TRAINING SHOE

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

In footwear where increased stability is desirable (such as basketball shoes), efforts have been made to increase the stiffness of the soles using various rigid materials. In the case of training shoes, however, the advantages of increasing the stiffness of the sole are at odds with other desired qualities, such as flexibility and comfort. For example, the soft foams used in the midsoles of training shoes may be rendered inoperative for their purpose of imparting flexibility by the addition of a more rigid member within the sole.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present disclosure contemplates footwear for overcoming the above drawbacks associated with the related art. One aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure is a training shoe comprising a bottom sole, a midsole disposed above at least a portion of the bottom sole, one or more panels attached to one or both of the midsole and the bottom sole to define an enclosure for a person's foot, and a carbon fiber plate disposed between the bottom sole and the midsole. The carbon fiber plate may define a plurality of fingers that extend forward in a longitudinal direction of the training shoe.

Another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure is a training shoe comprising a bottom sole and a midsole disposed above at least a portion of the bottom sole, the midsole comprising a first material in a front portion of the midsole corresponding to a person's forefoot and a firmer second material in a rear portion of the midsole corresponding to the person's heel. The training shoe may further comprise one or more panels attached to one or both of the midsole and the bottom sole to define an enclosure for the person's foot and a carbon fiber plate disposed between the bottom sole and the front portion of the midsole.

Another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure is a training shoe comprising a bottom sole, a midsole disposed above at least a portion of the bottom sole, one or more panels attached to one or both of the midsole and the bottom sole to define an enclosure for a person's foot, and a carbon fiber plate disposed in a recess defined in a bottom surface of the midsole. The carbon fiber plate may define a plurality of fingers that extend forward in a longitudinal direction of the training shoe.

In any of the above training shoes, a width of the carbon fiber plate may vary in the longitudinal direction of the training shoe and reach a maximum at a longitudinal position underneath a front portion of the midsole corresponding to the person's forefoot. A bottom surface of the midsole (e.g., a front portion thereof) may define a recess in which the carbon fiber plate is disposed. The recess may define a plurality of fingers corresponding to the plurality of fingers of the carbon fiber plate. The midsole may comprise a first material in a front portion of the midsole corresponding to the person's forefoot and a firmer second material in a rear portion of the midsole corresponding to the person's heel, the recess being formed in the first material. The first material may comprise a thermoplastic elastomer such as polyether block amide. The second material may comprise a closed-cell foam such as ethylene-vinyl acetate. An outermost pair of the plurality of fingers may curve inward as they extend forward in the longitudinal direction of the training shoe. The training shoe may comprise a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) sidewall disposed on at least a portion of the midsole and at least a portion of the one or more panels so as to define part of an external surface of the training shoe. The bottom sole may comprise a transparent rubber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a left side view of a training shoe for a left foot, showing an outer side thereof;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the training shoe;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a sole assembly of the training shoe;

FIG. 4 is an exploded top perspective view of the sole assembly;

FIG. 5 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the sole assembly;

FIG. 6 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the sole assembly depicting a midsole according to an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the sole assembly; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure encompasses various embodiments of a training shoe. The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of several currently contemplated embodiments and is not intended to represent the only form in which the disclosed invention may be developed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions and features in connection with the illustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the scope of the present disclosure. It is further understood that the use of relational terms such as first and second and the like are used solely to distinguish one from another entity without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities.

FIGS. 1-8 are views of a training shoe 10 for a left foot. While not separately illustrated, the training shoe 10 may also be symmetrically designed for a right foot. The resulting pair of training shoes 10 may advantageously provide the increased longitudinal bending stiffness (and consequent agility and performance benefits) imparted by a rigid member embedded in the sole, while simultaneously providing the comfort and flexibility of a resilient foam or other soft midsole material. Moreover, the rigid member may beneficially provide additional shearing resistance to the midsole material, allowing the training shoe 10 to be put to a variety of athletic purposes without degradation caused by medial-lateral motion of the wearer. The training shoe 10 may include a bottom sole 12 (which may be made of a rubber such as 70 durometer rubber that is textured for traction, for example), a midsole 14 disposed above at least a portion of the bottom sole 12, and one or more panels 16, which may be attached to one or both of the midsole 14 and the bottom sole 12 to define an enclosure for a person's foot. The panel(s) 16, which may be made of microfiber, for example, may comprise an upper, vamp, quarter, etc. that surround the foot while the training shoe 10 is being worn. The rigid member may comprise a carbon fiber plate 18 disposed between the bottom sole 12 and the midsole 14. While other materials for the rigid member are included within the scope of the present disclosure, carbon fiber may be preferable due to its high stiffness to weight ratio and relatively good flex life (in comparison to nylon or traditional plastics, for example).

As can be seen in FIG. 2 and in more detail in the exploded perspective views of FIGS. 4-7, the carbon fiber plate 18 may define a plurality of fingers 19-1, 19-2, 19-3, 19-4 (collectively referenced as fingers 19) that extend forward in a longitudinal direction of the training shoe 10. The fingers 19 may originate from a shared hub (not separately referenced but shown at the position of reference number 18 in FIGS. 4 and 5) that may be located in a longitudinal middle region of the training shoe 10 corresponding to a midfoot of the wearer between the wearer's forefoot and heel. The fingers 19 may extend in a generally parallel arrangement forward in the longitudinal direction underneath the wearer's forefoot before terminating near the front of the training shoe 10. The width of the carbon fiber plate 18 may vary in the longitudinal direction of the training shoe 10, reaching a maximum width W_max (see FIG. 4) at a longitudinal position underneath a front portion of the midsole 14 corresponding to the person's forefoot. Forward of the maximum width W_max, the outermost pair of fingers 19-1, 19-4 may curve inward as they extend farther forward in the longitudinal direction of the training shoe 10. The resulting “horseshoe” shape of the carbon fiber plate 18 may advantageously increase stability at the toes as may be important for movements typically performed by a training shoe like the training shoe 10 rather than a running shoe, for example.

As best seen in FIG. 5 and the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the bottom surface of the midsole 14 may define a recess 22 in which the carbon fiber plate 18 is disposed. The midsole 14 may be constructed from two (or more) pieces and may, for example, comprise a first material in a front portion of the midsole 14 corresponding to the person's forefoot (the front portion being referenced by the same reference number as the midsole 14 generally) and a firmer second material in a rear portion 15 of the midsole 14 corresponding to the person's heel, with the recess 22 for the carbon fiber plate 18 being formed in the first material. The first material may comprise a thermoplastic elastomer such as polyether block amide. The second material (defining the rear portion 15) may comprise a closed-cell foam such as ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). The use of different materials in the front portion 14 and rear portion 15 may allow for increased flexibility in the forefoot and toes, relative to the heel of the wearer where more support may be needed. As noted above, the carbon fiber plate 18 may advantageously increasing resistance to shearing stresses that might otherwise degrade the more flexible material of the front portion 14. A sidewall 20 made of a firmer material such as thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) may also be provided, which may have any or all of the features described in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2023/0389648, filed Jun. 3, 2022 and entitled “TRAINING SHOE,” the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein. The sidewall 20 may be disposed on at least a portion of the midsole 14, 15 and at least a portion of the one or more panels 16 so as to define part of an external surface of the training shoe 10.

FIG. 5 shows a simple recess 22 that is shaped correspondingly to the outer perimeter of the carbon fiber plate 18, while FIG. 6 shows an example in which the recess 22 defines a plurality of fingers 23-1, 23-2, 23-3, 23-4 (collectively referenced as fingers 23) corresponding to the plurality of fingers 19-1, 19-2, 19-3, 19-4 of the carbon fiber plate 18. Advantageously, providing a recess 22 shaped to match the carbon fiber plate 18 including the fingers 19 thereof as shown in FIG. 6 may allow each of the fingers 19 to independently provide support and rigidity to a corresponding part of the midsole 14 while the portions of the midsole 14 between the fingers 19 flexibly compress and expand to accommodate the movement of the individual fingers 19. The design may allow for a finetuning of the flexibility and rigidity of the midsole 14 underneath the forefoot of the wearer, depending on the desired performance and comfort of the training shoe 10.

The thickness of the carbon fiber plate 18 may match the depth of the recess 22 so that the underside of the carbon fiber plate 18 is flush with the underside of the midsole 14, with the carbon fiber plate 18 thus being embedded between the midsole and the bottom sole 12 with little or no play (though it is contemplated that an adhesive may be applied to secure the carbon fiber plate 18 within the recess 22). The bottom sole 12 may comprise a transparent rubber or other material, in whole or in part, such that the carbon fiber plate 18 may be visible through the bottom sole 12 when looking at the bottom of the training shoe 10.

In the illustrated examples of the training shoe 10, the carbon fiber plate 18 has four fingers 19. However, the number of fingers 19 is not necessarily limited to four. There may, for example, be only two fingers, three fingers, or five or more fingers, depending on the desired rigidity or flexibility of the embedded carbon fiber plate 18 (which may be determined in part by the width of the fingers 19 and of the spaces between the fingers 19). For typical use of the training shoe 10, in which consideration of medial-lateral motion is more important than in the case of a running shoe for example, it may be preferable for there to be at least three, preferably four or more fingers 19.

The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.