SHOE SOLE ASSEMBLY, SHOE, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SHOE

Abstract

A shoe sole assembly having a hindfoot section and a forefoot section including an inner sole having a shock absorbing material, a load-bearing outer sole configured to receive the inner sole, and a heel piece including a recess configured to receive at least part of the hindfoot section of the load-bearing outer sole. The recess is upwardly open and open towards the forefoot section. A shoe includes an upper and the shoe sole assembly. A method of manufacturing a shoe includes the steps of forming the load-bearing outer sole based on a lower side of a last, fastening part of the hindfoot section of the load-bearing outer sole to the heel piece, which has a recess which is upwardly open and open towards the forefoot section, and fastening the upper to the upper surface of the load-bearing outer sole.

Claims

1. A shoe sole assembly having a hindfoot section and a forefoot section, comprising: an inner sole, comprising a shock absorbing material; a load-bearing outer sole configured to receive the inner sole; and a heel piece, comprising a recess configured to receive at least part of the hindfoot section of the load-bearing outer sole, wherein the recess is upwardly open and is open towards the forefoot section.

2. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a forefoot piece, comprising a forefoot recess configured to receive at least part of the forefoot section of the load-bearing outer sole, wherein the recess is upwardly open and open towards the hindfoot section.

3. Shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein the load-bearing outer sole consists of a plastic, a fiber reinforced plastic, an aramid reinforced plastic, a carbon fiber reinforced plastic, a metal reinforced plastic, a metal, or a wood.

4. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein the load-bearing outer sole is coated with a metal, a plastic, a fabric, a mineral, a mineral crystal, an organic material, a lacquer, a varnish, or combinations thereof.

5. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein the recess is substantially concave.

6. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein the load-bearing outer sole comprises a raised edge along its circumference.

7. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the inner sole substantially corresponds to the depth of the recess, such that the inner sole substantially fills the recess.

8. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein the load-bearing outer sole comprises a separate load-bearing hindfoot outer sole and a separate load-bearing forefoot outer sole, so as to allow bending of the shoe sole assembly between the hindfoot part and the forefoot part.

9. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 8, wherein the load-bearing hindfoot outer sole and the load-bearing forefoot outer sole are connected by a flexible material, such as rubber.

10. The shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein the heel piece and/or the forefoot section of the load-bearing outer sole comprise a wear-resistant bottom sole on the underside thereof.

11. A shoe, comprising an upper and the shoe sole assembly according to claim 1, wherein the upper is attached to the shoe sole assembly.

12. The shoe according to claim 11, wherein the load-bearing outer sole extends over at least a portion of the upper.

13. A method of manufacturing a shoe according to claim 11, comprising: forming the load-bearing outer sole based on a lower side of a last; fastening part of the hindfoot section of the load-bearing outer sole to the heel piece, which has a recess which is upwardly open and open towards the forefoot section; and fastening the upper to the upper surface of the load-bearing outer sole.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising placing or fastening the inner sole to the upper.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the fastening steps comprises fastening with an adhesive.

Description

[0030] The present invention is further elucidated below with reference to the figures.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of an embodiment of a shoe;

[0032] FIG. 2 shows an assembled state of a shoe according to the embodiment of FIG. 1; and

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of an assembled shoe.

[0034] FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a shoe 1, comprising a load-bearing outer sole 2, a heel piece 3, an inner sole 4, an upper 5, and a forefoot piece 6. In the shown embodiment the outer sole 2 is comprised of a hindfoot outer sole 20 (also referred to as hindfoot part), and a forefoot outer sole 21 (also referred to as forefoot part), which are preferably made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).

[0035] The outer sole 2 is configured to receive the upper 5, and is therefore shaped according to the bottom surface 50 of the upper 5. The outer sole 2 further comprises a raised edge 22 along its outer circumference, which increases the stiffness of the outer sole 2 and in addition provides a larger contact surface between the upper 5 and the outer sole 2, such that a strong bond is formed therebetween by means of an adhesive. In further addition, the upper 5 is easily positioned on the outer sole 2 as the raised edge thereof 22 guides the upper 5 in the correct position during placement. The raised edge 22 is only interrupted between the hindfoot part 20 and the forefoot part 21 of the outer sole 2. In order to join the hindfoot 20 and forefoot 21 parts, a forefoot piece 6 is provided. In the shown embodiment the forefoot piece 6 is configured to be somewhat flexible, such that the sole assembly (2, 3, 4) is able to bend between the hindfoot part 20 and the forefoot part 21 of the outer sole 2. Namely, this location roughly corresponds to the location of the joints of the toes of a user wearing the shoe 1, such that a natural walking movement is allowed. A further advantage of the load-bearing outer sole 2 is that it effectively retains the shape of the nose portion, i.e. the forefoot portion, of the shoe 1.

[0036] The forefoot piece 6 comprises two ridges 60 extending upwardly from opposing sides of the forefoot piece 6. These ridges 60 allow, for instance, the correct positioning of the forefoot part 21 of the outer sole 2 thereon. In addition, the ridges 60 cover the transition portion between the hindfoot part 20 and the forefoot part 21 of the outer sole 2, such that the outer sole 2 has the appearance of being formed as a solid one-piece monocoque structure. The forefoot piece 6 is made of a flexible wear-resistant material 7, such as rubber, so as to allow bending between the hindfoot part 20 and the forefoot part 21. Furthermore, materials such as rubber provide grip, i.e. high friction, between the underside of the shoe 1 and the surface on which the shoe 1 is being used. In addition, as the flexible material is wear-resistant, the shoe 1, and in particular the outer sole 2, is also durable, as the outer sole 2 does not directly contact the ground whilst walking, which would scratch, abrade, or otherwise damage the outer sole 2. It is noted that the forefoot piece 6 may consist fully of the flexible wear-resistant material 7, or may be comprised of a wear-resistant material 7 on its underside and another flexible material on top of the wear-resistant material 7. Furthermore, the forefoot piece 6 may comprise a concave recess so as to allow for additional shock absorbing material in the inner sole 4.

[0037] With reference to FIG. 1 an embodiment of the heel piece 3 is herewith described in detail. The shown heel piece 3 comprises a substantially flat bottom surface 31, which is covered with a wear-resistant material 7, such as rubber or a plastic or the like. It is noted that the bottom surface 31 may also be partially covered in the wear-resistant material 7 or may not comprise wear-resistant material 7 at all. During use of the shoe 1, the bottom surface 31 contacts the floor on which the user walks, and is therefore most susceptible to wear. Furthermore, the heel piece 3 comprises a concave recess 30, which is configured to receive part of the hindfoot part 20 of the outer sole 2. The recess 30 is open in an upward direction U and toward the forefoot section direction F of the shoe 1. In contrast to a traditional dress shoe, the heel piece 3 comprising the recess 30 provides a bigger volume beneath the user's foot, so as to accommodate a thicker inner sole 4 as compared to the traditional shoe. However, the heel piece 3 retains the exterior appearance of the traditional heel piece due to the raised wall 32 along the outer contour of the upper 5, i.e. the recess 30 is not visible. Therefore, the traditional dress shoe appearance is maintained whilst providing additional volume for shock absorbing material by means of a thicker inner sole 4 comprising said material.

[0038] The concave shape of the recess 30 of the heel piece 3 ensures structural stiffness of the raised wall 32 and approximately follows the convex contour of the bottom side of a human foot's heel (not shown). Therefore, as the inner sole 4 is compressed by the weight and walking movement of a person, it is compressed into a concave recess 30 and therefore distributes the weight of the person along the entire heel of the person. Therefore, the shocks and pressure experienced by the user during walking are not concentrated on a small area of the foot of the user, which may cause discomfort, but are distributed over a larger area, i.e. the experienced pressure on heel of the foot is decreased. The inner sole 4 extends over the entire length and width of the outer sole 2, but has its greatest thickness above the heel piece 3. The recess 30 of the heel piece 3 accommodates the greater thickness and the majority of the pressure whilst walking in a normal fashion is generally concentrated at the heel portion of the user's foot. Hence, physical discomfort of the user of the shoe 1 is effectively mitigated. The concave shape of the recess 30 also closely follows the contour of the part of the hindfoot part 20 of the outer sole 2 which it receives when mounting the outer sole 2 to the heel piece 3, such that as large as possible contact surface between the heel piece 3 and the outer sole 2 is created. A large contact surface increases the strength of the bond, especially when an adhesive is utilized for mounting.

[0039] FIG. 2 shows an assembled state of a shoe according to the embodiment of FIG. 1. The proportions shown in FIG. 2 are mainly for illustrative purposes, i.e. FIG. 2 is to be considered a schematic drawing. However, the proportions may naturally be chosen as desired. The upper 5 of the shoe 1 contains the inner sole 4 (not shown in FIG. 2), and is shown as the uppermost part of the shoe 1. The upper 5 is fastened to the upper side of the load-bearing outer sole 2, of which mainly the raised edge 22 remains visible. The forefoot piece 6 and heel piece 3 are fastened to the lower side of the outer sole 2, wherein surface of the recess 30 of the heel piece 3 is preferably entirely in contact with the lower surface of the outer sole 2. It is clearly visible that the transition between the hindfoot part 20 and the forefoot part 21 of the load-bearing outer sole 2 is hidden behind the ridges 60 of the forefoot piece 6. The lowermost portion of the shoe 1 consists of a wear-resistant material 7, such as rubber, which furthermore may aid in providing grip on slippery surfaces, as described above. As the load-bearing outer sole 2 is somewhat visible from the side of the shoe 1, the visible surface thereof may be coated in a lacquer or another type of decorative material as described above. The load-bearing outer sole 2 may be, for instance for decorative or structural purposes, extended over part of the upper 5. For instance, the outer sole 2 may cover part of the toe in order to provide a ‘cap toe’ style, or may form, for instance, a ‘monk strap’ or another type of fastener for fastening shoes. The outer sole 2 may extend in narrow resilient strips towards the traditional shoe lace-location (see for instance FIG. 3), so as to form an alternative to shoe laces or ‘monk straps’, for instance by using hook fasteners at the ends of the strips or by using the inherent resilience of the resilient strips. As shown, the outer sole 2 is slightly downwardly arched so as to effectively bridge a gap between the heel piece 3 and the forefoot piece 6 (or in another embodiment, between the heel piece 3 and the ground and/or a wear-resistant material 7). This downward arch in turn provides additional rigidity and follows the natural arch of the human foot. The outer sole 2 may also arch slightly upward near the forefoot section of the shoe sole assembly 1, for visual appearance and/or prevention of sliding of the foot of a user on the shoe sole assembly 1.

[0040] FIG. 3 depicts another preferred embodiment according to the invention. The main differentiating feature in comparison with the embodiment of FIG. 2 is that the raised edge of the load-bearing outer sole 2 is trimmed, so as to be less visible as seen from the side of the shoe 1. Accordingly, the shoe's 1 exterior appearance closely corresponds to the exterior appearance of a traditional dress shoe. As mentioned above, the upper 5 may comprise a multitude of functional and non-functional features, such as shoelaces 8.

[0041] The invention is not limited to the shown embodiments of the shoe and shoe sole assembly, but also extends to other preferred variants thereof falling within the scope of the appended claims.