IP Library Granted Patent US 12696957
Granted Patent B2
US 12696957 · App. 18/590,683 · Granted Aug 4, 2026

Footwear

Inventor: Candace Chen (Phoenix, AZ)
A43B21/36A43B13/187
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12696957
App. No.
18/590,683
Granted
Aug 4, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An elegant and stylish high-heeled shoe includes improved arch supports, pads, and gel-filled cushions, and improves wearer comfort and improves weight distribution by collecting and transferring body weight primarily by the ball of the heel, secondarily by a novel arch support, and tertiarily by an especially comfortable toe post. These distributed support structures in combination prevent an undesirable feeling of the foot sliding down the ramp.

Claims (29)

1 . A high-heeled shoe comprising:

a heel pillar, an outer sole, and an insock, with

said heel pillar defining a support axis and comprising a reinforcement column, and

said outer sole

defining a longitudinal medial contour further defining forward and rearward directions, and defining a ball line substantially transverse to said longitudinal medial contour, and

further comprising a pocket defining a pocket area, with at least 75% of said pocket area located rearward of said ball line, and

further comprising an insert molded shank,

with a first gel pad received within said pocket and a component comprising high-rebound memory foam affixed atop said first gel pad, and

said outer sole further defining a heel cup having a plurality of fastener-receiving through apertures having centers non-coaxial with said support axis, such that brachial support axes each passing through said aperture centers converge upon said support axis at a point beneath said heel cup.

2 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , wherein said reinforcing column is recessed within said heel pillar to form a downward-pointing aperture, and

further comprising a top lift having a protruding dowel received within said downward-pointing aperture and abutted to and coaxial to said reinforcement column in said heel pillar.

3 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , further comprising a dowel abutted to and coaxial to said reinforcement column in said heel pillar and partially protruding from said heel pillar, and a top lift affixed to said dowel.

4 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 3 , wherein said insock further comprises a second, semilunar pad comprising a compressible material.

5 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 4 , wherein said semilunar pad further comprises an inside curve contour, an outside curve contour, and a ridge, and wherein a semilunar pad width is defined between said inside curve contour and said outside curve contour taken at a transverse cross section of said semilunar pad, and wherein a first distance defined from said inside curve contour to said ridge resides within a range between about 22% and about 40% inclusively of a second distance defined from said inside curve contour to said an outside curve contour.

6 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , wherein said shank is transfixed by a fastener.

7 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , wherein said outer sole further comprises first and second undercuts which respectively receive first and second ends of a toe strap.

8 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , wherein said outer sole further comprises an undercut by the heel which receives a heel counter.

9 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 8 , wherein said undercut is defined as a cavity between said outer sole and said heel pillar.

10 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , wherein at least three of said centers of said through apertures of said heel cup define a plane, and a first slope of said plane taken at its intercept with a sagittal plane of said shoe has a first angle with respect to horizontal that is less than a second slope of a line passing through a first point in said sagittal plane at a rearmost ground contact point of a ground contact region of said shoe proximal to said pocket and a second rearmost point of said outer sole in said sagittal plane proximal to said undercut.

11 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 10 , wherein said heel cup defines a transverse width dimension and with a depth dimension of said heel cup being at least 17% of said transverse width dimension.

12 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 10 , wherein said second slope resides within a range spanning inclusively from at least about 35° to about 60′.

13 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 10 , wherein said second slope is about 40.5°.

14 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 10 , wherein said first slope resides within a range spanning inclusively from at least about 10 to about 40°.

15 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 10 , wherein said first slope is about 21.5°.

16 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 10 , wherein a difference of said second slope minus said first slope resides within a range spanning inclusively from at least about 10° to about 30°.

17 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , wherein said outer sole further defines a heel cup and a throat section connected by a negatively curved surface.

18 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 7 , further comprising a toe post spanning between said insock and said toe strap, said toe post shrouded by a seamed toe post sleeve, with said seam of said toe post sleeve residing proximal to a forward extent of said toe post.

19 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , wherein said outer sole further comprises a downwardly protruding stud coaxially aligned with said support axis of said heel pillar.

20 . The high-heeled shoe of claim 1 , further comprising a heel counter having a loop feature, and an ornamental ankle bracelet detachable from said heel counter, said ornamental ankle bracelet being selected from among a set consisting of a plurality of ornamental ankle bracelets associated with said high-heeled shoe.