Patent ID: 7578077

Claim:
A shoe sole construction adapted to absorb and store impact energy received from the action of a wearer's gait and to deliver said stored energy into the propulsive phase of the gait, said shoe sole construction comprising: a shoe sole element of resilient rubbery construction and having heel and forefoot portions, said forefoot portion including the toe of the sole; said shoe sole element including a base housing and at least one pressure plate for receiving the wearer's foot; at least a first pivot between said base housing and said pressure plate; energy storage means to receive and store impact energy delivered thereto, said energy storage means disposed at said heel portion of said shoe sole element and positioned to be compressed under the impact energy imposed thereupon by said pressure plate; and a locking means disposed at the forefoot portion, between said base housing and pressure plate and having respective locked and released positions; said locking means assuming said locked position in response to a compression of said energy storage means; said locking means moving to said released position during the propulsive phase of the wearer's gait to return stored energy for release during the propulsive phase.