Footwear assembly

Abstract

A footwear assembly structured to require adjustments to the foot and/or leg of a wearer in order to maintain stability while standing, walking, etc. The footwear assembly includes an upper, an outer sole and an inner sole. The outer sole includes a hollow interior substantially filled by a resistive, deformable material. Foot pressure applied to the outer sole will result in a movement of the plurality of particles, wherein the resiliency of the shell will allow it to assume a variety of different configurations dependent at least in part on the portion of the outer sole to which the foot pressure is applied. The resiliency of the shell will further facilitate a normal biasing thereof and the particles contained therein into a normal, non-compressed orientation. The tendency of the outer sole to assume a variety of different configurations will, in some circumstances, require a wearer to adjust the corresponding foot and/or leg in order to maintain normal stability, at least when foot pressure is applied to the outer sole.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A footwear assembly structured to require stability adjustment by a wearer concurrent to an application of foot pressure thereto, the assembly comprising:
 an upper, an inner sole, and an outer sole, the upper structured for retention on a foot of a wearer;   an interior area between the inner sole and outer sole, the interior area being substantially filled with a resistive, deformable material;   a tread structure formed on outer exposed portions of the outer sole; and   the inner sole, the shell and the resistive, deformable material being collectively structured to define variable configurations of the shell dependent at least in part upon an application of foot pressure to different portions of the inner sole,   wherein upon an application of foot pressure to the inner sole, a portion of the side wall extends outwardly into the variable configurations.   
     
     
         2 . The footwear assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the resistive, deformable material is biased to return the footwear assembly to an original undeformed configuration when the application of foot pressure is removed. 
     
     
         3 . The footwear assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the resistive, deformable material comprises a plurality of substantially non-deformable particles. 
     
     
         4 . The footwear assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the resistive, deformable material comprises a liquid. 
     
     
         5 . The footwear assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the liquid comprises one or more of water, oils, or gels. 
     
     
         6 . The footwear assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the liquid has a density that is selected to provide a resistive force to the footwear assembly that is similar to the resistive force provided when walking on sand. 
     
     
         7 . The footwear assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the resistive, deformable material comprises a dispersed media. 
     
     
         8 . The footwear assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the dispersed media comprises discrete elements of one medium that are dispersed in a continuous second medium, the first and second media being different from one another and being selected from the group consisting of a solid, liquid, and gas. 
     
     
         9 . The footwear assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the resistive, deformable material comprises a malleable solid material. 
     
     
         10 . The footwear assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the malleable solid material comprises memory foam, polyurethane, closed cell foam, or open cell foam. 
     
     
         11 . The footwear assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the malleable solid material provide a resistive force to the footwear assembly that is similar to the resistive force provided when walking on sand. 
     
     
         12 . The footwear assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the resistive, deformable material comprises a plurality of spring members. 
     
     
         13 . The footwear assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of spring members are oriented to be substantially vertical and respective first ends of the plurality of spring members are fixed to the inner sole. 
     
     
         14 . The footwear assembly of  claim 13 , wherein respective second ends of the plurality of spring members are fixed to an inner surface of the outer sole. 
     
     
         15 . The footwear assembly of  claim 14 , wherein a stiffness of the plurality of spring members is selected to provide a resistive force to the footwear assembly that is similar to the resistive force provided when walking on sand.