Patent ID: 6729046
Filing Date: 2004-05-04
Classification: A43B

Abstract:
An athletic shoe sole for supporting a foot of an intended wearer, the shoe sole comprising:a sole inner surface; a sole outer surface; the sole surfaces of the athletic shoe together defining a sole medial side, a sole lateral side, and a sole middle portion between the sole sides; the sole comprising a heel portion at a location substantially corresponding to a heel of the intended wearer's foot, a forefoot portion at a location substantially corresponding to a forefoot of the intended wearer's foot, and a third portion between the heel and forefoot portions; the heel portion having a lateral heel part at a location substantially corresponding to the lateral tuberosity of the calcaneus of the intended wearer's foot, and a medial heel part at a location substantially corresponding to the base of the calcaneus of the intended wearer's foot; the third portion having a lateral midtarsal part at a location substantially corresponding to the base of a fifth metatarsal of the intended wearer's foot, and a main longitudinal arch part at a location substantially corresponding to the longitudinal arch of the intended wearer's foot; the forefoot portion having a forward medial forefoot part at a location substantially corresponding to the head of the first distal phalange of the intended wearer's foot, and rear medial and lateral forefoot parts at locations substantially corresponding to the heads of the medial and lateral metatarsals of the intended wearer's foot; at least two rounded portions, each formed by midsole component, each said rounded midsole portion being located between a convexly rounded portion of an inner surface of the midsole component and a concavely rounded portion of an outer surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, the convexity of the convexly rounded portion of the inner surface of the midsole component existing with respect to a section of the midsole component located adjacent to the convexly rounded inner surface portion, and the concavity of the concavely rounded portion of the outer surface of the midsole component existing with respect to an inner section of the midsole component located adjacent to the concavely rounded outer surface portion; each of said rounded midsole portions being located at a different position on the sole, the different positions comprising positions near to at least one of the medial heel part, lateral heel part, forward medial forefoot part, rear medial forefoot part, rear lateral forefoot part, lateral midtarsal part, and main longitudinal arch part; the concavely rounded portion of the outer surface of each of said rounded midsole portions extends at least from a level corresponding to a height of a lowest point of the inner surface of the midsole component to at least a lowermost point of the outer surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; an outer sole; at least three tapered portions having a thickness that decreases gradually from a first thickness to a lesser thickness, as viewed in a shoe sole horizontal plane when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, said thickness of each of said tapered portions being measured from the inner surface of the midsole component to the outer surface of the shoe sole, and each of said tapered portions being located at a location on the shoe sole corresponding to a location of each of the rounded midsole portions; the sole having a lateral sidemost section being located at a location outside of a straight vertical line extending through the shoe sole at a lateral sidemost extent of the inner surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; the sole having a medial sidemost section being located at a location outside of a straight vertical line extending through the shoe sole at a medial sidemost extent of the inner surface of the midsole component, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; a midsole part extends into the sidemost section of the sole side at the location of each of said rounded midsole portions, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; each said midsole part further extends to above a level corresponding to the lowest point of the midsole component inner surface of the same sole side, as viewed in a shoe sole frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; a thickness between the inner surface of the midsole component and the outer surface of the midsole component increases gradually from a thickness at an uppermost point of each of said midsole parts to a greater thickness at a location below the uppermost point of each of said midsole parts, said thickness being defined as the distance between a first point on the inner surface of the midsole component and a second point on the outer surface of the midsole component, said second point being located along a straight line perpendicular to a straight line tangent to the inner surface of the midsole component at said first point, all as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; at least part of a midsole component in the sole third portion comprises an indentation relative to a straight line between a lowermost part of the midsole component outer surface of the sole heel portion and a lowermost part of the midsole component outer surface of the sole forefoot portion, as viewed in a shoe sole sagittal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; and said shoe sole has a heel portion thickness that is greater than a forefoot portion thickness, as viewed in a shoe sole sagittal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.