The invention relates to a footwear of a shoe structure, wherein the inside of the toe thereof is formed into a tabi (Japanese socks).

Although a conventional rubber-soled tabi is a footwear having work performance and motion activity, it is not fit for general sports and ordinarily going out because the toe thereof is split. Besides, although some shoes make the circumference of the instep thereof large and some shoes make the material thereof softened to prevent from hallux vulgas, both of them have no effect on a person whose thumb has been already deformed. On the other hand, although some shoes whose partition members are interposed into crotch parts are disclosed in some laid-open patent applications, they are unsuitable for many-hours performances because the mere partition member can not deal with the degree of deformation of the thumb. Further, although there are some shoes having sandal straps, they can not effectively and positively prevent the deformation of the thumb similarly. When the thumb bends outside once, it is difficult to correct the hallux vulgas, and therefore, suitable manufactured goods have not been provided yet. Furthermore, there is a safety shoe having a box toe fitted in the toe as a protection member. In this case, although an opening space is formed between the toes, there occurs side run out of the toes in walking, thereby increasing fatigue and decreasing work ability.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3484118 official gazette

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 1997-47302 official gazette

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 1997-206101 official gazette

Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 1997-238701 official gazette

Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 1999-32805 official gazette

Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2001-128701 official gazette

An object of the invention is to provide a footwear of a shoe structure used while a person works, sports and ordinarily goes out, having excellent effects on the stoppage of the advancement and correction of hallux vulgas in view of the above-mentioned actual condition.

An internal material of a half-size tabi (Japanese socks) structure using a stretchable cloth to distinguish a thumb from the other four fingers is interposed between an instep covering material and the upper toe part of a sole. The upper part of the internal material is formed of at least two sheets comprising stretchable cloths, whereas the lower part is formed of one or two sheets comprising stretchable cloths whose stretching property are differentiated so that the lower part is smaller than the upper part. A partition member formed of a soft elastic material is fitted into a crotch part between the thumb part and the other four finger parts of the internal material.

In this case, the upper part of the internal material is formed of two sheets comprising stretchable clothes of nylon or polyester fiber, and urethane foam is interposed therebetween. The lower part is formed in a two sheet structure in which an insole surface is formed of a stretchable nylon tricot cloth and the face in contact with the inside of the sole is formed of a synthetic fiber flat weave cloth, and urethane foam is interposed therebetween.

The thickness around the root of the crotch part may be larger than the other parts.

Beside, a footwear of the invention can be formed in a safety shoe type that a box toe member for protecting a toe is imposed between the instep covering member and the internal material. Here, the box toe member is made of steel sheets or fiber reinforced plastics. In the partition member, the thickness is about 3 mm to 10 mm, the length from the toe to the root of crotch part is about 25 mm to 50 mm, and the height of the root of the crotch part is about 20 mm to 30 mm. And besides, a circular arc is upwardly formed from the toe to the root of the crotch part. At least upside of the root of the crotch part of the partition member is fixed on the inside of the instep covering material, and the bottom is fixed on the sole. In this case, in the footwear having the box toe, the upside of the partition part is fixed on the inside of the box toe.

In this invention, the internal material of a half-size tabi (Japanese socks) structure using stretchable cloth to distinguish the thumb from the other four fingers is partially imposed to the inside of the toe of the footwear of the shoe structure, and the partition member formed of the soft elastic material is fitted into the crotch part between the thumb and the other four fingers. According to this, the crotch part and the partition member completely separate the thumb and the other four fingers inside the toe. Besides, the partition member takes effects on the stoppage of the advancement and correction of hallux vulgas without spoiling any motion activity together with the half-size tabi structure using the stretchable cloth of the internal material. That is, even if the thumb is hallux vulgas, the soft elastic material having fixed thickness and hardness soon and precisely holds into the crotch part so as to freely oscillate the thumb. Therefore, the stoppage of the advancement and correction of the hallux vulgas can be always naturally performed. This feature is due to the internal material formed into the half-size tabi structure that is separated from the heel part. This structure is excellent because it can be simply and easily fitted to shoes formed of various forms in spite of the shape of the heel. Besides, the upper part of the internal material is formed of at least two sheets structure comprising stretchable cloth, and the lower part is formed of one or two sheets comprising stretchable cloth whose stretching property is differentiated so as to be smaller than the upper part. According to this, the footwear can be conveniently sewn in various foot shapes, easy to wear, comfortable feeling that the instep is properly tightened, and tireless even if wearing for a long time.

In case the stretchable clothes of the upper part and the lower part of the internal material are respectively formed in a two sheet structure and an urethane foam having fixed thickness and hardness is imposed therebetween, the footwear is further comfortable and encourages untiring.

The usual rubber-sold tabi for work has no protection members on the toe, and therefore, and therefore, it has no safety measures to dropping objects. However, in the invention, the box toe for protecting the toe is imposed between the instep covering material and the internal material at the toe side, and greatly contributes to execution of safety work in a field besides effects on the stoppage and correction of hallux vulgas.

In the usual and general safety shoe, the shape of the box toe is formed a litter larger than a last. Accordingly, while walking, the thumb is not fixed, thereby causing side run-out in the inside of the toe. Accordingly, tread power can not be certainly communicated to the ground, thereby heavily fatiguing the foot during working as well as during walking. However, in case the internal material of the half-size tabi structure of the invention is imposed, the cloth of the upper part thereof is differentiated from the lower part, and the partition member formed of the soft elastic material is imposed into the crotch part between the thumb and the other four fingers, the side run-out of the foot can be remarkably prevented. Besides, the motion activity is not damaged and contact with the ground is fine.

Here, the appearance of the toe in the invention is wholly formed round, which is common shape, and therefore, a person having hallux vulgas can wear without incompatibility. Besides, they are also effective in special shoes such as performing sports, working, climbing and golfing.

• [Figure 1] Fig.1A is a perspective view of an internal material used in the invention, and Fig. 1B is a transverse sectional view thereof.
• [Figure 2] This is a perspective view of a pad material of an opening for inserting foot, used in the invention.
• [Figure 3] This is a perspective view of a partition member used in the invention.
• [Figure 4] This is a perspective view of a last used in the invention.
• [Figure 5] This is a partially breaking perspective view of a shoe during producing.
• [Figure 6] This is a perspective view of a running shoe showing an example of the invention.
• [Figure 7] This is a partially breaking perspective view of a safety shoe showing an example of the invention.

1

an internal material

2

crotch part

3

a pad material of an opening for inserting foot

4

a partition member

5

a last

6

an instep covering material

7

a sole

8

a running shoe

9

a safety shoe

10

a box toe member

A footwear of a shoe structure used while a person performs sports and ordinarily goes out, well fitted to the ground and easy to wear, and having excellent effects on the stoppage of the advancement and correction of hallux vulgas is provided due to fitting a special internal material of a half-size tabi structure into the toe.

A running shoe of an example of the invention will be explained with reference to drawings.

Fig.1 is a perspective view of a special internal material of the invention, namely an internal material 1 of a half-size tabi structure imposed into the toe. Here, the upper part A of the internal material 1 is formed of two sheets comprising stretchable clothes 1a, 1b of nylon or tetron knitted material, and a urethane foam 1c is interposed thereinside. The thickness t thereof is 2 mm to 5 mm. As shown in the drawing, a crotch part 2 is formed to a toe part p so as to partition a thumb and the other four fingers at adequate interval.

The lower part B of the internal material 1 is formed in a two sheet structure in which a face in contact with the inside of the sole is formed of a synthetic fiber flat weave cloth 1e whose stretch is inferior to the upper part A (which includes non-stretch) and an insole surface is formed of a stretchable nylon tricot cloth 1f, and an urethane foam 1c is imposed therebetween similarly. In this case, since the face in contact with the inside of the sole is formed of the flat weave cloth le, a seam of a sewn part m between the upper part A and the lower part B is pulled so as to be always positioned at the inside of the sole and not to move vertically on the left and right sides in hanging on various lasts. This is very important to make easy to wear and comfortable without feeling incompatibility to the sole.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a pad member 3 of an opening for inserting foot. The upper edge 3a of the pad material 3 is sewn to the instep covering side, and left and right side edges 3b are sewn to left and right free side parts 1d of the internal material 1.

Fig. 3 shows a partition member 4 for be inserted into the crotch part 2, formed of a soft elastic material such as latex sponge, urethane sponge, rubber sponge, EVA sponge. The hardness of the partition member 4 is about 5 degree to 35 degree with C hardness meter. The thickness t' thereof is about 3 mm to 10 mm, the length from the toe to the root of the crotch part is about 25 mm to 50 mm, and the height of the root of the crotch part is about 20 mm to 30 mm. And besides, a circular arc is upwardly formed from the toe to the root of the crotch part. In the figures, a cylindrical body 4a formed wider than the thickness from the toe in 2 mm to 5 mm is provided to the portion contacting with the root of the crotch part.

Accordingly, the stoppage of the advancement and correction of hallux vulgas is easily accomplished by suitably changing the thickness of the partition member 4 and the shape of the cylindrical body 4a.

Fig. 4 shows a last 5. Here, the last 5 is formed so as to easily insert the partition member 4. That is, the width 5b of the crotch part is about 3 mm to 7 mm, the portion of the root of the thumb is formed cylindrical and the width 5a thereof is about 5 mm to 15 mm.

Fig. 5 is a partially breaking perspective view showing that a running shoe 8 is produced from the internal material 1 and the partition member 4. In the figure, 5 is a last, 6 is an instep covering material 6, and 7 is a sole member. In the invention, like this, the partition member 4 is imposed between the crotch part 2 of the internal material 1 of the special half-size tabi structure. Besides, the upper part of a cylindrical swelling body 4a of the partition member 4 is fixed at least on a back face 6a of the instep covering member 6 of the toe side by adhesive agent, whereas the lower part is fixed on the sole member 7 by sizing. On the other hand, the toe side is hung to be fit for the shape of the last, finished in a rounded toe, and thereafter put on the sole member 7 with the adhesive agent.

Fig. 6 shows a running shoe. In the invention, the internal material 1 of the half-size tabi structure formed of the stretchable cloth and the partition member 4 having suitable hardness are put on the toe side between the instep covering material and the sole, and another structure is produced like the conventional shoe method.

When performing the above-mentioned sizing, the upper face (cylindrical swelling body 4a in figures) that forms the root of the crotch part of the partition member 4 is fixed at least on the back face 6a of the instep covering member 6 by the adhesive agent. However, another arc part 4b needs not always be fixed. However, a bottom face part 4c of the partition member 4 must be certainly fixed on the sole member 7 by the adhesive agent. The upper cloth 1a of the upper part A forming a two sheet structure of the internal material 1 is fixed on the back face 6a, whereas the flat weave cloth 1c of the lower part B is fixed on the sole member 7 by the adhesive agent. Here, although a side face part 4d forming a platy body of the partition member 4 may be fixed on the crotch part of the internal material 1, it is preferable to leave the side face part 4d freely rocking without fixing. Because the motion activity is increased together the internal material 1 of the half-size tabi structure.

In the above-mentioned example, although the lower part B of the internal material 1 is formed in a two sheet structure, it may be formed in a sheet structure. In this case, the lower part B is formed of a non-stretchable cloth or an inferior cloth to the upper part A, such as the flat weave cloth. (A figure is omitted.)

Fig. 7 is a partially breaking perspective view of a safety shoe 9 of the invention. A safety shoe 9 has a box toe 10 in the toe as a protection member. As shown in figure, the box toe 10 is interposed between the instep covering material 6 and the internal material 1. Namely, the upper cloth 1a of the internal material 1 is firmly fitted into the safety shoe 9 by being fixed on the inside of the box toe 10 by the adhesive agent. Therefore, as keeping safety feature due to the box toe 10, the safety shoe 9 has effects on the stoppage of the advancement and correction of hallux vulgas due to the internal material 1 like the case of example 1. Well-known things that are used to protect the toe, such as steel sheets or fiber-reinforced plastics, can be used as the box toe 10.

In the above-mentioned examples, although the running shoe and the safety shoe are respectively explained, the footwear of the invention is not restricted to these, applied for all of sport shoes, chemical shoes for child, and footwear having special shoe structure such as golf shoes and mountaineering shoes.

In making the internal material 1 to the half-size tabi structure using stretchable clothes in the invention, adequate putting pressure and popping pressure efficiently affect due to synergistic effect with the partition member 4. Besides, the partition member 4 can give extremely comfortable stimulus in addition to soft and free-rockable.

The footwear of the invention is fine manufacture goods whose external appearance are not different from that of the conventional sports shoes and easy to wear. Particularly the motion activity thereof is fine. Besides, in walking, a person can feel stimulus in the crotch part, which is not felt on the conventional goods. Concretely, the partition member separates foot fingers, thereby giving strong ground feeling to each foot finger and preventing side run-out in landing to increase stability. Simultaneously, the stimulus between the crotch increases health. Therefore, the stoppage of the advancement and correction of the hallux vulgas, and decreasing of fatigue are effectively achieved. The feature of half-size tabi structure is centered to the instep part to be applied for various comfortable shoe goods having excellent motion activity. Besides, these goods can be produced inexpensively and easily.