Foot Orthotic Patent: "of differing durometer adapted to guide the foot"

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Vionic just got this patent:
"A composite orthotic device for use with footwear includes a resiliently deformable base part and a resiliently deformable upper part, forming a plurality of foot supporting portions of differing durometer adapted to guide the wearer's foot along a Center of Pressure path from heel strike to toe-off to follow a biomechanically corrected gait path."

"The invention, in a first aspect, provides a composite orthotic device for use inside, or as part of, an article of footwear, which defines a foot-engaging surface for contacting a user's foot and a ground-engaging surface for contacting the inside of a user's shoe or the ground. The composite orthotic device comprises a resiliently deformable base part defining the ground-engaging surface, and a resiliently deformable upper part defining the foot-engaging surface, wherein: the base part is generally harder than the upper part; the base part and the upper part are attached to one another to form the composite orthotic device; the composite orthotic device has a greater rigidity than the respective individual base and upper parts; in use of the composite orthotic device, the base part provides support for a user's foot and the upper part provides cushioning and support for the user's foot; and, the base part and the upper part cooperate in use of the composite orthotic device so as to cause the user's foot to follow a natural, flowing, path during a ground contact phase of the user's gait cycle."


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