US 12,279,670 B2
Plate, sole, and shoe
Yoshikazu Mitsuhata, Kobe (JP); and Takayuki Kogure, Kobe (JP)
Assigned to ASICS CORPORATION, Kobe (JP)
Filed by ASICS CORPORATION, Kobe (JP)
Filed on Sep. 29, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/936,702.
Claims priority of application No. 2021-164112 (JP), filed on Oct. 5, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0104731 A1, Apr. 6, 2023
Int. Cl. A43B 13/18 (2006.01)
CPC A43B 13/18 (2013.01) 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A sole comprising:
a plate,
a midsole forming a part of the sole, and
an outsole forming a ground contact portion, wherein
the plate includes
a front support portion that is at a position configured to overlap, in a thickness direction of the sole, MP joints of a wearer of the sole, and is configured to support a forefoot portion of the wearer; and
a center support portion that has a shape extending rearward from the front support portion, is at a position configured to overlap, in the thickness direction of the sole, metatarsal bones of the wearer of the sole, and is configured to support at least a midfoot portion of the wearer, wherein
the front support portion is configured in a curved shape with a single downward protrusion in a cross section in a foot width direction, when the sole is placed on a flat plane, and
the center support portion has a shape with an upward protrusion and a downward protrusion arranged alternately in the foot width direction in a cross section in the foot width direction, when the sole is placed on the flat plane, wherein the upward protrusion has a shape curved to protrude upward and the downward protrusion has a shape curved to protrude downward,
the center support portion includes a center projection including one of the upward protrusion and the downward protrusion configured centrally in the foot width direction, and a second projection including the other one of the upward protrusion and the downward protrusion configured inward or outward of the center projection contiguously to the center projection in the foot width direction,
a length from an upper end of the upward protrusion to a lower end of the downward protrusion is largest in a center portion of the center support portion in a foot length direction, and decreases gradually from the center portion toward a front or a rear in the foot length direction,
the midsole includes a lower midsole and an upper midsole connected onto the lower midsole,
the plate is disposed between the lower midsole and the upper midsole, and
the lower midsole includes a portion sandwiched between the front support portion and the outsole.