Sole construction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9320317-B2
Application number	US-201313839004-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

In a sole construction for a running shoe having an outer sole and an intermediate sole, the sole construction including a plurality of hollow elements which are in each case closed off by front and rear flanks in the longitudinal direction of the sole construction but are open at the sides and have upper and lower inner faces at a mutual spacing. The hollow elements are configured to absorb forces which act on them during running in each case by elastic deformation with a reduction in the spacing between their inner faces and optionally by horizontal displacement of their inner faces with respect to one another. The hollow elements are configured to deform to such an extent that their upper and lower inner faces come into contact with one another, and that this contact prevents a horizontal displacement of their inner faces with respect to one another.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sole construction for a running shoe having an outer sole and an intermediate sole, the sole construction comprising:
a plurality of hollow elements, each of the plurality of hollow elements being closed off by a front flank and a rear flank in the longitudinal direction of the sole construction, each of the plurality of hollow elements being open at the sides, and each of the plurality of hollow elements having an upper inner face being spaced apart from a lower inner face,
each of the hollow elements configured to absorb forces during running, wherein the absorption occurs during a reduction in the spacing between the upper inner face and the lower inner face and by a horizontal displacement of the upper inner face and the lower inner face with respect to one another, and
the hollow elements being deformable such that the upper and lower inner faces come into contact with one another to prevent a horizontal displacement of the inner faces with respect to one another,
wherein
the intermediate sole is provided with a panel which extends over a heel region, a midfoot region and a forefoot region of the sole construction, the panel being incompressible, but absorbing forces which act on it during running by elastic bending and defining a majority of the integral elastic flexibility of the sole construction, and the panel having a lattice-shaped structure with a plurality of longitudinal ribs and a plurality of transverse ribs having two ends in a respective circumferential edge of the panel, each of the plurality of transverse ribs extending, from the lateral side of the panel to the medial side of the panel, obliquely to the rear in the heel region and in the forefoot region and obliquely to the front in the midfoot region.

2. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the width of the longitudinal ribs increases from the rear to the front.

3. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the mutual spacing of each of the plurality of transverse ribs decreases in a forward direction from the heel region to the midfoot region and increases in a forward direction from the midfoot region to the forefoot region.

4. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the lattice-shaped structure of the panel additionally has a plurality of first diagonal ribs in the heel region and in the midfoot region, each of the plurality of first diagonal ribs extending in a forward direction from the medial side obliquely to the lateral side.

5. The sole construction as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the mutual spacing of each of the plurality of first diagonal ribs decreases in a forward direction from the heel region to the midfoot region.

6. The sole construction as claimed in claim 4 , wherein an acute angle between the first diagonal ribs and the longitudinal ribs increases from the rear to the front.

7. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the lattice-shaped structure of the panel additionally has a plurality of second diagonal ribs, each of the plurality of second diagonal ribs extending in a forward direction from the lateral side of the heel region to the medial side of the heel region and from the medial side of the forefoot region to the lateral side of the forefoot region.

8. The sole construction as claimed in claim 7 , wherein an acute angle between the second diagonal ribs and the longitudinal ribs increases in a forward direction from the heel region to the midfoot region and decreases in the forefoot region.

9. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the ribs is greatest in the midfoot region and decreases in a backward direction from the midfoot region to the heel region and decreases from the midfoot region to the forefoot region.

10. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the longitudinal ribs and of the edge is greater than the thickness of the transverse ribs and of the first diagonal ribs, and wherein the thickness of the transverse ribs and the thickness of the first diagonal ribs are greater than the thickness of the second diagonal ribs.

11. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the each of the plurality of longitudinal ribs are aligned with one another on their underside, and each of the plurality of transverse ribs are aligned with one another on their underside.

12. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the panel is provided with between 2 and 5 longitudinal ribs.

13. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the panel is twisted such that the panel is inclined toward a lateral side of the heel region and inclined toward a medial side of the forefoot region.

14. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the panel is a molded part.

15. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the panel is surrounded on all sides by an elastically deformable and compressible material of the intermediate sole.

16. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the panel is embedded in a cavity between a bottom part and a top part of the intermediate sole.

17. The sole construction as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the panel is provided with between 2 and 5 longitudinal ribs and between 14 and 18 transverse ribs.

18. The sole construction as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the panel is provided with between 2 and 5 longitudinal ribs and between 6 and 8 first diagonal ribs.

19. The sole construction as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the panel is provided with between 2 and 5 longitudinal ribs and between 9 and 13 second diagonal ribs.

20. A sole construction for a running shoe, the sole construction comprising:
an outer sole;
an intermediate sole, coupled to the outer sole and comprising:
a lattice-shaped panel extending over a heel region, a midfoot region and a
forefoot region, and being incompressible but configured to elastically bend and elastically flex, the panel comprising:
a plurality of longitudinal ribs; and
a plurality of transverse ribs extending, from a lateral side to a medial side, in the heel region and in the forefoot region obliquely in a backward direction and in the midfoot region obliquely in a forward direction; and

a plurality of hollow elements, each of the plurality of hollow elements being defined by:
a front flank and a rear flank closing off the hollow element in the longitudinal direction of the sole construction;
an opening at the lateral side and an opening the medial side of the sole construction;
an upper inner face being spaced apart from a lower inner face, wherein each of the hollow elements is configured to respond to absorbing forces during running by an elastic deformation including a reduction in the spacing between the upper inner face and the lower inner face and by a horizontal displacement of the upper inner face and the lower inner face with respect to one another, and wherein

each of the hollow elements are deformable such that the upper and lower inner faces contact one another and are configured to prevent a horizontal displacement of the inner faces with respect to one another.

21. A sole construction for a running shoe, the sole construction comprising:
an outer sole;
an intermediate sole, coupled to the outer sole and comprising:
a lattice-shaped panel extending over a heel region, a midfoot region and a
forefoot region, and being incompressible but configured to elastically bend and elastically flex, the panel comprising:
a plurality of longitudinal

Assignees

• On Clouds Gmbh

Inventors

• Bernhard Olivier
• Heitz Ilmarin

Classifications

• A43B13/181 Primary

  Resiliency achieved by the structure of the sole · CPC title

• A43B13/141

  with a part of the sole being flexible, e.g. permitting articulation or torsion · CPC title

• A43B13/127

  the midsole being multilayer · CPC title