Athletic shoe with independent supports
AssigneeSaucony, Inc.
InventorsCarl Hardy, Christopher Mahoney
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An athletic shoe sole construction having a suspension system designed to resiliently support a foot and deflect downwardly upon foot imposed forces is provided. The athletic shoe includes a plurality of independent supports arrayed about the periphery of the suspension system. The supports, or pillars, may include a ground engaging section and a resilient section intermediate the ground engaging section and the suspension system. The suspension system may include a deflectable grid system, or it may include other resilient deflectable materials. The pillars may be constructed and arranged to deflect independently of an adjacent pillar.
Claims17
An athletic shoe construction having a transversely extending suspension system designed to resiliently support a foot and deflect downwardly upon foot imposed forces, comprising:
- a plurality of independent supports arrayed about the periphery of the suspension system and extending downwardly therefrom, said supports including a lower ground engaging section and an upper resilient section intermediate the ground engaging section and the suspension system, said supports collectively providing a flexible resilient support for the suspension system;
- and
- wherein the ground engaging section is spaced apart from the suspension system and positioned below the upper resilient section and is formed of a more rigid material than the resilient section, and wherein each independent support is separate from an adjacent independent support substantially up to the suspension system.
An athletic shoe sole construction comprising:
- a transversely extending suspension system designed to resiliently support a foot and deflect downwardly upon foot imposed forces;
- an independent support structure positioned underneath the suspension system, the support structure including a plurality of ground contacting sections extending about the periphery of a heel portion of the shoe sole, and a plurality of resilient sections positioned directly above the ground contacting sections, wherein the ground contacting sections are spaced apart from the suspension system and are formed of a more rigid material than the resilient sections, and wherein deflection of a first resilient section is independent from the deflection of an adjacent second resilient section, and wherein the height of the independent support structures is greater than the height of the suspension system.
An athletic shoe sole construction having a transversely extending suspension system designed to resiliently support a foot and deflect downwardly upon foot imposed forces, comprising:
- a structure supporting the suspension system from below, the structure including a plurality of resiliently compressible pillars arranged around the periphery of a heel portion of the suspension system, and wherein a first pillar is constructed and arranged to deflect independently of an adjacent second pillar, wherein the height of the pillars is greater than the height of the suspension system and wherein the height of the pillars forms a majority of the overall height of the shoe sole;
- and
- wherein the plurality of resiliently compressible pillars include a resilient section and a ground engaging section positioned below the resilient section, wherein the ground engaging section is spaced apart from the suspension system and is formed of a more rigid material than the resilient section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.