Patent Application
20240365920
The disclosure relates generally to the field of footwear. More specifically, the disclosure relates to the field of footwear having an improved midsole construction.
The game of golf includes long stretches of walking and short moments of swinging a golf club to hit a golf ball. Consequently, golf shoes have evolved to provide the wearer with good traction on grass, comfort while walking, and a stable platform for hitting the ball. Golf shoes thus typically have a relatively stiff sole with metal spikes or plastic cleats. Some golf shoes also include gels that cushion the impact of so-called “ground reaction forces” on the foot. From Newton's Third Law of Motion, the law of action-reaction, it is known that the ground pushes on the foot in a direction equal and opposite to the direction the foot pushes on the ground; these are known as ground reaction forces.
The midsoles of footwear are known to strongly affect the sensation of cushioning/comfort by redistributing load magnitudes and rates on the bony load-bearing structures and soft tissues of the foot. A single-density foam of a particular Asker C hardness is most commonly used as a midsole to provide a structure that compresses under walking loads. However, since single density foams are of a uniform hardness, a choice must be made between having a harder sole for support or a softer sole for comfort. Thus, current midsoles are unable to simultaneously provide proper support at regions of the foot under high load and/or comfort for areas of the foot under less load.
There remains a need for footwear having improved midsole that provides sufficient rigidity without sacrificing flexibility and comfort. The footwear should provide stability during a golf swing as the golfer's weight shifts while allowing the golfer to walk comfortably between holes.
The present disclosure provides an article of footwear having a midsole that provides both stability during the swing and comfort and flexibility while walking and standing.
The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate the scope of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented elsewhere.
One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to an article of footwear configured to provide stability, comfort and flexibility. The article of footwear may comprise an upper, a heel region having a heel core and a heel perimeter, a forefront region, a medial side, a lateral side, an outsole and a midsole. The medial side may extend from the forefoot region to the heel region. The lateral side may extend from the forefoot region to the heel region and opposite to and generally parallel to the medial side. The midsole may be a dual durometer midsole and include a soft durometer positioned from the heel region to the forefoot region and a firm durometer positioned around the heel perimeter.
These and other aspects will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description when considered with the drawings.
Illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures and wherein:
Several embodiments will be described more fully in reference to the accompanying figures. However, this disclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Thicknesses and dimensions of some components may be exaggerated for clarity.
The terminology used herein is for the purposed of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “and,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “attached,” “coupled” or “connected” to another element, it can be directly attached, coupled or connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly attached,” “directly coupled” or “directly connected” to another element, there are no intervening elements present.
All patents, patent applications and publications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of a conflict in terminology, the present specification is controlling.
It is noted that any one or more aspects or features described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporated in a different embodiment although not specifically described relative thereto. That is, all embodiments and/or features of any embodiment can be combined in any way and/or combination. Applicant reserves the right to change any originally filed claim or file any new claim accordingly, including the right to be able to amend any originally filed claim to depend from and/or incorporate any feature of any other claim although not originally claimed in that manner. These and other objects and/or aspects of the present invention are explained in detail in the specification set forth below.
Referring now to
The article of footwear 10 may further include a heel region 30, a midfoot region 40, and a forefoot region 45. The heel region 30 may generally correspond with the rear portions of a foot, namely, the area surrounding and below the Achilles tendon, the posterior of the heel, and the talus and calcaneus bones. A midfoot region 40 may generally correspond with a middle of the foot, namely, the arch and the navicular, cuboid, and cuneiform bones. A forefoot region 45 may generally correspond with a front of a foot, namely, the toes and metatarsal, phalange, and sesamoid bones. It is understood that the heel region 30, midfoot region 40, and forefoot region 45 are intended to represent general areas of footwear and not demarcate precise areas.
In some embodiments, the upper 15 may have an interior surface 60 (see,
The upper 15 may be constructed from any appropriate material now known or later developed, including, but not limited to, leather, synthetic leather, polyurethane synthetic, polyvinyl chloride synthetic, hot melt synthetics (thermoplastic polymer laminated to another substrate), suede, fabric, canvas, weaves, knits, man-made polymer fibers, nylon, polyester, or cotton. The upper 15 may be elastic. Alternatively, at least a portion of the upper 15 may be elastic. In other embodiments, the upper 15 may be inelastic. The upper 15 may include at least a portion that is inflexible and may be rigid or semi-rigid.
The upper 15 may further include an external heel counter 85 in the heel region 30. The heel counter 85 may reinforce the upper 15 and reduce or restrict movement of a person's heel. The heel counter 85 may be formed from a hard thermoplastic polymer such as thermoplastic polyurethane (“TPU”). The external heel counter 85 may wrap around the heel region 30 and extend forward along both the lateral side and the medial side. The heel counter 85 may also include ridges 87 or the like to provide stiffness while lessening the overall weight.
In some embodiments, the lace 90 may be above the upper 15 and configured to interact with the outer surface of the upper 15. The lace 90 may be entirely or partially visible. The footwear may include one or more closure systems for securing a user's foot, the selection of which is within the skill of one in the art. Examples of closure systems may include laces, a lace tightening system as described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,070,695 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and a closure system as described in U.S. Ser. No. 17/355,390 filed on Jun. 23, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. It will be appreciated that any suitable lacing or closure system may be used for securing the wearer's foot in the upper 15 of footwear 10. In some embodiments, the article of footwear 10 may have a medial side 50 that extends from a forefoot region 40 to a heel region 30 and a lateral side 55 that extends from a forefoot region 40 to a heel region 30. The lateral side and the medial side may be opposite one another. In some embodiments, the lateral side 55 and medial side 50 may be generally parallel to one another. The lateral side 55 may generally correspond to an outside area of a foot and a surface that faces away from a person's other foot. The medial side 50 may generally correspond with an inside area of a foot and a surface that faces toward a person's other foot.
In some embodiments, the outsole may include traction elements 95. The traction elements 95 may be made of any suitable material such as rubber or plastics and combinations thereof. Thermoplastics such as nylons, polyesters, polyolefins, and polyurethanes may be used. Suitable rubber materials that may be used include, but are not limited to, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, ethylene-propylene rubber (“EPR”), ethylene-propylene-diene (“EPDM”) rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, styrenic block copolymer rubbers, butyl rubber, nitrile rubber, and blends of two or more thereof.
Referring to
In some cases, a stability insert 120 may be in midfoot region 40 on a lateral side 55. As shown in
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In
In
Embodiments not shown are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Embodiments of the present disclosure have been described with the intent to illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not depart from its scope. A skilled artisan may develop alternative means of implementing the aforementioned improvements without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations and are contemplated within the scope of the claims.
This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/360,145 filed on Jun. 28, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17360145 | Jun 2021 | US |
| Child | 18776811 | US |
