Patent ID: 7591085

Claim:
An outsole for a shoe the outsole comprising: a rear portion comprising a shoe heel, an upper side, and a tread side; and a front portion comprising a metatarsophalangeal zone, an upper side and a tread side, said front portion being of slightly dish-shaped configuration, wherein both the upper side of the front portion and the tread side of the front portion are formed to be continuously smooth; and said outsole comprising a piece of harder material defining the overall shape and size of the outsole, the harder material selected from the group consisting of a relatively hard material and a relatively hard plastics material having a modulus of elasticity between 200 MPa and 250 GPa inclusive, the harder material being formed as a relatively thin sheet in a front region of the outsole defining a metatarsophalangeal bending region of the outsole, the harder material being formed in a concave dish shape in at least the front portion of the outsole such that the relatively thin sheet forming the front region bends upwards toward the edges of the harder material, the harder material having substantially smooth upper and lower surfaces; a tread layer comprising a softer material selected from the group consisting of a relatively soft material and a rubber-like soft material welded or bonded only to portions of the lower surface of the piece of harder material, wherein the softer material, together with an associated portion of the harder material defines a predetermined overall sole thickness or sole height, and wherein the front portion of the outsole, whilst having an unchanging predetermined overall thickness, has, in at least the region of the metatarsophalangeal bending region, a thickness for the harder material which has been reduced to a percentage corresponding to at most about 50% of the overall thickness of the harder and the softer material.