Patent ID: 8549774

Claim:
A directionally flexible shank for a sole of an article of footwear, the directionally flexible shank comprising: a plurality of segments arranged seriatim along a length of the directionally flexible shank, sidewalls of adjacent ones of the segments spaced from one another to form gaps extending completely across an upper surface of the shank between the adjacent ones of the segments, the upper surface configured to face an arch of a user's foot; a pair of shoulder regions positioned within each one of the gaps, each shoulder region having a shoulder sidewall sloping upwardly in a first direction from a bottom of the one of the gaps to a shoulder region top edge and a top surface sloping upwardly in a second direction to a corresponding sidewall of one of the segments at a point below a top of the one of the segments; and a plurality of hinge structures, each one of the hinge structures being disposed between adjacent ones of the segments and oriented in a direction transverse to the length of the directionally flexible shank, the segments and hinge structures being formed from a unitary material, a width of each hinge structure being less than a width of the adjacent segments.