Patent Publication Number: US-9888741-B2

Title: For a shoe, in particular for a sports shoe

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/495,298 filed on Sep. 24, 2014, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/322,389 filed on Mar. 6, 2012, which claims priority to PCT Application No. PCT/IB2010/001289 filed on May 27, 2010, which claims priority to French Patent Application No. 0954456 filed on Jun. 30, 2009 and French Patent Application No. 0953509 filed on May 27, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     The present invention relates to an improvement for shoes especially for athletic shoes designed to comfortably navigate very irregular terrain, such as for example that found in mountains, particularly descents with rocks, roots or the like. 
     In known manner, the shoes feature an upper mounted on an outer sole, and one finds in the market a large selection of athletic shoes, so that the user can choose the type of footwear suitable for the intended purpose. 
     However good, the sophisticated athletic shoes present a number of disadvantages that the shoe of the invention intends to eliminate. 
     Thanks to the shoe according to the invention and in particular thanks to the geometry of the lower face of the sole, as well as thanks to the volume and nature of this sole, the movement of the foot takes place naturally, and this regardless of the type of terrain, whether uphill, downhill or on flat ground. In fact, thanks to the sole there is continuity of contact and progressively unrolling. 
     On reading the following description, it will be understood that the benefits mentioned above exist while respecting the natural position of the foot. 
     One also understands that thanks to its sole, the shoe of the invention performs particularly well in uneven terrain. 
     We add that thanks to the side edge, the sole achieves excellent lateral stability, protecting also from shocks. 
     Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description which follows, in viewing the accompanying drawings which are given as non-limiting examples. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of the shoe of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view. 
         FIG. 3  shows the sole in a perspective view. 
         FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C  are views according to transverse cross-sections A-A, B-B, C-C, respectively. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The shoe of the invention bearing the general reference  1  comprises in a known manner an upper  2  mounted on an outer sole  3 . 
     The upper is constituted by a shoe box  4  in which the foot of the user is retained. Thus, this upper which is made for example with a flexible material has substantially the shape of the foot of the user, and includes retaining means such as for example a lace. 
     According to one characteristic, the upper  2  is mounted on the outer sole  3  for it to be secured to its lower part. The upper is of course secured to its sole by any suitable means known such as gluing and the like and is retained by its lower part by a peripheral rim  5  made up of a wall extending upwards surrounding therefore the lower part of the upper. In other words, the sole comprises a central basin  6  constituted by a hollow contour open towards the top for receiving the upper, said hollow being formed by the peripheral rim. 
     Note that at the level of joining with the sole, the upper cross-section presents widths L 1  according to these same cross-sections, the width of the sole at the level that is supported on the ground has widths L 2  greater than the width L 1  of the upper. 
     Thus, according to one characteristic of the shoe of the invention the ratio between the value of the width L 2  of the sole at the level that is supported on the ground relative to the width L 1  is a coefficient K 1  between 1.5 and 1.8. 
     Furthermore, the sole has a thickness H 1  comprised between 20 mm and 55 mm while the height H 2  for receiving the upper in the sole is between 20 and 30 mm. 
     In addition, we note that according to an additional characteristic the side wall  7  of the sole is curved to reach the high point  7   a  from the low point  7   b  as can be seen in  FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C . 
     Additionally, the lower surface  8  of the sole comprises a substantially flat central portion  9  extended at the front by a curved raised front portion  9   a , and to the rear by a curved raised rear portion  9   b.    
     Note that the central portion  9  extends over a length L 3  whose value is between 40 and 70% of the value of the total length L of the sole. 
     Know that the length L 4  of the curved raised front portion  9   a  has a value between 25 and 40% of the value of the total length L of the sole, while the length L 5  of the curved raised rear portion  9   b  has a value between 15 and 30% of the value of the total length L of the sole  3 . 
     Also note that the height H 3  which the curved raised front portion  9   a  is raised has a value between 30 and 40% of the length L 4  of this same raised front portion  9   a.    
     Moreover, one will note that the substantially flat central portion  9  extends in part rearward of the point of support  10  of the heel and in part forward from this point, as far as the metatarsals. 
     One also notes that the height H 4  which the raised rear portion  9   b  is raised has a value less than the value of the height H 3  that the raised front portion  9   a  is raised. 
     Advantageously, the sole is made of material such as EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer) whose Shore “D” hardness is for example between 50 and 70. 
     In this regards the thickness of the sole, for a shoe of sole length L of about 300 mm, the latter is at the level of support of the heel H 1   c  between 30 and 55 mm, and at the level of the forefoot H 1   a  between 20 and 40 mm. This means that the height H 1   a  is between 5 and 15% of the length L and that the height H 1   c  is between 10 and 20% of the length L. 
     It is well understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown as examples, but also includes all technical equivalents and combinations thereof.