Claims
- 1. A sole assembly for an article of footwear comprising:
a sole having a heel region and a ball region; a first multi-turn wave spring disposed within the sole, said first multi-turn wave spring comprising an upper turn and a lower turn, said upper turn being in pivotal contact with said lower turn to define a first side and an opposing second side of said multi-turn wave spring, whereby compression of said first side causes expansion pressure on said second side and compression of said second side causes expansion pressure on said first side to provide cushioning and energy return responsive to a rolling footstrike.
- 2. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first multi-turn wave spring is located in said heel region of said sole.
- 3. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sole defines a first vacuity and said first multi-turn wave spring is disposed within the first vacuity.
- 4. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first multi-turn wave spring is located in said ball region of said sole.
- 5. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first multi-turn wave spring defines a cylindrical axis substantially perpendicular to said sole.
- 6. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising a second multi-turn wave spring disposed within the sole, said second multi-turn wave spring comprising an upper turn and a lower turn, said upper turn being in pivotal contact with said lower turn to define a first side and an opposing second side of said second multi-turn wave spring, whereby compression of said first side of said second multi-turn wave spring causes expansion pressure on said second side of said second multi-turn wave spring and compression of said second side of said second multi-turn wave spring causes expansion pressure on said first side of said second multi-turn wave spring to provide cushioning and energy return responsive to a rolling footstrike.
- 7. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 6 wherein said second wave spring is located in said ball region of said sole.
- 8. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 6 wherein said sole defines a second vacuity and said second multi-turn wave spring is disposed within the second vacuity.
- 9. A sole assembly in accordance with claim 6 wherein said first multi-turn wave spring defines a cylindrical axis substantially perpendicular to said sole.
- 10. A spring cushioned shoe comprising an upper support member for receiving a human foot and a sole assembly in accordance with claim 1.
- 11. A spring cushioned shoe comprising an upper support member for receiving a human foot and a sole assembly in accordance with claim 6.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of our co-pending Application Ser. No. 10/192,423, filed Jul. 10, 2002, which is a continuation of Application Ser. No. 09/902,236, filed Jul. 10, 2001, which is a continuation of Application Ser. No. 09/419,330, filed Oct. 15, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,814, which, pursuant to 35 USC Section 119, claims the benefit of priority from Provisional Application Serial No. 60/131,658 with a filing date of Apr. 29, 1999.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable
Provisional Applications (1)
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60131658 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Continuations (2)
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10192423 |
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09419330 |
Oct 1999 |
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09902236 |
Jul 2001 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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10192423 |
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10370638 |
Feb 2003 |
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