Golf shoe with a stabilizing system

Abstract

A golf shoe has a stabilizing system consisting of an upper, a longitudinally extending midsole consisting of polyurethane, and a shank, wherein the midsole additionally to its longitudinal extension is extended vertically with a medial arch support structure, a lateral side support structure and a heel support structure. The structures are bonded to the outside of the upper and the medial arch support structure and the lateral side support structure extends upwardly and encircles eyelets for lacing of said upper. In order to further stabilize the golf shoe through all the phases of the swing of a golfer, the heel support structure (9) of said midsole (2) extends vertically to a point above the human calcaneus of a wearer, approximately to the point where the Achilles tendon is fixated. Midsole beams (14,23) are extending from the vertically extending heel support structure towards the vertical medial (8) and lateral (7) support structures.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is entitled to the benefit of and incorporates by reference essential subject matter disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT / DK2009 / 000154 filed on Jun. 24, 2009 and Danish Patent Application No. PA 2008 00961 filed on Jul. 8, 2008.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The invention concerns a golf shoe with a stabilizing system.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Stabilization of the golf shoe is needed during the swing phase for mainly two reasons. First, if the shoe is unstable due to a sole with a poor grip or a weak upper, injuries to the ankle in the form of sprain may occur in the follow-through phase, i.e. the part of the swing phase where the right handed golfer has hit the ball and is rotating his body and right leg and foot. Second, with a sufficiently stabilized footing, the golfer can concentrate on other parameters than footing to improve his golfing performance. The need for stabilization of golf shoes has been r...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004]The current invention solves the problem of providing a stabilization system for a golf shoe, which system provides improved stabilisation in all phases of the swing.

[0005]The problem is solved with a stabilization system according to the characterising part of claim 1. This system stabilises and supports the midfoot during the golfswing, hereby increasing the swing power of the golfer. In order to support the foot in all five phases of the golf swing, the polyurethane (PU) midsole is extended vertically on the upper in three selected positions, namely on the outside of the upper on the medial arch, on the lateral side of the foot and in the heel area. In combination, these three vertical support structures, which are integrally moulded with the rest of the PU midsole, provide encapsulation of the foot and increased stability, because they are tightly bonded to the upper of the shoe. Bonding takes place during the PU injection process. PU has a larger stiffness than textile, and the stiffness in the three support structures can be customized by varying the thickness of the PU. The thicker the PU, the more stiff the shoe. A further inventive stabilizing measure is to connect the medial and lateral support structures through respective lateral and medial beams to the vertically extending heel support. This provides additional support and stabilization especially during the backswing, impact and follow-through phases of the swing. The three support structures are extended vertically to a height corresponding to the position of the eyelets on the upper, preferably to the eyelets placed closest to the ankle. In this way the midsole embraces and supports more of the foot than the design of U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,329, where the upwardly extending portions only extend to ⅔ of the distance between the bottom surface of the outsole and the lace openings. The heel support structure according to the present invention extends vertically to a point above the calcaneus of a wearer, and the PU of the arch support structure and the lateral side support structure encircles one or more eyelets. As the support structures follow the shape of the upper, they are inclined towards the lacing area, and exert bending force already from manufacturing. This bending force gives an improved grip between shoe and foot, and contributes to keeping the shape of the shoe over time. When pulling the lace, the medial and lateral support structures are moved towards each other, and this has the effect that an even better grip around the foot is achieved once the golfer has laced his shoe.

[0007]Preferredly, the beams delimit one or more windows which are devoid of midsole material. In order to increase stability, the free space between the beams can be filled with midsole PU, but this adds to the weight of the shoe. It has been found sufficient for stabilization purposes to have single beams of PU being bonded to the upper. This has the advantage, that the midsole can be kept lightweight.

[0008]Further stabilization is achieved if each structure is formed by beams defining an essentially triangular shape of the structure which has a window devoid of midsole material. As is well known in mechanical and construction engineering, triangles add structural strength to a construction.

[0009]Conventionally, a shank is placed in the midsole or between midsole and outsole. It has been found, that increased stability is achieved by using a double shank system, i.e. a first shank fully or partly integrated in the midsole, and a second shank placed between the midsole and the outsole. The second shank is close to the green during addressing, backswing and downswing, while the first shank in the midsole provides stability during impact and follow-through.

[0010]A particularly good stabilization is achieved, where the two shanks overlap each other in an area of the midsole, which area corresponds to the longitudinal position of the encircled eyelets. The toe ends of the shanks are sandwiching the midsole in a place corresponding essentially to the position where the vertically extending beams of the medial and lateral support structures are placed. The first shank in the midsole is surrounded by the three vertically extending support structures.

Problems solved by technology

First, if the shoe is unstable due to a sole with a poor grip or a weak upper, injuries to the ankle in the form of sprain may occur in the follow-through phase, i.e. the part of the swing phase where the right handed golfer has hit the ball and is rotating his body and right leg and foot.

While both solutions contribute to improving stabilization, they suffer from drawbacks.

Sewing additional textiles to the upper is, although giving an opportunity for aesthetic creations, an additional manufacturing step which adds cost to the manufacturing process.

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