SHOE

Abstract

A shoe, which is light and capable of improving cushioning properties and a thrust force occurring upon push off without sacrificing comfort to wear, has a simple structure and can be mass-produced. The shoe is provided with: a shoe body into which a foot is inserted; a hard plate which covers a necessary area on a bottom side of the shoe body in a length direction and is fixed to the bottom side of the shoe body only at a necessary location including a position of a front foot part; and cushion materials which are attached to both end parts of a ground contact side of the hard plate in the length direction.

Claims

1-8. (canceled)

9. A shoe comprising: a shoe body into which a foot is inserted; a hard plate covering a necessary area on a bottom side of the shoe body in a length direction and being fixed to the bottom side of the shoe body only at a necessary location including a position of a front foot part; and cushion materials being attached to at least both end parts of a ground contact side of the hard plate in the length direction.

10. The shoe according to claim 9, wherein the necessary area is the entire shoe body in the length direction.

11. The shoe according to claim 9, wherein the necessary area is an area from the front foot part to a heel part except a toe part.

12. The shoe according to claim 9, wherein the hard plate is curved and projected, at a position corresponding to the front foot part, toward a ground.

13. The shoe according to claim 9, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

14. The shoe according to claim 10, wherein the hard plate is curved and projected, at a position corresponding to the front foot part, toward a ground.

15. The shoe according to claim 10, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

16. The shoe according to claim 11, wherein the cushion material is attached to a position on the bottom side of the shoe body which corresponds to the toe part.

17. The shoe according to claim 11, wherein the hard plate is curved and projected, at a position corresponding to the front foot part, toward a ground.

18. The shoe according to claim 11, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

19. The shoe according to claim 12, wherein a bending resistance of a part of the hard plate corresponding to the area of the front foot part is smaller than that of another part corresponding to an area from an intermediate foot part to the heel part.

20. The shoe according to claim 14, wherein a bending resistance of a part of the hard plate corresponding to the area of the front foot part is smaller than that of another part corresponding to an area from an intermediate foot part to the heel part.

21. The shoe according to claim 16, wherein the hard plate is curved and projected, at a position corresponding to the front foot part, toward a ground.

22. The shoe according to claim 16, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

23. The shoe according to claim 17, wherein a bending resistance of a part of the hard plate corresponding to the area of the front foot part is smaller than that of another part corresponding to an area from an intermediate foot part to the heel part.

24. The shoe according to claim 19, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

25. The shoe according to claim 20, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

26. The shoe according to claim 21, wherein a bending resistance of a part of the hard plate corresponding to the area of the front foot part is smaller than that of another part corresponding to an area from an intermediate foot part to the heel part.

27. The shoe according to claim 23, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

28. The shoe according to claim 26, wherein the hard plate and the cushion material are backwardly projected from the shoe body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG. 1 is a side view of a shoe of Embodiment 1.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hard plate.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a side view of the shoe shown in FIG. 1, in which the shoe is pushed off.

[0021] FIG. 4 is a side view of a shoe of Embodiment 2.

[0022] FIG. 5 is a side view of a shoe of Embodiment 3.

[0023] FIG. 6 is a side view of the conventional shoe (Prior Art).

[0024] FIG. 7 is a side view of another conventional shoe (Prior Art).

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0025] Embodiments of the shoe of the present invention will be described.

Embodiment 1

[0026] As shown in FIG. 1, a shoe 10 of the present embodiment comprises: a shoe body 1 into which a foot F is inserted; a hard plate 2 covering a necessary area on a bottom side of the shoe body in a length direction; and cushion materials 3 being attached on a ground contact side of the hard plate 2.

[0027] The hard plates 2 entirely covers a bottom side of the shoe body 1 in a length direction. A suitable material of the hard plate 2 is a light and has high mechanical strength. In the present embodiment, the hard plate 2 is composed of carbon fiber resin, but the material of the hard plate 2 is not limited to the carbon fiber resin. As shown in FIG. 1, the hard plate 2 is curved and projected, at a position of a front foot part, toward a ground when seen from a side. The hard plate 2 is fixed to a bottom side of the shoe body 1 only in a necessary length area including a border part between a phalange and a metatarsal (a necessary location of the front foot part). Namely, the hard plate 2 is not fixed to the bottom side of the shoe body 1 in an area from an intermediate foot part to a heel part (a rear foot part), and the hard plate 2 is capable of moving to and away from a bottom surface of the shoe body 1.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hard plate 2 seen from a lower side. In the hard plate 2, a plurality of projecting stripes 2a are arranged, in a width direction of the hard plate 2, with prescribed separations. Recessed stripes 2b are respectively formed between the projecting stripes 2a. Namely, in an upper surface of the hard plate 2, the projecting stripes 2a shown in FIG. 2 form the recessed stripes 2b, and the recessed stripes 2b in a bottom surface of the hard plate 2 form the projecting stripes 2a, so that a sectional shape of the hard plate 2 in the width direction is formed into a corrugated shape. By forming the sectional shape in the width direction into the corrugated shape, a weight of the hard plate 2 can be reduced, and a strength (a bending strength) of the hard plate 2 in the length direction can be improved.

[0029] As to a height of each projecting stripe 2a (a depth of each recessed stripe 2b), a depth of the intermediate foot part and the heel part is deeper than that of the front foot part. With this structure, a bending resistance (a bending strength) of the hard plate 2 in an area of the front foot part can be smaller than a bending resistance (a bending strength) thereof in an area from the intermediate foot part to the heel part. The upper and the bottom surfaces of the hard plate 2 may be formed flat. By changing the shape of the hard plate 2, the shoe 10 having a suitable repulsion force and comfortableness according to user's object and preference can be provided.

[0030] Cushion materials 3 are respectively attached to both end parts, i.e., the front foot part and the heel part, of a ground contact side (the bottom side) of the hard plate 2 in the length direction. Namely, as clearly shown in FIG. 1, no cushion material 3 is attached to a part of the hard plate 2 corresponding to the intermediate foot part, so that the parts of the cushion materials 3 contact the ground but the part of the hard plate 2 corresponding to the intermediate foot part is separated from the ground in a state where the shoe 10 is merely put on the ground.

[0031] When the user wearing the shoes 10 begins to run as shown in FIG. 3, only the front foot part of the shoe 10 contacts the ground, so that an area of the hard plate 2, which corresponds to the area from the intermediate foot part to the heel part, is separated from the ground and the heel part of the shoe body 1. Therefore, bending properties of the shoe 10 is not sacrificed, so that the user can smoothly push off the ground. When contacting the ground, a pressure applied to the front foot part and the heel part can be dispersed to an entire sole of user's foot by the hard plate 2, so that comfortableness of the shoe 10 can be improved.

[0032] The cushion materials 3 are respectively attached to the locations of the ground contact side of the hard plate 2 corresponding to the front foot part and the heel part (at least the both end parts of the ground contact side of the hard plate 2 in the length direction). The cushion materials 3 are composed of a material having superior softness and elasticity, e.g., EVA (Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate). By partially providing the cushion materials 3 on the ground contact side of the hard plate 2, the shoe 10 can be suitably lightened.

[0033] In the shoe 10 having the above described structure, grounding impact can be efficiently stored in the cushion materials 3 as elastic energy (repulsion energy). Therefore, when the user pushes off the ground by a ground contact surface of the shoe 10, the repulsion energy generated by restoring the cushion materials 3 can be applied in a direction of push off as a thrust force, so that high power push off can be obtained.

Embodiment 2

[0034] In the shoe 10 of the present embodiment, an area of attaching the hard plate 2 to the shoe body 1 and locations of attaching the cushion materials 3 are different from those of the shoe 10 of Embodiment 1. Concretely, as shown in FIG. 4, the hard plate 2 is provided to the bottom side of the shoe body 1 and in an area in the length direction from the front foot part to the heel part except a toe part. Namely, the hard plate 2 does not cover the toe part of the shoe 10. The hard plate 2 is attached to the bottom side of the shoe body 1 only in the necessary length area including the border part between the phalange and the metatarsal (the necessary location of the front foot part).

[0035] As described above, the part not covered with the hard plate 2 is formed on the bottom side of the shoe body 1, a bending angle of a bending part of the shoe 10, which is a border part between the part covered with the hard plate 2 and the part not covered therewith, can be made wider. With this structure, following capability of the hard plate 2 to the shoe body 1 can be improved when pushing off, so that comfort to wear can be further improved.

[0036] In the shoe 10 of the present embodiment, the cushion material 3 is additionally provided to the bottom side of the shoe body 1 in the toe part which is not covered with the hard plate 2. The cushion material 3 provided to the toe part is separated from the cushion materials 3 which are attached to the both end parts of the ground contact side of the hard plate 2 in the length direction, and it is formed into a triangular shape when seen from a side.

[0037] A maximum thickness of the cushion material 3 covering the toe part is approximately equal to that of the cushion materials 3 attached to the bottom side of the hard plate 2. By employing such cushion materials 3, stumbling which is caused when the cushion material 3 of the toe part unexpectedly contacts the ground while running or walking can be prevented. By wearing the shoes 10, the thrust force occurring upon push off and comfort to wear can be further improved. Elastic coefficients of the cushion materials 3 of the toe part, the front foot part and the heel part may be different from each other.

Embodiment 3

[0038] In FIG. 5, the part of the shoe 10 not covered with the hard plate 2 is covered with the cushion material 3 of the front foot part. Namely, the cushion material 3 of the front foot part and the cushion material 3 of the toe part described in Embodiment 2 are integrated in the present embodiment. With this structure, in comparison with Embodiment 2, producing and attaching the cushion material 3 can be simplified, and durability can be improved.

[0039] In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the hard plate 2 and the cushion material 3 attached to the heel part of the hard plate 2 are backwardly projected from a rear end of the shoe body 1 and form a projecting part 4. By forming the projecting part 4, impact absorbability when grounding can be improved, so that burden of the foot can be suitably reduced.

[0040] The present invention has been explained in detail with reference to the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. For example, the shoe 10 of the above described embodiments is but the shoe may be suitably applied to a walking shoe.

[0041] In the above described embodiments, the cushion materials 3 act as ground contact members of the shoe 10, but outer sole members may be attached to the bottom surfaces of the cushion materials 3 as ground contact members. In Embodiment 1, the bending resistance of the hard plate 2 in the length direction may be partially differed. Concretely, by employing the hard plate 2 in which the bending resistance in the area of the front foot part is smaller than that in the area from the intermediate foot part to the heel part, flexibility of the shoe 10 can be suitably secured even if the hard plate 2 is attached to the entire shoe body 1 in the length direction. Further, by attaching the hard plate 2 to the entire shoe body 1 in the length direction, the shoe 10 having stable comfort to wear can be produced.

[0042] In Embodiment 2, the cushion material 3 is attached to the toe part of the shoe body 1 (the part not covered with the hard plate 2), but the cushion material 3 attached to the toe part of the shoe body 1 may be omitted. With this structure, the weight of the shoe 10 can be further reduced. On the other hand, the cushion material 3 may be attached to cover the entire ground contact side of the hard plate 2. With this structure, stability of the shoe 10 can be improved and the hard plate 2 can be protected when running or walking on an uneven ground.

[0043] Further, the structures of Embodiments 1-3 may be selectively combined or applied to other examples.