ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR

Abstract

An article of footwear includes an upper having an outer surface, a foot insertion volume, and a sole facing surface. A sole assembly includes a medial part, a lateral part, and a central axis extending from a heel region towards a forefoot region of the sole assembly. A first sole part (midsole or outsole) has a ground facing surface and a foot facing surface. A medial reinforcement member is positioned at a medial side of the sole assembly, and/or a lateral reinforcement member is positioned at a lateral side of the sole assembly. The medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member include a transverse part extending in a transverse direction from a peripheral boundary of the first sole part in a direction towards the central axis.

Claims

1. An article of footwear comprising: an upper having an outer surface, a foot insertion volume, and a sole facing surface; and a sole assembly having a medial part, a lateral part, and a central axis extending from a heel region, towards a forefoot region of the sole assembly, the sole assembly comprising: a first sole part having a ground facing surface and a foot facing surface, and a medial reinforcement member positioned at a medial side of the sole assembly, and/or a lateral reinforcement member positioned at a lateral side of the sole assembly, where the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member comprise a transverse part extending in a transverse direction from a peripheral boundary of the first sole part in a direction towards the central axis.

2. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 1, wherein the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member are positioned in an arch region of the sole assembly, where the arch region is positioned in a region between the heel region and the forefoot region of the sole assembly.

3. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 1, wherein the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member comprises a vertical part that extends in a direction from the ground facing surface of the first sole part and towards the upper.

4. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first sole part is a midsole, where the midsole extends from the heel region of the sole assembly to the forefoot region of the sole assembly.

5. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 1, wherein the sole assembly further comprises a second sole part having a ground facing surface and a foot facing surface, where the second sole part is an outsole.

6. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 5, wherein the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member are joined to the second sole part.

7. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 5, wherein the foot facing surface of the second sole part comprises an embossment which is positioned in an arch region of the second sole part.

8. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 5, wherein the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member has a material stiffness that is higher than a material stiffness of the first sole part and/or a material stiffness of the second sole part.

9. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 1, wherein the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member comprises a heel facing end that is positioned in a region that is located between 10-50% of a length of the sole assembly from a heel end towards a toe end and/or a toe facing end that is positioned in a region that is located between 10-60% of the length of the sole assembly from the toe end towards the heel end.

10. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 3, wherein the vertical part comprises a vertical axis, and the transverse part comprises a transverse axis, where the transverse axis is at an angle between 45-135 degrees relative to each other.

11. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 1, wherein a lateral part of the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member comprises a ground facing part and a foot facing part, where the foot facing part of the lateral part of the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member comprises a cavity having a predefined first volume.

12. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 11, wherein the first sole part and/or a second sole part extends into the predefined first volume.

13. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 3, wherein the vertical part and/or the lateral part of the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member defines an outer surface of the sole assembly.

14. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 3, wherein the first sole is a direct injection molded sole which is directly molded to the medial reinforcement member and/or the lateral reinforcement member.

15. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 3, wherein the transverse part has a first width in a peripheral end of the transverse part and a second width in a central end of the transverse part, where the first width is different from the second width.

16. The article of footwear in accordance with claim 1, the sole assembly comprises the medial reinforcement member and the lateral reinforcement member, where the medial reinforcement member and the lateral reinforcement member are separated from each other.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] The following is an explanation of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which

[0052] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an article of footwear having a sole assembly,

[0053] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a ground facing surface a sole assembly that is part of an article of footwear,

[0054] FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a sole assembly,

[0055] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a sole assembly taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1, and

[0056] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an alternative embodiment taken along line IV-IV of a sole assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] Various exemplary embodiments and details are described hereinafter, with reference to the figures when relevant. It should be noted that the figures may or may not be drawn to scale and that elements of similar structures or functions are represented by like reference numerals throughout the figures. It should also be noted that the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the embodiments. They are not intended as an exhaustive description of the disclosure or as a limitation on the scope of the disclosure. In addition, an illustrated embodiment needs not have all the aspects or advantages shown. An aspect or an advantage described in conjunction with a particular embodiment is not necessarily limited to that embodiment and can be practiced in any other embodiments even if not so illustrated, or if not so explicitly described.

[0058] FIGS. 1 and 2 shows an article of footwear 2, having an upper 4, and a sole assembly 6. The sole assembly has a forefoot part 8, an arch part 10 and a heel part 12, where the current view of the article of footwear 2 shows a lateral side 14 of the article of footwear. The sole assembly 6 comprises in this embodiment a first sole part 16, in the form of a midsole 16, as well as a second sole part 18, in the form of an outsole 18. The midsole 16 connects the outsole 18 to a lower part of the upper 4 from the toe end 20 to the heel end 22 of the sole assembly 6. The midsole 16 may e.g., be constructed out of a Polyurethane substance (PU) while the outsole may be constructed out of Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU).

[0059] The sole assembly 6 further comprises a reinforcement member 24, where the reinforcement member comprises a vertical part 26 which extends in an upwards vertical direction along a peripheral part 30 of the sole assembly 6, and a transverse part 28 (shown in FIG. 2), which extends in a transverse direction towards a central axis A of the sole assembly 6. The reinforcement member 24 may be made out of a material that has a higher rigidity than the first sole part 16 and/or the second sole part 18, so that the reinforcement member provides an increased rigidity to the first sole part 16 and/or the second sole part. The increased rigidity may be obtained via the vertical part 26 or the transverse part 28, where the vertical part 26 provides an increased rigidity in e.g., along the longitudinal axis of the sole assembly, while the transverse part may provide increased rigidity along a transverse axis B. Thus, if the sole assembly has a vertical part of a reinforcement part 24 the increased rigidity may increase the force necessary to bend the sole in a transverse direction (along the transverse axis B) and/or to twist the sole assembly along the longitudinal axis A. The vertical part 26 of the reinforcement member 24 may be increase the rigidity in a direction different from the transverse part 28 when both parts 26, 28 are present in the sole assembly.

[0060] The reinforcement member 26 may comprise a toe facing end 32 and a heel facing end 34, where the reinforcement member 26 extends uninterrupted from the toe facing end 32 to the heel facing end 34. As seen in FIG. 2, the sole assembly may comprise a lateral reinforcement member 24 which is positioned at the lateral side 14 of the sole assembly 6 and a medial reinforcement member 36 which is positioned at a medial side 38 of the sole assembly. Optionally, the sole assembly 6 may comprise one reinforcement member, and it is to be understood by the present disclosure that the presence of one reinforcement member does not necessitate a second reinforcement member. However, should it be desired to provide support on one or more positions of the sole assembly, either on a peripheral side of the sole assembly or on ground facing part of the sole assembly a reinforcement member may be positioned on this part of the sole assembly to increase the rigidity of the sole assembly in the area where the reinforcement member is positioned.

[0061] FIG. 2 shows a view of the second sole part 18, or an outsole 18 of the sole assembly. The outsole in this example may be an outsole 18 for a golf shoe, where the outsole 18 has a plurality of cleats 40, where the cleats 40 are positioned to increase traction between the outsole 18 and the ground, e.g. in the form of grass. The cleats 40 may be distributed along the heel area, the arch area and the forefoot area of the outsole 18 and/or the sole assembly 6, where the cleats improve traction between the ground and the shoe, especially in a rotational movement along the plane of the ground surface when a player is swinging a golf club.

[0062] The reinforcement member 24 has a vertical part 26 and a transverse part 28, where the transverse part extends from a peripheral part 30 (peripheral boundary) in a direction inwards towards a central axis C of the sole assembly 6. The vertical part 26 and the transverse part 28 may be connected to each other via a bending line 42, which may extend along the longitudinal length of the reinforcement member 24. The bending line 42 may have a curvature which follows the peripheral part 30 of the outsole, where in the arch area the curvature may be seen as extending in a direction towards the central axis C in a central part 44 of the reinforcement member 24, in the area between the heel facing end 35 and the toe facing end 34. The curvature of the reinforcement member may provide an increased rigidity of the reinforcement member 24, as a curved connecting line may be stiffer than a straight line, at least in a predefined direction.

[0063] FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the article of footwear 2, where the ground facing surface 46 of the outsole 18. The sole assembly 6 comprises a medial reinforcement member 36 and a lateral reinforcement member 24, which are positioned on opposite sides of a central axis C of the sole assembly. The transverse part of the reinforcement members 24, 36, have a peripheral end 48 and a central end 50, where the peripheral end of the transverse part 28 may have a length along the central axis C or the longitudinal axis A of the sole assembly that is longer than the central end 50 of the peripheral part 28. Thus, as seen in a plane that is parallel to a surface, the transverse part 28 may be seen as being tapered in a direction towards the central axis. The tapering may provide a higher reinforcement at a peripheral end 48 of the transverse part than at a central end 50 of the transverse part.

[0064] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of an article of footwear, taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1. The article of footwear 2 may have an upper 4 to accommodate the foot of the user, where the upper has a ground facing surface 52. The article of footwear comprises a sole assembly 6, where the sole assembly has a first sole part 16 having a foot facing surface 54 and a ground facing surface 56, an outer surface 57 and a lateral part 58 and a medial part 60, where the lateral part 58 and the medial part 60 have a lateral peripheral boundary 62 and a medial peripheral boundary 64. The sole assembly 6 comprises a second sole part 18 (outsole) having a foot facing surface 66 and a ground facing surface 68.The sole assembly further comprises a medial reinforcement member 36 and a lateral reinforcement member 24, where the reinforcement members have a vertical part 26 and a transverse part 28, an inner surface 70 and an outer surface 72.

[0065] In this embodiment, the inner surface 70 of the reinforcement members 24, 38 is attached to the outer surface 57 of the first sole part 16. The reinforcement members have a material stiffness that is higher than the material stiffness of the first sole part 16, so the reinforcement members provide the first sole part 16 with increased rigidity/stiffness in the areas where the reinforcement member is attached to the first sole part. Thus, the reinforcement members may be capable of providing the first sole part 16 with increased stiffness in predefined areas where the reinforcement members 24, 38 overlaps the first sole part 16. A lateral boundary 74 and a medial boundary 76 of the second sole part 18 may abut the central end 50 of the reinforcement members, so that the second sole part 18 and the transverse member 28 cover the ground facing surface 56 of the first sole part. The foot facing surface 66 of the second sole part may be attached to the ground facing surface 56 of the first sole part 16. The attachment of the reinforcement member and the outsole may be done during the injection moulding of the first sole part 16, where the second sole part 18 and the reinforcement members may be inserted into a mould for a sole assembly prior to injection moulding, and where the material of the first sole part 16 adheres or bonds with the second sole part 18 and/or the reinforcement member.

[0066] FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment, shown in a similar sectional view as FIG. 4, where the second sole part 18 and the medial 38 and lateral reinforcement members 24 are joined together, where the inner surface 70 of the reinforcement members 24, 38 is attached to the ground facing surface 68 of the second sole part 18. Thus, the lateral boundary 74 and the medial boundary 76 of the second sole part extends towards the inner surface 70 vertical part 26 of the reinforcement member 24, 38. By joining the reinforcement member 24, 38 and the second sole part 18 it may be possible to prefabricate the joint first sole part and reinforcement members prior to the insertion of these elements into a shoe mould, and thereby save labor time when the elements are positioned inside a shoe/sole mould. Thus, in the areas where the reinforcement member 24, 38 overlap the second sole part 18, the second sole part 18 is positioned between the first sole part 16 and the reinforcement member 24, 38.

[0067] Based on the present disclosure, it may be understood that specific mentioning's of a lateral reinforcement member may be applied to the medial reinforcement member, and vice versa, should an exemplary embodiment of the article of footwear have two or more reinforcement members. One or more reinforcement member may have a vertical part and a transverse part, only have a vertical part, or only have a transverse part, depending on which parts of the sole assembly are to be reinforced.

[0068] The reinforcement member 24 may optionally be positioned in the arch part 10 of the sole assembly, where the reinforcement member may increase the rigidity of the arch portion of the sole assembly.

[0069] The use of the terms “first”, “second”, “third” and “fourth”, “primary”, “secondary”, “tertiary” etc. does not imply any particular order but are included to identify individual elements. Moreover, the use of the terms “first”, “second”, “third” and “fourth”, “primary”, “secondary”, “tertiary” etc. does not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms “first”, “second”, “third” and “fourth”, “primary”, “secondary”, “tertiary” etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Note that the words “first”, “second”, “third” and “fourth”, “primary”, “secondary”, “tertiary” etc. are used here and elsewhere for labelling purposes only and are not intended to denote any specific spatial or temporal ordering.

[0070] Furthermore, the labelling of a first element does not imply the presence of a second element and vice versa.

[0071] It is to be noted that the word “comprising” does not necessarily exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed.

[0072] It is to be noted that the words “a” or “an” preceding an element do not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.

[0073] It should further be noted that any reference signs do not limit the scope of the claims.

[0074] Although features have been shown and described, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the claimed invention, and it will be made obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense. The claimed invention is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents.

LIST OF REFERENCES

[0075] 2 Article of footwear (golf shoe)

[0076] 4 Upper

[0077] 6 Sole assembly

[0078] 8 Forefoot part

[0079] 10 Arch Part

[0080] 12 Heel part

[0081] 14 Lateral Side

[0082] 16 First sole part

[0083] 18 Second sole part

[0084] 20 Toe end

[0085] 22 Heel end

[0086] 24 Lateral Reinforcement member

[0087] 26 Vertical part

[0088] 28 Transverse part

[0089] 30 Peripheral part

[0090] 32 Toe facing end

[0091] 34 Heel facing end

[0092] 36 Medial reinforcement member

[0093] 38 Medial side

[0094] 40 Cleat

[0095] 42 Bending line

[0096] 44 Central part

[0097] 46 Ground facing surface of second sole part

[0098] 48 Peripheral end

[0099] 50 Central end

[0100] 52 Ground facing surface of upper

[0101] 54 Foot facing surface of first sole part

[0102] 56 Ground facing surface of first sole part

[0103] 57 Outer surface of first sole part

[0104] 58 Lateral part

[0105] 60 Medial part

[0106] 62 Lateral peripheral boundary

[0107] 64 Medial peripheral boundary

[0108] 66 Foot facing surface of second sole part

[0109] 68 Ground facing surface of second sole part

[0110] 70 Inner surface of reinforcement member

[0111] 72 Outer surface of reinforcement member

[0112] 74 Lateral boundary of second sole part

[0113] 76 Medial boundary of second sole part.