The Timberland Company

Stephen R Roux

Douglas E Clark

Joseph D Boyer

Lee A Schuette

Bruce N Todtfeld

A combination insole board includes a shock diffusion plate for diffusing the shock of a heel strike and for providing torsional stiffness in the heel and midfoot areas and includes a flexible material in the forepart of the insole board. The semi-rigid shock diffusion shock diffusion plate is engineered with a contour which loosely correlates to the foot morphology. At least two alternative shoe construction methodologies may be used for incorporating a combination insole board into a shoe according to the present invention. In a first embodiment, the shock diffusion plate is attached to the flexible forepart to form the combination insole board. In this embodiment, the combination insole board is tacked to a shoemaker's last either mechanically or adhesively, an upper having a sufficient lasting margin extending beyond the feather edge is pulled over the last and the lasting margin is attached to the combination insole board with a suitable adhesive. In a second embodiment, an upper having a lasting margin only in the heel and midfoot areas is Strobel stitched to the flexible material along the feather edge, the shock diffusion plate is adhered to the last, the last is inserted into the upper, and the lasting margin is attached to the shock diffusion plate with adhesive. After attaching the upper to the insole board, a midsole and outsole are added, and an orthotic which conforms anatomically to the shape of the bottom of the foot and which is preferably more closely contoured to the morphology of the foot than the shock diffusion plate may be added. A shoe made according to either of these methods disperses the force of a heel strike to significantly reduce cumulative underfoot pressures.

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Sanford, ME, United States of America

Stephen R Roux