Converse Inc.

Nike, Inc.

Christopher J Edington

Eric S Swartz

Bernie Allen

John L Baier

Rui M Parracho

Bruce J Kilgore

Douglas E Clark

Eric P Avar

James C Meschter

Sean Michael McDowell

Alexandre Baudouin

Jeffrey C Pisciotta

John A Healy

Tina M Casillas

Neal F Kimball

Eckhard Knoepke

Aaron Azevedo

Richard Mochen

John A Hayes

Philip L Blake

Michael DiTullo

A shoe is provided having a sole that provides excellent shock absorption without reducing support and stability or such a shoe that is generally light in weight. The shoe may have a sole for supporting a foot of a wearer, and a shoe upper adjacent the sole. The sole may include an upper force-distribution plate portion, a lower force-distribution plate portion spaced below the upper plate portion, a lateral shell connecting the upper and lower force-distribution plate portions, and at least one resilient shock-absorber element in contact with and between both the upper and lower plate portions.

Article of footwear having shock-absorbing elements in the sole

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a footwear sole including a midsole and an outsole. The midsole includes of a plurality of protrusions extending downwardly from a bottom surface of the midsole toward the outsole. The outsole may include a plurality of recesses positioned to mate with a corresponding protrusion from the midsole. The outsole may also include one or more protrusion extending downwardly from the bottom of the outsole. The outsole protrusions may correspond with an associated recess of the outsole top surface. The protrusions may be hemispherical in shape at their distal ends so that a portion of the distal end may be received by the corresponding recess of the outsole top surface.

Footwear sole with midsole protrusions

A shoe construction employs a midsole molded of flexible, resilient material around a rigid plate, where the midsole and encapsulated plate are insertable into a separately constructed outsole and shoe upper.

Simplified shoe construction with midsole having overmolded insert

Interior members for foot-receiving devices, such as bootie elements for articles of footwear, include a material element at least partially defining a foot-receiving chamber. This material element may include, in some examples, a heel-surrounding portion, a lateral side portion, a medial side portion, and a seamless plantar portion in a continuous, one-piece arrangement. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the material element may include a heel-surrounding portion, a lateral side portion, a medial side portion, a plantar surface, and a double layer of the material element at least along an Achilles area portion. Additional aspects relate to material blanks for forming such interior members as well as to foot-receiving devices, such as athletic footwear, including such interior members.

Interior and upper members for articles of footwear and other foot-receiving devices

Support structures for foot-receiving devices (such as midsole and/or outsole structures for articles of footwear) include one or more of the following: (a) a base member (e.g., including an impact-attenuating material); (b) a generally U-shaped moderator element engaged with the base member; (c) an edge element extending from a surface of the base member for engaging a lateral side of a foot in use; (d) an outsole member including a herringbone or zig-zag tread structure on both surfaces; and/or (e) an outsole member including a perimeter element for engaging a lateral side of a foot and/or the edge element of the base member. Such support structures may be incorporated into various foot-receiving device products, such as athletic footwear for basketball, etc.

Foot-supporting structures for articles of footwear and other foot-receiving devices

A Reactive Energy Fluid Filled Toroid Apparatus includes concentric fluid filled toroids that are contained in the midsole of a shoe. The toroid apparatus provides cushioning for the foot and dynamically reacts to off-center impacts from footsteps to redistribute impact forces and to stabilize and support the foot by cradling a portion of the foot in the shoe.

Shoe sole with reactive energy fluid filled toroid apparatus

The present invention relates to a fluid filled apparatus that reacts with the stimulus of outside forces, furnished at the instep area of a shoe upper and the forefoot area of the shoe sole. The apparatus provides cushioning and a custom fit to the shoe in an area surrounding the forward portion of the shoe wearer's foot. In particular, the present invention pertains to a reactive energy apparatus comprised of anatomically shaped fluid filled bladders or pads that are furnished at the instep area of the shoe upper and the forefoot area of the shoe sole. The bladders engage and assume a complimentary custom fitting configuration around the instep and ball of the shoe wearer's foot by displacement of fluid contained in the bladders, and thereby provide cushioning and a custom fit around the shoe wearer's foot.

Reactive energy apparatus providing cushioning and a custom fit at the

The present invention pertains to a shoe sole containing a cushioning fluid filled bladder and a clip holding the bladder in a set position in the shoe sole and providing enhanced lateral and medial stability to the sole.

Shoe sole with a cushioning fluid filled bladder and a clip holding the

A reactive energy fluid filled cushioning and stabilizing apparatus in a shoe is comprised of one or more anatomically shaped fluid filled bladders that are positioned in the forefoot, arch and/or heel areas of the shoe. The bladders assume a complementary custom fitting configuration to the contours of a foot inserted in the shoe. In variant embodiments of the apparatus, the fluid filled bladders are positioned separate from each other in the forefoot, arch and heel areas of the shoe and are interconnected in fluid communication by fluid conducting channels, or the bladders are positioned independent of each other in the forefoot, arch and heel areas of the shoe.

Reactive energy fluid filled apparatus providing cushioning, support,

A shoe sole having improved lateral and medial stability is comprised of a shoe sole formed from a material having a predetermined hardness and one or more stabilizer apparatus contained in the shoe sole, the stabilizer apparatus being formed from a material having a hardness different or the same as the hardness of the shoe sole. The stabilizer apparatus are formed with opposed support wall sections that are positioned adjacent the sidewalls of the shoe sole and resist the compression of the midsole in the areas adjacent the opposite left and right sidewalls. The spacing of the stabilizer support walls at the opposite left and right sides of the midsole prevents the support walls from appreciably affecting the cushioning ability of the portion of the midsole between the stabilizer sidewalls. In variant embodiments of the invention, the medial portions of the midsole between the stabilizer left and right support wall sections is occupied by a fluid filled pad provided as a cushion in the midsole, or is occupied by the material of the midsole having a different or the same hardness value than the support walls of the stabilizer. In a still further variant, ports are provided in the sidewalls of the midsole corresponding to the positions of the stabilizers, and the support wall sections of the stabilizers are transparent to enable viewing of a fluid pad positioned between the opposed support wall sections from outside the sidewalls of the midsole.

Growing community of inventors

Portland, OR, United States of America

Christopher J Edington