A footwear which includes a support member having an inner sole and an upper surface attachable to a foot, and two bulbous protuberances protruding from a lower surface of the support member on opposite sides of a latitudinal midline, is provided.

This invention generally relates to a shoe in which an orthopedic adjustment has been integrated into the construction of the shoe itself. The invention entails adjusting one or more of the soles or other construction features of the shoe itself in order to accommodate a medical condition or treatment regimen. In particular, in instances of abnormalities in the knee joint, there is a need to redistribute the weight of the body from an afflicted symptomatic medial compartment of the knee to an un-afflicted and asymptomatic, or lesser effected and less symptomatic compartment so as to relieve the pain and stress at the most afflicted and most symptomatic compartment. Benefits are also achieved by reducing a common ankle injury, and by improving lateral cutting, cornering, and push off maneuvers. The present invention achieves all this by laterally wedging the sole of a shoe, where the angle is chosen to counter and redistribute the weight of the body accordingly thereby changing the axial load on the knee and ankle joints.

A modular article of footwear has a shock absorbing insert placed between the insole and the outsole thereof, for example at the heel. The insert includes a spring carrier having upper and lower portions, each having a plurality seats for receiving a respective ends of respective coil springs. Each of the springs extends between said upper and lower portions and is captured therebetween. A pair of opposed permanent magnets generates a separating force which supplements the supporting force of the mechanical springs. The insert may also contain a device for converting mechanical energy to electrical energy.

A shoe sole including an outsole 2 and a midsole 1, wherein: the midsole 1 includes a lower midsole 4 of a lower layer formed by a foamed body of a resin, and an upper midsole 3 of an upper layer formed by a foamed body of a resin and arranged on the lower midsole 4; a lateral roll-up portion 42 for supporting a lateral side of a foot from a side of the foot is formed integrally with the lower midsole 4; a hardness of a lateral portion 40 of the lower midsole 4 including the lateral roll-up portion 42 is a first hardness; a hardness of a medial portion 41 of the lower midsole 4 is a second hardness lower than the first hardness; a hardness of a lateral portion 30 of the upper midsole 3 is a third hardness lower than the first hardness; and a part or a whole of the high-hardness lateral roll-up portion 42 is protruding in an upward direction past the upper midsole 3 on a lateral side of the upper midsole 3 so that the lateral side of the foot is supported by the lateral roll-up portion 42 from the side of the foot without being supported by the upper midsole 3 from the side of the foot.

A method of forming a castless orthotic for a patient's foot in need thereof. The method comprises preparing an orthotic template for the foot wherein the template extends between a heel end and a toe end. In preparing the template the steps of attaching a three-quarter length or full length upper thermoplastic material to a or three-quarter length lower thermoplastic material, or providing a thermoplastic material having a variable thickness such that said thickness decreases from said heel end to said toe end is provided. Then attaching an outer lower layer to the lower thermoplastic material and attaching an outer upper layer to the upper thermoplastic material, or attaching an outer layer to each face of the variable thickness thermoplastic material and heating the prepared orthotic template for a predetermined period of time at a predetermined temperature to soften the orthotic template. A wrap is then placed on top of the foot foam and the foot of the patient is placed on top of the wrap and foot foam. The patient's foot is lifted and the heated orthotic template is placed on top of the the wrap and then placing the patient's foot on top of the heated orthotic template. The wrap is placed about the longitudinal axis of the foot to retain the heated orthotic template intermediate the sole of the foot and the foot foam whereby the sides of the orthotic template are particularly supported by the wrap. The method further includes ensuring the foot is positioned over a cuboid support and a medial longitudinal arch support wherein the cuboid support is disposed on the outside of the bottom of the foot and the cuboid support is moved to push the foot upwardly until a resistance is felt, and where the foot is also positioned over the medial longitudinal arch support which is then pushed and pulled upwardly until the foot is moved into a neutral position or if it is unable to be translated or rotated due to until it reaches its end range of motion. At this time, the heel of the patient's foot is lifted to place their weight substantially on the front of their foot and a coolant is applied to at least the heel end of the orthotic template.

Provided are a hybrid insole with a multi-shock absorbing pad and a method for fabricating the hybrid insole. The hybrid insole includes an insole body including at least one sheet layer that is formed of an elastic material and has a shape of a human sole; a first absorbing pad means including first to fourth absorbing pad portions attached to the insole body corresponding to a metatarsal region, a tarsal bone region, and a calcaneus region of the human foot, and first to third connecting portions selectively connecting the first to fourth absorbing pad portions; and a second absorbing pad means including a fifth absorbing pad portion attached to the insole body corresponding to the metatarsal region and a phalange region of the human foot.

The hybrid insole is configured such that absorbing pads of different structures are disposed to correspond to the bone structure for each region of the foot and the shape of an arch, thus distributing and absorbing the weight load of the human body.

An article of footwear includes an upper and a sole structure with a sole member. The sole member can be manufactured using a system that modifies the heel cushioning of the sole member over a series of footwear purchases. The modifications can be configured to correspond to a customer's evaluation of the heel cushioning previously purchased. The sole member can include a set of apertures that are formed along various surfaces of the sole member to adjust the cushioning characteristics of the sole member.

The disclosed method provides a way to manufacture a style of an article of footwear in bulk, while providing customization for heel stability for individual customers. Moreover, the disclosed method provides a way to customize articles of footwear for a customer on an ongoing basis, such that the heel stability of the articles of footwear is refined until a tailored fit is achieved for the same customer. Generally, the method may include providing a user/customer with an article of footwear, getting evaluation information about the stability of the article of footwear from a survey (e.g., asking the user to rate the stability of the article of footwear in a smartphone app), modifying the next article of footwear provided to the user/customer according to the evaluation information, and iterating through this process to give the user an article optimized for stability.

A sole structure may include a damping pad. The damping pad may include a chamber, a foam element located within the chamber, particles located within the chamber and at least partially filling cavities in the foam element, and a set of electrodes positioned to create, in response to a voltage across the electrodes, an electrical field in at least a portion of the particles.

A sports shoe having an upper, an insole and a sole, the insole being secured to the sole, extending in a longitudinal direction and having an anterior part that is able to receive the forefoot, a central part that is able to receive the midfoot, and a posterior part; wherein the posterior part and the central part of the insole are made of a rigid material, and wherein the sports shoe has a cushioning element positioned in the posterior part of the insole, the cushioning element being able to cushion and receive the heel.