As I was going through the Make Me Taller forums yesterday I came across a discussion thread which again was looking at any alternatives of height increase beyond the limb lengthening surgery. The thread lead to a patent from 2008 which seems to be a real application. To get the link, just go to Google and type in “Height Increase Device Patent” and it should be one of the results on the first page. The original link is from FreePatentsOnline.com.

What is claimed is: 

1. Height increasing device comprising: a wedge shaped resilient foam portion; a spandex elastic type slip on shoe; said foam portion bonded to the bottom of said spandex elastic shoe; said elastic shoe having an open front allowing the user’s toes to exit said elastic shoe; and said wedge shaped foam situated under the user’s heal area so that the thickest portion of said wedge is at the rear of the user’s heal and the thinnest portion is located at the mid foot area. 

2. Height increasing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient foam portion is constructed of Evo Foam. 

3. Height increasing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wedge shape can be as thick as one and one half inches at its thickest point at the rear of the heal. 

4. Height increasing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spandex shoe can fit a variety of foot sizes. 

5. Height increasing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spandex shoe and attached wedge shaped portion can be worn under a person’s standard sock so that said person can remove his or her shoes and still have the benefit of extra height because said spandex shoe can not easily be seen through said user’s sock.

Analysis Of The Patent:

There is a link HERE to the actual patent form filed with pictures of the device. The pictures are very crude and makes me wonder why a person would ever try to patent this type of idea. It is not very inforceable since I am quite certain that many shoe sellers and repair shops in Singapore, Indonesia, and China are already doing something similar in fashion to give some of their buyers a height boost from their shoes.

The shoe design seems to be able to remove 3 main problems that has been traditionally associated with any type of height increase shoes, which is that….

1. The shoes inserts are big and bulky designed to be left inside the shoes.
2. There will be some situations where the shoes do have to be removed which reveals the height difference and cause public embarrassment.
3. The soles of the shoes are clearly visible to be thick and not very stylish.

After looking over this device for 10 minutes and looking at the really crudely drawn pictures of how the feet and shoe accessory is supposed to fit over the feet, I am still a little confused. On the one hand I think that this device is a sock like thing where the heel region is a relatively thick, strong, elastic part which causes the feet’s heel to thicken up at a sloped angle, which would give around 1 inch of concealed height. On the other hand, the device may be something that is placed into the shoe from the start and for the feet to go into and stay wearing until the shoes need to be removed for some reason. The device most likely will be staying on the feet while the shoes keep a normal thickness in the heel region.

I have clipped and posted the first page of the patent below.