Abstract:
A sport shoe having ball-contacting pads mounted thereon for increasing kicking performance without appreciably decreasing ball feel is disclosed. The pads include a top layer separated from a bottom layer by interconnecting elastic elements or webs. The top and bottom layers are substantially planar and elongate. The pad is arranged on the shoe so that when, for example, a soccer player kicks a ball, reaction forces from the impact will displace the top layer longitudinally, substantially parallel to the bottom layer, thus stretching the elastic interconnecting elements, storing potential energy. As the ball leaves the player's shoe, the reaction forces are diminished, and the potential energy in the interconnecting elements moves the top layer to again move longitudinally, but in an opposite direction. This return movement imparts a tangential force on a ball, thus enabling a player to kick the ball with substantial spin, a key tactic during many parts of a soccer game.
Abstract:
A structural chassis includes a structural chassis and a foam chassis or sock liner sandwiched together to form an assembly that can be inserted into and substantially occupy a footbed of a shoe upper. Discrete sole elements are attached to a bottom side of the upper so as to expose certain portions of the bottom side therebetween. This absence of outsole material in those areas makes the upper collapsible about those areas since the outsole provides no support in those areas. Instead, the structure is provided by the chassis of the chassis, which is customized to the user's foot by placing one or more notches in strategic locations along the chassis where the foot naturally flexes. One such notch is located on the chassis in a position that allows the chassis to flex about a forward push-off axis of the foot that runs through the first and second MTP joints. Two collinear notches are formed on the chassis to allow the structural chassis shoe to flex about a lateral push-off axis that runs through the third, fourth and fifth MTP joints.
Abstract:
A deformation pad is disclosed for outsoles of footwear to simulate footwear response associated with sports activity on gravel surfaces. It has been noted that there is a slight forward sliding of a shoe on a runner during each step when runners run on dirt or gravel roads. It has been theorized that this sliding minimizes impact forces on the lower leg. The present invention simulates the performance and response force characteristics of sports activities on granulated surfaces by providing a deformation pad including elongate anisotropic deformation elements having resistances to deformation that are different along longitudinal, transverse, and vertical axes. The deformation pad is designed to provide deformation along transverse and vertical axes while substantially resisting deformation along a longitudinal axis. The deformation pads may be oriented to provide optimum response characteristics for different sports having different load characteristics. For example, the deformation pads on running shoes may be oriented differently than the deformation pads on tennis shoes wherein athletes subject their shoes to substantial lateral motion and stops. Shoes having deformation pads may also be combined with support elements having a thickness less than the deformation pad. The support elements provide additional cushioning and stability and a platform for pushing off when initiating movement of the foot.
Abstract:
The present invention discloses a ground-contacting system including 3D deformation elements having interiors filled with either compressible fluid such as a gas or filled with other materials such as liquids, foams, viscous materials and/or viscoelastic materials. The 3D elements are designed to deform, distort or deflect in three mutually orthogonal directions simultaneously and are associated directly with the surfaces that routinely come in direct contact with a ground surface such as the underside of the sole and side portions of the shoe upper near the sole. The 3D elements are also designed to decrease the amount of force transferred to the wearer's feet, legs, back and joints due to their ability to distort three-dimensionally and to dissipate the energy of foot fall into thermal energy. The 3D elements are also designed to allow the shoe or foot to move a measurable amount relative to the ground-contacting surface in response to an applied force such as the forces encounted in walking, running or in any other activity.
Abstract:
The method of constructing the shoe includes forming a shoe upper (16), wherein the upper includes a plurality of openings on the bottom side thereof and an interior foot-shaped cavity. Next, a shoe outsole (14) is inserted into the interior cavity so that portions of the outsole stick out of the openings in the upper and form an exterior contact surface of the shoe. The number and size of the openings in the upper correspond to the number and size of the extruding portions of the outsole, which are placed at strategic locations along the medial and lateral sides of the outsole to provide support for the foot under load bearing conditions. The outsole is attached to the upper by an adhesive and/or stitching. A midsole (12) is then inserted into the cavity and attached to the outsole. A last is inserted into the cavity to apply pressure to the midsole to improve the bonding between the outsole and the midsole. A toe piece (18) made of similar material to the outsole is then attached to a toe portion of the upper to complete the sole.
Abstract:
An outsole has a bottom sole made of rubber or the like with ground contacting hollow bulges (3, 3') oriented downwards and arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis (A) of the sole over the sole width. An upper layer (5) that covers the bottom sole forms air chambers (4, 4') in the bulges. The bulges (3, 3') have a substantially flat treading surface (7, 7') whose size approximately corresponds to the base surface (6, 6') of the bulges at the upper layer (5, 5'). The air chambers (4, 4'9) are subdivided by a plurality of supporting walls (8, 8') into individual chambers in communication with each other.
Abstract:
A shoe sole with a sole plate (1) to the side in contact with the ground of which are secured inflatable pipe components (6, 7, 8). Upstanding sides on the sole plate provide a chamber (10) into which the inflation apertures (17) of the pipe components open. In the chamber (10) there is also a valve housing and a miniature pump from which connecting pipes (19) run to the inflation apertures (17). In the region of the inner and outer sole edges and in the heel region there are separately inflatable pipe components (6, 7, 8) so that the walking qualities of a shoe fitted with the sole can be individually adjusted. Inside the pipe components there is a longitudinal partition through which the interior is divided into two air chambers which communicate via at least one aperture in the partition. This provides improved walking properties and greater rigidity of the pipe components.
Abstract:
Described is a sole for sports shoes (2) in particular, the sole having a multiplicity of individual flexurally elastic support elements (21) disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shoe at intervals one behind the other along the longitudinal axis. The support-element edges nearest the foot are joined to a cover plate (20) and the edges nearest the ground to an external wear layer (22). Each support element (21) consist of a compact box-girder structure with top chord running at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shoe, a bottom chord parallel to the top chord, two lateral supporting walls joining the ends of these two chords, and stays bracing the top chord against the bottom chord.
Abstract:
A jump-ski boot with a securing device (14) at the heel end for releasably securing a spring-tensioned securing strip fastened to the jump-ski. In order to improve the ski-jumper's control of the ski, the securing device (14) can be adjusted on either side of the peak heel line of the boot.
Abstract:
Described is a sole for sports shoes in particular, the sole having a shock-absorbing layer and, joined to the side of this layer nearest the ground, an external wear layer which may incorporate a tread or carry a treaded layer. The shock-absorbing layer is made of hard, flexurally elastic plastic and has a number of supporting walls, disposed essentially parallel to the longitudinal exis of the shoe, which enclose cavities between them. Viewed in section, the supporting walls are disposed to fit together, inclined at an angle and/or curved, between the external wear layer and the top of the shock-absorbing layer.