US20150313310A1 - Sole Structure for Footwear - Google Patents

Sole Structure for Footwear Download PDF

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Publication number
US20150313310A1
US20150313310A1 US14/439,263 US201414439263A US2015313310A1 US 20150313310 A1 US20150313310 A1 US 20150313310A1 US 201414439263 A US201414439263 A US 201414439263A US 2015313310 A1 US2015313310 A1 US 2015313310A1
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United States
Prior art keywords
sole
protrusion
protrusions
ground
foot
Prior art date
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Abandoned
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US14/439,263
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English (en)
Inventor
Hideya OKAMOTO
Kohei Yamada
Takao Oda
Natsuki Sato
Yasunori Kaneko
Hideaki SOYA
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Mizuno Corp
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Mizuno Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
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Assigned to MIZUNO CORPORATION reassignment MIZUNO CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: OKAMOTO, Hideya, KANEKO, YASUNORI, ODA, TAKAO, SATO, NATSUKI, YAMADA, KOHEI, SOYA, Hideaki
Publication of US20150313310A1 publication Critical patent/US20150313310A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B13/00—Soles; Sole-and-heel integral units
    • A43B13/14—Soles; Sole-and-heel integral units characterised by the constructive form
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B13/00—Soles; Sole-and-heel integral units
    • A43B13/14—Soles; Sole-and-heel integral units characterised by the constructive form
    • A43B13/18—Resilient soles
    • A43B13/181—Resiliency achieved by the structure of the sole
    • A43B13/184—Resiliency achieved by the structure of the sole the structure protruding from the outsole
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B3/00—Footwear characterised by the shape or the use
    • A43B3/12—Sandals; Strap guides thereon
    • A43B3/128—Sandals; Strap guides thereon characterised by the sole
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B7/00—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements
    • A43B7/14—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts
    • A43B7/1405—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form
    • A43B7/1455—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form with special properties
    • A43B7/146—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form with special properties provided with acupressure points or means for foot massage
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A43—FOOTWEAR
    • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
    • A43B7/00—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements
    • A43B7/14—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts
    • A43B7/1405—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form
    • A43B7/1475—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements with foot-supporting parts with pads or holes on one or more locations, or having an anatomical or curved form characterised by the type of support

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to a sole structure for footwear including shoes, sandals, boots and the like, and more particularly, to a sole structure that can transmit ground surface information acting on a sole bottom surface (i.e. reactive force from the ground, irregularities of the ground and contact area with the ground) to a foot sole of a shoe wearer accurately.
  • ground surface information acting on a sole bottom surface i.e. reactive force from the ground, irregularities of the ground and contact area with the ground
  • U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,024 discloses a sole structure in which there are provided a pressure-stimulation element that protrudes downwardly from the bottom surface of the outsole and a midsole that is disposed above the pressure-stimulation element (see FIGS. 2 to 4 of the publication).
  • Japanese patent application publication No. 2009-172183 discloses a sole structure in which there are provided a plurality of elastic protrusions on the foot sole contact surface of the insole board of the shoe and a plurality of push members and elastic members in the insole board at positions corresponding to the elastic protrusions (see FIG. 1 of the publication).
  • Japanese patent application examined publication No. 1992-75001 discloses a sole structure in which a plurality of cylindrical rubber pieces or resin pieces are provided inside the sole (see FIG. 1 of the publication).
  • the flex portion comprises a material having a lower Young's modulus of elasticity and lower durometer and the ground contact pad comprises a material having a greater Young's modulus of elasticity and greater durometer. Therefore, when a force from the ground acts on the ground contact pad, the flex portion easily deforms, thus allowing the ground contact pad to move upwardly with ease. On the other hand, since the shape of the ground contact pad will not change, the force from the ground is transmitted to the foot sole of the shoe wearer as it is through the ground contact pad.
  • the midsole needs to be locally deformed convexly by causing the pressure-stimulation element to move upwardly to apply local pressure to the middle at the time of impacting the ground, and for that reason the pressure-stimulation element is elastically supported by the surrounding member via the elastic bellow or the like so that the pressure-stimulation element can easily move upwardly when the pressing force is exerted from below.
  • human sense has been generally evolving so that respective senses are correlated with each other. It is known that when plural senses are stimulated at one time recognition is enhanced. That can also be said about sensation of skin. It is known that when perceiving softness of an object perception of softness of the object is enhanced by presenting not only information on sense of force applied to skin but also information on contact area of skin with the object (Ikeda & Fujita: “Presentation of Soft Elastic Object due to Simultaneous Control of Contact Area of Fingertip and Reactive Force”, Research Journal of Japan Virtual Reality Association, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2004).
  • the present invention has been made in view of these circumstances and its object is to provide a sole structure that can transmit ground surface information acting on a sole bottom surface (i.e. contact area with the ground as well as reactive force from the ground and irregularities of the ground) correlatedly with each other to a foot sole of a shoe wearer accurately.
  • a sole structure for footwear includes a sole body having a sole bottom surface disposed on a ground surface side and a sole top surface disposed on an opposite side thereof, a plurality of first protrusions formed of elastic members and disposed on the sole bottom surface, and a plurality of second protrusions formed of elastic members, disposed on the sole top surface and located at positions corresponding respectively to positions of the plurality of first protrusions.
  • a sectional shape of the first protrusion is formed such that it gradually becomes smaller as it leaves the sole bottom surface and a distal end portion of the first protrusion has a convex surface that protrudes downwardly.
  • a sectional shape of the second protrusion is formed such that it gradually becomes smaller as it leaves the sole top surface and a distal end portion of the second protrusion has a convex surface that protrudes upwardly.
  • An irregular shape of a foot sole contact surface of foot wear is formed by an irregular shape of the plurality of the second protrusions on the sole top surface.
  • the present invention when the shoe wearer strikes onto the ground, force applied to the sole structure from the ground surface is transmitted from the first protrusions on the sole bottom surface side through the sole body to the second protrusions on the sole top surface side, and the second protrusions transmit information of the force from the ground surface to the foot sole of the shoe wearer. Also, at that moment, distribution of the force applied to the first protrusions from the ground surface varies according to irregularities of the ground. The state of such variation is transmitted through the sole body to the second protrusions and through the second protrusions information on the irregularities of the ground is transmitted to the foot sole of the shoe wearer.
  • the sectional shape of the first protrusion is formed in such a way as to gradually become smaller as it leaves the sole bottom surface
  • the distal end portion of the first protrusion has a convex surface that protrudes downwardly
  • the sectional shape of the second protrusion is formed in such a way as to gradually become smaller as it leaves the sole top surface
  • the distal end portion of the second protrusion has a convex surface that protrudes upwardly.
  • ground surface information acting on the sole bottom surface i.e. contact area with the ground as well as reactive force from the ground and irregularities of the ground
  • FIG. 15 shows the result of analysis that was performed in order to see the effects of the present invention.
  • four projection structures of different shapes are prepared.
  • Sample 1 is a cylindrical projection
  • Sample 2 is a spherical projection
  • Sample 3 is a projection whose top and bottom surfaces have R-shape
  • Sample 4 is a projection whose top surface has an R-shape and bottom surface has a flat shape.
  • each of the projection structures corresponds to the sole body of the present invention.
  • FEM Finite Element Method
  • a weight of each of the projection structures is 1 g
  • a weight of the weight placed on the top surface of each of the projection structures is 256 g
  • the total weight of both of the weights are set to 257 g.
  • a fall height i.e. a height from the fall surface to the bottom surface of each of the projection structures is set to 7.7 mm.
  • the distal end portion of the first protrusion has a convex surface that protrudes downwardly and the sectional shape of the first protrusion is formed so that it gradually becomes smaller as it leaves the sole bottom surface
  • the reaction force from the ground contact surface increases the contact area with the ground contact surface increases and thus information of the reaction force from the ground surface and information of the contact area with the ground surface are accurately correlated to each other.
  • the distal end portion of the second protrusion located at a position on the sole top surface corresponding to the first protrusion has a convex surface protruding upwardly and the sectional shape of the second protrusion is formed so that it gradually becomes smaller as it leaves the sole top surface.
  • the first protrusion and the second protrusion compressively deform, thereby the contact area of the first protrusion with the ground contact surface increases in accordance with an increase of the load to the first protrusion and at the same time the contact area of the second protrusion with the foot sole of the shoe wearer increases in accordance with an increase of the contact area of the first protrusion with the ground contact surface.
  • the distal endportion of the first protrusion may have a curved surface shape that curves downwardly convexly and the distal end portion of the second protrusion may have a curved surface shape that curves upwardly convexly.
  • the distal endportion of the first protrusion or the second protrusion may be formed of an arcuate shaped surface composed of single or a plurality of circular arcs.
  • an outside surface of the first protrusion may form an obtuse angle relative to the sole bottom surface and an outside surface of the second protrusion may form an obtuse angle relative to the sole top surface.
  • the distal end portion of the second protrusion may be adapted to directly contact a bottom surface of an upper of footwear or directly constitute the foot sole contact surface of foot wear.
  • the foot sole contact surface is formed of the bottom surface of the upper.
  • such footwear includes a shoe in which the upper does not have a bottom surface and an outer circumferential edge portion of the upper is fixedly attached to an outer circumferential edge portion of the sole structure by sewing, gluing and the like, or a sandal without an upper.
  • the first protrusion may have a hardness greater than a hardness of the second protrusion.
  • the first protrusion or the second protrusion may have a cavity formed therein.
  • the first protrusion and the second protrusion may be provided at a forefoot region and a midfoot region of the sole structure, i.e. a region of the sole structure excluding a heel region. That is because especially in sports shoes a great impact force is applied to the heel region when impacting the ground and the heel region is thus prevented from experiencing an excessive pressure if the protrusions are provided at the heel region.
  • a distance between the first protrusions adjacent to each other and a distance between the second protrusions adjacent to each other may be greater in a forefoot rear side region and the midfoot region than in a forefoot front side region of the sole structure. Also, in the present invention, in the forefoot rear side region and the midfoot region of the sole structure a distance between the first protrusions adjacent to each other and a distance between the second protrusions adjacent to each other may be greater in a foot length direction than in a foot width direction of the sole structure.
  • Two-point threshold experiments were conducted in order to examine sensing ability of a foot sole of a human being.
  • a test performer gave stimuli to some of foot sole regions of a blindfolded subject with a tip of a toothpick.
  • Stimuli by the toothpick is a case of one toothpick and the other case of two toothpicks that are spaced away from each other.
  • the subjects are given stimuli by randomly combining the case of one toothpick with the other case of two toothpicks.
  • the test performer causes each of the tips of the two toothpicks to contact with the foot sole of the subject at the same time with the toothpicks spaced away from each other and fixed to a scale by a predetermined distance that was read by the scale.
  • a direction in which the two toothpicks are spaced away from each other was a foot width direction and a foot length direction.
  • the subjects respond as to whether stimuli were due to one toothpick or two toothpicks.
  • the distance between the two toothpicks was gradually extended along the scale till the subject can discriminate stimuli by the two toothpicks respectively.
  • the subject discriminated respective stimuli by two toothpicks three times consecutively, it is judged that he/she could detect two toothpicks. Otherwise it is judged that the subject could not detect two toothpicks respectively.
  • FIG. 20 shows the results of the experiments.
  • a bottom column indicates regions (i.e. big toe, middle toe, thenar, midfoot, arch, and heel region) of the foot soles of the subjects.
  • the experiments were conducted on three subjects A to C.
  • a left column of FIG. 20 indicates the distance between two toothpicks.
  • a round mark designates that the subject could detect two toothpicks respectively in the foot length direction as well as the foot width direction
  • an X mark designates that the subject could not detect two toothpicks in the foot length direction as well as the foot width direction
  • a triangular mark designates that the subject could detect two toothpicks in the foot width direction but could not in the foot length direction
  • a hyphen designates that the experiments were not conducted.
  • the subjects could discriminate two toothpicks respectively in a forefoot front side region of a foot sole even if the distance of two toothpicks is relatively small, and the subjects could not discriminate two toothpicks in a forefoot rear side region (including the thenar) and a midfoot region of the foot sole if the distance of two toothpicks is not made relatively large.
  • the present invention has been made in view of such experimental results and recites that a distance between the first protrusions adjacent to each other and a distance between the second protrusions adjacent to each other may be relatively small in the forefoot front side region of the sole structure and relatively large in the forefoot rear side region and the midfoot region of the sole structure.
  • the present invention has been made in view of such experimental results and recites that in the midfoot region of the sole structure a distance between the first protrusions adjacent to each other and a distance between the second protrusions adjacent to each other is made relatively small in the foot width direction of the sole structure and relatively large in the foot length direction of the sole structure.
  • the first protrusion and the second protrusion may have a circular shape in the forefoot front side region of the sole structure and an elliptic shape that is long in a substantial foot length direction in the forefoot rear side region to the midfoot region as viewed in a bottom and a plane.
  • FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a sole structure for a sports shoe according to an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the sole structure of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along line III-III;
  • FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along line IV-IV;
  • FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along line V-V;
  • FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of a forefoot foreside region of the sole structure of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of a midfoot region of the sole structure of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. 6 taken along line VIII-VIII;
  • FIG. 9 is a sectional view of FIG. 6 taken along line IX-IX;
  • FIG. 10 is a sectional view of FIG. 7 taken along line X-X;
  • FIG. 11 is a sectional view of FIG. 7 taken along line XI-XI;
  • FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a portion of the sole structure of FIG. 1 to explain an assembly method of the sole structure
  • FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a portion of a variant of the sole structure of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a portion of another variant of the sole structure of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 15 illustrates the way and result of analysis in order to see the effects of the present invention
  • FIG. 16 is a side view of a protrusion structure of Sample 1 for use in analysis of FIG. 15 ;
  • FIG. 17 is a side view of a protrusion structure of Sample 2 for use in analysis of FIG. 15 ;
  • FIG. 18 is a side view of a protrusion structure of Sample 3 for use in analysis of FIG. 15 ;
  • FIG. 19 is a side view of a protrusion structure of Sample 4 for use in analysis of FIG. 15 ;
  • FIG. 20 illustrates the result of two-point threshold experiments in order to examine sensing ability of foot soles of human beings.
  • FIGS. 1 to 12 show a sole structure for a sports shoe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • upper, lower, forward, and rearward indicate upper, lower, forward, and rearward of the shoe, respectively. That is, for example, in FIGS. 3 and 4 , upper and lower indicate upper and lower of these drawings respectively.
  • forward and rearward indicate upward and downward of the drawing.
  • reference H designates a heel region of the sole structure
  • M designates a midfoot region
  • F designates a forefoot region.
  • Sole structure 1 includes a sole body 2 of an elastic material that extends from the heel region H through the midfoot region M to the forefoot region F.
  • the sole body 2 has a sole bottom surface 20 that is disposed on a ground surface side (i.e. lower side of FIGS. 3 and 4 ) and a sole top surface 21 that is disposed on a foot sole contact side opposite the ground surface side.
  • first protrusions 3 of elastic material there are provided a plurality of first protrusions 3 of elastic material on the sole bottom surface 20 .
  • second protrusions 4 of elastic material on the sole top surface 21 .
  • the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 are provided mainly on the forefoot region F and the midfoot region M of the sole structure 1 and are not provided on the heel region H.
  • the first protrusions 3 and the second protrusions 4 are disposed oppositely to each other in a vertical direction on opposite sides of the sole body 2 .
  • the first protrusion 3 and the second protrusion 4 corresponding to the first protrusion 3 have centers that are aligned with each other in the vertical direction.
  • the first protrusions 3 are provided discretely from and unoverlappingly with the adjacent first protrusions 3 .
  • the second protrusions 4 are provided discretely from and unoverlappingly with the adjacent second protrusions 4 .
  • Each of the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 has a round shape in planar and bottom views on a foreside of the forefoot region F of the sole structure 1 and an elliptic shape elongating substantially in a longitudinal direction (i.e. foot length direction) in planar and bottom views on a rear side (including a thenar) of the forefoot region F to the midfoot region M of the sole structure 1 (see FIGS. 1 and 2 ).
  • each of the elliptic shaped protrusions 3 , 4 has a major axis (see an arrow mark a of FIG. 2 ) that is inclined toward the lateral side by 5 to 12 degrees relative to the longitudinal direction (i.e. foot length direction) of the sole structure 1 .
  • each of the elliptic shaped protrusions 3 , 4 has a major axis (see an arrow mark b of FIG. 2 ) that is inclined toward the lateral side by ⁇ 5 to 25 degrees (that is, 5 degrees toward the medial side to 25 degrees toward the lateral side) relative to the longitudinal direction (i.e. foot length direction) of the sole structure 1 . That is based on consideration of shearing direction relative to the sole structure 1 during running activities.
  • the distance or center distance between the adjacent second protrusions 4 (similar for the distance or center distance between the adjacent first protrusions 3 ) in the foot width direction as well as in the foot length direction is greater on the rear side of the forefoot region F and the midfoot region M than on the foreside of the forefoot region F. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 , regarding a distance of the adjacent second protrusions 4 ,
  • S 1 the distance in the foot width direction on the foreside in the forefoot region F
  • S 1 ′ the distance in the foot width direction on the rear side in the forefoot region F
  • S 1 ′′ the distance in the foot width direction in the midfoot region M
  • S 2 the distance in the foot length direction on the foreside in the forefoot region F
  • S 2 ′ the distance in the foot length direction on the rear side in the forefoot region F
  • S 2 ′′ the distance in the foot length direction in the midfoot region M.
  • the distance or center distance between the adjacent second protrusions 4 (similar for the distance or center distance between the adjacent first protrusions 3 ) is greater in the foot length direction than in the foot width direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 ,
  • the distances of the protrusions are set as follows:
  • a sectional shape of the first protrusion 3 is formed such that it becomes gradually small as it leaves the sole bottom surface 20 .
  • a distal end portion of the first protrusion 3 has a convex surface that protrudes downwardly (in this exemplification, a curved surface shape that curves downwardly convexly).
  • a sectional shape of the second protrusion 4 is formed such that it becomes gradually small as it leaves the sole top surface 21 .
  • a distal end portion of the second protrusion 4 has a convex surface that protrudes upwardly (in this exemplification, a curved surface shape that curves upwardly convexly).
  • each of the distal end portions of the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 may be formed of an arcuate shaped surface composed of single circular arc. Alternatively, it may be formed of a plurality of arcuate shaped surfaces composed of a plurality of circular arcs.
  • the distal end portion of the second protrusion 4 is formed of single circular arc of grater radius of curvature
  • the distal end portion of the first protrusion 3 is formed of a central circular arc of grater radius of curvature disposed in the center of the first protrusion 3 and a side circular arc of smaller radius of curvature disposed around and connected to the central circular arc.
  • the amount of projection of the second protrusion 4 relative to the sole top surface 21 is made smaller than the amount of projection of the first protrusion 3 relative to the sole bottom surface 20 (see FIGS. 3 to 5 ).
  • a surface on a foot sole contact side of the sole structure 1 has an irregular shape of shallow steps that is combined with convex portions of the second protrusions 4 and concave portions of the sole top surface 21 .
  • an upper U is provided on the sole structure 1 (only a portion of the upper U is shown in the drawings) and a bottom surface Ua of the upper U is bonded to the distal end portions of curved shapes of the second protrusions 4 .
  • an irregular shape of shallow steps is formed on the bottom surface Ua of the upper U.
  • an insole is not used, and a foot sole of a shoe wearer is adapted to directly contact the bottom surface Ua of the upper U.
  • the first protrusions 3 on the sole bottom surface 20 are coupled to the diagonally adjacent first protrusions 3 through connections 30 of elastic material.
  • the first protrusions 3 are elastically supported in the vertical direction by these connections 30 , but the connections 30 are optional.
  • a region g in which connections 30 are not provided extends along the foot width direction and the region g corresponds to a position of the Metatarsophalangeal joints of a foot.
  • Such region g without connections 30 is more easily bendable than the other regions, so that satisfactory bendability of the forefoot region F during running can be secured.
  • a mesh sheet 5 made of synthetic resin such as nylon or the like is attached on the bottom surface 20 of the sole body 2 .
  • the first protrusions 3 and the connections 30 are formed on a lower surface of the mesh sheet 5 .
  • the first protrusions 3 on the lower side and the second protrusions 4 on the upper side are formed separately from each other. That is, as shown in FIG. 12 , the mesh sheet 5 and the sole body 2 are separately prepared, the mesh sheet 5 having the first protrusion 3 formed on the bottom surface thereof, and the sole body 2 having the second protrusion 4 integrally formed therewith in a different process.
  • a top surface of the mesh sheet 5 is bonded to the sole bottom surface 20 of the sole body 2 .
  • the reason why such mesh sheet is used is that forming the first protrusions 3 is facilitated, a bonding surface to the sole bottom surface 20 of the sole body 2 is secured, and alignment of the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 disposed opposite each other in the vertical direction is facilitated with the entire weight of the sole structure 1 lightened.
  • the first protrusion 3 is formed of synthetic resin or foamed synthetic resin such as polyurethane (TPU) and the like.
  • the second protrusion 4 is formed of synthetic resin or foamed synthetic resin such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and the like.
  • a hardness of the first protrusion 3 is made relatively higher in consideration of wear resistance, and a harness of the second protrusion 4 is made relatively lower in consideration of foot contact feeling.
  • the hardness of the first protrusion 3 is set at 40 to 80 A in Asker A
  • the hardness of the second protrusion 4 is set at 30 to 70 c in Asker C.
  • the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 and the sole body 2 are integrally formed with each other. In this case, accurate and secure alignment of the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 is achieved. Also, it eliminates the necessity for aligning the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 after forming of the protrusions thus simplifying an assembly process of the sole structure.
  • the sole body 2 may have a hollow 2 h inside, alternatively, a lightweight elastic member provided separately may be inserted into the hollow 2 h at a position corresponding to the first and second protrusions 3 , 4 . Such structure can make the entire structure lighter in weight.
  • a base surface 3 B of the first protrusion 3 and a base surface 4 B of the second protrusion 4 have identical shapes and sizes and are disposed opposite each other in the vertical direction with the sole body 2 therebetween, the base surface 3 B being a mating surface of the first protrusion 3 with the mesh sheet 5 or an intersecting plane (see a dotted line) of the sole bottom surface 20 relative to the first protrusion 3 , and the base surface 4 B being an intersecting plane (see a dotted line) of the sole top surface 21 relative to the second protrusion 4 .
  • the outer surface of the first protrusion 3 forms an angle of a with the lower surface of the mesh sheet 5 or the sole bottom surface 20 , the angle being obtuse along the entire periphery.
  • the outer surface of the second protrusion 4 forms an angle of ⁇ with the sole top surface 21 , the angle being obtuse along the entire periphery.
  • the protruding amount of the first protrusion 3 from the lower surface of the mesh sheet 5 or the sole bottom surface 20 is d 1
  • the protruding amount of the second protrusion 4 from the sole top surface 21 is d 2
  • a thickness of the sole body 2 is t
  • the sectional shape of the first protrusion 3 is formed in such a way as to gradually become smaller as it leaves the sole bottom surface 20 and the distal end portion of the first protrusion 3 has a convex surface that protrudes downwardly (in this example, an arcuate shaped surface).
  • the sectional shape of the second protrusion 4 as well corresponding to the first protrusion 3 is formed in such a way as to gradually become smaller as it leaves the sole top surface 21 and the distal end portion of the second protrusion 4 has a convex surface that protrudes upwardly (in this example, an arcuate shaped surface).
  • ground surface information acting on the sole bottom surface 20 i.e. contact area with the ground as well as reactive force from the ground and irregularities of the ground
  • Footwear in which a bottom surface of an upper has an annular shape that extends along an outer perimeter of a top surface of a sole body and such an annular shaped bottom surface of the upper is fixedly attached only to the outer perimeter of the top surface of the sole body by an adhesive, sewing or the like; footwear in which an upper is not provided at a large portion of footwear, e.g. footwear in which a band-shaped upper is provided at only a portion of footwear; and footwear having no upper provided, e.g. a sandal and the like.
  • the sole structure was applied to sports shoes such as running shoes and the like, but the present invention also has application to footwear in general including walking shoes, sandals, boots and the like.
  • the present invention is of use to a sole structure for footwear, and it is especially suitable for a sole structure that requires accurate transmissibility of ground surface information acting on a sole bottom surface (i.e. reactive force from the ground, irregularities of the ground and contact area with the ground) to a foot sole of a shoe wearer.

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  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
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  • Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)
US14/439,263 2013-01-30 2014-01-28 Sole Structure for Footwear Abandoned US20150313310A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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JP2013-015146 2013-01-30
JP2013015146A JP5765826B2 (ja) 2013-01-30 2013-01-30 フットウエア用ソール構造体
PCT/JP2014/052373 WO2014119774A1 (ja) 2013-01-30 2014-01-28 フットウエア用ソール構造体

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FR3048856A1 (fr) * 2016-03-17 2017-09-22 Ctc Dispositif de stimulation et article de chaussage comprenant un tel dispositif de stimulation
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US10058145B2 (en) 2016-03-04 2018-08-28 Nike, Inc. Article of footwear and sole structure with a central sensory node element
US20190090583A1 (en) * 2017-09-28 2019-03-28 Mizuno Corporation Sole structure for shoes and shoe including the same
US10687582B2 (en) 2016-03-04 2020-06-23 Nike, Inc. Article of footwear and sole structure with sensory node elements disposed at discrete locations
US10721991B2 (en) 2013-02-13 2020-07-28 Adidas Ag Sole for a shoe
US20200405008A1 (en) * 2018-10-16 2020-12-31 Adam Michaels Urbin Tactile feedback shoe sole
US10959483B1 (en) * 2018-12-18 2021-03-30 Tony Baichu Walking foot spa system
US10980313B2 (en) 2016-03-04 2021-04-20 Nike, Inc. Article of footwear and sole structure with a central forefoot ridge element
US11096441B2 (en) 2013-02-13 2021-08-24 Adidas Ag Sole for a shoe
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US20210392993A1 (en) * 2020-06-19 2021-12-23 Hero Gmbh & Co. Kg Foot-Stimulating Insole
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US20240324720A1 (en) * 2010-09-24 2024-10-03 Reebok International Limited Sole with projections and article of footwear
US11986047B2 (en) 2013-02-13 2024-05-21 Adidas Ag Sole for a shoe
US11445783B2 (en) 2013-02-13 2022-09-20 Adidas Ag Sole for a shoe
US11096441B2 (en) 2013-02-13 2021-08-24 Adidas Ag Sole for a shoe
US12471665B2 (en) 2013-02-13 2025-11-18 Adidas Ag Sole for a shoe
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US10980313B2 (en) 2016-03-04 2021-04-20 Nike, Inc. Article of footwear and sole structure with a central forefoot ridge element
US10687582B2 (en) 2016-03-04 2020-06-23 Nike, Inc. Article of footwear and sole structure with sensory node elements disposed at discrete locations
US11503877B2 (en) 2016-03-04 2022-11-22 Nike, Inc. Article of footwear and sole structure with a central forefoot ridge element
US10034514B2 (en) 2016-03-04 2018-07-31 Nike, Inc. Article of footwear with sole system having carrier member and sensory node elements
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FR3048856A1 (fr) * 2016-03-17 2017-09-22 Ctc Dispositif de stimulation et article de chaussage comprenant un tel dispositif de stimulation
USD801015S1 (en) * 2016-11-12 2017-10-31 Nike, Inc. Shoe outsole
USD812878S1 (en) * 2016-11-16 2018-03-20 Nike, Inc. Shoe outsole
US11395523B2 (en) * 2016-12-28 2022-07-26 Asics Corporation Outsole and shoe
US10034520B1 (en) * 2017-01-14 2018-07-31 Javad Jafarifar Sports shoe with cleat
US20190090583A1 (en) * 2017-09-28 2019-03-28 Mizuno Corporation Sole structure for shoes and shoe including the same
US11547179B2 (en) * 2018-10-16 2023-01-10 Adam Urbain Tactile feedback shoe sole
US20200405008A1 (en) * 2018-10-16 2020-12-31 Adam Michaels Urbin Tactile feedback shoe sole
US10959483B1 (en) * 2018-12-18 2021-03-30 Tony Baichu Walking foot spa system
US20210298416A1 (en) * 2020-03-27 2021-09-30 Mizuno Corporation Shoes
US20210392993A1 (en) * 2020-06-19 2021-12-23 Hero Gmbh & Co. Kg Foot-Stimulating Insole
US12114724B2 (en) * 2021-11-22 2024-10-15 Mizuno Corporation Sole structure and shoes having the same
WO2025202334A1 (en) 2024-03-26 2025-10-02 Universitetet I Sørøst-Norge (Usn) Flexible sole with protrusions for improved gait stability and balance

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