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US 5,367,791 AGranted
Shoe sole
AssigneeAsahi Corporation
InventorsAlexander L. Gross, Kiyotaka L. Nakano
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAsahi Corporation
InventorsAlexander L. Gross, Kiyotaka L. Nakano
Estimating the term…
A shoe sole insert has foam-filled independently compressible regions that extend through a midsole and beyond an outsole bottom surface so a particular region, when it strikes a traversed surface, is compressed vertically and expands horizontally against the midsole. In one embodiment, five groups of such regions are beneath the metatarsal bones and proximal phalanges. In a second embodiment, two transversely extending regions are beneath forward and rearward portions of the metatarsals. The rearward transverse region has a ridge that is farther from the outsole bottom face than a ridge of the forward transverse region. In another aspect, an array of regions below the tarsal and calcaneus bones is arranged so a region at the very rear of the heel compresses vertically to a greater extent than a lateral side region in response to the same striking force, so pronation tends to be corrected.
A shoe comprising an upper and a sole attached to the upper, the sole including an outsole, an insole, a midsole between the insole and outsole and an insert, the midsole having (a) a bottom surface mating with and attached to an upper surface of the outsole, and (b) a cavity where the insert is located, the insert including at least one region extending through openings in the midsole and outsole without being attached to the midsole or outsole, the region including a bottom tip extending beyond a bottom face of the outsole, the region including the bottom tip and the openings being arranged and dimensioned so the region compresses vertically and expands horizontally against the midsole in response to the tip striking a surface to be traversed so the midsole absorbs forces applied to the tip.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.