Footgear with pressure relief zones
First Claim
1. A walker with pressure relief areas for the foot of a user, said walker having a sole area extending substantially for the entire area underlying the foot of a user, comprising:
- a walker frame including an outer sole and struts extending from said sole upward;
a soft goods support for enclosing the ankle, lower leg and at least a portion of the foot, said support being secured to said frame;
an inner sole mounted in said soft good support, said inner sole including an underlying flexible sheet extending substantially over the entire sole area; and
an upper resilient inner sole member extending over and being removably secured to said underlying flexible sheet, said upper resilient inner sole member having a substantially uniform thickness and extending substantially over the entire sole area;
said upper resilient inner sole portion being composed of a plurality of at least 50 separate resilient sections arranged in a grid pattern, said sections being removably secured on their lower surfaces to said underlying flexible sheet and said sections together forming a substantially smooth surface for engagement by the foot, said sections being individually removable to provide localized pressure relief to selected areas of the foot; and
aid sections being directly adjacent one another to form said grid;
said grid pattern extending over substantially all of said upper inner sole member;
whereby one or a plurality of said sections may be removed at any desired area of the inner sole member to provide a relief zone corresponding to an afflicted zone of a foot.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Footgear with an inner sole (66) having a grid of removable resilient elements to permit removal of selected elements (68) to provide relief to ulcerated or injured areas of the foot. An air bladder (64) may underlie sole (66), preferably with additional cushioning material (40) within the air bladder. A walker (12) with a soft support (20) may be provided with the inner sole within the support. Some of the removal resilient elements may have a higher density or height than others. The footgear may include an adhesively-backed resilient pad (212) to provide additional support to a region. The footgear may include means for reducing shear stress on a bottom surface of the foot. An edema patch (240) may be provided for covering an open space (248) left after a user has removed a removable section from the grid. The edema patch applies pressure to the afflicted zone of the foot (250) preventing fluids from building up.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A walker with pressure relief areas for the foot of a user, said walker having a sole area extending substantially for the entire area underlying the foot of a user, comprising:
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a walker frame including an outer sole and struts extending from said sole upward; a soft goods support for enclosing the ankle, lower leg and at least a portion of the foot, said support being secured to said frame; an inner sole mounted in said soft good support, said inner sole including an underlying flexible sheet extending substantially over the entire sole area; and
an upper resilient inner sole member extending over and being removably secured to said underlying flexible sheet, said upper resilient inner sole member having a substantially uniform thickness and extending substantially over the entire sole area;said upper resilient inner sole portion being composed of a plurality of at least 50 separate resilient sections arranged in a grid pattern, said sections being removably secured on their lower surfaces to said underlying flexible sheet and said sections together forming a substantially smooth surface for engagement by the foot, said sections being individually removable to provide localized pressure relief to selected areas of the foot; and aid sections being directly adjacent one another to form said grid; said grid pattern extending over substantially all of said upper inner sole member; whereby one or a plurality of said sections may be removed at any desired area of the inner sole member to provide a relief zone corresponding to an afflicted zone of a foot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. Footgear with pressure relief areas for the foot, said footgear having a sole area extending substantially for the entire area underlying the foot of a user comprising:
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an outer sole; an inner sole extending substantially over the entire sole area mounted in said footgear above said outer sole, said inner sole having a plurality of independently vertically movable sections arranged in a grid pattern, said independently vertically movable sections having lower surfaces which are mounted within said footgear and said sections together form a substantially smooth surface for engagement by the foot; means for independently modifying support of the foot provided at each section location; said resilient sections being directly adjacent one another to form said grid; and said grid of resilient sections comprising substantially all of said inner sole and extending over substantially all of said sole area; wherein said resilient sections have a height, a width and a depth, said height being greater than said width and depth. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. Footgear with pressure relief areas for the foot, comprising:
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an outer sole; an inner sole mounted in said footgear above said outer sole, said inner having a plurality of independently vertically movable sections arranged in a grid pattern, said independently vertically movable sections having lower surfaces which are mounted within said footgear and together form a substantially smooth surface for engagement by the foot; means for independently modifying the support of the foot provided at each section location; said resilient sections being directly adjacent one another to form said grid; and said grid of resilient sections comprising substantially all of said inner sole; wherein said resilient sections have a height, a width and a depth, said height being greater than said width and depth; and said means for independently modifying the support of the foot comprising independent pneumatic sections which a user may puncture to deflate.
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22. Footgear with pressure relief areas for the foot, said footgear having a sole area extending substantially for the entire area underlying the foot of a user, comprising:
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an outer sole, an inner sole extending substantially over the entire sole area mounted in said footgear above said outer sole, said inner sole having a plurality of removable sections that are removable mounted in said footgear and that are arranged in a grid pattern said removable sections having lower surfaces which are removable secured within said footgear and said sections together forming a substantially smooth surface for engagement by the foot said sections being individually removable from said footgear to provide localized relief to selected areas of the foot; said resilient sections being directly adjacent to one another to form said grid, with substantially no space in between said sections except when at least one of said sections has been removed; and said grid of resilient sections comprising substantially all of said inner sole and extending substantially over the entire sole area; wherein said footgear further comprises a bladder for containing fluid, mounted in said footgear above said outer sole, and said removable sections are mounted in said footgear above said bladder.
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23. Footgear with pressure relief zones for the foot, said footgear having a sole area extending substantially for the entire area underlying the foot of a user, comprising:
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an outer sole; an inner sole extending substantially over the entire sole area mounted in said footgear above said outer sole, said inner sole having a plurality of separate individually mobile resilient sections arranged in a grid pattern, said sections being removable secured on each of their lower surfaces to an underlying flexible sheet such that a user may disengage a lower surface of one or more of said sections from said flexible sheet for removal from said footgear, said resilient sections forming a surface for engagement by a foot; said resilient sections being directly adjacent one another to form said grid and extending over substantially all of said sole area; and an edema patch for covering an open space left after a user has removed at least one mobile section from said grid, said edema patch comprising an upper patch body having a lower surface and an adhesive layer on said lower surface for adhering said patch to mobile resilient sections surrounding the open space; wherein said footgear further comprises a bladder for containing fluid, mounted in said footgear above said outer sole, and said resilient sections are mounted in said footgear above said bladder; whereby one or a plurality of said adjacent sections may be removed at any desired area of the inner sole to provide relief corresponding to an afflicted zone of the foot, said edema patch being placed over the removed sections to apply pressure to the afflicted zone of the foot, thereby preventing fluids from building up therein.
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Specification