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Stabilizer and cushioning support for athletic footwearStabilizer and cushioning support for athletic footwear description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20090145004, Stabilizer and cushioning support for athletic footwear. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/005,476, entitled “STABILIZER AND CUSHIONING SUPPORT FOR ATHLETIC FOOTWEAR,” filed on Dec. 5, 2007, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The present invention relates to a combination cushioning and stabilizer device for footwear, and in particular for athletic footwear. Over the past several decades, great efforts have been directed to the design of athletic footwear in order to enhance their performance and comfort. Particular attention has been given to lightweight footwear designed in particular for running and similar activities. Over the years attention has been directed to both providing comfort and stabilization. A good deal of these efforts has been directed to the stabilization and comfort of the heel since the heel portion of the shoe has significant relevance in footwear performance. In designing heel structures that have both stabilizing and cushioning benefits, different considerations and problems are presented by each of these features. In particular, stabilization of a heel requires a relatively secure support which limits the ability of the heel to move. On the other hand, cushioning requires resilience and comfort for the wearer\'s foot when the foot applies a variety of pressures and forces to the shoe. Efforts to solve these apparently inconsistent problems have commonly resulted in the design of midsoles having multiple components that are designed for these features. Some of these designs are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,526 issued Oct. 11, 1994 to Foley et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,199 issued Aug. 25, 1998 to Miller et al; and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0028484 A1 published Feb. 8, 2007 to Akhidime. These and other patents illustrating early work in this art generally disclose the footwear construction in which the footwear sole is provided with a craded arrangement of a midsole that fits into a cradle structure which in turn is supported on the outer sole of the footwear. These arrangements also generally disclose the use of a cradle with cantilevered supports providing some degree of shock absorption to absorb forces applied to the midsole when pressed in a generally downwardly direction by a foot. The specific structure, however, of the interaction between the midsoles and cradles has generally been neglected and has not been afforded the detailed attention required to provide maximum efficiency and balance between cushioning and cradling. Additionally, the interaction of the lower surface of the cradle with the upper surface of the outer sole has been afforded limited protection. As a result, the currently available configurations of these designs do not afford maximum benefits for the combination of the cradle and midsole combination when varying forces are applied to them when the footwear is in use. In one illustrative embodiment, an athletic shoe support structure includes a midsole and cradle combination in which the cradle is provided with a plurality of downwardly projecting pods independently engaging an upper surface of an outer sole and supporting the cradle to receive in nesting relation, the midsole. The cradle includes a bottom and continuous side wall with a plurality of apertures formed in the side wall defined by a plurality of struts with the struts coacting with one another to provide a leaf-spring support for the midsole. The midsole has a side wall with an outwardly projecting flange shaped, sized and dimensioned to engage in snug support with the upper edge of the side wall of the cradle and with a plurality of bosses or projections integrally formed with the side walls of the midsole with the outwardly projecting bosses of the midsole shaped, sized and dimensioned to engage the apertures formed by the struts of the cradle in a snug relation. In another illustrative embodiment, an athletic shoe support structure includes a midsole constructed to resiliently support a foot and a cradle positioned underneath the midsole. The cradle has a bottom and a sidewall upwardly extending from the bottom, where the cradle is arranged to receive the midsole in nesting relation. The cradle sidewall has at least one aperture and the midsole has at least one protrusion, where the protrusion is sized and shaped to engage the at least one aperture in the sidewall. An objective of the present invention is to provide an improved design for a midsole cradle combination in which the interaction of the midsole and cradle provides maximum cushioning and stabilizing effect and in which the benefits of the combination cradle and midsole are maximized when subject to forces in varying directions when foot pressure is applied. A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved midsole cradle combination design for ease in manufacture, installation and use. A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved cradle midsole combination in which the interengagement of the cradle and midsole is stabilized by a series of projections integrally formed with the midsole and projected into apertures formed in the cradle with the apertures having the dual function of providing a cantilever support for limited movement of the cradle while supporting the midsole for engagement with the heel of the wearer\'s foot. A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved cradle midsole combination in which the midsole is formed with the extending pods radially arranged about the periphery of the cradle to provide differential resistance for each of these pods to varying forces applied to the combination cradle and midsole by the wearer\'s foot. The foregoing objects and advantages of the present invention are attained by a footwear construction in which the midsole is suitably nested within a cradle which is in turn may be supported on an outer sole. The cradle is shaped with a series of independent downwardly projecting pods peripherally arranged about the cradle to engage the upper surface of the outer sole. The side walls of the cradle are formed with a series of openings or apertures that essentially define an open lattice work of struts or cross-members. These struts or cross-members cooperate with one another to essentially provide a leaf-spring support for the midsole. The midsole in turn is formed with a series of projections that are sized in shape to engage the aperture and upper edge of the cradle with these projections supporting the midsole in transmitting forces applied to the midsole by the wearer\'s foot to the cradle on use. Forces applied to the cradle through the midsole are transmitted through the cradle to the outer sole through the independent pods which engage the outer sole. A further embodiment of this invention contemplates a cradle and midsole construction in which the cradle and midsole construction are extended lengthwise to form a unitary cradle and sole structure as well as a full length midsole. Various embodiments of the present invention provide certain advantages. Not all embodiments of the invention share the same advantages and those that do may not share them under all circumstances. Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure of various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are schematic and are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the figures, each identical, or substantially similar component that is illustrated in various figures is typically represented by a single numeral or notation. For purposes of clarity, not every component is labeled in every figure, nor is every component of each embodiment of the invention shown where illustration is not necessary to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention. In the drawings: Continue reading about Stabilizer and cushioning support for athletic footwear... Full patent description for Stabilizer and cushioning support for athletic footwear Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Stabilizer and cushioning support for athletic footwear patent application. Patent Applications in related categories: 20090282700 - Footwear with independent suspension and protection - An article of footwear having an upper and a sole is disclosed. The sole of the article of footwear includes a midsole having a support portion and a plurality of projections extending from the support portion. The sole of the article of footwear also includes a plate contacting the support ... ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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