Orthopedic Shoe Tree

The invention concerns an orthopedic shoe tree, particularly for shoes of patients with slight foot or toe deformations.

Shoe trees for various purposes are known. The most common shoe trees serve only for the maintenance of the shoe shape, especially of the upper. A further group is represented by those shoe trees which serve to stretch the shoe. With stretching a slight size adjustment can be achieved or it can serve for shape-moulding purposes.

Orthopedic shoe trees are often complicated and large devices which, because of their initial cost are only used in shoe shops. Such apparatus must be easily adjusted or modified so that they can meet various requirements.

An object of this invention is to provide an orthopedic shoe tree which can be adjusted with simple means according to a patient's foot, but be dimensioned only for a specific patient's foot.

The solution is found with a shoe tree which is characterized by two completely separate front foot form halves each of which has in its separation surface a longitudinal groove which opens into a wedge-shaped channel and is linked loosely with the stretching wedge by means of a tightening screw running along the separation surface.

Particularly advantageous is a shoe tree in which the tightening screw has a central depression in its head in which a pointed setscrew of the heel part rests.

In the drawings one embodiment of the shoe tree of the invention is shown wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a top view of a shoe tree of this invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the shoe tree of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 shows the shoe tree stretching wedge;

FIG. 4 shows the shoe tree tightening screw;

FIG. 5 shows sectional detail of the shoe tree tightening screw;

FIG. 6 shows the shoe tree setscrew;

FIG. 7 shows the shoe tree nut for holding the heel part.

In FIG. 1 can be seen an overall view of the shoe tree. The two foot form halves are indicated by 1a and 1b. They are in contact with each other on their separating surfaces 2a and 2b. Both parts are completely separate, however, and are kept in their desired positions by the shoe. Both halves consist of wood or plastic and are made individually precisely according to the form of the patient's foot.

In the separation surfaces 2a and 2b there are, for example, semi-circular longitudinal grooves 3a and 3b which open into wedge channels 4a and 4b. A further characteristic in regard to the forms is that each foot form half has a shoulder 5a and 5b.

In the side view of FIG. 2 it can be seen that the foot form halves are flat, which means that they can be used for both a left and a right shoe. In fitting for the patient, therefore, one can start with relatively simple, uniform blanks. The lateral surfaces 9 can be quickly prepared by removal of material or nailing on form parts. Even upward shaping can easily be achieved by means of superimposition of form part 10.

The third, non-metallic part is the heel piece 6. It has no shape-forming function. Rather, the heel part serves to insure the correct positioning of the foot form halves. If so desired, the shoe tree can also serve for stretching the shoe structure.

The metallic parts of the shoe tree are shown in the detail drawings FIGS. 3-7.

The whole shoe tree consists of several loose parts, which on the one hand constitute a stretching part, on the other a pressure part. The stretching part includes the two foot form halves 1a and 1b ith the stretching wedge 11 and the tightening screw 14. The pressure part consists of the described heel part 6, as well as a setscrew 20. The pressure part and stretching part are only loosely connected with each other.

FIG. 3 shows the stretching wedge 11 with a hole having internal thread 12. The screw 15, shown in FIG. 4, reveals no special peculiarity at first glance. Its relatively long shaft is provided with a thread for only about half its length. Not visible in FIG. 4, and therefore shown in sectioned FIG. 5, is the design of the hexagonal screw head 16. In the section of the screw head 16 can be seen a center depression 17, which has an angle of something more than 90.degree..

The pressure part comprises the setscrew 20, which is actually a rod which has on one end point 21 and at the other, a thread 22 shown in FIG. 6. At the end of the thread, about in the middle of the rod, there is a fixed nut 23. In normal position the point 21 is in the center depression 17.

FIG. 7 shows a nut 25 for holding the heel part 6. As compared to an ordinary nut, this one is differentiated by angular projections 26 which extend into the heel part 6 permitting longitudinal adjustment by rotation of thread 22 in nut 25. Not represented in the detail drawings of FIGS. 3-7 is washer 7, which is, however, clearly visible in FIG. 1.

When a patient's shoe is to be shaped, the whole shoe is preferably placed in water or a water-alcohol mixture. Then the stretching part of the shoe tree is pushed into the shoe and the screw 15 tightened. The wedge 11 now forces the two foot form halves apart. In order to hold the stretching part in the right position, the pressure part consisting of heel part 6 and setscrew 20 is inserted into the shoe. The point 21 of the screw 20 goes into the depression 17 in the screw head 16 of the tightening screw 15. The division of the shoe tree and the loose articulation makes it possible to use the shoe tree even in ladies'shoes with high heels. The angle of the depression 17 is necessarily greater than the angle of the point 21.

The shoulders 5a and 5b are of secondary importance. They are to hold a rubber band that keeps the foot form halves when not in use, from sliding off the stretching wedge and screw 15.

While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof, and many details have been set forth for purpose of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention.