Footwear promoting natural motion

Abstract

A shoe is designed to enable unhindered natural foot motion between the foot and the ground. The shoe is constructed with a cupped heel, a contoured arch, a radiused forepart and neutral heel/forefoot position to create a foot bed that anatomically cradles a wearer's foot. A soft, flexible strobel stitched insole is added, which utilizes encapsulated high resiliency foam. The outsole is sculpted to have rounded natural edges and an anatomically correct flex location toward the forefoot of the shoe where softer, more flexible materials are used. The outsole is further designed with harder, protective materials strategically placed in high ground-contact areas to deliver protection and support. An optional midfoot support element may be positioned between the insole and outsole to control torsional stiffness. Upper materials are selected to minimize restriction of movement and promote breathability.

1 . A shoe sole construction having a hind foot region, a midfoot region and a forefoot region, the shoe sole construction comprising:
 an anatomically shaped sock liner;   a strobel sock insole including a foam inner layer sandwiched between top and bottom fabric layers;   an anatomically shaped outsole; and   a support shank located between the strobel sock insole and the outsole, the support shank having a higher stiffness than the outsole.   
     
     
         2 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the support shank is integrated with the outsole. 
     
     
         3 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the sock liner includes at least one soft pad section on a bottom surface thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the sock liner includes a raised portion at the midfoot region to underlie a medial arch of a wearer's foot. 
     
     
         5 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the outsole includes a raised portion at the midfoot region to underlie a medial arch of a wearer's foot. 
     
     
         6 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the sock liner includes raised peripheral edges around the hind foot region thereof to receive and wrap around a heel of a wearer's foot. 
     
     
         7 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the outsole includes raised peripheral edges around the hind foot region thereof to receive and wrap around a heel of a wearer's foot. 
     
     
         8 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the sock liner includes a radiused portion at the forefoot region. 
     
     
         9 . The shoe sole construction of  claim 1  wherein the outsole includes a radiused portion at the forefoot region.