FOOTWEAR WITH SHAPED SOLE SURFACE
The present disclosure provides a footwear having a contoured mid sole, which avoids the need for a separate insole member located within the upper of the footwear. In one embodiment the upper of the footwear includes bottom surface interfaces between the user's foot and mid sole. The present disclosure also provides related methods of manufacturing.
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This application claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 61/184,648 filed on Jun. 5, 2009 entitled Footwear with Shaped Sole Surface, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure provides footwear having a contoured foot facing surface and methods of making the same.
BACKGROUNDThe upper surface of a mid sole in traditional footwear is typically not specifically contoured to fit a human foot. Instead, a contoured foot bed is typically used to provide the desired fit characteristics. A cross-section of a prior art footwear is shown in
The present disclosure provides a footwear having a contoured upper sole surface, which avoids the need for a separate insole member located within the upper of the footwear. In one embodiment the upper of the footwear includes bottom surface interfaces between the user's foot and mid sole. The present disclosure also provides related methods of manufacturing.
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The bottom facing surface of the last 36 is contoured in both the lengthwise direction and the widthwise direction.
In the depicted embodiment the upper surface 38 of the sole has the same contours as the bottom portion 50 of the upper 32, which are described above. In the depicted embodiment the periphery of the heel area of the upper surface 38 is more curved than the periphery of the forefoot area of the upper surface of the sole 34. It should be appreciated that the above shown and described radiuses of curvature (R1-R5) of the depicted embodiment are representative of the continuous curves in the periphery of the heel area of the upper surface of the sole 34.
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The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. It should be appreciated that alternative embodiments may include more or less sole components as well as different sole components. For example, in an alternative embodiment the footwear may not include a separate mid sole portion and tread member, a shock absorbing insert, or a heel force distribution member. The sole could be instead constructed of a single material with a continuous upper contoured surface that is directly attached to the bottom surface of the upper and a bottom surface that is configured to engage the ground surface. As discussed above, the present disclosure is not limited to trail running shoes such as the one disclosed above. The above described alternative sole configuration may, for example, be the sole in a casual shoe. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.
Claims
1. A footwear with a fitted sole comprising:
- a sole including a bottom surface configured to engage the ground surface and an upper surface having contours thereon that are configured to reflect the contours on the bottom of a person's foot;
- an upper configured to wrap around a person's foot, the upper including a foot bed portion that is positioned against the upper surface of the sole such that the foot bed portion follows the contours of the upper surface of the sole.
2. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the foot bed portion is constructed of a resilient material.
3. The footwear of claim 2, wherein the foot bed portion is constructed of a urethane material.
4. The footwear of claim 3, wherein the foot bed portion is constructed of a memory foam material.
5. The footwear of claim 2, wherein the foot bed portion has a thickness of between ⅛ to ⅜ of an inch.
6. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the sole includes a radiused periphery in the heel portion.
7. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the radiused periphery has a radius of curvature greater than three-eighths of an inch.
8. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the radiused periphery has a radius of curvature greater than seven-sixteenths of an inch.
9. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the radiused periphery has a radius of curvature greater than seven-sixteenths of an inch in the heel area and less than seven-sixteenths in the forefoot.
10. The footwear of claim 1, wherein a support member is positioned between the top surface of the sole and the bottom surface of the sole.
11. The footwear of claim 10, wherein the support member includes a forefoot plate portion configured for point load distribution.
12. The footwear of claim 11, wherein the forefoot portion includes opposed torsion arms that connect in the mid foot portion of the sole and extend towards the rear of the sole.
13. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the foot bed is adhered to the upper surface of the sole.
14. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the top surface of the sole in the heel area along the center of the sole is curved at the periphery with a radius of curvature that is greater than seven-sixteenths of an inch.
15. A footwear with a fitted sole comprising:
- a sole including a bottom surface configured to engage the ground surface and a contoured upper surface;
- an upper configured to wrap around a person's foot, the upper including a foot bed portion that is positioned against the upper surface of the sole such that the foot bed portion follows the contours of the upper surface of the sole;
- wherein the upper is configured to not receive a removable insole.
16. The footwear of claim 15, wherein the footwear does not include a removable insole positioned above the foot bed within the upper.
17. A method of manufacturing a footwear comprising:
- providing a sole with a contoured upper surface;
- providing an upper with a resilient foot bed portion;
- connecting the resilient foot bed portion to the contoured upper surface such that the foot bed portion is contoured to fit a person's foot.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein footwear is constructed without inserting an insole into the upper.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the heel portion of the surface of the sole is concaved.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the periphery of the heel portion of the upper surface of the sole has a radius of curvature greater than seven-sixteenths of an inch.
21. The method of claim 17, comprising the step of providing a last into the upper, wherein the last includes a contoured bottom surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 4, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 9, 2010
Applicant: Red Wing Shoe Company, Inc. (Red Wing, MN)
Inventors: Kenton D. Geer (Red Wing, MN), Brian J. Hall (Hudson, WI)
Application Number: 12/794,410
International Classification: A43B 13/14 (20060101); A43D 8/00 (20060101); A43D 33/00 (20060101); A43B 23/00 (20060101);