Sole and Footwear Having the Sole

This application claims the benefit and priority to Chinese Patent Application Serial No. 202521470636.2, filed on Jul. 14, 2025, entitled “SOLE AND FOOTWEAR HAVING THE SOLE”, and the content of which is hereby fully incorporated by reference.

The subject matter relates to a technical field of daily necessities, and in particular to a sole and a footwear having the sole.

Shoes are indispensable daily necessities for human beings, especially for those who love outdoor activities, who have higher requirements for shoes. Since they walk or stand for a longer time during outdoor activities, it is often very important to choose a pair of comfortable shoes.

How to improve the comfort of the shoes while extending their service life is currently a long-term research direction.

The present disclosure provides a sole, including a sole body and a support sheet fixed to the sole body. The sole body is divided into a rearfoot portion, a forefoot portion, and an arch portion connecting the rearfoot portion and the forefoot portion. A hardness of the support sheet is higher than a hardness of the sole body. The support sheet comprises a main body and an extension portion extending from the main body, a thickness of the main body is greater than a thickness of the extension portion, a side of the main body is flush with a side of the extension portion. The sole body comprises an upper surface, a lower surface facing away from the upper surface, and a through hole penetrating the upper surface and the lower surface. The through hole is located in the arch portion and the main body is received in the through hole, the side of the main body flush with the extension portion faces away from the lower surface. A recess is recessed from the upper surface at least corresponding to the arch portion towards the lower surface, the recess is in communication with the through hole, and the extension portion is received in the recess.

The present disclosure further provides a footwear, including an upper and the above sole. The sole is connected to the upper.

Other aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure are also expected. The above summary and the following detailed description are not intended to limit the present disclosure to any particular embodiment, but are merely intended to describe some embodiments of the present disclosure.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure.

Implementations of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of embodiments, with reference to the above figures. The embodiments are obviously a portion but not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms used in the present disclosure have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art. The terms used in the present disclosure are for describing specific embodiments but not intended to limit the scope of present disclosure. In addition, technical features involved in different embodiments of this application that are described below may be combined as long as they do not conflict with each other.

Referring to, a footwearis provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The footwearincludes a soleand an upperconnected to the sole. The upperand the solecooperatively define a receiving cavity (not shown) for receiving a wearer's foot. The upperand the solemay be connected to each other in any desired manner, including in manners known and used in the footwear articles (such as by one or more of adhesives or cements, stitching or sewing, mechanical connectors, etc.). The uppermay be made of any desired material in any desired construction or manner. For example, at least a portion of the uppermay be formed as a woven textile component, a knitted textile component, a natural leather component, a synthetic leather component, or a polymeric component (e.g., thermoplastic polyurethane, TPU).

Referring to, the soleincludes a sole bodyand a support sheetfixed to the sole body. In at least one embodiment, the sole bodyand the support sheetmay be fixed by adhesion. In some embodiments, the sole bodyand the support sheetmay also be fixed by interlocking, or by other means such as but not limited to fixing the two by shoe nails.

The sole bodyis divided into a rearfoot portion, a forefoot portionand an arch portionconnecting the rearfoot portionand the forefoot portion.

The sole bodyhas a thickness direction Z and includes an upper surface, a lower surfacefacing away from the upper surfacein the thickness direction Z, and a through holepenetrating the upper surfaceand the lower surface. The through holeis located in the arch portionand extends through the arch portionin the thickness direction Z. In at least one embodiment, the sole bodycan be formed by stacking a midsole and an outsole. It can be understood that at this time, the upper surfaceis a surface of the midsole facing away from the outsole, the lower surfaceis a surface of the outsole facing away from the midsole, and the through holeextends through the midsole and the outsole. The midsole and the outsole may be designed to be separable or integrally formed.

Referring to, a recessis recessed from the upper surfaceat least corresponding to the arch portiontowards the lower surface, and the recessis in communication with the through hole

A hardness of the support sheetis higher than a hardness of the sole body. When the support sheetis fixed to the sole body, the support strength of an area of the sole bodycorresponding to the support sheetcan be enhanced.

The support sheetincludes a main bodyand an extension portionextending from the main body. A thickness of the main bodyis greater than a thickness of the extension portion, and a side of the main bodyis flush with a side of the extension portion.

The main bodyis accommodated in the through hole, and the extension portionis accommodated in the recess. Moreover, the side of the main bodyflush with the extension portionfaces away from the lower surface, that is, the side of the main bodyflush with the extension portionfaces upwards. It can be understood that the extension portioncan be designed to conform to a shape of the recess

In the above-mentioned footwear, since the solehas the support sheetwith higher hardness and the support sheetis at least arranged corresponding to the arch portion, the support strength of the soleat the arch portioncan be enhanced, thereby enhancing the stability of the soleand the stability of the entire footwear, which is beneficial to prolonging the service life of the soleand the service life of the entire footwear. Moreover, the support sheetincludes a thicker main bodyand a thinner extension portion, and the main bodycorresponds to the arch portion, thereby further enhancing the support strength of the soleat the arch portionand having better anti-twist performance. Additionally, the sole bodyis provided with the through holecorresponding to the main body, which not only enhances the overall design sense of the footwearbut also effectively reduces the weight of the sole, thereby improving the overall comfort of the footwear. Moreover, the through holecooperates with the harder main body, which is beneficial to reducing the abrasion caused by the interaction between the main bodyand the sole body, and is beneficial to prolonging the service life of the soleand the service life of the entire footwear.

In some embodiments, the support sheetmay be but is not limited to a carbon plate, a nylon plate or a thermoplastic polyurethane plate. It can be understood that the hardness of the carbon plate, the nylon plate or the thermoplastic polyurethane plate needs to be higher than the hardness of the sole body. In some embodiments, the carbon plate may include a first carbon fiber layer, a foam layer and a second carbon fiber layer stacked in sequence, which is conducive to enhancing the support strength and the stability while improving the foot feel to enhance the comfort. In some embodiments, the carbon plate is not limited to the above structure, for example, it may only be a carbon fiber layer.

In the thickness direction Z of the sole, a height of the main bodymay be in a range of 5 mm to 15 mm. An end of the main bodyfacing away from the upper surfaceis located in the through hole, that is, the main bodydoes not extend out of the sole bodyfrom the through hole. The above height range of the main bodyis conducive to ensuring the support strength and the anti-twist property of the arch portion.

In some embodiments, a depressionmay be recessed from the side of the main bodythat is flush with the extension portiontowards the lower surface, and the depressionincludes an openingon the side of the main bodyflush with the extension portion. The setting of the depressioncan reduce the weight of the main bodywhen the main bodyenhances the support strength and the stability of the sole, thereby reducing the overall weight of the footwear, so that the comfort of the footwear is improved.

The openingmay be a rhombus, and each cross-section of the depressionin a direction where the openingis located is also a rhombus. In at least one embodiment, each corner of the rhombus is rounded. The design of the rounded corners is conducive to reducing the concentration of stress.

The depressionis defined by an inner wall, the inner wallmay be an arc surface, and an area of the cross-section of the depressionin the direction where the openingis located closer to the openingis greater than an area of the cross-section of the depressionin the direction where the openingis located further away from the opening. The above design is conducive to allowing the footwearto roll more smoothly and naturally in a front-back direction.

A side of the support sheetfacing away from the lower surfacemay be flush with the upper surface, which is conducive to maintaining the overall shape of the upper surfaceof the soleand ensuring the comfort.

In some embodiments, thicknesses of any two areas of the extension portionare consistent. In some embodiments, a thickness of the extension portionmay gradually decrease from an end of the extension portionconnected to the main bodyto an end of the extension portionaway from the main body, that is, the extension portionbecomes thinner and thinner outward from the main body. Correspondingly, a depth of the recessgradually decreases from an end of the recessconnected to the through holeto an end of the recessaway from the through hole. The above design is conducive to enhancing the support strength and the stability through the extension portionwhile ensuring the rebound effect and the flexibility of deformation of the sole, thereby improving the comfort.

A thickness of a thinnest part of the extension portionmay be greater than or equal to 1.3 mm, which is conducive to ensuring the support strength of the support sheet.

Referring to, the support sheetmay be approximately X-shaped. Specifically, the extension portionmay include a first part, a second part, a third partand a fourth partrespectively extending from the main body. The first partand the second partare arranged at an angle and respectively extend towards the forefoot portion, while the third partand the fourth partare arranged at an angle and respectively extend towards the rearfoot portion. Thus, when observing the solefrom top to bottom, the support sheetis approximately X-shaped.

Referring to, the recessmay also extend to the forefoot portion. Correspondingly, the extension portionof the support sheetextends to the forefoot portion. When the user is running, the above structure can provide better rebound and rolling push effect when the footwear deforms, thereby enhancing the comfort of the footwear.

Referring to, in some embodiments, the extension portionmay include a forefoot arealocated in the forefoot portion. In at least one embodiment, the forefoot areamay further include two or three spaced grooves, each of the two or three spaced groovesrecesses from an end of the forefoot areafacing away from the arch portiontowards the arch portion, thereby forming multiple branches at the end of the forefoot area, which increases the flexibility of the deformation of the forefoot areaof the support sheetwhile enhancing the support strength and the stability of the footwearthrough the support sheet, thereby improving the overall comfort of the shoe.

In some embodiments, a side of the forefoot areafacing the lower surfacemay protrude a limiting part. Correspondingly, the forefoot portionfurther includes a limiting slotpenetrating the upper surfaceand the lower surface, and the limiting partis located in the limiting slot, which is conducive to the positioning of the support sheetand further reduces the overall weight of the footwearto improve comfort.

It can be understood that the support sheetis not limited to the above shape, for example, it may be but not limited to rectangular, irregular cloud-shaped, etc.

In some embodiments, the sole bodymay further include several holes (not shown) or grooves (not shown in the figure) recessed from the upper surfaceto the lower surface. For example, multiple strip-shaped grooves (not shown) arranged and spaced apart from each other in the front-back direction Y of the solemay be formed corresponding to the forefoot portion, and multiple holes (not shown) may be formed corresponding to the rearfoot portionand the arch portion, which are used for heat dissipation or exhaust.

In the above-mentioned footwear, since the solehas the support sheetwith higher hardness and the support sheetis at least arranged corresponding to the arch portion, the support strength of the soleat the arch portioncan be enhanced, thereby enhancing the stability of the soleand the stability of the entire footwear, which is beneficial to prolonging the service life of the soleand the service life of the entire footwear. Moreover, the support sheetincludes a thicker main bodyand a thinner extension portion, and the main bodycorresponds to the arch portion, thereby further enhancing the support strength of the soleat the arch portionand having better anti-twist performance. Additionally, the sole bodyis provided with the through holecorresponding to the main body, which not only enhances the overall design sense of the footwearbut also effectively reduces the weight of the sole, thereby improving the overall comfort of the footwear. Moreover, the through holecooperates with the harder main body, which is beneficial to reducing the abrasion caused by the interaction between the main bodyand the sole body, and is beneficial to prolonging the service life of the soleand the service life of the entire footwear.

Even though information and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the present embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present embodiments to the full extent indicated by the plain meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.