Ankle inversion and eversion prevention shoe

• US 8,776,402 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2013
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RTC3 LLC
• Original Assignee: RTC3 LLC
• Inventors: Cromer, Ronnie E. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): BAYS, MARIE D
• Application Number:
  US13/888,127
• Publication Number:
  US 20130245525A1
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• Field of Search: 36/88, 36/89, 361/12, 361/14, 361/32, 361/36, 361/16
• US Class Current: 36/112
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/0111 for the feet or ankles

Abstract

An ankle inversion and eversion prevention athletic shoe has an upper foot support portion and a shoe bottom. The ankle inversion and eversion athletic shoe device is designed for preventing an athlete from spraining or turning or rolling an ankle during normal athletic competition or play or activities. The shoe includes a brace. The brace is located either behind the ankle on a heel of the shoe or on a side of said shoe in the general vicinity of the ankle. The brace includes an elongated arm and a floor contact surface designed to limit or control sliding of the foot to enable wearer time to regain composure, footing and balance. The brace provides the wearer time to regain his or her balance onto the shoe bottom, thus significantly limiting or precluding the typical and usually unavoidable ankle injury.

Claims

1. An athletic shoe to be worn on a foot of an athlete during an athletic activity, the athletic shoe comprising:

a shoe bottom defining a sole of the athletic shoe having a bottom surface for contacting the ground;

an upper foot support secured to the shoe bottom and extending above the shoe bottom;

a shoe brace connected to the athletic shoe along a heel region, a top portion of shoe brace contacting the upper foot support and an angled portion of the shoe brace extending away from the athletic shoe so that a lower surface of the shoe brace is positioned external to the athletic shoe such that the lower surface is spaced apart from the shoe bottom and positioned a distance above the ground when the bottom surface of the athletic shoe contacts the ground evenly; and

an anti-slip material positioned along the lower surface of the shoe brace, the anti-slip material preventing the shoe brace from sliding or skidding while the athlete is regaining his or her balance,

wherein the shoe brace is essentially rigid to provide lateral support to the athlete when the bottom surface of the shoe bottom contacts the ground unevenly such that the lower surface of the shoe brace contacts the ground, the shoe brace thereby providing the athlete time to regain his or her balance, thereby minimizing any ankle spraining, rolling, or turning.

2. The athletic shoe of claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the shoe brace is spaced apart from the shoe bottom by a distance being less than one inch so as not to interfere with ability of the athlete to compete aggressively and be unimpeded by the shoe brace.

3. The athletic shoe of claim 1, wherein the shoe brace has a longitudinal curvature such that the top surface of the shoe brace is generally parallel to the heel region, wherein the curvature extends from a first lateral side of the athletic shoe and curves around to a rear side of the athletic shoe along the heel region.

4. The athletic shoe of claim 3, wherein the brace extends from the first lateral side to a second lateral side so that the curvature extends around the entire rear side of the athletic shoe.

5. The athletic shoe of claim 1, wherein the shoe brace is formed of a material including at least one of metal, plastic, polymer, rubber, and carbon fiber.

6. The athletic shoe of claim 1, further comprising two shoe braces, a first shoe brace positioned to provide lateral support in a first lateral direction to an ankle of the athlete to prevent ankle inversion, a second shoe brace positioned to provide lateral support in a second lateral direction to the ankle of the athlete to prevent ankle eversion.

7. Athletic footwear to be worn on a foot of an athlete during an athletic activity, the athletic footwear comprising:

a footwear bottom defining a sole of the footwear having a bottom surface for contacting the ground;

an upper foot support secured to the shoe bottom and extending above the footwear bottom;

a brace attached above the shoe bottom along a lateral side of the athletic footwear, a top portion of the brace abutting the upper foot support and an angled portion of the brace extending away from the athletic footwear so that a lower surface of the brace is positioned external to the athletic shoe such that the lower surface is spaced apart from the footwear bottom and positioned a distance above the ground when the bottom surface of the footwear contacts the ground evenly; and

anti-slip material positioned at an end of the brace, the anti-slip material preventing the brace from sliding or skidding,

wherein the lower surface of the brace contacts the ground when the bottom surface of the footwear bottom contacts the ground unevenly, the brace thereby providing lateral support by transferring force from the ground to the upper foot support for minimizing ankle inversion and eversion.

8. The athletic footwear of claim 7, further comprising two braces, a first brace positioned to provide lateral support for in a first lateral direction to an ankle of the athlete from ankle inversion, a second brace positioned to provide lateral support in a second lateral direction of the ankle of the athlete from ankle eversion.

9. The athletic footwear of claim 7, wherein the brace has a curvature such that the top portion of the brace is generally parallel to a heel portion of the footwear so that the brace extends from the lateral side of the footwear and curves around to at least a portion of a rear side of the footwear.

10. The athletic footwear of claim 9, wherein the brace extends from the lateral side to a second lateral side so that the curvature extends around the entire rear side of the footwear.

11. The athletic footwear of claim 7, wherein the brace is formed of a material including at least one of metal, plastic, polymer, rubber, and carbon fiber.

12. The athletic footwear of claim 7, wherein the brace is generally rigid and supports up to three hundred pounds of force when in contact with the ground.

13. An athletic shoe to be worn on a foot of an athlete during an athletic activity, the athletic shoe comprising:

a shoe bottom defining a sole of the athletic shoe having a bottom surface for contacting the ground;

an upper foot support secured to the shoe bottom and extending above the shoe bottom;

a first shoe brace connected to the athletic shoe along a first lateral side at a heel region of the shoe, the first shoe brace having a first top portion that abuts the upper foot support and a first angled portion extending away from the athletic shoe so that a first lower surface is spaced apart from the shoe bottom,

a second shoe brace connected to the athletic shoe along a second lateral side at the heel region of the shoe, the second shoe brace having a second top portion that abuts the upper foot support and a second angled portion extending away from the athletic shoe so that a second lower surface of the second brace is spaced apart from the shoe bottom; and

an anti-slip material positioned along each of the first and second lower surfaces of the shoe brace, the anti-slip material preventing the shoe brace from sliding or skidding while the bottom surface of the shoe contacts the ground unevenly,

wherein when the bottom surface of the athletic shoe contacts the ground evenly, the first and second lower surfaces are positioned at a distance above the ground,

wherein when a first side of the bottom surface of the athletic shoe contacts the ground unevenly, the first lower surface of the first shoe brace contacts the ground and provides lateral support in a first lateral direction to an ankle of the athlete to prevent ankle inversion, and

wherein when a second side of the bottom surface of the athletic shoe contacts the ground unevenly, the second lower surface of the shoe brace contacts the ground and provides lateral support in a second lateral direction to the ankle of the athlete to prevent ankle eversion.

14. The athletic shoe of claim 13, wherein the first and second lower surfaces of the shoe brace are both spaced apart from the shoe bottom by a distance being less than one inch so as not to interfere with ability of the athlete to compete aggressively and be unimpeded by the shoe brace.

15. The athletic shoe of claim 13, wherein the first and second shoe braces have a longitudinal curvature such that the first and second top portions of the shoe braces are generally parallel to the heel region, wherein the curvature extends from a side of the athletic shoe and curves around to a rear side of the athletic shoe.

16. The athletic shoe of claim 13, wherein the first and second shoe braces are formed of a material including at least one of metal, plastic, polymer, rubber, and carbon fiber.

17. The athletic shoe of claim 13, wherein the first and second braces are generally rigid and each support up to three hundred pounds of force when in contact with the ground.