The invention concerns a support for the arch of the foot.

In the present state of the art such a support or orthotic insole is made manually to measure, in order to support the foot as well as possible. This is a cumbersome process, in which for example an impression has first to be made of the foot. Furthermore, the manufacture of this support is very labour-intensive and, in addition to lot of experience, requires much manual skill to achieve good results. Only specialised craftspeople are in a position to produce such properly fitting supports or orthotic insoles. In addition to these manually produced supports or orthotic insoles, standard orthotic insoles are also available on the market. The latter, however, are mostly inadequately adapted to the foot of any particular individual .

Both types of support or orthotic insole suffer from tne disadvantage that, often after only a short time, they become permanently deformed and compressed because of the load of the person resting on them, and so to a great extent lose their supporting effect. The physical characteristics of a foot or the way m which the person rests on it can also change. Then new supports must be made to measure.

The invention is intended to remedy these and other disadvantages by proposing a support for the arch of the foot which is suitable for everybody's foot and/or posture and which, in addition, can be produced on an industrial scale in standard dimensions

To this end the support, according to the invention, is equipped with means enabling its shape to be adjusted in accordance with the kind of support desired for the arch of the foot . For this purpose the support is equipped with a deformable support piece on which the arch must rest and of which the height and curvature can be adjusted.

Said support is advantageously equipped with an adjusting device which enables the shape to be tailored to the shape of the arch and/or the posture of the individual concerned.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, said support is equipped with support elements which extend side by side and are movable with respect to each other and which are connected to a common fastening frame.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said adjusting device is designed in such a way that it enables a support element in the support to be expanded outwards.

The invention also concerns a sole of a shoe with said support and a shoe equipped with this sole or this support or, more generally, a system for supporting the foot in footwear.

Other specific qualities and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of some specific embodiments of the support, as well as the sole and shoe proposed in the invention; this description is only given as an example and does not limit the range of the protection demanded; the reference numbers used below concern the attached drawings . Figure 1 is a schematic exploded view in perspective of a support with a sole in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a view from above of the support with corresponding sole from Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the support with corresponding sole along line III-III from Figure 2. Figure 4 is a vertical section of the support with corresponding sole along line IV-IV from Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of a support in the non-outward-expanded state.

Figure 6 is a schematic view of a support in the outward-expanded state.

Figure 7 is a schematic exploded view in perspective of a second embodiment of the support as proposed in the invention.

Figure 8 is a schematic exploded view in perspective of a third embodiment of the support as proposed in the invention.

Figure 9 is a schematic perspective representation of a fourth embodiment of the support as proposed in the invention. Figure 10 is a schematic exploded view in perspective of a fifth embodiment of the support as proposed in the invention.

Figure 11 is a schematic view of a support and a sole of a sixth embodiment as proposed in the invention. Figure 12 is a schematic view of a sole in a seventh embodiment as proposed in the invention.

Figure 13 is a schematic view of a horizontal section of the sole in Figure 12.

Figure 14 is a schematic view of a cross section of a part of a shoe with a support in accordance with an eighth embodiment of the invention.

Figure 15 is a schematic view of the adjusting

device in accordance with the embodiment of the support in Figure 14.

Figure 16 is a schematic exploded view in perspective of a system for supporting the foot in footwear with the corresponding intermediate sole in accordance with a ninth embodiment of the invention.

Figure 17 is a somewhat analogous representation to that in Figure 16 of a tenth embodiment of the invention.

Figure 18 is a section along line XVIII-XVIII of Figure 17.

Figure 19 is an analogous representation to that in Figure 16 of an eleventh embodiment of the invention.

Figure 20 is a section along line XX-XX of Figure 19. Figure 21 is an analogous representation to that in

Figure 16 of a twelfth embodiment of the invention where however certain component parts of the system for supporting the foot have been left out.

Figure 22 is an analogous representation to that in Figure 16 of a thirteenth embodiment as proposed in the invention.

Figure 23 is a section along line XXIII-XXIII of Figure 22.

Figure 24 is a schematic perspective view of a detachable arch support with various inflatable areas, as proposed in the invention, and constitutes a fourteenth embodiment .

Figure 25 is a schematic view of a section through an inflatable area. Figure 26 is an analogous representation to that in

Figure 16 of a fifteenth embodiment of the invention.

Figure 27 is a partial cross section of footgear at

the level of the support in this fifteenth embodiment.

Figures 28 to 30 are schematic views of different positions of the support in accordance with this sixteenth embodiment of the invention. In the different drawings the same reference numbers refer to the same or analogous elements.

A first embodiment of an arch support, as proposed m the invention, is shown in Figures 1 to 6. This support 1 is equipped with a deformable support piece 2, an adjusting device 3 and an adjusting rod 4. This support piece 2 has a fastening frame 5 to which support elements 6, extending side by side, are connected in a somewhat jointed or flexible way These support elements 6, which are plate-shaped, are consequently movable relative to each other. The outer end or edge of each of these support elements 6, opposite the common fastening frame 5, is bent forming a succession of tubular cavities 7 one lying in the extension of the other In these cavities 7 the adjusting rod 4 is led to the outermost end 7' of the cavity 7 of the support element 6 situated farthest from the adjusting device 3. This outer end 7' is closed so that the adjusting rod 4 presses against the support piece 2 through this outer end 7' .

The adjusting device enables the support piece 2 to be bent outwards to adapt it to the arch of the foot To this end one outer end of said adjusting rod 4 interacts with said adjusting device 3 and presses the other outer end of it against the closed outer end 7' of the tube-shaped cavity 7 of tne support element 2 which is the farthest away from the adjusting device 3, so that said outer end of the adjusting rod 4 is immovable relative to said support piece 2 Thus, by tightening the adjusting device 3, the other outer end of adjusting rod 4, interacting with same, will be moved to the

support piece 2 in such a way that the adjusting rod 4 bends outwards together with the support piece 2. The result of this is that the support elements 6, out of which the support piece 2 is formed, pivot or bend upwards, relative to the fastening frame 5 and draw apart slightly from each other.

The adjusting device 3 is equipped with a nut 8 in the form of a coupling sleeve which is immovable relative to the support piece 2 and in which there is a threaded bolt 9. This bolt 9 presses against the outer end of said adjusting rod 4 which extends into the nut 8. The outer end of the threaded bolt 9 opposite the adjusting rod 4 is equipped with a screw head so that, with the help of a screwdriver, the bolt 9, and therefore also said outer end of the adjusting rod 4, can be moved following the longitudinal axis of the nut 8. By moving this outer end of the adjusting rod 4, the outward expansion of the support piece 2 and therefore the height and/or curvature of the latter can consequently be adapted to the arch of the foot or the posture of the person concerned.

In Figure 5 the support piece 2 is shown in the non-outward-expanded state, while in Figure 6 the support piece 2 is bent outwards. Here it should be noted that the fastening frame 5 remains almost unchanged in shape and the support elements 6 therefore mainly bend around it.

The above-described support 1 is preferably fitted to a sole as shown in Figures 1 to 4. In this way a bottom sole 10, preferably almost non-deformable, is equipped with an opening into which said adjusting device 3 fits. The above-mentioned nut 8 of the adjusting device 3 is tightly fastened to this bottom sole 10. The support piece 2 is fitted in such a way to the fastening frame 5 on the upper side of this bottom sole 10 that the arch of the foot resting on it will be above this support piece 2, the adjusting rod 4 then

extending to the perimeter of the inner side of the foot. A fixing sole 12 is adhered to the bottom sole 10 and fastening frame 5, this sole 12 having an opening 12' in which said support elements 6 of the support piece 2 fit neatly. Below these support elements 6 a filling piece 13, shaped almost like opening 12' , is adhered to the bottom sole 10. In this way the support 1 is fastened between the two soles 10 and 12 lying one above the other. Above this on the fixing sole 10 and support piece 2, an insole 14 made for the most part of relatively soft material is provided.

The above-described shoe sole, consisting of three soles 10, 12 and 14 fixed one above the other, can be detachable or, as shown in Figures 2 to 4 , an integral part of the snoe Thus m Figures 3 and 4 the raised side walls 15 of the shoe upper with a part 16 bent against their lower side, are fixed in a familiar way between the bottom sole 10 and fixing sole 12. To adjust the support 1 the adjusting device 3 is accessible from outside the shoe.

To fit this support 1 into racing cyclists' shoes, for example, the posture and average posture of the person concerned is measured on a test bicycle. More specifically the divergence of the knees from the ideal position when cycling is measured with the help of a laser beam. After this the measurements obtained are processed by means of a computer and the ideal form of supporting the foot is determined, which is then approximated as far as possible through adjusting the support 1 by means of the adjusting device 3. The shape of the support 2 can be repeatedly readjusted for one and the same shoe m such a way that variations in posture or in the necessary foot support can repeatedly be accommodated. In this way the support can also be adjusted to take account of, for example, the performance expected of a racing cyclist.

In a variant of the above-described support 1, said fastening frame 5 can be formed by the fixing sole 10 itself Figure 7 shows a second embodiment of the support 1, as proposed in the invention, which differs from the previous embodiment in that said support elements 6 are formed by plates which partially overlap and in this way slide over each other as shown m Figure 7. More specifically the successive support elements overlap on their side edges, the most central support element 6 being overlapped along both sides by the nearest elements 6' and 6".

Further, the bottom sole 10 is equipped with an adjusting device 3 in which there is a nut 8 into which an interacting bolt 9 fits This adjusting device 3 is positioned in such a way that if the bolt 9 is tightened it presses the middle-most support element 6 upwards. In this way the other support elements 6 are also moved upwards and apart relative to each other, which results in the support element 1 being bent outwards . In the embodiment shown in Figure 7 the fastening frame 5 is an integral part of the fixing sole 12. Figure 8 shows a third embodiment of a sole with a support l, as proposed m the invention, in which said support elements 6 do not overlap and are part of the fixing sole 12 A somewhat flexible support arch 17, of which the curvature may be adjusted by means of an adjusting device 3, supports the free outer ends of the support elements 6. For this purpose said adjusting device 3 consists of an upright bolt 9 which is fixed on the lower side of the support arch 17, interacting with a nut 8 fitted to the bottom sole 10. Thus by turning the nut 8 the bolt 9 together with the support arch 17 is moved upwards or downwards and consequently the arch support piece 2 is bent outwards.

Figure 9 represents a support piece 2, in accordance

with a fourth embodiment of the invention, which consists of a single support element 6 and of which the side 5 is fastened by means of three clips 18 to the bottom sole 10. In this embodiment an adjusting device analogous to that in Figure 7 is provided. Thus the outward expansion of the support piece 2 is also controlled by means of this adjusting device.

The fifth embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 10 is different from that in Figure 9 insofar as the adjusting device 3 is formed by a bolt 9 which acts on a corner of the support element 6. One outer end of this bolt 9 presses somewhat into a cavity 7 with which this corner is provided, while the other outer end presses against a clip 18. A nut 8 is screwed on to this bolt 9, enabling the outward expansion of the support piece 2 to be controlled. To this end said nut 8 presses against the edge of said cavity 7 so that pressure is exerted against the side edge of the support element 6, which enables the outward expansion of the same to be adjusted by adjusting, with the help of this nut 8, the depth to which the outer end of the bolt 9 presses into the cavity 7.

Figure 11 shows a sixth embodiment of a support piece 2. In this embodiment the support piece 2 also consists of a single support element 6 which, through the agency of a fastening frame 5, is fastened to the bottom sole. This support element is preferably somewhat arched and made of relatively hard elastic synthetic material. In order to adjust the height and curvature of this support piece 2, there is an air chamber 19 enclosed in an elastic gas-tight wall in the space between the support element 6 and the bottom sole 10, to which an air valve 20 is connected which goes through said bottom sole 10. In this way the size of the air chamber and the air pressure in it can be adjusted by pumping air into the

chamber 19 or feeding compressed air, through the valve 20 In this way the outward expansion of the support piece 2 is adjusted to the arch of the foot. The adjusting device 3 therefore includes said air chamber 19 and the valve 20. Figures 12 and 13 show a seventh embodiment of the invention, m which there is a detachable sole with an m-built lobed air chamber 19 below the position where the arch of the foot of the person resting on it will be More specifically, this air chamber 19 consists of successive lobes 21 extending beside each other and it extends following the edge of the sole, said lobes 21 being aligned towards the inner side of this sole. Accordingly the support of the arch can be adjusted by means of the air pressure in the air chamber 19 by adjusting a valve which is not shown m the drawings

Figures 14 and 15 represent an eighth embodiment of the support as proposed m the invention In this embodiment the adjusting device 3 is mainly formed by a tube 22, below the support piece 2, which is bent upwards, through which a support rod 23 extends and which is fixed to the bottom sole 10 The position of this support rod 23 is adjusted by means of a bolt 9 whicn interacts with a nut 8, which is also fixed to said bottom sole 10 The tube extends in the continuation of the nut 8 into an opening m the bottom sole 10 and is situated diagonally to the longitudinal direction of the sole 10 Thus by turning the bolt 9 m the nut 8 the support rod 23 is moved and presses with its outer end, which is opposite the nut 8, against a flange 24 placed at the bottom on the support piece 2 This ensures that said outer end takes up a mainly fixed position relative to the support piece 2 As previously mentioned, the tαbe 22 is bent upwards m such a way that the relevant outer end of the support rod 23 is led upwards

t _h rough this tube and therefore the support piece 2 can also push upwards or, in other words, bend outwards.

The ninth embodiment shown in Figure 16 shows a great similarity with the first embodiment as shown in Figures 1 to 6, particularly with respect to the support element 2 itself .

An important difference, however, is that in this ninth embodiment the support piece 2 is fastened on top of the intermediate or fixing sole 12 and that in this intermediate sole no opening 12' or special filling piece 13 is provided as in the first embodiment. This is therefore a somewhat simpler embodiment. In this ninth embodiment the support piece 2 is fixed to the corresponding openings 27, with which the intermediate sole 12 is provided, by means of rivets or screws 26.

When the bolt 9 is tightened in the nut 8 which is placed in the opening 8 of an extension piece 2' of the support piece 2, the adjusting rod 4, which is pushed into the tube-shaped cavity 7 of the support element 2, is put under pressure in such a way that this bends out in the same way as is the case in the first embodiment.

An important advantage of this ninth embodiment is that it is possible to fasten the support piece 2 to the intermediate sole 12 if this has already been fitted in the footgear, something which is not the case with the first embodiment.

The tenth embodiment, shown in Figures 17 and 18, differs from the previous one in that the bolt 9 and nut 8 are fitted into the cavities 11 in the intermediate sole 12 and the fastening frame 5 of the support piece 2 is glued to the lower side of the detachable insole 14. Furthermore the cavity 7 in the opposite edge of the support piece 2 is u-shaped, and

the open side is aligned downwards and can be pressed on the adjusting rod 4, which is fitted on to the upper side of the intermediate sole 12.

In this embodiment the free outer end of the adjusting rod is secured in a clamping piece 7' which is fastened to the upper side of the intermediate sole 12 by means of rivets or screws not shown here. This clamping piece 7' therefore replaces the closed outer end 7' of the first embodiment, so that in this tenth embodiment both outer ends of the cavity 7 are open.

What characterises the eleventh embodiment shown in Figures 19 and 20 is that the support piece 2 is a part of the intermediate sole 12 and it is equipped with a filling piece 13 formed by an adhesive plate which has more or less the shape of the support piece 2 and adheres the raised side walls 15 cf the shoe upper to the bottom sole 10 instead of the deformable support piece 2. The adjusting rod is made to bend outwards because the bolt 9 is equipped with a flange 9' which presses against a heelpiece 10' which is fastened to the bottom sole 10. The nut 8, which cannot turn together with the bolt 9, moves according to the longitudinal direction of the adjusting rod 4 in a groove 11 on the lower side of the intermediate sole 12 and presses against one of the outer ends of the adjusting rod 4, causing this to bend outwards in the same way as in the first embodiment, for example.

In fact this eleventh embodiment might be considered as a combination of the first embodiment and the embodiment shown in Figure 8.

The embodiment shown in Figure 21 shows some likeness with that in Figure 10; however, the outward expansion of the support piece 2 is brought about by an adiusting rod 4, somewhat in the same way as in the previous

embodiment, for example. In this twelfth embodiment the support piece 2 consists of a flexible plate which is fastened to a single central point 18 in a corresponding opening 11' in the upper side of the intermediate sole 12. The thirteenth embodiment of the invention shown in

Figures 22 and 23 differs from the previous one mainly m that the opening 11 is to be found in the lower side of the intermediate sole 12 and the support piece 2 is composed of support plates 6 extending beside each other, somewhat in the same way as in the first embodiment, for example. However the cavity 7 which extends over the entire outer edge of the support piece 2 is in this embodiment formed by two ring pieces 7 on both outer ends of this edge through which the adjusting rod 4 is pushed and in this way fastens the support piece 2 to the intermediate sole 12.

The fourteenth embodiment shown m Figures 24 and 25 is virtually of the same kind as the sixth and seventh embodiments .

In fact, m this fourteenth embodiment the shape of the support piece 2 is also adjusted by means of an air chamber 19 to which a valve 20 is connected and enables air to be pumped into the chamber 19.

In this very specific embodiment the air chamber 19 is subdivided into compartments 9' by means of partitions 27 In Figure 25 the shape of the air chamber 19 under relatively low pressure is shown by solid lines, while the same chamber under high pressure is shown by dotted lines

Further, this air chamber 19 can be incorporated into a detachable independent arch support 12 on to which the insole 14 can be adhered.

Further, this arch support can be equipped with several inflatable chambers 19b and 19c which each are

connected to a separate valve 20a and 20b.

In this way different inflatable areas can be put into the upper side of an arch support, each of which will be adjustable independently. These areas can be distributed at will over the upper side of the arch support, depending on the corrections which may have to be made to the upper surface of this. Accordingly these must not necessarily be found at the level of the arch. It is also important to note that in principle the foot may be supported in two different ways, whether by adjusting the height of the support areas, or by adjusting the pressure, and therefore the hardness, in the support areas.

As variants on this fourteenth embodiment it is possible to equip it with means for adjusting the pressure and height of each of the compartments of the same area separately, for example by using a valve with separately closeable connections to each of the compartments. In this way the inflatable chamber 19, for example, could extend over the entire surface of the arch support, in such a way that the entire upper surface would be adjustable.

Such an embodiment is not shown in the drawings . The embodiment shown in Figures 26 and 27 differs from that in Figure 24 insofar as the pressure, height and shape of the inflatable chamber are entirely adjustable separately.

For this purpose mechanical adjusting devices are used which are adjustable independently of the pressure in the chamber 19. In the specific embodiment shown in Figures 26 and

27, these mechanical devices are formed by traction cables 28 which can be tightened by means of screws 29.

Here use is made of an insole 14, on the lower side of which is a stiffening plate 30 at the level of the ad _j ustable support area which forms a whole with the insole itself . In the upper side of the stiffening plate 30 there are cavities 31 in which a checking block 32, which is fixed to the free outer end of each cable 28, can be placed fitting and countersunk in the stiffening plate 30. In the bottom sole 10 holes 32 are made provided with internal screw thread in which the adjusting screws 29 of the cables 28 can be separately tightened.

Further, these cables extend through channels 33 into the inflatable chamber 19.

For the sake of completeness it should also be mentioned that the intermediate sole 12 shown in cross section in Figure 27 has been omitted in Figure 26 for the sake of clarity.

In Figures 28 to 30 a few possible states of the support piece 2 of this embodiment are shown. It goes without saying that many other states are possible .

It is important to note that a pronounced preference is given to a system for supporting the foot m footgear where there is a deformable support piece on which the foot must rest and where the height and curvature are adjustable by means of one or several adjusting devices. Such a system is characterised by the fact that it is equipped with devices that ensure that when the height and shape of the support piece are being adjusted this will undergo hardly any movement at all in the longitudinal direction of the sole on to which it is fitted.

Mere precisely it can be said that both outer ends

of the support piece, in the longitudinal direction of the sole on which it is placed, are nearly fixed relative to this sole.

Accordingly preferential use is made of a support piece which is elastically deformable or extendible in length following the longitudinal direction of the sole on to which it is fitted.

It is also important to produce a continuous, smooth and natural change in shape of the support piece. The important feature is that, as proposed in the invention, a natural arch is formed as far as possible.

For this purpose, use is preferably made of an adjusting rod which can fairly easily be bent out under the influence of a pressure exerted in its longitudinal direction, this rod interacting with the support piece to be shaped.

It is also important that provision be made for the use of references when adjusting the shape and height of the support piece so that the support piece can always be brought simply and without any problems into the chosen state. All these results can also be obtained by the use of adjustable air cushions whether or not combined with mechanical means for adjusting the height and shape of the support piece. For some footwear, such as cycling shoes, preference is given to an adjusting system of the shape and height of the support piece which opens on to the rear side of the heel of the shoe, as is the case for example with various embodiments shown in the drawings .

It should finally be observed that in some embodiments the appliance for supporting the foot with a deformable support piece can be cast into the sole in such a way that a whole unit can be obtained in almost a single operation. This can be the case with an intermediate or inner

sole as well as with a bottom sole.

This can also be the case with a so-called mechanical system as well as with a system where use is made of one or several inflatable chambers which can be incorporated in one operation in the sole.

The invention is of course not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings . The support can be mounted on a detachable sole or can be an integral part of the shoe. The support can be used for all kinds of soles and shoes, such as, for example, racing cyclists' shoes, ski boots or ordinary shoes with a relatively stiff bottom sole.