An article of footwear includes an upper and a sole. The upper includes an attachment region and a bottom portion that is bounded by the attachment region. The sole defines a concave inner surface. The concave inner surface includes a peripheral surface region and a central surface region. The attachment region of the upper is attached to the peripheral surface region of the sole. The bottom portion is held in tension over the central surface region.

A sole structure for an article of footwear having an upper can include a first outsole, a second outsole, and a cushioning member. The second outsole is positioned between the first outsole and the upper and the cushioning member is positioned between the first outsole and the second outsole.

A sole structure for an article of footwear includes an upper, an outsole, a sole plate, and a midsole structure. The sole plate is adjacent to the upper, the midsole structure is adjacent to the sole plate, and the outsole is adjacent to the midsole structure. An exposed forefoot region has the bottom wall of the sole plate uncovered by the outsole or midsole structure. A forward point and a rearward point are located along the bottom wall of the sole plate. The forward point is located at the front of the forefoot region and a rearward point is located farthest away from the forward point in the heel region. The forward point and the rearward point form a main axis line. The deepest point is the point located on the exterior of the outsole in the midfoot region that is not obstructed by midsole structure or outsole that can extend to form an inclination line to the forward point with respect to the main axis line at the highest angle. That angle is between 2 and 30 degrees.

Systems and methods are described for a shoe sole for relieving pressure from a wearer's metatarsal heads. In one aspect, a shoe sole comprises a shoe outer sole comprising a shaft region, a ball region, and a toe region. The shaft region underlies metatarsal shafts of the wearer and comprises a first lower surface, the ball region underlies metatarsal heads of the wearer and comprises a second lower surface, and the toe region underlies phalanges of the wearer and comprises a third lower surface. The second lower surface is raised relative to the first lower surface and the third lower surface.

A heel structure for an article of footwear protrudes rearward from a heel region of an article of footwear in a direction generally aligned with the longitudinal orientation of the footwear article.

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.

A ground-engaging devices that is capable of sustained rolling, stable braking, secure standing, and walking. In one preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a wheeled footwear device. In another preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a wheeled footwear platform. In yet another preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a wheeled artificial foot.

A footwear component that includes a sole including a recessed area and a support member positioned in the recessed area. The support member includes a main support, a front support that extends at least partially over a front end of the main support, and a rear support that extends at least partially below a rear end of the main support. The front support of the support member moves toward the main support when pressure is applied to the front support and moves away from the main support when pressure is released from the front support. Similarly, the rear support of the support member moves toward the main support when pressure is applied to the rear support and moves away from the main support when pressure is released from the rear support.

A footwear sole structure includes a midsole having a ground-facing surface with a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region. The midsole defines downwardly-extending protrusions at the ground-facing surface distributed over the midfoot region and the heel region, each of the downwardly-extending protrusions having a convex outer surface. A height of the midsole is greatest at the midfoot region. The sole structure may also include an outsole covering at least a portion of the ground-facing surface of the midsole, and a height of the sole structure may be greatest at the midfoot region.

A sole structure for an article of footwear comprises a midsole system with a plurality of cushioning units, each having multiple cushioning layers configured to work together as a system to absorb a compressive load, such as a dynamic compressive load due to impact with the ground, in stages of progressive cushioning according to the relative stiffness values of the layers. Various midsole systems disclosed include isolated cushioning units, linked cushioning units, sole layers having stanchions interfacing with the midsole system, midsole systems with sole layers having keyed and unkeyed portions overlying a bladder, and midsole systems with vertically-stacked cushioning units disposed in inverted relationship to one another.