Patent Description:
An upper structure for a shoe such as shown in <CIT> is proposed. The publication describes that by providing an inside expandable part on a medial side of an upper and an outside expandable part on a lateral side of the upper respectively, when a shoe wearer raises a heel and bends a foot during activities, the inside expandable part and the outside expandable part of the upper expand and contract correspondingly to deformation of the foot thus improving foot fit of the upper (seeparas. [<NUM>]-[<NUM>], [<NUM>]-[<NUM>] and [<NUM>]-[<NUM>] and <FIG> of the publication).

However, the invention described in the above publication focused only on foot movements when raising the heel to bend the foot, and never considered foot movements at all during turn motion. On the other hand, at the time of turn motion, a push-off foot moves toward a lateral side of the upper, and therefore, when the expandable part is provided at the lateral side of the upper as shown in the above publication, foot hold of the upper relative to the push-off foot decreases at the time of turn motion.

<CIT> (see paras. [<NUM>]-[<NUM>], [<NUM>]-[<NUM>] and [<NUM>]-[<NUM>], and <FIG>). <CIT> relates to an upper for an article of footwear, and to a midsole for an article of footware. The midsole includes a midsole body defining voids of different depths. <CIT> relates to a heelless or heel shoe with a joint designed in such a way that the heel part of the shoe bottom can be flexed in contrast to the front part (of the shoe). <CIT> relates to an improved upper for an athletic shoe. <CIT> relates to an article of apparel having a stratified material that includes incisions to define areas of stretch in the apparel. <CIT> relates to an article of footwear configured for use as a dance shoe. The article of footwear includes an upper and a two-piece sole connected to the upper.

The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances and its object is to provide an upper structure for a shoe that can improve foot fit and hold of an upper at the time of turn motion.

An upper structure for a shoe according to the present invention, as defined in appended claim <NUM>, includes an upper to cover a foot of a shoe wearer, wherein said upper comprises a medial side region and a lateral side region, wherein a portion of said medial side region of said upper is formed of an expandable part, and said lateral side region of said upper and the remaining portions of said medial side region of said upper are formed of a non-expandable part, wherein said expandable part at said portion of said medial side region of said upper is disposed along a midfoot region, at an area that corresponds to the medial longitudinal arch of the foot or at a portion of the area of the medial longitudinal arch, wherein the medial longitudinal arch is a region that extends from the sustentaculum tail portion of the calcaneus through the navicular bone and the first cuneiform bone to the distal end of the first metatarsus, that is, the thenar eminence region of the foot, wherein at an instep top portion of the upper an aperture is formed which extends forwardly in connection with an opening for insertion of a foot; wherein a tongue portion is disposed in said aperture; wherein said tongue portion is integrated with said medial side region of said upper.

According to the present invention, since the lateral side region of the upper is formed of the non-expandable part, the non-expandable part disposed at the lateral side region of the upper supports a lateral side of the foot to hold the foot when a push-off foot moves toward the lateral side of the upper at the time of turn motion. Thereby, foot hold of the upper can be improved at the time of turn motion. Moreover, according to the present invention, since the portion of the medial side region of the upper is formed of the expandable part, the expandable part can follow a twist of the foot at the time of turn motion thus improving foot fit of the upper during turn motion.

The expandable part is disposed at an area that corresponds to a medial longitudinal arch of the foot or a portion of said area. Here, "the medial longitudinal arch" is a region that extends from the inside of a calcaneus (i.e. a sustentaculum tali of the calcaneus) through a navicular bone and a first cuneiform bone to a distal end of a first metatarsus bone (i.e. a ball of the foot). Thereby, followability or following performance of the expandable part relative to a twist of the foot during turn motion can be enhanced, thus further improving foot fit of the upper during turn motion.

The expandable part is disposed at an area that corresponds to a medial longitudinal arch of the foot or a portion of said area, and the non-expandable part is disposed at the lateral side region and at the medial side region except for the expandable part.

A boundary surface between the expandable part and the non-expandable part may have a substantially flat surface. Thereby, when such an upper structure is applied to a shoe such as a soccer shoe and the like that kicks a ball, a feel at the time of a ball-kick can be prevented from being impaired and controllability of the ball can thus be improved. Here, the term "a substantially flat surface" includes a surface that is not so flat as a single expandable part or a single non-expandable part but should be regarded as a flat surface in the use of a shoe, which does not have a great difference or unevenness at a boundary line of the expandable part and the non-expandable part. The same applies hereafter.

The boundary surface may be formed by sewing respective end portions of the expandable part and the non-expandable part.

A seam may not appear on the boundary surface. Thereby, controllability of the ball can be further improved.

A shoe comprises an upper that covers a foot of a shoe wearer and an outsole that is provided at a lower part of the upper. A portion of a medial side region of the upper is formed of an expandable part and a lateral side region of the upper is formed of a non-expandable part. On a bottom surface of the outsole, a groove is formed at a triangular region or inside thereof that is composed by connecting a position corresponding to a thenar eminence region, a position corresponding to a hypothenar eminence region and a position corresponding to a sustentaculum tail portion of a calcaneus of the foot.

Since the groove is formed at the triangular region or inside thereof on the bottom surface of the outsole, the triangular region being composed by connecting the position corresponding to the thenar eminence region, the position corresponding to the hypothenar eminence region and the position corresponding to the sustentaculum tail portion of the calcaneus of the foot, bendabillity of the triangular region is improved and thus the thenar eminence region of the outsole is easy to twist relative to a heel region. Thereby, at the time of turn motion, the bottom surface of the outsole can come into sufficient contact with the ground, outsole grip relative to the ground can be enlarged and at the same time an inclined angle of a leg toward the direction of turn can be made greater. As a result, a ground reaction force toward the direction of turn can be fully obtained and a quick turn can be achieved.

Even when a push-off foot moves rapidly toward the lateral side of the upper at the time of such a quick turn motion, the non-expandable part of the lateral side region of the upper supports the lateral side of the foot securely, thus improving foot hold of the upper. Also, the expandable part on the medial side of the upper follows a rapid twist of the foot securely at the time of the quick turn motion, thereby improving foot fit of the upper.

The groove on the bottom surface of the outsole may comprise a plurality of grooves and may be distributed in the shape of a fan that starts from a position corresponding to the hypothenar eminence region or its adjacent area and that extends toward the medial side. In this case, at the time of turn motion, the thenar eminence region of the outsole gradually bends around the position corresponding to the hypothenar eminence region or its adjacent area. By so doing, bending of the outsole can be conducted in a smoother manner.

As above-mentioned, according to the shoe upper structure, by forming the upper lateral side region from the non-expandable part, when the push-off foot moves toward the lateral side of the upper at the time of turn motion, the non-expandable part disposed at the upper lateral side region supports the foot lateral side to hold the foot. Thereby, foot hold of the upper can be improved at the time of turn motion. Moreover, since the portion of the upper medial side region is formed from the expandable part, the expandable part can follow a twist of the foot at the time of turn motion thus improving foot fit of the upper during turn motion.

Embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described in accordance with the appended drawings.

<FIG> show a shoe employing an upper structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, a soccer shoe is taken as an example. In the description below, forward (front side/front) and rearward (rear side/rear) designate a longitudinal positional relationship of the shoe, and upward (upper side/upper) and downward (lower side/lower) designate a vertical positional relationship of the shoe.

As shown in <FIG>, Shoe <NUM> includes an upper <NUM> that extends from a heel portion to a toe portion of a foot of a shoe wearer in such a way to cover the foot. The upper <NUM> is formed of an expandable part <NUM> (colored in black) disposed at a portion of the medial side region (in this example, a midfoot region), and a non-expandable part <NUM> (in a color excluding black) disposed at the remaining portions of the medial side region and at the lateral side region.

The expandable part <NUM> comprises material of a relatively higher expandability. As an outer material of the expandable part <NUM>, for example, polyurethane or the like is used, and as a lining of the expandable part <NUM>, for example, mesh, knitting or the like formed of polyester and polyurethane, etc. is used. In addition, the lining may be formed of a single material. Also, the outer material and the lining may be formed of other materials. For instance, expandable material including expandable fibers such as spandex may be used. Here, spandex is an elastic fiber that is formed by spinning polyurethane dissolved in a solvent. The non-expandable part <NUM> comprises material of a relatively lower expandability. As an outer material of the non-expandable part <NUM>, for example, natural leather, artificial leather, synthetic leather, polyurethane, nylon or the like is used, and as a lining of the non-expandable part <NUM>, for example, mesh or the like is used.

At an instep top portion of the upper <NUM>, an aperture is formed that extends forwardly in connection with an opening <NUM>. A tongue portion <NUM> is disposed in the aperture. In this exemplification, the tongue portion <NUM> is integrated with the medial side region of the upper <NUM> and colored in black as with the expandable part <NUM>, but the tongue portion <NUM> may be formed of the material similar to the non-expandable part <NUM>. Also, a plurality of eyelets <NUM> are formed through the upper <NUM> along the aperture of the instep top portion. A shoelace <NUM> is inserted into the eyelets <NUM>.

An outsole <NUM> is fixedly attached to a lower portion of the upper <NUM> via bonding and the like. The outsole <NUM> is a thin plate-like member and preferably formed of a hard elastic material, for example, thermoplastic resin such as thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyamide (PA), polyamide elastomer (PAE), ABS resin and the like, alternatively, thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin and the like. A plurality of cleats <NUM>, <NUM> are provided on a bottom surface <NUM> of the outsole <NUM>. The cleats <NUM> are disposed at a forefoot region and the cleats <NUM> are disposed at a heel region.

<FIG> shows a section of a boundary portion between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> of the upper <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, at the boundary portion between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM>, an end portion 20E of the expandable part <NUM> and an end portion 21E of the non-expandable part <NUM> are folded back in a loop-shape to the back side of the upper <NUM>. The folded-back portions of the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> are sewn together by a sewing thread <NUM>. The sewing thread <NUM> does not appear on the front side (i.e. the front surface 20a of the expandable part <NUM> and the front surface 21a of the non-expandable part <NUM>) of the boundary portion. Such a way of sewing is generally called "seam-opening sewing". As shown in <FIG>, the boundary portion between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> is formed with a substantially flat boundary surface.

As shown in <FIG>, on the bottom surface <NUM> of the outsole <NUM>, a groove <NUM> comprising a plurality of grooves <NUM>-<NUM> is formed. The grooves <NUM>-<NUM> are distributed in the shape of a fan that starts from a position on the lateral side in the rear of the forefoot region F and that extends toward the medial side. Each of the grooves <NUM>-<NUM> is disposed avoiding the cleats <NUM> without overlapping with each of the cleats <NUM>. Each of the grooves <NUM>-<NUM> extends gradually curvedly toward the medial side from the lateral side and is a curved groove or a generally linear groove. A distance between the adjacent grooves is wider at the medial side region than in the lateral side region and the distance becomes wider gradually or in stages toward the medial side from the lateral side.

<FIG> is a schematic bottom view that illustrates positional relationship between respective parts of the outsole <NUM> and the bone structure of the foot. In <FIG>, a thenar eminence region TE is shown by a round region that is surrounded by a dashed line and that is distributed around a first metatarsophalangeal joint MP<NUM> between a first proximal phalanx PP<NUM> and a first metatarsus MB<NUM>. Similarly, a hypothenar eminence region HE is shown by a round region that is surrounded by a dashed line and that is distributed around a fifth metatarsophalangeal joint MP<NUM> between a fifth proximal phalanx PP<NUM> and a fifth metatarsus MB<NUM>. Also, a sustentaculum tail portion ST of a calcaneus CC is shown by a round hatched region. In addition, a reference numeral CU designates a cuboid bone and a reference numeral NA designates a navicular bone.

The groove <NUM> is disposed in a triangular region TR (see a bold double dotted line) that is formed by connecting a position inside the thenar eminence region TE, a position inside the hypothenar eminence region HE and a position inside the sustentaculum tail portion ST of the calcaneus CC of the foot. Preferably, the triangular region TR is formed by connecting a part TE<NUM> (see hatched round area) located in the rear of the thenar eminence region TE, a central part in the hypothenar eminence region HE and a central part in the sustentaculum tail portion ST.

The groove <NUM> extends diagonally rearwardly toward the medial side from the lateral side in the triangular region TR. In this exemplification, the groove <NUM> is distributed at a partial area of the triangular region TR, but it may be distributed at an entire area of the triangular region TR. In this embodiment, the starting point of the groove <NUM> is located outside the triangular region TR in the vicinity of the hypothenar eminence region HE, but it may be located at or inside a boundary line of the triangular region TR, alternatively, inside the hypothenar eminence region HE.

As can be seen from <FIG>, a cleat <NUM> on the medial side of the forefoot region F is disposed at a position corresponding to the thenar eminence region TE, a cleat <NUM> on the lateral side of the forefoot region F is disposed at a position corresponding to the hypothenar eminence region HE, and a cleat <NUM> on the medial side of the heel region H is disposed in the vicinity of the sustentaculum tail portion ST. The starting point of the groove <NUM> is located at any positions between the medial-side cleat <NUM> and the lateral-side cleat <NUM> at the forefoot region F.

As for a cross sectional shape of each of the grooves <NUM>-<NUM>, it is generally triangular shape at the medial side region as shown in <FIG> (hatching omitted), a sectional view of <FIG> taken along line X-X, and it is generally arc shape at the lateral side region as shown in <FIG> (hatching omitted), a sectional view of <FIG> taken along line XI-XI. However, the cross sectional shape at the medial side region may be the same as the cross sectional shape at the lateral side region. In this embodiment, a depth of each of the grooves <NUM>-<NUM> is d at both the medial side region and the lateral side region, but the depth may be altered between the medial side region and the lateral side region. Additionally, a reference numeral <NUM>' in <FIG> depicts a foot-contact-side surface of the outsole <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, high-rigidity areas 3A and 3B of higher rigidity than the triangular region TR are provided on the lateral side of the triangular region TR. The high-rigidity areas 3A and 3B are preferably formed of hard elastic materials, more specifically, thermoplastic resin such as thermo plastic polyurethane (TPU), polyamide (PA), polyamide elastomer (PAE), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin and the like, or thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin and the like. Alternatively, the high-rigidity areas 3A and 3B maybe formed of fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) formed of reinforcing fibers such as carbon fibers, aramid fibers, glass fibers or the like and matrix resin such as thermosetting resin or thermoplastic resin. In addition, these high-rigidity areas 3A and 3B may be omitted.

The expandable part <NUM> of the upper <NUM> is disposed at an area that corresponds to a medial longitudinal arch of the foot or at a portion of the area of the medial longitudinal arch. Here, the "medial longitudinal arch" is a region that extends from the inside of the calcaneus CC, that is, the sustentaculum tail portion ST (see <FIG>) of the calcaneus CC through the navicular bone NA and the first cuneiform bone to the distal end of the first metatarsus MB<NUM>, that is, the thenar eminence region TE (see <FIG>) of the foot. In this embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, a lower portion of the expandable part <NUM> of the upper <NUM> is disposed at an area that corresponds to a portion of the medial longitudinal arch of the foot. A rear side edge portion of the expandable part <NUM> extends generally linearly toward the instep top portion and also in a ball girth direction, and a front side edge portion of the expandable part <NUM> extends crookedly rearwardly and then extends toward the instep top portion. In addition, the front side edge portion may extend generally linearly toward the instep top portion and also in the ball girth direction, similarly to the rear side edge portion.

The elongation rate of the expandable part <NUM> of the upper <NUM> is set at a value of <NUM>-<NUM>%, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>%, and the elongation rate of the non-expandable part <NUM> is set at a value of less than <NUM>%. The measurement of the elongation rate of the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> is conducted as follows:.

Then, effect of the embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

According to the upper structure of the embodiment, since the lateral side region of the upper <NUM> is formed of the non-expandable part <NUM> (see <FIG> and <FIG>), the non-expandable part <NUM> disposed at the lateral side region of the upper <NUM> supports a lateral side of the foot to hold the foot when a push-off foot moves toward the lateral side of the upper <NUM> at the time of turn motion. Thereby, foot hold of the upper <NUM> can be improved at the time of turn motion. Moreover, according to the embodiment, since the midfoot region, i.e. a portion of the medial side region of the upper <NUM> (alternatively, a region corresponding to a portion of the medial longitudinal arch of the foot) of the upper <NUM> is formed of the expandable part <NUM> (see <FIG> and <FIG>), the expandable part <NUM> can follow a twist of the foot at the time of turn motion thus improving foot fit of the upper <NUM> during turn motion.

Also, the boundary surface between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> has a substantially flat surface without steps (see <FIG>). Thereby, when such an upper structure is applied to a shoe such as a soccer shoe and the like that kicks a ball, a feel at the time of a ball-kick can be prevented from being impaired and ball controllability can thus be improved. Moreover, since a seam does not appear on the boundary surface between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> (see <FIG>), ball controllability can be further improved.

Furthermore, since the groove <NUM> is formed at the triangular region TR or at a portion inside thereof on the bottom surface <NUM> of the outsole <NUM> (see <FIG> and <FIG>), the triangular region TR being formed by connecting the position corresponding to the thenar eminence region TE, the position corresponding to the hypothenar eminence region HE and the position corresponding to the sustentaculum tail portion ST of the calcaneus CC, bendabillity of the triangular region TR is improved and thus the thenar eminence region TE of the outsole <NUM> is easy to twist relative to the heel region H. Thereby, at the time of turn motion, the bottom surface <NUM> of the outsole <NUM> can come into sufficient contact with the ground, grip power relative to the ground can be enlarged and at the same time the inclined angle of a leg toward the direction of turn can be made greater. As a result of this, a ground reaction force toward the direction of turn can be fully obtained and a quick turn can be achieved.

Even when the push-off foot moves rapidly toward the lateral side of the upper <NUM> at the time of such a quick turn motion, the non-expandable part <NUM> of the lateral side region of the upper <NUM> supports the lateral side of the foot securely to hold the foot, thus improving foot hold of the upper. Also, the expandable part <NUM> on the medial side of the upper <NUM> follows a rapid twist of the foot securely at the time of the quick turn motion, thereby improving foot fit of the upper <NUM>.

Moreover, because the distance between the adjacent grooves <NUM>-<NUM> is gradually wider toward the medial side region from the lateral side region, the outsole <NUM> can gradually bend in stages from the groove <NUM> on the rear side to the groove <NUM> on the front side when a region of the outsole <NUM> corresponding to the thenar eminence TE bends relative to the heel Region H. In such a manner, bending of the outsole <NUM> can be conducted in a smooth manner. Furthermore, since the high-rigidity areas 3A and 3B of higher rigidity than the triangular region TR are provided on the lateral side of the triangular region TR, the triangular region TR is relatively easier to bend than the high-rigidity areas 3A and 3B on the lateral side of the triangular region TR, such that thereby bendability of the triangular region TR is relatively improved.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has thus been explained, but application of the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment and the present invention includes various variants. Some of these variants will be given below. In the drawings that show the variants, reference numerals which are the same as those of the above embodiment indicate the same or corresponding parts.

The above embodiment showed an example in which the end portion 20E of the expandable part <NUM> and the end portion 21E of the non-expandable part <NUM> are sewn together by "seam-opening sewing" using the sewing thread <NUM> (see <FIG>) at the boundary portion between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> of the upper <NUM>, but application of the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment.

<FIG> show other examples of the way of sewing. In <FIG>, as with the above embodiment, the end portion 20E of the expandable part <NUM> and the end portion 21E of the non-expandable part <NUM> are folded back in a loop-shape to the back side of the upper <NUM> and the folded-back portions of the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> are sewn together by the sewing thread <NUM>. Also, as shown in <FIG>, upper portions on both sides of the sewing thread <NUM> are respectively sewn together by another sewing threads <NUM>. Such a way of sewing is generally called "seam-lapped sewing". As shown in <FIG>, the boundary portion between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM> is formed with a substantially flat boundary surface.

In <FIG>, the end portion 21E of the non-expandable part <NUM> is overlapped on the end portion 20E of the expandable part <NUM> and the both end portions 20E, 21E are sewn together by the sewing thread <NUM>. Such a way of sewing is generally called "superimposed sewing". Also, in <FIG>, a thin resin sheet (e.g. a polyurethane (PU) sheet, etc.) <NUM> is thermo-compressed on the boundary surface between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM>. By so doing, the sewing thread <NUM> does not appear on the front side of the boundary portion and the boundary portion is formed from the most nearly flat boundary surface.

In <FIG>, the end portion 20E of the expandable part <NUM> and the end portion 21E of the non-expandable part <NUM> are butted against each other and sewn together by the sewing thread <NUM>. Such a way of sewing is generally called "seam-butted sewing". Also, similar to <FIG>, a thin resin sheet <NUM> such as a PU sheet and the like is thermo-compressed on the boundary surface between the expandable part <NUM> and the non-expandable part <NUM>. In this manner, the sewing thread <NUM> does not appear on the front side of the boundary portion and the boundary portion is formed from the most nearly flat boundary surface.

<FIG> show a shoe employing an upper structure according to an alternative example not according to the claimed invention.

In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the expandable part <NUM> of the upper <NUM> is disposed at the midfoot region, i.e. a portion of the medial side region of the upper <NUM> (that is, the region corresponding to a portion of the medial longitudinal arch of the foot), alternatively, the region corresponding to the medial longitudinal arch of the foot, but in this alternative example, the expandable part <NUM> is disposed at the medial side region of the upper <NUM> that extends from the midfoot region to the rear side thereof. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the position and shape of the front end edge portion of the expandable part <NUM> is similar to those of the above embodiment, but the rear end edge portion of the expandable part <NUM> extends to a heel rear end (see <FIG> and <FIG>). Additionally, in this alternative example, the shape of the rear end edge portion of the expandable part <NUM> at the heel rear end is configured so as to cross the heel rear end diagonally downwardly from the lateral side to the medial side, but the shape of the rear end edge portion is not restricted thereto. It may be formed to cross the heel rear end diagonally upwardly from the lateral side to the medial side and alternatively it may be formed to extend vertically straight at the heel rear end.

In the embodiment mentioned above, an example was shown in which the groove <NUM> formed on the bottom surface <NUM> of the outsole <NUM> extends from the lateral side to the medial side diagonally rearwardly in a gradually curved shape, but the slope and shape of the groove <NUM> are not limited thereto. Other slopes may be adopted and the groove <NUM> may extend linearly. Also, the groove <NUM> may not cross a longitudinal centerline L and may be disposed at either one region (i.e. the medial side region or the lateral side region) divided by the longitudinal centerline L. The number of the groove <NUM> and the distance between the adjacent grooves <NUM>-<NUM> are not limited to the above embodiment either. Other numbers may be adopted and each of the grooves <NUM>-<NUM> may be disposed in parallel with each other. Moreover, the cross sectional shape of the groove <NUM> is not limited to that shown in the above embodiment and can adopt other arbitrary shapes.

The above-mentioned embodiment and respective variants are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative of the present invention and not restrictive.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the upper structure of the present invention was applied to soccer shoes, but application of the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention also has application to other sports shoes such as rugby shoes, American football shoes, futsal shoes, and the like.

Claim 1:
An upper structure for a shoe (<NUM>), said upper structure including an upper (<NUM>) to cover a foot of a shoe wearer,
wherein said upper (<NUM>) comprises a medial side region and a lateral side region,
wherein a portion of said medial side region of said upper (<NUM>) is formed of an expandable part (<NUM>), and said lateral side region of said upper (<NUM>) and the remaining portions of said medial side region of said upper (<NUM>) are formed of a non-expandable part (<NUM>),
wherein said expandable part (<NUM>) at said portion of said medial side region of said upper (<NUM>) is disposed along a midfoot region, M, at an area that corresponds to the medial longitudinal arch of the foot or at a portion of the area of the medial longitudinal arch, wherein the medial longitudinal arch is a region that extends from the sustentaculum tail portion (ST) of the calcaneus (CC) through the navicular bone (NA) and the first cuneiform bone to the distal end of the first metatarsus (MB1), that is, the thenar eminence region (TE) of the foot,
wherein, at an instep top portion of the upper (<NUM>), an aperture is formed which extends forwardly in connection with an opening (<NUM>) for insertion of a foot; wherein a tongue portion (<NUM>) is disposed in said aperture; characterized in that said tongue portion is integrated with said medial side region of said upper.