A sole for an article of footwear includes a fiber-reinforced polymer plate extending from a heel area of the article of footwear to a toe area of the article of footwear, wherein flexibility of the fiber-reinforced polymer plate varies as a function of location along a longitudinal axis of the fiber-reinforced polymer plate, and wherein the fiber-reinforced polymer plate includes a stiffening layer disposed at a midfoot area of the fiber-reinforced polymer plate.

A high-heeled shoe for a human foot which enables a person wearing it to stand and walk in an anatomically correct (suitable) position, i.e. to walk just like when she walks with heelless flat shoes; enables the body to stand in balance and the foot to rest on all points. The high-heeled shoe is formed with a curving inclined supporting sole which extends into the heel with the curve being adjusted with arctangent values and a correction factor and toe and heel angles appropriate for a human foot to provide perfect conformity with the human foot for straight body posture suitable to anatomy.

Foot support members, e.g., sole structures for articles of footwear, include dynamically transformable portions, e.g., to change a dimension and/or apply a tensile or compressive force to some portion of an article of footwear or other foot-receiving device. Such foot support members may include a flexible support member having a wave shaped portion that flexes under an applied force. Flexing of this wave shaped portion under weight of a wearer produces: (a) a change in at least one of a longitudinal or transverse dimension of the foot support member, (b) application of a compressive or tensile force to the plantar support component and/or another part of the foot support member, article of footwear, or other foot-receiving device, (c) flattening of the wave shaped portion, and/or (d) compressing the wave shaped portion together (e.g., to fold up, decrease in overall height, etc.).

A sole structure for an article of footwear includes a first midsole body and a second midsole body. The first midsole body defines a ground-facing surface and a foot-facing surface opposite the ground-facing surface and includes a first midsole material, which has a first hardness. The second midsole body extends through the first midsole body. As such, the second midsole body extends beyond the ground-facing surface of the first midsole body. The second midsole body includes a second midsole material, which has a second hardness, and the first hardness is greater than the second hardness.

A sole for an article of footwear includes a fiber-reinforced polymer plate extending from a heel area of the article of footwear to a toe area of the article of footwear, wherein flexibility of the fiber-reinforced polymer plate varies as a function of location along a longitudinal axis of the fiber-reinforced polymer plate, and wherein the fiber-reinforced polymer plate includes a stiffening layer disposed at a midfoot area of the fiber-reinforced polymer plate.

A midsole for an article of footwear is strategically incised or scored to produce various straight and arcuate lines. Straight lines are integrated widthwise between edges on an arch side on an outer side. Arcuate lines are integrated into various places at the top of a toe portion, with at least one extending down through a midpoint in a heel portion. The latter arcuate line maintains curvatures that parallel curvatures on the outer side at some places and the arch side at other places. Also crossing at the midpoint in the heel portion are intersecting lines.

A collapsible rear portion of a rapid-entry shoe comprising an energy set zone having increased hardness or resiliency to bias the collapsible rear portion from an open configuration for easy donning and doffing toward a closed configuration. A method of making such a rapid-entry shoe having a collapsible rear portion is also disclosed.

Support plates, and footwear soles and articles of footwear containing the same. The support plate generally may provide one or more of heel cushioning, arch support in a midfoot region of the support plate, and integral medial and lateral legs extending from the midfoot region of the support plate towards an anterior end of the support plate. An article of footwear may include a support plate at least partially embedded within a sole assembly, such as a midsole thereof. The support plate may be configured to provide energy return and arch support to a wearer of the article of footwear. The support plate may include a domed structure with radially extending arms extending from a central heel portion, where the domed structure provides heel cushioning to the wearer when a force is transmitted through the midsole to the domed structure.

The invention relates to a shoe, in particular a running shoe, comprising: an outsole, which has a predetermined ball line (37), which extends from an inner ball point to an outer ball point, and a ball rocker (38), which is offset rearward toward the heel end (26) in relation to the ball line (37) by an average ball rocker distance (41); an upper; and an insole, which is arranged above the outsole and which is adhesively bonded, together with an edge of the upper, to a top side of the outsole.

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.