Footwear sole with integrally molded shank
AssigneeDeckers Outdoor Corporation
InventorBrett D. Ritter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A footwear sole comprises a foot-shaped sole of a relatively cushioned, low density polymer foam, with a higher density, harder midfoot shank portion integrally fused within it. The sole may be a unitary footwear sole or may have an outsole or insole adhered thereto. A method of manufacture of the sole comprises forming a polymer foam sole piece, stamping out a portion of the midfoot, forming a shank of higher hardness polymer foam to fit the stamped-out midfoot portion of the sole piece, fitting the shank into the sole piece, and hot compression molding the sole piece and shank to form a unitary, integral sole. The sole of the invention is particularly useful as a sandal sole.
Claims14
A sole having a forefoot, heel, and midfoot there between, a top surface, and having a longitudinal axis, comprising:
- a) a foot-shaped piece of a polymer compound of a selected hardness;
- b) a shank of a polymer compound within the midfoot of said sole piece and bridging between the forefoot and heel, said shank having a higher hardness than said sole piece, said shank being integrally fused to said sole piece, said shank located on the longitudinal axis of said sole and extending laterally and medially from the axis, and said shank having a raised portion extending upwardly at the medial side of the sole adapted to underlie a user's medial arch;
- and
- c) a top sole attached to the top surface of said sole, said top sole having a cutout corresponding to said raised portion of said shank such that said raised portion is not covered by said top sole.
A sole having a forefoot, heel, midfoot therebetween, and a bottom surface, comprising:
- a) an outsole attached to the sole bottom surface, said outsole having a longitudinal bridge portion;
- b) a foot-shaped sole piece of a polymer compound of a selected hardness;
- and
- c) a shank of a polymer compound within the midfoot of said sole piece and bridging between the forefoot and heel, said shank having a higher hardness than said sole piece, and said shank being integrally fused to said sole piece, said shank having a bottom surface with a longitudinal channel, and said outsole longitudinal bridge portion seated within said channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.