An article of footwear includes an upper, a sole attached to the upper, and an impact absorber attached to the upper at least along a midfoot region of the upper and capable of absorbing a portion of a lateral impact when the impact absorber is moved into contact with a top surface of the sole. The impact absorber is be integrally formed with the sole and has a width that varies along a length of the impact absorber. The width of the impact absorber decreases in a forefoot region and a heel region. The upper rolls to contact the top surface of the sole upon lateral impact. The sole and the upper may be attached asymmetrically.

An article of footwear including a sole structure attached to an upper defining an internal void configured to receive a foot of a wearer is described. The sole structure includes a sole body portion having a central ridge element located in an aperture in the sole body portion. The central ridge element has a bottom surface configured to contact the ground and move vertically within the aperture. The movement of the central ridge element pushes a top surface of the ridge element attached to a portion of the upper against the foot of the wearer. The central ridge element is arranged approximately centrally between lateral and medial sides in the forefoot region of the sole structure. The central ridge element provide sensory feedback about lateral movement and to the foot of the wearer.

A dual-hardness outsole includes a front section, a middle section, and a rear section, at least the middle section of the outsole including a wedge having a bottom surface which extends below another bottom surface of at least one of the front and rear sections such that the wedge carries more weight than the other bottom surface. The outsole comprises a hard portion and a soft portion that are secured to each other and together form the wedge, a cross-sectional profile of the hard and soft density portions being such that a center portion of the wedge is softer than opposite lateral portions thereof.

Provided are a shoe upper and a shoe that have good fittability to the instep side of a foot and are capable of inhibiting the depression of the heal at the time of coming into contact with the ground. The present invention relates to, in one or more embodiments, a shoe upper, and the upper includes an instep cover for covering an instep side of the foot, the instep cover has a structure in which a tongue portion and an instep cover main body are formed as a single body, and a center portion of the instep cover in a width direction is substantially unstretchable in a length direction of the foot. The present invention relates to a shoe in which the shoe upper is integrated with a sole.

A sole structure includes a sole body. The sole body is a resin-made box-shaped member with a predetermined thickness and an interior space that is defined by an upper wall portion disposed on an upper side, a lower wall portion disposed on a lower side and spaced apart from the upper wall portion, and a pair of sidewall portions disposed between and interconnecting the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion in a heel region or a forefoot region that respectively corresponds to a heel portion or a forefoot portion of a foot of a shoe wearer. The sidewall portions are elastically deformable in a vertical direction and have a plurality of solid or hollow ribs that extend in a substantially vertical direction between the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion.

A plate for an article of footwear having a sole structure includes an anterior-most point disposed in a forefoot region of the sole structure, a posterior-most point disposed closer to a heel region of the sole structure than the anterior-most point, and a concave portion extending between the anterior-most point and the posterior-most point. The concave portion includes a constant radius of curvature from the anterior-most point to a metarsophalangeal (MTP) point of the sole structure. The MTP point opposes the MTP joint of a foot during use.

An athletic shoe extending between toe (1) and heel (3) and comprising upper (5) attached to outsole (7) via comfort sole (9). According to the invention, the athletic shoe comprises shell (13) make of plastic or composite material, inserted between upper (5) and comfort sole (9) and to which it is attached at heel (1).

A device for determining motion in virtual or real spaces is arranged inside at least one shoe, provided with a sole which can tilt along one or more directions. The device includes at least one gyroscope provided with an accelerometer, a module for transmitting data to a virtual reality viewing device or to a computer, which include elements adapted to process the data in order to provide the direction of motion in the virtual or real space, a power supply source.

A sole structure for an article of footwear includes a midsole having a medial edge and a lateral edge. The sole structure also include a first lower rib extending from the medial edge to the lateral edge of the midsole. The first lower rib includes a portion spaced from the midsole between the medial edge and the lateral edge. The sole structure further includes a medial flex member disposed between the midsole and the first lower rib near the medial edge and a lateral flex member disposed between the midsole and the first lower rib near the lateral edge. The medial flex member and the lateral flex member are configured to flex the first lower rib relative to the midsole in response to a force of a predetermined magnitude.

A footwear construction includes a sole assembly including a first midsole platform, a second midsole platform below the first midsole platform, a spring plate disposed between the first and second midsole platforms, and an outsole layer disposed below and joined directly with at least one of the plate, the first and the second midsole platforms. The outsole layer can be substantially the only layer below the plate in the forefoot region of the footwear so an underfoot force engaging the outsole layer is transmitted directly to the plate, which also can have an upward curving, multi-radii transition portion extending from a lowermost portion to a forward most portion of the plate so as to roll a wearer's foot forward into a next stride in a gait cycle of the wearer. The plate can define an aperture. A mounting cap can extend through the aperture and can receive a traction spike.