting thereof or a casting of a whole foot 10.

The method comprises the following steps: a thin reverse cast 1 is made of a super-metatarsal surface 22 or of the foot 10, e. g. by wrapping around it a layer of plaster of paris about 1 mm thick; a casting 2 is made of the surface or foot, e. g. by filling the reverse cast 1 with plaster of paris ; a reverse model 3 about 1 mm thick is made of the desired upper surface of the article 10 above said region 14 (e. g. being modelled from an airdry modelling clay) in situ on cast 1 or directly on foot 10 ; a thin latex band 4 is moulded around the foot 10 or around the thin reverse cast 1 or around the casting 2, e. g. by spray-moulding ; the reverse model 3 is affixed (e. g. by means of latex 5) in its intended position to the latex band 4 and the resulting hollow 6 between them is filled with latex 6 which in curing forms a pad 24 that adheres to the band 4, or this reverse model 3 is affixed in its intended position to the reverse cast 1 and the resulting hollow 6 between them is filled with latex 6 which in curing forms a pad 24 which is then removed from reverse cast 1 and affixed by adhesive to the band 4 about 1 mm thick.

Thicknesses quoted above of 1 mm can be varied up to about 3 mm. Other dimensions quoted can be varied up to plus or minus 7 mm.

Because the article 10 is flexible and elastic and can be made to mould itself to a wearer, it is possible to manufacture the articles 10 in a series of standard sizes, e. g. small (ladies'UK foot sizes 3-5), medium (ladies'UK foot sizes 5-7 and men's 7-8) and large (men's UK foot sizes 9-12).

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, that features of the different embodiments disclosed herein may be omitted, selected, combined or exchanged and the invention is considered to extend to any new and inventive combination thus formed. Where a preference or particularisation is stated, there is implied its negative, i. e. a case in which that preference or particularisation is absent.