Patent ID: 8418379

Claim:
A shoe sole having a front foot portion, a middle foot portion and a rear foot portion, comprising: a first member covering at least a portion of an arch of a foot; and a second member placed under the first member, wherein: the first member and the second member are attached to each other in a first attachment section at a rear end of the front foot portion; the first member and the second member are attached to each other in a second attachment section at a front end of the rear foot portion; the first member includes a first deformable portion capable of bending deformation, formed between the first attachment section and the second attachment section; the second member includes a second deformable portion capable of bending deformation, formed between the first attachment section and the second attachment section; the first deformable portion includes a first upper surface and a first lower surface; the second deformable portion includes a second upper surface and a second lower surface; the first lower surface is facing the second upper surface; the first deformable portion is provided with a plurality of first engagement elements that are spaced apart from one another at least in a longitudinal direction; the second deformable portion is provided with a plurality of second engagement elements that are spaced apart from one another at least in the longitudinal direction; wherein when there is no downwardly applied load to the first upper surface, the first lower surface and the second upper surface are substantially spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction and not cooperatively engaged with each other; wherein upon application of an increasing load downwardly applied to the first upper surface, the first deformable portion deflects downward until a portion of the first lower surface contacts a portion of the second upper surface; and (1) with the first engagement elements and the second engagement elements engaging with each other in the longitudinal direction, whereby the portion of the first lower surface and the portion of the second upper surface contact with each other and cooperatively engage with each other, and the shifting of the first lower surface and the second upper surface from each other in the longitudinal direction is suppressed or there is substantially no shifting of the first lower surface and the second upper surface from each other in the longitudinal direction, and (2) the first and second deformable poritons deflect downward.