Sole for an item of footwear having progressive damping

A damping sole for an item of footwear able to be disposed in an item of footwear between an outer sole of the item of footwear and the plantar surface of a foot engaged in the item of footwear and having load-bearing protuberances with a dermal part limited by a peripheral edge, the damping sole being limited by a sole upper main surface, by a sole lower main surface adapted to be oriented toward the outer sole of the item of footwear, and by a peripheral contour conformed to project beyond the plantar surface of the foot and to follow the interior contour of the item of footwear, the damping sole having main surface zones having at least two respective different stiffnesses or hardnesses, in which:

• the damping sole includes sole support zones each disposed so as to come under a respective load-bearing protuberance of the foot and sole braking zones,
• said sole braking zones surround said sole support zones and include in particular a continuous strip between the support zones and the sole peripheral contour,
• the sole support zones are based on a first material, while the sole braking zones are based on a second material,
• the first material has a relative hardness or stiffness lower than that of the second material,
• the sole support zones are limited by respective lateral faces of the braking zones forming a boundary between the first material and the second material,
• wherein:
• the relative hardness or stiffness of said first material is between 15 and 35 Shore A inclusive, the relative hardness or stiffness of said second material is between 20 and 40 Shore A inclusive, with a difference between said relative stiffnesses or hardnesses of at least approximately 5 Shore A and at most approximately 15 Shore A,
• said respective lateral faces of the braking zones are inclined toward the sole upper main surface, wherein said lateral faces are oblique, and non-perpendicular, to the upper main surface of the sole, said lateral faces forming a generally conical braking zone surface surrounding at least one of the sole support zones coming under a corresponding load-bearing protuberance of the foot, wherein said inclined lateral faces are located inside the sole,
• the respective lateral faces are arranged so that, when the foot is statically supported on the sole, all or most of the sections of the respective lateral faces come in line with the peripheral edge of the dermal part of said respective load-bearing protuberance of the foot, so that said respective load-bearing protuberance of the foot is engaged along the peripheral edge of its dermal part in said at least one of the sole support zones, and comes to bear along its perimeter against the generally conical surface formed by the lateral faces of the sole braking zones surrounding said at least one sole support zone.