Sole assembly for article of footwear with plural cushioning members

An article of footwear that alternately supports a weight load and a thrust load of a wearer, the weight and thrust loads extending along respective vectors generally from a single point on a foot of the wearer, the article of footwear comprising:

• an upper;
• and
• a sole assembly that is operably coupled to the upper, the sole assembly including an anterior portion and a posterior portion, the sole assembly defining a base support plane, the weight load being substantially normal to the base support plane, the thrust load being disposed at an acute angle relative to the base support plane and oriented away from the anterior portion toward the posterior portion, the sole assembly including a cushioning assembly with a first cushioning member and a second cushioning member that overlap each other over the base support plane, each of the first and second cushioning members supporting both the weight load and the thrust load, the first and second cushioning member each having a thickness that varies across the base support plane such that the vector of the weight load extends through a first thickness of the second cushioning member and the vector of the thrust load extends through a second thickness of the second cushioning member, the second thickness being greater than the first thickness, the first cushioning member having a resistance to resilient deformation that is less than that of the second cushioning member.

An article of footwear having an anterior portion, a posterior portion, and a longitudinal axis extending between the anterior and posterior portions, the article of footwear comprising:

• an upper;
• an outsole that is operably coupled to the upper, the outsole defining a base support plane;
• and
• a midsole that is operably coupled to both the upper and the outsole and that is disposed between the upper and the outsole, the midsole including a main portion with an opening and a cushioning assembly disposed within the opening, the cushioning assembly supporting a ball of a foot of a wearer, the cushioning assembly including a first end and a second end that are opposite each other and that are both substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the first end disposed adjacent the anterior portion and the second end disposed adjacent the posterior portion, the cushioning assembly including a first cushioning member and a second cushioning member, the first and second cushioning members each being substantially wedge-shaped and each having a substantially triangular cross section taken along the longitudinal axis, the first cushioning member including a substantially flat first overlapping surface, the second cushioning member including a substantially flat second overlapping surface, the first and second overlapping surfaces abutting each other and overlapping each other over the base support plane and each sloping at a positive acute angle relative to the base support plane, the first and second overlapping surfaces sloping away from the base support plane and the anterior portion and toward the upper and the posterior portion, the first cushioning member being thicker than the second cushioning member adjacent the first end of the cushioning assembly, the second cushioning member being thicker than the first cushioning member adjacent the second end of the cushioning assembly, the second cushioning member being disposed between the first cushioning member and the base support plane, the first cushioning member having a resistance to resilient deformation that is less than that of the second cushioning member.