Spring cushioned shoe

Abstract

A spring cushioned shoe is disclosed. The shoe includes a sole assembly that has a first spring disposed within a vacuity in the heel portion of the assembly, and a second spring disposed within a vacuity in the ball portion of the assembly. The springs are, e.g., wave springs that extend vertically from the upper to the lower internal boundaries of the vacuities.

1 . A sole assembly for an article of footwear, the sole assembly having a heel region and a ball region, and the sole assembly comprising: 
 a first wave spring disposed within the heel region; and    a second wave spring disposed within the ball region.    
     
     
         2 . The sole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the wave springs are crest-to-crest wave springs.  
     
     
         3 . The sole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the wave springs are selected from the group consisting of interlaced wave springs and nested wave springs.  
     
     
         4 . The sole assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a first vacuity in the heel region and a second vacuity in the ball region, wherein the first wave spring is disposed within the first vacuity, and the second wave spring is disposed within the second vacuity.  
     
     
         5 . The sole assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising a receiving clip disposed within the first vacuity, the receiving clip having a rigid upper internal surface and a rigid lower internal surface, the upper and lower internal surfaces each including a protrusion that defines a groove, 
 wherein the first wave spring has an upper and a lower terminal shim ends, and the first wave spring is disposed within the receiving clip such that its upper terminal shim end is disposed within the groove of the upper internal surface, and its lower terminal shim end is disposed within the groove of the lower internal surface.    
     
     
         6 . The sole assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the receiving clip further comprises a pair of opposed spring compression limiters attached to the upper and lower internal surfaces respectively, the spring compression limiters engaging upper and lower sides of the wave spring respectively.  
     
     
         7 . The sole assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the spring compression limiters are generally cylindrically shaped.  
     
     
         8 . The sole assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the clip is U-shaped.  
     
     
         9 . The sole assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising upper and a lower plastic plates disposed within the first vacuity, on opposite sides of the vacuity, each plate comprising a protrusion that defines a groove, 
 wherein the first wave spring has an upper and a lower terminal shim end, and the first wave spring is disposed between the plates such that its upper terminal shim end is disposed within the groove of the upper plate, and its lower terminal shim end is disposed within the groove of the lower plate.    
     
     
         10 . The sole assembly of  claim 9 , further comprising a pair of opposed spring compression limiters attached to the upper and lower plates respectively, the spring compression limiters engaging upper and lower sides of the wave spring respectively.  
     
     
         11 . The sole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first wave spring has a greater free height than the second wave spring.  
     
     
         12 . A spring cushioned shoe comprising: 
 an upper support member for receiving a human foot; and    a sole assembly affixed to the upper support member the sole assembly comprising a first wave spring disposed within a heel region of the assembly, and a second wave spring disposed within a ball region of the assembly.    
     
     
         13 . The sole assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the first vacuity is bounded vertically by opposed first upper and first lower internal surfaces, the second vacuity is bounded vertically by opposed second upper and second lower internal surfaces, and wherein the first wave spring extends vertically from the first upper surface to the first lower surface, and the second wave spring extends vertically from the second upper surface to the second lower surface.  
     
     
         14 . The sole assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising a lower sole, a middle sole and an upper sole, the middle sole including the first and second vacuities.  
     
     
         15 . The sole assembly of  claim 4 , wherein a distance between the first upper and first lower surfaces of the first vacuity is greater than a distance between the second upper and second lower surfaces of the second vacuity.  
     
     
         16 . The sole assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the first wave spring has a free height greater than a free height of the second wave spring.  
     
     
         17 . The sole assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising upper and lower plates disposed within the first vacuity, on opposite sides of the vacuity, wherein the first wave spring is disposed between the upper and lower plates.  
     
     
         18 . The sole assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the upper and lower plates each comprise a projection extending from a plane of the plate, and wherein the first wave spring has an upper and a lower end, and the first wave spring is disposed between the plates such that its upper end fits around the projection of the upper plate, and its lower end fits around the projection of the lower plate.  
     
     
         19 . The sole assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the projections extending from the upper and lower plates are generally circular in shape.  
     
     
         20 . The sole assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the upper and lower ends of the first wave spring are terminal shim ends.  
     
     
         21 . The sole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second wave springs are configured such that routine compressive forces applied by a user wearing the article of footwear do not fully compress the first and second wave springs.  
     
     
         22 . The sole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the heel region includes a plurality of wave springs disposed therein.  
     
     
         23 . The sole assembly of  claim 22 , wherein the ball region includes a plurality of wave springs disposed therein.  
     
     
         24 . The sole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the ball region includes a plurality of wave springs disposed therein.