Patent ID: 7444765

Claim:
A footwear sole structure for dynamically directing interacting forces between a user's foot and the footwear during a stride of a user, the footwear sole structure comprising: an inner sole for engagement with the user's foot, a mid-sole located between the inner sole and an outer sole, and a rib ribbon force transfer structure located between the inner sole and the mid-sole, wherein the rib ribbon force transfer structure comprises a plurality of ribs spaced along and transversely to a spine axis and attached to a longitudinally extending spine, whereby the plurality of ribs resists flexing about an axis parallel to the spine axis and allows a relatively greater degree of flexing about an axis transverse to the spine axis, the rib ribbon force transfer structure is located along a path between the inner and mid-soles to dynamically direct the interacting forces between the user's foot and the footwear as a user's weight shifts from a heel to a toe position during a stride, and a first portion of the rib ribbon force transfer structure is integral with a bottom surface of the inner sole while a second portion of the rib ribbon force transfer structure is integral with a top surface of the mid-sole.