Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Feel the OO! OOfos®
slides, sandals, clogs, shoes, and boots, are all about foot comfort, especially for
recovery after a hard workout. Indeed, the “O”s of the brand name OOfos® have both onomatopoeic, and visual
significance. An initial “OO” that spells delight, with “O”s yielding into the shape of a
horizontal ellipse, capturing the softness of the footbed, under the impact of each step,
as in the brand name logo:
The OOFos®
invention is recited in the US utility patent application US20190125030A1, titled Insole and outsole two piece shoe. The invention comprises a footbed with two
soles. A footbed, where the outsole does not have to be hard (i.e., >38 on the Asker® Type C
Scale)(1) to absorb impact from the ground and to provide long wear, as in typical shoe design. The two soles of the OOFos® footbed are made of same, or different, proprietary polymeric foam, called OOfoam®, with a hardness ranging from 28 to 38 on the Asker® Type C scale.
Thus, the OOFos® soles, assembled in specific
ratios of thickness, together absorb up
to 37% more impact than other comparable marketed footware (Oofos®, Our Technology). The invention is further
characterized by an upper that is wedged between the two OOFoam® soles.
Finally, the patent also recites the injection molded manufacturing process of the two-piece shoe.
The patent application abstract of the invention is included below, together with the patent
application Figure 1, and an image of a marketed OOFos® shoe. The patent Figure 2
detail, showing how a portion of the shoe upper is wedged between both OOFos® soles, is also
included.
Specifically,
the patent application Figure 1
depicts a front perspective of an embodiment of the invention, comprising a
shoe 10, according to the invention,
an outsole 12, an insole 14 and an upper 16. The forefoot forms a curve between the points 13 and 11. The heel forms a curve between the points 15 and 17. A middle
section extends from point 13 to 15.
Figure 2 is a cross-section of Figure 1, specifically depicting that, at least a portion 18 of the upper 16 is
sandwiched between the outsole 12
and the insole 14.
An article of footwear includes an injection molded outsole of a first material having a durometer reading of at least 28 to at most 38 on the Asker® C scale, an injection molded insole of a second material having a durometer reading of at least 28 to at most 38 on the Asker® C scale, and an upper, at least a section of a peripheral edge of the upper being sandwiched between the insole and the outsole. [Abstract US20190125030A1]
Note
(1) The Asker® Type C scale is a world standard for measuring the hardness of soft rubber.
Reference
