Patent ID: 7464489

Claim:
A cushioning device for location in a portion of a sole of footwear comprising: multiple vertically directed columns for location in a sole for footwear, at least one of the columns being spaced apart from another column and being formed so that at least some of them have different volumetric space relative to other columns; at least one the columns being for location on a medial side and another of the columns being for location on a lateral side of the footwear, the columns being adjacent each other and being spaced apart from each other, and wherein the medial column has the relatively larger volumetric property relative to the volumetric property of the lateral column; wherein the device is located between an upper support plate and a lower support plate, the support plates having more rigid characteristics than the cushioning device; an outer sole located substantially below the bottom plate and a mid-sole located substantially over the upper plate; and an upwardly directed lip extending at least partly about an outer periphery of the cushioning device and wherein the upper plate includes an upwardly extending skirt extending at least partly about a periphery of the upper plate, and wherein the skirt of the cushioning device mates with an outer surface of a skirt of the upper plate and wherein the skirt of the upper plates mates with an outer periphery of the mid-sole.