A sports shoe, in particular a soccer shoe, with an upper (1) comprising an instep region (8), with a sole (2) connected to the upper and with tension strips (3, 4, 5) for stiffening. The sole is stiffened by a front tension strip (3) connecting the front end (6) of the sole to the upper (1) and by two rear tension strips (4, 5) connecting the heel area (7) of the sole (2) to the upper (1) in such a manner that although it is still possible to bend the sole up completely, it is impossible to bend it down.
The invention concerns a sole, used as a throughsole, inner sole or insole for a shoe, e.g, a football boot with a flexible outsole. The sole ensures that when shooting on the volley in football or with similar loadings, the entire force can be transmitted to the ball or similar sports equipment by means of a special stiffening of the sole by tension elements attached to raised walls of the edge area of the sole.
The first illustrative embodiment includes a lace or strap which runs behind the heel down the sides of the foot, under the sole of the foot, crosses to opposite sides of the foot, comes up over the toes ending in a cinch. Loops and slots are provided in the shoe to accommodate the additional strap. The second illustrative embodiment includes a heel strap which runs behind the heel, down the sides of the foot where it engages a loop near the bottom of the foot and loops over to the top of the foot where it engages opposite sides of a conventional lace. Tightening of the conventional lace causes a tightening of this heel strap. The second embodiment also includes a toe strap which is attached to opposite sides of the sole, crosses over the sole to opposite sides of the toes, loops over the toes and engages the bottom of a conventional lace. Tightening of the conventional lace causes a tightening of the toe strap.
A shoe upper (11) including one or more resiliently deformable protrusions (17, 19) extending from an outer surface of the shoe upper and positioned for contact with a ball, each said protrusion (17, 19) forming at least an inner contoured shape portion and an outer contoured shape portion, said outer contoured shape portion being deformable to promote engagement of said protrusion with said ball.
The shoe strap changing system of the present invention consists of a base shoe, which includes an upper and a sole. The sole includes a slot, which has a height, a width extending from near the heel portion of the sole across the middle portion of the sole toward the toe portion of the sole, and a depth extending from the medial side of the sole to the lateral side of the sole. The position and size of the slot enables various size straps to encircle the upper of the base shoe, thereby providing stability for the user's foot and versatility of the appearance of the base shoe. Since the slot accommodates various size straps, the base shoe may form the basis for a shoe strap changing system. A user can remove a first strap from the base shoe, and place a second strap through the slot. The second strap may have the same or different characteristics of the first strap. Therefore, the shoe strap changing system allows a user to change the appearance and stability of the base shoe by altering characteristics such as size, shape, and color of the strap that encompasses at least a portion of the upper.
An article of footwear includes an upper that is at least partially formed from a base layer and thread sections that lie adjacent a surface of the base layer. The thread sections are positioned to provide structural elements that, for example, restrain stretch in directions corresponding with longitudinal axes of the thread sections. In some configurations of the footwear, a first portion of the thread sections may extend between forefoot and heel regions of the footwear, and a second portion of the thread sections may extend vertically. An embroidering process may be utilized to position the thread sections on the base layer.
