Article of footwear with banking midsole with embedded resilient plate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10765172-B2
Application number	US-201815989257-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 25, 2018
Priority date	Jul 30, 2014
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

Abstract

An article of footwear may include an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper. The sole structure includes a midsole, an outsole secured to the midsole, and one or more plates positioned within the midsole. Each of the plates has a downwardly-facing concave side and an upwardly-facing concave side. The downwardly-concave side may be positioned on a medial side (or a lateral side) of the footwear, and the upwardly-concave side may be positioned on the lateral side (or the medial side) of the footwear. The undulating medio-lateral configuration of each plate may increase the overall support provided to a wearer's foot during a side-to-side or “banking” movement.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A sole structure for an article of footwear, the sole structure comprising:
a midsole having a lower midsole surface;
an outsole having upper and lower outsole surfaces, the upper outsole surface being attached to the lower midsole surface, and the lower outsole surface forming a ground-engaging portion of the article of footwear; and
a curved plate located in the midsole and having an undulating medio-lateral curvature and a rectilinear longitudinal cross-section extending from fore to aft edges of the curved plate, the curved plate including a first side with a first edge and a downward-facing concavity, a second side with a second edge and an upward-facing concavity, and an inflection region connecting the first and second sides, the upward-facing concavity being positioned between the downward-facing concavity and a lateral or a medial edge of the midsole,
wherein the first edge is positioned below a horizontal plane substantially parallel to the lower outsole surface and passing through the inflection region, and the second edge is positioned above the horizontal plane.

2. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the first side of the curved plate with the downward-facing concavity is positioned on a medial side of the sole structure.

3. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the curved plate is positioned in a forefoot region of the sole structure.

4. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the curved plate is encapsulated in the midsole and spaced inward from the lateral and medial edges of the midsole.

5. The sole structure of claim 4 , wherein the curved plate is spaced from the lower midsole surface of the midsole.

6. The sole structure of claim 4 , wherein the curved plate is spaced from an upper midsole surface of the midsole.

7. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the curved plate has a uniform thickness from the first side to the second side.

8. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the inflection region is located in a central area of the curved plate, and the central area of the curved plate is positioned in a central region of the midsole.

9. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the curved plate is a single-piece continuous structure with an S-shaped transverse cross-section.

10. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the curved plate extends across at least sixty percent of a distance between the medial edge and the lateral edge of the midsole.

11. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the midsole includes a polymer foam material and the outsole includes a rubber material.

12. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the curved plate includes a thermoplastic polyurethane material, an injection-molding-grade thermoplastic polymer material, an injection-molding-grade thermoset polymer material, a carbon fiber material, an engineered textile with a fused adhesive skin, and/or a multi-material laminate structure.

13. A sole structure for an article of footwear, the sole structure comprising:
a midsole including a first polymeric material, the midsole having a lateral edge, a medial edge opposite the lateral edge, and a lower midsole surface;
an outsole with upper and lower outsole surfaces, the upper outsole surface secured to the lower midsole surface, the outsole including a second polymeric material, the lower outsole surface defining a ground-engaging portion of the article of footwear located opposite from the upper outsole surface; and
a curved plate disposed within the midsole and having an undulating medio-lateral curvature, the curved plate including a third polymeric material and having a rectilinear longitudinal cross-section extending from fore to aft edges of the curved plate, the curved plate including a first lateral side with a downward-facing concavity terminating at a first lateral edge, a second lateral side with an upward-facing concavity terminating at a second lateral edge, and an inflection region interposed between and connecting the first and second lateral sides, the first lateral side being positioned between the second lateral side and the medial or lateral edge of the midsole,
wherein the first lateral edge is positioned below a horizontal plane substantially parallel to the lower outsole surface and passing through the inflection region, and the second lateral edge is positioned above the horizontal plane passing through the inflection region.

14. The sole structure of claim 13 , wherein the first lateral side with the downward-facing concavity is positioned on a medial side of the midsole, and the second lateral side with the upward-facing concavity is positioned on a lateral side of the midsole.

15. The sole structure of claim 13 , wherein the curved plate is encapsulated within the midsole and spaced inward from the medial and lateral edges of the midsole.

16. The sole structure of claim 13 , wherein the inflection region is located in a central area of the curved plate, and the central area of the curved plate is positioned in a central region of the midsole.

17. The sole structure of claim 14 , wherein the plate has a uniform thickness extending from the first lateral side to the second lateral side.

18. The sole structure of claim 13 , wherein the plate is a single-piece continuous structure with an S-shaped transverse cross-section.

19. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the first and second edges of the curved plate each has a rectilinear configuration.

20. The sole structure of claim 9 , wherein the S-shaped transverse cross-section is defined by a single downward-facing concavity and a single upward-facing concavity.

21. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the first side of the curved plate with the downward-facing concavity is positioned on a lateral side of the sole structure.

22. The sole structure of claim 1 , wherein the first edge and/or the second edge of the curved plate includes a tapered edge.

Assignees

• Nike Inc
• Nike Imc

Inventors

• Foxen Thomas

Classifications

• A43B13/125 Primary

  characterised by the midsole or middle layer · CPC title

• A43B13/188

  Differential cushioning regions · CPC title

• A43B13/14

  characterised by the constructive form · CPC title

• A43B13/181

  Resiliency achieved by the structure of the sole · CPC title

• A43B13/187

  Resiliency achieved by the features of the material, e.g. foam, non liquid materials · CPC title