Footwear providing enhanced protection against extreme landing impacts includes a sole having an elastomeric mid-sole with elastomeric pads combined in a heel recess thereof such that the pads act in series with each other and in parallel with the mid-sole during conjoint compression thereof. At least one of the pads includes a solid gel having a relatively high damping coefficient. In another embodiment, the heel of the mid-sole is replaced by a toroidal gas cushion and an elastomeric pad including a solid gel having a relatively high damping coefficient disposed in a central recess of the cushion such that the pad is recessed a selected distance below the upper surface of the cushion. The resilient pads may advantageously incorporate a plurality of gas-filled cells, and a solid gel pad may also be disposed in the mid-sole of the footwear below the ball of the wearer's foot for increased protection.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional of Application Ser. No. 10/652,456, filed Aug. 29, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,020,988, issued Apr. 4, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A sole component for footwear combining the desirable response characteristics of a fluid filled chamber and an elastomeric material is disclosed. The chamber can be formed as a single bladder chamber in contact with an elastomeric midsole or as a single chamber by a sealing a void in elastomeric material. Alternately, an insert having the shape of the bladder, and potentially formed from foam, may be positioned within the chamber. The interface between the chamber and elastomeric material is sloped and gradual so that the shape of the chamber and its placement in a midsole determine the combination of response characteristics in the sole component. The chamber has a relatively simple shape with one axis of symmetry with a rounded portion and a narrow portion.
