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US 5,025,573 AGranted
Multi-density shoe sole
AssigneeComfort Products, Inc.
InventorsErik O. Giese, Roger J. Brown
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A composite shoe bottom is disclosed comprising a lower layer of firm material and an upper softer layer superposed thereon. Each layer has an upper contoured surface such that the total compressibility of the shoe bottom, as determined by the relative thicknesses of the layers, is predetermined and differs along the surface. The upper layer has an uppermost surface which is shaped to fit against and be complemental to the bottom of the foot of a wearer.
Claims40
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein the toe area is positioned beneath a wearer's toes and is provided with a transverse cross-section and further wherein the thickness of said lower layer decreases from a central portion to outer periphery thereof.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area, comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein the lower layer includes a base with a plurality of spaced upstanding fingerlike projections defining said irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface;
- the upper layer is superposed upon the lower layer with said projections extending into said upper layer;
- and the projections are sized to bulge and distort under the weight of a wearer.
3 more elements
A composited shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein the increased height is provided by step increases in the thickness of the lower layer.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein the heel area of the shoe bottom has a step increased in height along the periphery of the heel which is wider on one side of the heel than on the opposite side.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein shock absorbing inserts which are covered by said upper layer extend upward from the lower layer in areas of the shoe bottom undergoing the greatest shock when the shoe bottom is worn.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein the increased height of the lower layer is a step-like increase in height over the remainder of the layer.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein:
- the increased height of the lower layer is formed as two step-like incremental increases in height.
2 more elements
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- wherein the increased height forms a convex rounded edge facing the inner portion of the shoe bottom.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against a wearer's weight;
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an upper surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of a wearer's foot;
- and,
- c) a stabilizer for stiffening said shoe bottom disposed within said upper layer and extending from said heel area toward said toe area, said stabilizer having a pair of forwardly extending arms at the forwardmost end of the stabilizer extending into the toe area of said shoe bottom and defining a notch therebetween.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area, and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against a wearer's weight;
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an upper most surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- and
- c) a substantially stiff stabilizer disposed within said upper layer and extending from said heel area to and including said toe area to stiffen said shoe bottom and the stabilizer defines an opening in the area between the arch area and the toe area to provide cushioning to a ball of the foot and permit some flexibility in the area beneath the ball of the foot.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight and having an increased height around the periphery of the heel area and in the arch area to form an irregular contoured upper stabilizing surface for the wearer's foot;
- and
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said upper surface of the lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot, the increased height is provided by an insert which extends within the upper layer about the periphery of the heel portion to form a U-shape in a horizontal plane through the stabilizer.
A composite shoe bottom comprising:
- a) a shoe bottom body of at least one density of material forming a sole of a shoe;
- b) a substantially rigid stabilizer having a wedge shape, disposed within the shoe bottom body, said stabilizer having a height which decreases from the heel toward the toe and defines an upper surface which is complemental to the bottom of a wearer's foot;
- c) the shoe body has an outsole defining a bottom surface of the shoe and having an inner upper surface;
- d) the comfort stabilizer has a lower surface which is in face-to-face position with the upper surface of the outsole;
- and
- e) a flexible material surrounds the comfort stabilizer to form the remainder of the shoe body and to provide cushioning between the comfort stabilizer and a wearer's foot.
3 more elements
A composite shoe bottom comprising:
- a) a shoe bottom body of at least one density of material forming a sole of a shoe;
- b) a substantially rigid stabilizer having a wedge shape, disposed within the shoe bottom body, said stabilizer having a height which decreases from the heel toward the toe and defines an upper surface which is complemental to the bottom of a wearer's foot;
- and
- c) the stabilizer has an increased height around the periphery of the heel to push the fatty tissue of the heel beneath the heel for cushioning thereof.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight;
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- and
- c) at least one stabilizer bar disposed within said cushioning layer extending in a longitudinal direction from beneath said heel area into said toe area to provide additional support to portions of the wearer's foot and the stabilizer bar defines a plurality of notches beneath the ball of the foot to permit flexing of the stabilizer between the arch area and the toe area.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight;
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- and
- c) at least one stabilizer bar disposed within said cushioning layer extending in a longitudinal direction from beneath said heel area into said toe area to provide additional support to portions of the wearer's foot and the stabilizer bar tapers from the heel area to the toe area.
1 more element
A composite shoe bottom having a toe area, arch area and heel area comprising:
- a) a lower shaped layer of predetermined hardness capable of maintaining its shape against the wearer's weight;
- b) an upper cushioning layer, softer than said lower layer, superposed in face-to-face relation upon said lower layer, said upper layer having a varying thickness to define an uppermost surface which is shaped to a contour complementary to the bottom surface of the wearer's foot;
- and
- c) at least one stabilizer bar disposed within said cushioning layer extending in a longitudinal direction from beneath said heel area into said toe area to provide additional support to portions of the wearer's foot and the stabilizer bars have step changes in vertical thickness to taper the stabilizer from the heel to the ball of the foot.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.