Footwear having improved walking comfort

Abstract

An article of footwear including an outer sole assembly and an upper, the upper including a vamp. The upper includes at least one portion structured to deform elastically and reversibly, so that the deformations are controlled.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is based upon French patent application No. 10 / 02467, filed Jun. 11, 2010, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto in its entirety, and the priority of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. §119.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The invention relates to footwear, especially walking or sports shoes. Shoes of this type may be used in fields such as walking, running on flat and mountainous terrain, as well as sports shoes for urban use, the practice of indoor sports such as squash and volleyball, and for the practice team sports such as soccer and handball.[0004]2. Background Information[0005]For the intended uses, a shoe should have a certain flexibility. This means that the shoe must be capable of adjusting to certain deformations of the foot. This includes allowing a good rolling movement of the foot while walking. The foot undergoes substantial deformation in its rolling movement...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a shoe that improves both the support and comfort of the foot. It includes an upper with a deformable portion that controls the deformations, providing better support and comfort during use. The shoe also has a vamp that covers the toes and metatarsus, with an intermediate portion that is elastic and reversible, preventing hard spots and promoting relative movements between the rear and front portions. Overall, the shoe provides good foot retention and comfort during various phases of use.

Problems solved by technology

In practice, the rolling movement of the foot, as the wearer runs or walks, causes substantial deformations to the shape or morphology of the foot.

Furthermore, the volume of the foot generally increases during an intense or prolonged exercise.

This practice leads to both fatigue and a general increase in the volume of the foot, a phenomenon that adds to the variation in the transverse cross section mentioned above.

However, a shoe of this type has been shown to not necessarily provide all of the desired comfort.

This means that the shoe is not comfortable or is less comfortable that it should be.

However, foot support is insufficient in the sense that the transmission of information related to the use of the shoe is modified or insufficient.

To summarize the prior art, one can say that certain shoes provide good support but lack comfort, and that, conversely, other shoes are more comfortable but offer inadequate foot support, at least in certain configurations.

In other words, none of the known shoes can reconcile, with enough optimization, the two contradictory characteristics which are foot support, in terms of accuracy, on the one hand, and comfort, in terms of preventing injuries, blisters, etc., but also in terms of constancy through the duration of use, on the other hand.

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