The invention relates to a shoe sole assembly com ^¬ prising a front portion and a rear portion, said front and rear portions being hingably connected. This shoe sole assembly may further be provided with at least a first pair of stiffening wings and a second pair of stiffening wings extending from the front portion and the rear portion respectively.

The European patent EP B 2 173 208 discloses such a shoe sole assembly in the course of disclosing a shoe, said shoe comprising a front part and a back part, and provided with a sole, and an upper placed on the sole, wherein the sole incorporates a hinge pivotally connecting the front part and the back part, and wherein the upper is divided into a front upper and a back upper, which are movable in relation to one another from an open position in which the sole is bent, to a closed position in which the sole is extended, and wherein the front upper and the back upper are provided with preformed stiffening means extending from the sole into the upper.

The preformed stiffening means of EP B 2 173 208 are provided in order to endow the upper of the shoe with sufficient firmness so that a user of the shoe receives adequate support. A drawback of stiffening a shoe or indeed a shoe sole assembly is that stiffness may cause discomfort for a user of the shoe or shoe sole assembly.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the above-mentioned problem and to provide an alternative to the shoe sole assembly of the prior art in line with one or more of the appended claims .

For the sake of clarity, it is specified that the front portion of the shoe sole assembly of the invention com ^¬ prises a front-upper and a front-under and that the rear por ^¬ tion of the shoe sole assembly of the invention comprises a rear-upper and a rear-under.

In a first aspect, the shoe sole assembly according to the invention is characterised in that the first and second pairs of stiffening wings are elastically bendable. In use, the stiffening wings are thus able to yield to some extent providing a more comfortable experience for the user.

It is preferred that the first and second pairs of stiffening wings further have non-uniform stiffness, the stiffness becoming generally greater towards the front- and rear-unders respectively, from which they extend. From the prior art, it is known that stiffening wings are advantageous to provide support for the user. Through varying the stiffness over the lengths of the stiffening wings, a desirable combination of support and comfort is achieved.

In a preferred embodiment, the non-uniform stiffness of the stiffening wings is provided through the first and second pairs of stiffening wings having non-uniform thickness, the thickness becoming generally greater towards the front- and rear-unders respectively, from which they extend. Composing the stiffening wings of a single material with a variable thickness, constitutes a simple and cost effective means to vary their stiffness. Other non-limiting alternatives include for example providing the stiffening wings with regions composed of materials of different stiffness, providing apertures, or fixably attaching or otherwise including reinforcing means .

In a second aspect of the invention, at least a por ^¬ tion of the front- and/or rear-unders are provided with a stiffening means. This provides adequate support to the user. The stiffening means are preferably provided by at least one of (i) having regions of different thickness; (ii) having regions composed of two or more materials of different stiffness. This promotes the improvement of the sole-stiffness while limiting the increase in weight. In a preferred embodi ^¬ ment, the stiffening means is provided by a series of reinforcing strips fixed to or moulded as part of the front and rear portions of the shoe sole assembly. Advantageously, by selectively reinforcing only portions of the front- and/or rear-unders, the comfort of the shoe sole assembly is improved.

In a third aspect the invention proposes a shoe sole as ^¬ sembly comprising a front portion and a rear portion, wherein the front portion comprises a front-upper and a front-under and the rear portion comprises a rear-upper and a rear-under, said front and rear portions being hingably connected, wherein the rear portion of the shoe sole assembly, in particular the rear under, is provided with a shock absorbing zone or zones. The shock absorbing zone or zones can be provided for example by including an aperture or apertures in the rear-under, by selectively reinforcing certain portions, or by having regions of the rear-under composed of materials of different stiffness or elasticity. Shock-absorbing zones are advantageously provided in order that the impact shock experienced by a user is damped, and may also be applied in combination with the above- discussed stiffening wings.

The invention will hereinafter be clarified with reference to the drawing of Figures 1-4 showing a preferred embodiment of the invention which is not limiting of the appended claims .

The drawing shows in:

- Figure 1, a side view of the shoe sole assembly of the in ^¬ vention;

- Figure 2, a view of the underside of the shoe sole assembly of the invention;

- Figure 3, a first view of the topside of the front portion of the shoe sole assembly of the invention;

- Figure 4, a second view of the topside of the front portion of the shoe sole assembly of the invention.

Wherein in the Figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.

With reference first to Figure 1, a side view of the shoe sole assembly (1) of the invention is shown comprising a front portion (2) and a rear portion (3) hingably connected

(4) and further provided with a first pair of stiffening wings

(5) and a second pair of stiffening wings (6) extending from the front portion (2) and the rear portion (3) respectively. The front portion comprises a front-upper (7) and a front- under (8); the rear portion comprises a rear-upper (9) and a rear under (10). The front-under (8) and the rear-under (10) are moveable in relation to one another from an open position in which an angle (□) between the front-under and rear-under is obtuse, and a closed position in which the angle (□) be ^¬ tween the front-under and rear-under is about 180 degrees.

Figure 2 shows the underside of the shoe sole assembly (1) of the invention. In the shown embodiment, the front- under (8) and the rear under (10) are provided with reinforcing strips (11) as stiffening means, thus the front- (8) and rear- (10) unders comprise regions of different thickness. The front- (8) and rear- (10) unders could further comprise regions of different stiffness. One could however also elect to provide reinforcing strips on only the front-under (8) or only the rear-under (10), or to a selected part or parts of the front-under ( 8 ) and/or rear-under (10). The reinforcing strips (11) are conveniently moulded as part of the front (2) and rear (3) portions. The rear-under (10) is further provided with a shock absorbing zone (12) . The shoe sole assembly (1) is preferably composed in part, or in its entirety of a rubber, plastic or a composite material with a predefined degree of flexibility and preferably also elasticity; the shock absorbing zone (12) is conveniently formed through having a portion of the rear-under (10) that is not reinforced.

Figures 3 and 4 show alternative views of the front portion (8) of the shoe sole assembly (1) focussing for clarity particularly on the first pair of stiffening wings (5) . The following description is however similarly applicable for the second pair of stiffening wings (6) of the rear portion (10). The stiffening wings (5) are elastically bendable in the directions (A) and (B) . The stiffening wings (5) preferably have non-uniform stiffness, the stiffness becoming generally greater towards the front-under (8), from which they extend as shown by the series of arrows (C) in Figure 4·. The shorter the arrow, the greater the degree of stiffness. The variable stiffness is preferably provided by comprising the stiffening wings (5) of a single material having non-uniform thickness, the thickness becoming generally greater towards the front- under (8) from which they extend. It is however also possible to provide a varying stiffness by an appropriate composition of the material forming the stiffening wings such that the stiffness is higher close to the front or rear under from which the wings extend, with the stiffness decreasing upwards away from the front or rear under.