초록 ▼

Athletic footwear has an upper and sole. The sole has heel and midfoot regions and metatarsel and toe regions which include a foundation layer of semi-flexible material attached to the upper and defining a plurality of stretch chambers, a stretch layer attached to the foundation layer and having por

Athletic footwear has an upper and sole. The sole has heel and midfoot regions and metatarsel and toe regions which include a foundation layer of semi-flexible material attached to the upper and defining a plurality of stretch chambers, a stretch layer attached to the foundation layer and having portions of elastic stretchable material underlying the stretch chambers of the foundation layer, and a thrustor layer attached to the stretch layer and having portions of stiff material underlying and aligned with the stretch chambers of the foundation layer. Whereas components of the heel and midfoot regions of the heel provide temporary storage and retrieval of applied energy at central and peripheral sites underlying the heel and midfoot of the wearer's foot, components of the metatarsel and toe regions of the sole provide temporary storage and retrieval of applied energy at independent sites underlying the individual metatarsals and toes of the wearer's foot.

대표청구항 ▼

[I claim:] [1.]a stretch layer having a first side and a second side;a foundation layer disposed on said first side of said stretch layer defining a plurality of stretch chambers peripherally-located so as to underlie at least a heel portion of a wearer's foot, wherein said stretch layer has at leas

[I claim:] [1.]a stretch layer having a first side and a second side;a foundation layer disposed on said first side of said stretch layer defining a plurality of stretch chambers peripherally-located so as to underlie at least a heel portion of a wearer's foot, wherein said stretch layer has at least portions of elastic stretchable material aligned with said stretch chambers of said foundation layer; anda thrustor layer including a plurality of thrustors thereon disposed on said second side of said stretch layer, said plurality of thrustors being disposed only along a periphery of said thrustor layer and aligned with said stretch chambers of said foundation layer and with said portions of elastic stretchable material of said stretch layer disposed between said plurality of thrustors and said foundation layer such that interactions can occur between said foundation layer, stretch layer and plurality of thrusters in response to compressive forces applied thereto upon contact of said sole construction with a support surface so as to convert and temporarily store energy applied to said sole construction by a wearer's foot into mechanical stretching of said portions of said stretch layer into said stretch chambers, said stored applied energy thereafter being retrieved in the form of rebound of said stretched portions of elastic stretchable material of said stretch layer and said plurality of thrustors therewith.