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US 10,765,169 B2Granted
High foot mobility shoe
AssigneeVibram S.p.A.
InventorMarco Bramani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
High foot mobility footwear, including a sole and an upper that define separated front seats to hold respectively toes or groups of toes, where the sole includes a plurality of portions resting on the ground, substantially contiguous to each other along the plantar surface.
Claims17
High foot mobility shoe, comprising
- an upper;
- a sole disposed at a bottom of the upper
- separate front seats defined by the sole and upper and adapted to hold respective toes or toe groups of a wearer,
- a plurality of ground contacting portions disposed on the sole and configured to rest on the ground, the ground contacting portions being substantially contiguous to each other along a plantar surface, adapted to increase a prehensility of a foot of the wearer,
- separation channels delimited by said ground contacting portions and extending between adjacent ones of said ground contacting portions, the channels configured to ensure that said ground contacting portions can freely move in space one in respect to another in relation to movements made by a wearer's foot;
- and
- a plurality of surface bulges disposed on and protruding outwardly from at least one of the plurality of ground contacting portions, one surface bulge adjacent to another;
- wherein said surface bulges have a substantially polygonal shape of a triangle, square or pentagon;
- wherein said upper is adapted to extends both over a dorsum of a foot of the wearer and beneath a sole of the foot such that the upper is adapted to entirely surround the foot;
- wherein the sole is affixed to the upper at an area where the upper is adapted to extend beneath the sole of the foot;
- wherein said sole comprises a layer substantially smooth and yielding that extends continuously an entire length of the plantar surface from a heel area of the shoe to a toe area of the shoe and wherein said plurality of ground contacting portions are disposed on and extending from said layer;
- and
- wherein a first plurality of said ground contacting portions is disposed laterally across the sole in a forefoot area;
- wherein a second plurality of said ground contacting portions is disposed laterally across the sole in an isthmus area;
- wherein a third plurality of said ground contacting portions is disposed laterally across the sole in a heel area;
- and
- wherein the separation channels delimited by the respective first, second, and third pluralities of said ground contacting portions extend longitudinally, generally transverse to the lateral arrangement of said ground contacting portions;
- wherein the separate front seats comprise five separate front seats and wherein each of said five separate front seats comprises three ground contacting portions delimiting the separation channels therebetween.
15 more elements
Sole for a shoe, comprising:
- five separate front seats adapted to hold respective toes of a wearer;
- a plurality of ground contacting portions disposed on a lower part of the sole and adapted to rest on the ground, the ground contacting portions arranged substantially contiguous to each other along a plantar surface,
- a plurality of separation channels delimited by the ground contacting portions and extending between adjacent ones of said ground contacting portions, the channels configured to ensure that said portions can freely move in space, one in respect to another in relation to movements made by a wearer's foot;
- and
- a plurality of surface bulges disposed on and protruding from at least some of the plurality of ground contacting portions, one surface bulge adjacent to another;
- wherein said surface bulges have a substantially circular shape;
- wherein said circular shaped surface bulges are disposed only on the ground contacting portions which are located in isthmus and heel areas of the sole;
- wherein each ground contacting portion located in a forefoot area of the sole includes grooves which extend into the ground contacting portions in a direction toward the upper and extend across a surface of the respective ground contacting portions;
- the sole further comprising:
- three ground contacting phalangeal portions disposed on each of the five seats of the sole and configured to rest on the ground, wherein said ground contacting phalangeal portions are interspersed with separation channels;
- and
- a rubber layer defining a recess at the plantar arch, the rubber layer extending continuously an entire length of the sole from a heel area of the sole to a toe area of the sole and wherein the plurality of ground contacting portions are attached to the rubber layer.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.