Patent ID: 6912801

Claim:
A method of manufacture of footwear comprising the steps of; (a) providing a last with an upper thereon said last having a toe region at one end thereof and a heel region at an opposing end thereof, said upper, when secured to a tread sole, fully enclosing the wearer's foot to provide thermal insulation; (b) providing a mold insert on the bottom of said last extending continuously from said toe region and beneath the ball of a wearer's foot to and beneath said heel region, and wherein said mold insert in the heel region is formed of a solid material and is of substantially greater thickness than other portions of said mold insert; (c) providing a mold cavity for an outer sole; (d) disposing said last and upper against said mold with said mold insert disposed within said mold cavity; (e) forming said tread sole having a top surface in said mold cavity, said tread sole having a tread cavity therein in the shape of said mold insert; and (f) providing an insole of premolded material in said tread cavity with at least a portion thereof in the shape of said tread cavity extending continuously from said toe region to and disposed beneath the ball of a wearer's foot to and beneath said heel region including the central portion of said heel region to provide cushioning relative to said sole and to provide support under a wearer's foot depressed against said insole from said toe region to said central portion of said heel region.