Footwear
AssigneeSaucony IP Holdings LLC
InventorChristopher J. Mahoney
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A footwear article includes an upper assembly attached to a sole. The upper assembly includes an enclosure defining a foot receiving void and a flex feature disposed on a medial portion of the upper assembly. The flex feature connects a medial forefoot portion of the enclosure to a medial heel portion of the enclosure, thus allowing the medial forefoot and medial heel portions of the enclosure to move relative to each other. The sole assembly includes a midsole disposed on an outsole. The midsole defines voids of different depths. The voids are arranged to provide relatively greater cushioning and bendability within at least one of a metatarsus portion and a calcaneus portion of the midsole.
Claims54
A midsole for an article of footwear, the midsole comprising a midsole body defining voids of different depths, the voids arranged to provide relatively greater cushioning and bendability within at least one of a metatarsus portion and a calcaneus portion of the midsole body;
- wherein voids defined in the metatarsus portion of the midsole body have at least one of a larger cross-sectional area and a deeper depth than voids defined in a heel portion of the midsole body.
A midsole for an article of footwear, the midsole comprising a midsole body defining voids of different depths, the voids arranged to provide relatively greater cushioning and bendability within at least one of a metatarsus portion and a calcaneus portion of the midsole body;
- wherein voids defined in the metatarsus and calcaneus portions of the midsole body have at least one of a larger cross-sectional area and a deeper depth than any remaining voids defined by the midsole body.
A midsole for an article of footwear, the midsole comprising a midsole body defining voids of different depths, the voids arranged to provide relatively greater cushioning and bendability within at least one of a metatarsus portion and a calcaneus portion of the midsole body;
- wherein midsole body defines a two-dimensional array of voids each having a substantially square cross-sectional shaped in a top surface of the midsole body, the array having first and second perpendicular axes, both arranged to form an angle of about 45′ with respect to a transverse axis of the midsole, voids defined in the metatarsus portion having a relatively deeper depth than voids defined by other portions of the midsole body.
An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising:
- a mesh enclosure having an inner layer connected to an outer layer by linking filaments, the outer layer defining apertures, apertures defined in a forefoot portion of the upper having a size relatively larger size than apertures defined in a heel portion of the upper;
- and a flex feature disposed on a medial portion of the upper and connecting a medial forefoot portion of the enclosure to a medial heel portion of the enclosure, the flex feature allowing the medial forefoot and medial heel portions of the enclosure to move relative to each other.
A footwear article comprising:
- an upper assembly comprising:
- an enclosure defining a foot receiving void;
- and a flex feature disposed on a medial portion of the upper assembly and connecting a medial forefoot portion of the enclosure to a medial heel portion of the enclosure, the flex feature allowing the medial forefoot and medial heel portions of the enclosure to move relative to each other;
- and a sole assembly attached to the upper assembly, the sole assembly comprising:
- an outsole;
- and a midsole disposed on the outsole, the midsole defining voids of different depths, the voids arranged to provide relatively greater cushioning and bendability within at least one of a metatarsus portion and a calcaneus portion of the midsole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.