Patent ID: 9554621
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: A43B

Claim:
1. A midsole for a shoe including an outsole configured to contact ground when the shoe is worn during walking and an upper adapted to receive and hold a foot of a wearer, the midsole comprising: a toe end; a heel end; a forefoot portion disposed proximate to the toe end; a heel portion disposed proximate to the heel end; an arch portion disposed between the forefoot and heel portions wherein the heel portion includes a lower heel portion configured to be disposed proximate to the outsole and an upper heel portion extending vertically upward from the lower heel portion to a point configured to substantially correspond to a superior tuberosity of the wearer such that the upper heel portion is configured to cover a tuberosity of a calcaneus of the wearer; wherein the upper heel portion is asymmetric about a vertical axis dividing the midsole into two halves: a medial half and a lateral half; wherein the medial half extends vertically from the lower heel portion to an upper terminal edge of the medial half; wherein the lateral half extends vertically from the lower heel portion to an upper terminal edge of the lateral half and includes an opening formed through the lateral half of the upper heel portion; wherein the medial half of the upper heel portion has a first stiffness and the lateral half of the upper heel portion has a second stiffness, the second stiffness being less than the first stiffness due to the opening formed through the lateral half; and wherein the midsole is a single, integrally formed, monolithic structure which extends continuously from the toe end to the heel end and through the lower and upper heel portions to the upper terminal edges of the medial and lateral halves; wherein the upper terminal edge of the lateral half of the upper heel portion is vertically lower than the upper terminal edge of the medial half.