US20150047224A1

US20150047224A1 - Shoe having carbon fiber composite spring soles and upper support

Info

Publication number: US20150047224A1
Application number: US14/047,744
Authority: US
Inventors: Jing Zhao; Calvin Zhao
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-08-16
Filing date: 2013-10-07
Publication date: 2015-02-19

Abstract

A shoe incorporating carbon fiber composite components to provide performance improvements in lighter weight, better shock absorption, traction by use of spikes, better support, substantial bounciness by being resistant to deformation and provides active ventilation. The shoe of this invention utilizes carbon fiber composite's to easily fabricate the designs.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/866,737 filed Aug. 16, 2013 and entitled SHOE HAVING CARBON FIBER COMPOSITE SPRING SOLES AND UPPER SUPPORT, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety and for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Current shoes are inadequate to prevent damages to the human body resulting from repetitive ambulatory activities on hard surfaces. This is because current shoes have two major deficiencies: heavy weight and limited shock absorbing capability. Heavy shoes are a discomfort, wasting the wearer's energy, and causing strain and fatigue. For many groups of people, such as athletes, soldiers, laborers, nurses, overweight people or older people, long-term wearing of heavy shoes and subjecting the foot to the impacts of hitting hard ground often cause ankle wobble, knee pain, back pain, muscle fatigue or, in some cases, shin splints. During a body's stride, the entire body weight transfers onto a single foot and the return force from hitting a hard surface is about three times that of the body weight while walking and eight times during running, which is harmful when transmitted up the bone structure. In addition, the inability to substantially attenuate the shock force of modern shoes can result in cumulative muscle fatigue and diminished endurance especially when performing repetitive activities. This is because the body's muscles naturally respond to the sharp rise in impact force by momentarily tensing to prevent soft tissues and internal organs.
Presently, elastic rubber polymer composites or polymer foams are widely used as part of the sole to attenuate the force from hitting hard surface. This traditional design has limited shock-absorbing effect. The kinetic energy absorbing power is directly proportional to the damping materials' displacement upon impact assuming the material's bending force can counter the impact force. In order to counter the large force, current shoes use polymer composite materials that are relatively hard with very small deformable displacement. It would require extremely thick polymer materials under the foot to adequately damper the sock impacts encountered by an active person. A thick shoe sole is not practical, since it causes instability. Moreover, polymer materials only absorb the shock; they do not store and recycle the energy. Polymer composites are also heavy that are often the source of the main weight of a shoe. Furthermore, foamed materials lost cushioning properties “worn-out,” as they irreversibly degrade under the repeated compression and shearing loads. In addition, the dynamic properties of the plastic foamed materials are strongly temperature dependent. They become hard in winter thus losing its cushioning properties.
Over the years, many improvements on shoe's shock absorption have been made, but they are far from sufficient to provide adequate protection. These include incorporating chambers cushions into the sole that are filled with gas or liquid, as well as incorporating metal springs. Although air or liquid filled sole chambers increase absorbing, their overall displacement in response to a force impact is too small to adequately reduce the return force for most athletic activities. Incorporating springs made of plastic materials have been attempted. However, because plastic materials are poor spring materials that are easily deformed, these shoes are made rigid with little displacement or flexibility, thus their shock absorbing is limited. Moreover, plastic-polymer materials, although easy to mold, still have the shortcomings of diminishing their response over time and becoming hard in wintertime, consequently loss their cushion function. Since little energy can be stored in these plastic springs, these shoes do not provide energy recovery function as the “bouncing” effect as the inventive shoe does.
Using metal springs in theory can provide ideal shock absorption with large induced displacement and energy recycling with storing and bouncing back actions. Unfortunately, large springs are required to support a typical human weight; these shoes incorporating metal springs are too heavy and bulky with large sole thickness, adversarially reducing the wearer's agility and comfort, preventing their wide adoption.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Carbon fiber springs overcome all the above shortcomings associated with today's shoes. Carbon fiber is a material of lightweight, high strength than metal, and corrosion resistance. Compact and lightweight carbon fiber springs of high efficiency can be made into the shoe sole that move much larger displacement to absorb significantly more kinetic energy than deformable foams, gel, or plastics, without the increase in thickness of the shoe sole. Moreover, the carbon fiber spring consumes very little energy so that it releases the kinetic energy back as a “bounce” and generates little heat (foam and plastics convert the kinetic energy into heat). In addition, the carbon fiber shoe is lighter in weight thus comfort to wear.
The present invention utilizes the unique characteristic of high mechanical strength of carbon fiber composites, or resistance to deformation to provide an energy recovery function with excellent resiliency or “bounciness” to the wearer. The present invention also utilizes the large displacement of specially designed springs upon force impact to significantly increase the damping of harmful force generated by foot hitting a hard ground. The present invention provides a lightweight, comfortable shoe, which dynamically cushions the wearer's foot against the impact forces encountered in physical activities with springs made of carbon fiber based materials, thus overcoming many shortcomings of current shoes.
Furthermore, the present invention provides protection and support for the wearer's foot without increasing the weight or size by using carbon fiber composite components in the shoe sole and upper. It is also an aim of this invention to provide a thin and lightweight cushion having integrated springs or the equivalent of carbon fiber composite for inserting into existing shoes. Utilizing the large spring displacement or “bounciness,” the invention provides active ventilation to cool the foot, preventing moisture, fungus, and odor build-up. Moreover, carbon fiber composites are washable and can sustain high temperature without change shape, as well as little weather induced performance change. The flammability of the inventive shoe is also reduced compared to foam cushions, as are toxic by-products of burning. The inventive shoe also provides improved traction on hard surface by incorporating carbon fiber spikes embedded in the rubber like outsole.
One aspect of the present invention is to significantly reduce the shoe weight without compromising its protection functions, creating near bare foot experience. Another aspect of the invention is directed to construct a carbon fiber composite spring sole to better absorb shock and to store and release the kinetic energy, making foot activities harmless and effortless. The invention is also directed to produce active air circulation function utilizing the large up-down motion of the inventive spring sole. Such an engineered carbon fiber composite spring based sole of high efficiency and thin construction is also intended to be used directly as a cushion to be inserted into existing shoe, providing comfort and relieve for less rigorous everyday activities.
One embodiment of the present invention is a shoe comprising an upper body including a back support, a mid support, a front toe section, and a bottom outsole; a sole interconnected to a bottom portion of the upper body; a first spring and a second spring, at least one of which is made of carbon fiber composite material, each one having a thin cross-section of less than 5 mm in thickness and being formed of a folded spring design comprising an upper plate and a lower plate pivotally connected together at one end and disposed from each other at another end, forming a gap between; the first spring and the second spring being disposed within the sole; the first spring being located within a front end of the sole having said pivotally connected portion adjacent the mid support and the second spring being located within a back end of said sole having the pivotally connected portion adjacent the mid support; wherein, as a foot pushes down on the first and second springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon the first and second springs and the upper plate of each of the first and second springs may be substantially compressed against the lower plate, respectively, when the force is applied; and wherein, as the force is removed during the stride, the upper plate of each of the first spring and the second spring moves upward to form said gap and creating bounciness within the shoe.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a shoe comprising an upper body including a back support, a mid support, a front toe sections and a bottom outsole; a sole interconnected to a bottom portion of the upper body; a plurality of springs configured from the sole, the sole and the plurality of springs made of carbon fiber composite material, each of the springs having a thin cross-section of less than 5 mm in thickness and formed of a folded compact spring design comprising an upper plate cut from the sole and forming a gap at one end of each of the springs; wherein, as the foot pushes down on the springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon the springs such that the upper plate of each spring may be substantially compressed within the sole, and as the force is removed during the stride, the upper plate of each spring moves upward to form the gap and creating bounciness within the shoe.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a shoe comprising an upper body including a back support, a mid support, a front toe sections and a bottom outsole; a sole interconnected to a bottom portion of the upper body; one or more individual springs configured from the sole, the sole and the springs being made of carbon fiber composite material, at least one of the springs formed of a compression coil spring design with the material having a thin cross-section of less than 5 mm in thickness and forming a gap between a top part and a bottom part of the springs; wherein, as the foot pushes down on the springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon the springs such that the upper plate of each spring may be substantially compressed within the sole, and as the force is removed during the stride, the upper plate of each spring moves upward to form the gap and creating bounciness within the shoe.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a removable sole cushion for a shoe comprising a plurality of springs configured from the sole cushion, the sole cushion and the plurality of springs made of carbon fiber composite material, each of the springs formed of a folded compression spring design with the material having a thin cross-section of less than 5 mm in thickness and forming a gap between a top and a bottom portion of each of the springs; wherein, as the foot pushes down on the springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon the springs such that the upper plate of each spring may be completely compressed within the sole, and as the force is removed during the stride, the upper plate of each spring moves upward to form a gap and creating bounciness within the sole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 a-d are pictorial examples of the springs of this invention made of carbon fiber composite;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial side view of the shoe of this invention with incorporation of folded springs described in FIG. 1 a;

FIGS. 3 a-c are pictorial examples of distributive implementation of the lightweight carbon fiber springs of this invention in the sole or as a removable insert;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of foot main pressure points and the enhanced thickness areas of the sole;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial view of discrete shoe cushioning incorporating the carbon fiber composite components being lightweight and compact;

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b are pictorial views of the shoe sole; and

FIG. 7 is a cross section view of an anti-slippery carbon fiber spike outsole comprising carbon fiber spikes imbedded in a rubber like base.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a lightweight shoe having substantially improved shock absorption as well as energy recycling function by incorporating springs or other equivalent components made of carbon fiber composite of a variety of shapes and configurations in a variety of locations within the sole. The spring configurations of this invention are specifically tailored to carbon fiber composite properties and feature compactness that can be incorporated into a thin sole. The inventive spring design also features amenability for mass production that can be made from a single sheet or stow of carbon fiber composite with molding and curing processes. The spring cushions of this invention can be made on a single sheet that curves to fit the foot contour for comfort. The size and distribution of the springs can be further optimized to better cushion the pressure points of the foot, providing a smooth spring responsive sole for the foot, which comprises a complex bone structure. Since there are substantial up/down spring movements in the shoe of this invention, the springs are extremely “bouncy” and have exceptional impact force damping capability. In addition, this action also provides an air pump action. By incorporating through holes on the spring covers in the sole, the shoe of this invention also has unique air ventilation function that no other shoe has.
Moreover, this invention provides protection and support for the wearer's foot without increasing the weight of the shoe by using carbon fiber composite components in the shoe sole and upper. It also provides a thin and lightweight cushion having integrated springs of carbon fiber composite for inserting into existing shoes. Utilizing the large spring displacement, the invention provides active ventilation to cool the foot, preventing fungus, and odor build-up. Moreover, carbon fiber composites are washable and do not change performance in all seasons and weather conditions.
Although the term “bounciness” or resiliently is utilized other equivalent terms may be used which also deal with the resistance to deformation of carbon fiber. It should also be noted that the term “spring” as utilized herein is generic and encompasses various configurations and designs, such as, but not limited to those shown in the drawings or described in the specification.
It has been recognized in this invention that carbon fiber composites have significant advantages for spring construction over conventional heat-treated steel or special plastics. The term “carbon” fibers are used herein in the generic sense and are intended to include graphite fibers as well as amorphous carbon fibers. Carbon fiber springs are uniquely suited for shoe application, because the technology can meet the basic requirement of lightweight and thin sole thickness of a comfortable shoe, in additional to provide unprecedented shock force isolation and energy recovery. The material requirement for spring is bendable yet much stronger than the maximum load so that it does not deform. Deformation, which associated with all plastic materials, converts the kinetic energy into heat, thus losing the bouncing back effect. The modulus of elasticity (flexibility) of the carbon fiber composite is approximately that of the steel. On the other hand, the tensile strength of carbon fiber composite is about three times of that of steel. This difference means that the structure can be loaded with nearly three times the load of a steel structure before permanent deformation or fracture. In addition, the carbon fiber composites have significantly less weight per volume—only about 20% that of steel. Accordingly, a carbon fiber composite spring will be about 15 times as resistant to deformation compared to a steel spring using the same material weights. Conversely, a carbon fiber composite spring having the same resistance as a steel spring will only weigh about 1/15 as much as the steel spring. Carbon fiber springs are also more durable than steel springs.
The physics of shock absorption is that the cushion materials response to an outside force F by compressing with a displacement X and the amount energy absorbed E can be approximately as E=F*X. To respond with a comparable counter force, the polymer foams used in present shoes are relatively stiff which reduces its compressible ratio. Current shoe foams often have compressible ratio less than 10%, consequently limiting foam energy absorption capacity. Using springs as cushion in shoe can increase its shock absorber capacity due to spring's large displacement ratio upon impact. The inventive shoes use a type of space confined spring designs to have large compressible ratio over 80%. It is the intent of the inventive shoe to provide maximum shock absorption with less thickness than an ordinary shoe sole. The potential shock absorption improvement of the inventive shoe can reach at least 7 times that of the conventional foam shoes. Furthermore, the inventive shoes have exceptional “bounciness,” a feature of carbon fiber composites not heretofore recognized. This bounciness can be reduced for certain shoe applications by further incorporating surrounding rubbers in contact with the spring to damp its shock induced oscillations.
Although not limited to four examples, four examples of the carbon fiber composite spring 10 of this invention are shown in FIGS. 1 a-d. These spring configurations feature low profile in which the springs can be compressed into a thin format, especially suited for a shoe application that prefers minimum sole thickness A. Another important feature of the invention is the sheet-thin cross-section design A of preferable, but not limited to, less than 5 mm thickness, which enhances the bending function for very stiff carbon fiber composite materials.
FIG. 1 a shows spring 10A comprising an upper plate 20 and a lower plate 30 connected with a pivotal section 40. At least one plate 20, 30 is made of carbon fiber composite so that it bends down upon a force applied and up when the force is reduced. When the force is applied, spring 10A is configured so that plates 20 and 30 may be completely compressed against each other, eliminating the gap 151, 152 (see FIG. 2) between them. As shown in FIG. 1 a, spring 10A can be made by folding a piece of carbon fiber composite along the pivotal section and cured to form the shape. The spring 10A is preferably produced with fibers 60 running mainly longitudinally to provide maximum bending strength. It is important to note that spring 10A can be compressed to a minimum thickness A equal to that of two sheets of the carbon fiber plates.
FIG. 1 b shows spring 1013 made of a bendable plate 20 having a thin cross section A of preferably, but not limited to, less than 5 mm thickness, connected to the base 30 by a pivotal section 40, so that plate 20 bends downwards upon a force applied and upwards when the force is reduced. The entire device can be cost effectively made from a carbon fiber composite sheet. The cut-out spring design 10B can be compressed back into a single sheet thickness A, a feature ideal for sole insert. The design is amenable to be fabricated with multiple springs on a single sheet (see, for example, FIG. 3 a). As shown in FIG. 1 b, this spring 10B can be made by cutting the spring piece out of a semi-cured carbon fiber composite sheet and cured with a mold to form the shape. This spring 10B can also be made by molding a sheet of carbon fiber composite with bumps and then machined to form the bendable spring plates 20 and 30.
FIG. 1 c shows cut-out spring 10C made of a plate coil 20 connected to a flat base 30 by a pivotal section 40, so that plate coil 20 bends downwards upon a force applied and upwards when the force is reduced. This design features very small space in the Z direction, as it is virtually close to a single sheet when full force applied, making it ideal for shoe construction where thin sole and light weight are desirable. Again, the coil 20 can be compressed into the minimum thickness A of a single sheet carbon fiber plate. Moreover, the design is amendable to be fabricated with multiple springs on a single sheet in a few steps (see, for example, FIG. 3 b). As shown in FIG. 1 c, multiple springs 10C can be made by cutting the spring coils 20 out of a semi-cured carbon fiber composite sheet and cured with a mold to form the final shape, having a thin cross section A of preferably, but not limited to, less than 5 mm thickness. The springs 10C are made from a plurality of layers of carbon fiber composite, which is commercially available with an epoxy and a removable backing. The composite is cured as is known in the art.
FIG. 1 d shows stand-alone sheet coil spring 10D made of carbon fiber and having a thin cross section A of preferably, but not limited to, less than 5 mm thickness. The uniqueness of the inventive design is to use a bundle of carbon fiber stows or carbon fiber braids and mold them with resin into the spring shape without additional machining and no material wasted, achieving lowest production cost. The pyramid spring configuration allows it to be compressed into a minimum thickness A of a single coil diameter. Moreover, by using a continuous fiber stow naturedly aligned along the spring coil direction provides optimized bending strength.
The springs 10A-D as shown in FIGS. 1 a-d are made from a plurality of layers carbon fiber composite. The inventive shoe springs 10A-D can easily be mass-produced and can be made from a single sheet of carbon fiber composite that curves to fit the foot couture for comfort. The advantage is that these shapes and forms can be made at room temperature with semi-cured epoxy and molding, followed by a final curing in a vacuum baking oven to remove air traps in the carbon composites. The size and distribution of the springs 10A-D can be further optimized to better cushion the pressure points of foot, providing a smooth spring responsive sole for foot that comprises a complex bone structure.
FIG. 2 also illustrates the inventive shoe 100 with incorporation of folded springs 10A described in FIG. 1 a in both the back 140 and the front 150 of the sole. The shoe 100 is comprised of an assembly of a sole 101 and an upper 102. The inventive upper 102 contains a back support 110, a mid support 120, and a front toe protector 130, all made of carbon fiber composite. The shoe support 110 in the back of the shoe covering the Achilles tendon and the shoe support 120 in the middle of the shoe connected to the shoe lace eyelets is important to hold the feet during activities against twist or warbling. The back spring 140 cushions the heel against impact force. The front spring 150 cushions inner and out balls of the feet, which often land ground first. With reference to FIG. 2, the inventive shoe 100 further comprises a rubber or foam piece 160 at the shoe bottom to touch the ground, providing traction. FIG. 2 also depicts air pockets 151, 152 formed within the gap between the upper plate 20 and the lower plate 30 of each of the springs 10A.
An example of adding a one-way air exhaust valve 300 in the sole is also shown in FIG. 2. The valve 300 is interconnected to the back air pocket 152 such that air can be introduced to the sole and exhausted through the valve when a stride is taken. As the foot pushes down on the spring 10A during a stride, the compressed air pushes the valve 300 open to release the air underneath the foot. When the springs 10A move up as the foot leaves the ground, fresh air sucks in to fill the gap 152 from the shoe upper breathable fabric. A cap 310 can be used to seal off the valve 300 in winter to maintain warmth.
FIGS. 3 a-c illustrate soles 200 that incorporate carbon fiber composite springs 10B-D in a distributed way over the entire foot. FIG. 3 a uses the spring design 10B described in FIG. 1 b. FIG. 3 b uses the spring design 10C described in FIG. 1 c. FIG. 3 c uses individual flat coil spring design 10D described in FIG. 1 d. FIG. 3 c is especially desirable for sports shoes. For example, flat coil carbon-fiber-composite springs of various shapes and sizes can be strategically located on a regular sole for maximum jump height for playing basket ball.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the sole 200 is made of a carbon fiber composite piece having various thickness in different areas so that the springs made from this sheet will have various stiffness to match foot pressure contour for better response. As shown in FIG. 4, the main force point is from the heal bone 240, where more carbon fiber composite layers 210 are added to increase the thickness and thus the spring stiffness. There are also two-foot pressure points in the front: inner ball 220 and outer ball 230, where more layers of carbon fiber are added to increase the spring stiffness.
With reference to FIG. 5, the inventive shoe spring sole 410 made up of removable soles 200 of FIGS. 3 a-c can be further packaged with cover 420 to form a discrete cushion 400 so that the wearer can insert it into their existing shoes 600 to convert a conventional shoe into a shoe which uses carbon fiber composite inserts having the advantages of the present invention. The cushion 400 may comprise a plurality of springs 10 configured from sole cushion, with both the sole cushion and the plurality of springs made of carbon fiber composite material. Each of the springs 10 are formed of a folded spring design and comprise an upper plate cut from the sole and forming a gap at one end of each of the springs. As the foot pushes down on the springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon the springs such that the upper plate of each spring may be completely compressed within the sole, and as the force is removed during the stride, the upper plate of each spring moves upward to form a gap and creating bounciness within the sole.
Since there are substantial up/down spring movements in the inventive shoe, the springs 10A-D also act as air pumps. By incorporating through-holes 430 on the spring covers in the sole, the inventive shoe also has unique air ventilation function that no other shoe has. This is illustrated in FIGS. 6 a-b, where FIG. 6 a shows air pumped out from the sole as the foot strides on the ground and FIG. 6 b shows air pumped into the sole through the spring corners when foot leaves the ground. This reduces odor and fungus formation as well as cools the feet, providing highly desired comfort.
Providing adequate traction by shoe outsole remains a challenge. This is because soft material is required to form a good contact to the ground surface often in molecular level, but hard material is also required to provide good grip to the ground microstructures, leading to trade-off in design. Rubber like polymer composites are widely used to form shoe bottom outsoles that contact the ground. Although various pattern and stiffness materials have been used to form the outsole tracking layer, they are insufficient for many situations, including walking on wet or slippery surfaces. The embodiment of FIG. 7 utilizes innovative traction material of nano-carbon spikes 502 that comprise embedded tiny hard carbon fibers inside a soft rubber composite base. FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-section of nano-carbon fiber spike outsole 700 that is to be mounted as part of the bottom tracking layer. The embodiment comprises a plurality of ground contact projections 505 formed on the ground contact side of the sole base with a predetermined gap 507 between adjacent ground contact projections in the longitudinal direction of the base. The nano-carbon fiber spike pad 515 is made of distributed carbon fibers 520 that are first hardened by soaking with epoxy resin and oriented substantially upright relative to the ground contact surface and molded inside a rubber composite base 530. Gaps 510 are for drainage of liquids present on the ground surface. The fabrication processes are well known in the industry. It is preferred that the fibers 520 are preferably, but not limited to, less than 5 mm in cross-section A and are aligned with a small angle towards the walking direction B (that is, toward the front of the outsole 700) to provide maximum grip. In the fabrication, bundle or plate of carbon fibers or stow can be used as the spikes. As a foot strides on a hard surface, the rubber composite deforms to be in tight contact with the ground surface providing friction and at the same time the hard carbon fiber needle spikes are pushed out to stick to the ground surface griping to surface microstructures providing additional traction. It is also possible that at least one of the spike projections 505 initially extend beyond the outsole bottom. This embodiment drastically increases shoe traction on wet or greasy hard surface. It is gentle to hard floors and does not damage carpet. Moreover, the embodiment using carbon fibers or spikes 520 is extremely lightweight. The carbon spikes 520 embedded in rubber are always sharp and wear out together with the rubber base. The present invention actually provides an adaptive spike assembly, wherein force applied to the sole causes the carbon fiber spikes to be engaged towards the ground with self-adjusted exposing length to grip the microstructure of the floor surface.
Numerous characteristics and advantages of the invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, and the novel features hereof are pointed out in the appended claims. The disclosure, however, is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters, shape, size, and arrangement of parts, within the principle of the invention, to the full extend indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. For example, As clearly evident, the term “spring” used throughout the specification is generic and encompasses many configurations, all of which exhibit the unique quality of “bounciness” of carbon fiber composites—that is, all carbon fiber springs are resistant to deformation.

Claims

We claim:

1. A shoe comprising:

an upper body including a back support, a mid support, a front toe section, and a bottom outsole;

a sole interconnected to a bottom portion of said upper body;

a first spring and a second spring, at least one of said first spring and said second spring made of carbon fiber composite material, each of said first spring and said second spring having a thin cross-section and formed of a folded spring design comprising an upper plate and a lower plate pivotally connected together at one end thereof and disposed from each other at another end thereof forming a gap there between;

said first spring and said second spring being disposed within said sole;

said first spring being located within a front end of said sole having said pivotally connected portion adjacent said mid support and said second spring being located within a back end of said sole having said pivotally connected portion adjacent said mid support;

wherein, as a foot pushes down on said first and second springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon said first spring and said second spring and said upper plate of each of said first spring and said second spring may be substantially compressed against said lower plate, respectively, when the force is applied; and

wherein, as the force is removed during the stride, said upper plate of each of said first spring and said second spring moves upward to form said gap and creating bounciness within the shoe.

2. The shoe as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

air pockets formed within said gap between said upper plate and said lower plate of each said first spring and said second spring, respectively; and

a valve to said air pockets interconnected such that air can be introduced to said sole and exhausted through said valve when a stride is taken.

3. The shoe sole as defined in claim 1, wherein both said upper plate and said lower plate of said first spring and said second spring, respectively, are made of carbon fiber composite material.

4. The shoe as defined in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of air holes located in said sole to permit air to be exhausted from and enter into the sole.

5. The shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said carbon fiber composite comprises fibers run substantially in the longitudinal direction.

6. The shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said back support, said mid support and said front toe section are made of carbon fiber composite material.

7. A shoe comprising:

an upper body including a back support, a mid support, a front toe sections and a bottom outsole;

a sole interconnected to a bottom portion of said upper body;

a plurality of springs configured from said sole, said sole and said plurality of springs made of carbon fiber composite material, each of said springs having a thin cross-section and formed of a folded compact spring design comprising an upper plate cut from said sole and forming a gap at one end of each of said springs;

wherein, as the foot pushes down on said springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon said springs such that said upper plate of each said spring may be substantially compressed within said sole, and as the force is removed during the stride said upper plate of each said spring moves upward to form said gap and creating bounciness within the shoe.

8. The shoe as defined in claim 7, further comprising:

air pockets formed between said upper plate and said sole; and

a valve interconnected to said air pockets such that air can be introduced to said sole and exhausted through said valve when a stride is taken.

9. The shoe as defined in claim 7, wherein each said upper plate of said plurality of springs comprises a coiled plate design cut from said sole.

10. The shoe as defined in claim 7, wherein said plurality of springs are distributed according to a foot pressure pattern.

11. The shoe as defined in claim 7, wherein said back support, said mid support and said front toe section are made of carbon fiber composite material.

12. A shoe comprising:

a sole interconnected to a bottom portion of said upper body;

one or more individual springs configured from said sole, said sole and said springs made of carbon fiber composite material, at least one of said springs formed of a compression coil spring design, said material having a thin cross section and forming a gap between a top part and a bottom part of said springs;

13. The shoe as defined in claim 12, further comprising:

air pockets formed between said upper plate and said sole; and

14. The shoe as defined in claim 12, wherein said one or more springs are distributed according to a foot pressure pattern.

15. The shoe as defined in claim 12, wherein said back support, said mid support and said front toe section are made of carbon fiber composite material.

16. A removable sole cushion for a shoe comprising:

a plurality of springs configured from said sole cushion, said sole cushion and said plurality of springs made of carbon fiber composite material, each of said springs formed of a folded compression spring design, said material having a thin cross-section and forming a gap between a top and a bottom portion of each of said springs;

wherein, as the foot pushes down on said springs during a stride, a force is exerted upon said springs such that said upper plate of each said spring may be completely compressed within said sole, and as the force is removed during the stride said upper plate of each said spring moves upward to form a gap and creating bounciness within the sole.

17. The removable sole cushion as defined in claim 16, wherein said plurality of springs comprise a compression coil spring design with said thin cross-section made of carbon fiber composite.

18. The removable sole cushion as defined in claim 16, wherein said plurality of springs comprise a compression leaf spring design with said thin cross-section made of carbon fiber composite.

19. The removable shoe sole cushion as defined in claim 16, wherein said plurality of springs are distributed according to foot pressure pattern.

20. The removable shoe sole cushion as defined in claim 16, further comprising a plurality of air holes located in said sole cushion to permit air to be exhausted from and enter into said sole cushion.

21. The shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said outsole is a carbon fiber spike outsole comprising hardened carbon fiber spikes distributed and imbedded in a rubber composite base;

wherein said fiber spikes are substantially aligned with each other and substantially upright to the ground; and

wherein, as the foot pushes down on said first and second springs during a stride on a hard surface, said carbon spikes are pushed out to grip the hard surface, creating additional traction.

22. The shoe as defined in claim 7, wherein said outsole is a carbon fiber spike outsole comprising hardened carbon fiber spikes distributed and imbedded in a rubber composite base;

wherein, as the foot pushes down on said plurality of springs during a stride on a hard surface, said carbon spikes are pushed out to grip the hard surface, creating additional traction.

23. The shoe as defined in claim 12, wherein said outsole is a carbon fiber spike outsole comprising hardened carbon fiber spikes distributed and imbedded in a rubber composite base;

wherein, as the foot pushes down on said one or more individual springs during a stride on a hard surface, said carbon spikes are pushed out to grip the hard surface, creating additional traction.

24. The removable sole cushion as defined in claim 16, wherein the removable sole cushion is positioned within a shoe having an outsole in the form of a carbon fiber spike outsole comprising hardened carbon fiber spikes distributed and imbedded in a rubber composite base;

wherein, as a foot pushes down on said shoe during a stride on a hard surface, said carbon spikes are pushed out to grip the hard surface, creating additional traction.

25. The shoe as defined in claim 21, wherein said hardened carbon fiber spikes have a cross-sectional size of less than 5 mm in thickness or diameter.

26. The shoe as defined in claim 22, wherein said hardened carbon fiber spikes have a cross-sectional size of less than 5 mm in thickness or diameter.

27. The shoe as defined in claim 23, wherein said hardened carbon fiber spikes have a cross-sectional size of less than 5 mm in thickness or diameter.

28. The removable shoe cushion as defined in claim 24, wherein said hardened carbon fiber spikes have a cross-sectional size of less than 5 mm in thickness or diameter.

29. The shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said thin cross-section is less than 5 mm in thickness.

30. The shoe as defined in claim 7, wherein said thin cross-section is less than 5 mm in thickness.

31. The shoe as defined in claim 12, wherein said thin cross-section is less than 5 mm in thickness.

32. The removeable sole cushion as defined in claim 16, wherein said thin cross-section is less than 5 mm in thickness.