K-swiss, Inc.

Ampla LLC

David Bond

Brian Keating

Marcus Elliott

Hyuk Oh

A shank for an article of footwear including a substantially planar base portion extending within a first plane in the longitudinal and lateral directions and a substantially planar ramp portion designed to absorb footwear loads in a vertical direction, the ramp portion extending, in an uncompressed state, within a second plane that is oblique to the first plane. The base portion and the ramp portion are arranged such that they do not overlap in the vertical direction. A sole assembly is also described and includes an outsole divided into a first portion located at a forefoot portion of the sole assembly and a second portion located at an arch portion of the sole assembly. The second portion is designed to contact the midsole in a compressed state and form a gap between when a load is removed. Related methods of manufacturing are also described.

Article of footwear, elements thereof, and related methods of manufacturing

A footwear article includes a foot-attachment structure configured to attach to a foot, and longitudinally opposite front and rear ends. The footwear article further includes a downward-facing exposed sole surface. A cantilever extension, in a natural condition, adjoins the sole surface at a junction, and projects rearwardly and downwardly from the junction. The extension has a proximal end and a distal end that are longitudinally opposite each other. The extension is supported at only the proximal end. The extension is configured to elastically resist upward rotation of the extension toward the sole, and is configured to be pushed upward toward the sole by the upward force.

Shoe with elastically flexible extension

A shoe sole structure includes an outsole having a plurality of cushioning members formed with the bottom surface of the outsole that can extend at least partially between the lateral edge and the medial edge of the shoe and also around a heel end of the shoe. One or more of the cushioning members can differ in size, location, orientation, length and/or material from one or more of the remaining cushioning members.

Shoe outsole having tubes

A shoe sole structure includes a plurality of downwardly extending protrusions arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shoe and extending at least partially between a lateral edge and a medial edge of the shoe sole. The protrusions arranged in the heel region of the sole are angled forwardly and the protrusions arranged in the forefoot region are angled rearwardly.

Shoe sole having forwardly and rearwardly facing protrusions

Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide a shoe assembly having at least an outsole portion and a midsole portion, the midsole portion is removably engaged with the outsole to allow replacement of the midsole with another midsole having different structural features, and at least one projection extends from the midsole through an aperture of the outsole, the projection configured to engage with a corresponding aperture of the outsole to align and secure the midsole to the outsole.

Growing community of inventors

Newbury Park, CA, United States of America

David Bond