Footwear/insole for footwear

Abstract

A footbed for supporting a person's foot is formed with one or more voids which removes support beneath either at least part of the heel which is lateral to the midline of the heel and which does not extend medially of the midline, or beneath the medial process of the tuber calcanei, or a combination of the two. Such voids stabilise those parts of the heel which functionally form an abutment to support the medial and lateral longitudinal arches of the foot, in order to prevent pronation.

1 . A footbed for supporting a person's foot, wherein the footbed is formed with one of more voids which remove support beneath either: at least part of the heel which is lateral to the midline of the heel and which does not extend medially of the midline, and with no other void in the part of the heel medial to the midline; or beneath the medial process of the tuber calcanei; or beneath both the lateral part of the heel and the medial process of the tuber calcanei, thereby to stabilise those parts of the heel which functionally form abutments in the calcaneus to support the medial and lateral longitudinal arches of the foot. 
     
     
         2 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is formed with avoid (V 1 ) to remove support from the heel beneath at least part of the anterio-medial calcaneal ground contact which is lateral to the midline of the heel and does not extend medially of the midline, 
     
     
         3 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is formed with a void (V 2 ) so as to remove support from the heel beneath the lateral process of the tuber calcanei. 
     
     
         4 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is formed with a void (V 4 ) so as to remove support from the heel beneath the anterio-lateral ground contact of the calcaneous. 
     
     
         5 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is formed with at least one void (V 5 -V 9 ) so as to remove support from the forefoot beneath the heads of one, a combination or all of the metatarsals. 
     
     
         6 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is formed with a void (V 10 ) so as to remove support from the forefoot beneath the distal phalanx of the hallux. 
     
     
         7 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a raised mound in the medial arch area of the midfoot and at least one void anywhere in the arch area of the midfoot. 
     
     
         8 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is substantially flat and formed with at least one void in the medial longitudinal arch area or the lateral longitudinal arch area of the midfoot, 
     
     
         9 . The footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is arranged to support the foot with a downward slope from heel to forefoot at an angle of less than 20 degrees. 
     
     
         10 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is arranged to support the foot with a downward slope from heel to forefoot of or greater than 20 degrees and further comprises a void beneath the anterio-medial calcaneal ground contact which extends both medially and laterally of the midline. 
     
     
         11 . A footbed for supporting a person's foot, wherein the footbed includes a forefoot area receiving the parts of the foot beneath at least the heads of the first and fifth metatarsals, such that in use the heads of the first and fifth metatarsals are raised relative to the anterior-medial calcaneal ground contact of the heel by at least 0.5 cm, and the toes are level with or lower than the heads of the first and fifth metatarsals. 
     
     
         12 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the footbed further comprises a toe area distal to the forefoot area for receiving the toes, and the toe area and forefoot area are generally flat and level with each other. 
     
     
         13 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the footbed further comprises a toe area distal to the forefoot area for receiving the toes, and a heel area for receiving at least part of the heel, and the toe area and heel area are generally flat and level with each other, and the forefoot area is raised relative to the heel area. 
     
     
         14 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 11 , further comprising a midfoot area between the forefoot area and the heel area, wherein part of the midfoot area beneath the medial arch of a foot comprises a raised mound. 
     
     
         15 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed comprises a plurality of separate bodies. 
     
     
         16 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the separate bodies are releasably connectable to each other. 
     
     
         17 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is integral with an item of footwear. 
     
     
         18 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the item of footwear comprises a flexible sock or stocking. 
     
     
         19 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed is releasably attachable to the sole of a foot. 
     
     
         20 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed comprises an insole insertable into pre-existing footwear. 
     
     
         21 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the footbed comprises one or more optionally removal sections in order to create one or more voids 
     
     
         22 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the or each void comprises one of: a hole through the footbed and a depression in the footbed. 
     
     
         23 . A footbed as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising a thin, flexible layer which extends over the or each void and is deformable into the or each void under the weight of a person standing on the footbed.