Ballet pointe shoe

Abstract

A ballet pointe shoe for supporting a dancer. The shoe has a shank with fibers of various orientation to provide a stiffness characteristics desired by the dancer. The stiffness of the shank is varied to meet the performance needs of the dancer. In one embodiment the stiffness of the shoe at the arch is greater than the stiffness of the shoe at the ball of the foot.

1 . A support structure for ballet pointe shoe, the support structure comprising:
 a toebox, and   a shank having a connection strip for coupling to the toebox, the shank having a first set of layers comprised of one or more sheets with longitudinal fibers and one or more sheets with orthogonal fibers, the shank further having a second set of layers comprised of one or more sheets of having longitudinal fibers and one or more sheets having orthogonal fibers.   
     
     
         2 . The support structure of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of layers extends into an area of the shoe that would engage the ball of a foot. 
     
     
         3 . The support structure of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of layers and the second set of layers overlap in an area of the shoe that would engage the arch of a foot. 
     
     
         4 . A shank for a ballet shoe comprising:
 a first set of layers having fiber sheets, wherein the fiber sheets are placed in a first alignment; and   a second set of layers of fiber sheets with second alignment and the second set of layers is combined with the first set of layers.   
     
     
         5 . The shank of  claim 4 , wherein the combined layers are coupled to a connector strip. 
     
     
         6 . The shank of  claim 5  wherein, the shank is shaped to adapt to the foot of a ballet dancer. 
     
     
         7 . The shank of  claim 6  wherein the fiber sheets are made of woven or unidirectional fibers and the sheets are impregnated with a polymer resin. 
     
     
         8 . A support structure for ballet pointe shoe, the support structure comprising:
 a toebox; and   a shank having a connection strip for coupling to the toebox, the shank having a first set of layers comprising one or more sheets with first oriented fibers and one or more sheets with second oriented fibers, the shank further having a second set of layers comprising one or more sheets with third oriented fibers and one or more sheets with fourth oriented fibers.