Resilience enhancing footwear

Abstract

According to the present invention there is provided a training shoe with a rigid sole plate 6 situated on top of and attached to a highly compliant soft sole part 7. It is used as a training and racing tool for a person who aims to increase the resilience of their leg muscles and joints, through running and walking. The shoe is configured to receive the foot of a wearer with the plate having one or more grooves directly underneath the distal part of the calcaneus 20, the navicular bone, the cuboid 21, the cuneiform bones and the metatarsal bones 22 of the wearer. On impact, during such activities as running, the sole plate enhances the function of the wearer's leg muscles and plantar fascia. It supports the arch of the foot and provides both shock absorption and energy return. It assists in training programmed to provide optimal loading. In this way it is instrumental in the prevention of overstrain on the musculoskeletal structures of the legs and lower back of the wearer during standing, walking, running and jumping.

1 . A shoe sole with a sole arrangement that includes:
 a lightweight plate ( 6 ) with a high longitudinal bending stiffness, situated on top of and attached to:   a compressible portion ( 7 ) of a considerable thickness,   recesses between this portion and the ground and, when in use, the plate is provided between the compressible portion and the calcaneus, cuboid, navicular, cuneifonn and metatarsal bones of the wearer foot of the wearer,   
       wherein the improvement comprises of:
 the plate ( 6 ) containing one, two or three deep hollow longitudinal grooves, running from directly underneath the distal part of the calcaneus ( 20 ) and the navicular bone ( 21 ) to directly underneath the metatarsal bones ( 22 ), 
 with the grooves, mechanically constructed in a similar way as a pole, as a hollow beam and as a bamboo stick, with specific localised rigidity and flexibility of the plate, as a result of a combination of fibre orientation, the groove, and recesses between the compressible portion and the ground, 
 with a particularly very high flexular rigidity, per weight ratio, both in the anterior-posterior direction directly below the calcaneus  20 , cuboid  21  and metatarsal bones  22 ,  23 ,  24 ,  25  and  26 , and in the lateral-medial direction directly below the calcaneus  20 , with its cupping  15  and single or multiple grooves  13  and  14 , as a result from moulding the composite plate. 
 
     
     
         2 . A shoe sole according to  claim 1 , in which there is provided:
 a sole height of between 20 and 42 mm (for a shoe size UK 9) between the metatarsal heads and the ground, when little to no weight or pressure is applied to the sole,   a recess  18  directly under the fifth metatarsal head  27  of the wearer, between two strands of outer soling, which aids the fibre reinforced plate  6  and compressible midsole  7  above the recess, to absorb the impact from the foot strike when the wearer lands on this area of the foot, through full sole compression.   
     
     
         3 . A shoe sole according to  claim 1 , in which there is provided:
 a sole height of between 20 and 42 mm (for a shoe size UK 9) between the metatarsal heads and the ground, when little to no weight or pressure is applied to the sole,   a pivot as the result of more than 15 mm greater sole height between the area directly below the metatarsal heads  30  and  31  and the area directly below the distal phalanges  38  of the second and first toes.