Damping unit, sole and design method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a damping unit, a shoe sole and a design method thereof, and relates to the technical field of shoe sole damping, a quasi-zero stiffness module comprises two cross arms and four inclined arms which are symmetrically arranged up and down, two energy storage arms are arranged between the two cross arms, two ends of the two energy storage arms are fixedly connected with the inner sides of two ends of the two cross arms respectively, and the two ends of the two energy storage arms are fixedly connected with the inner sides of two ends of the two cross arms respectively. The two energy storage arms are arranged in an X shape; the bistable module comprises a convex module and a concave module which are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of the quasi-zero stiffness module, the convex module comprises a first connecting arm and a convex block arranged in the middle of the bottom of the first connecting arm, and one end of the first connecting arm is fixedly connected with the joint of the two oblique arms; the concave module comprises a second connecting arm and a concave block arranged in the middle of the top of the second connecting arm, and the convex block is matched with the concave block in an embedded mode. The quasi-zero stiffness module is used for reducing sole vibration during movement, and the bistable module is used for storing mechanical impact energy for impacting large deformation, so that a wearer is protected from being injured by sudden impact.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of shoe sole shock absorption, and in particular to a shock absorption unit, a shoe sole and a design method thereof. Background Art

[0002] The common sole structures on the market are often made of traditional shock-absorbing materials, shock-absorbing cavities, air cushions or randomly filled lattice structures. The structural designs are relatively generalized and do not take into account the differences in the distribution of plantar pressure among different groups of people. In addition, many sole designs only consider shock absorption, but do not take into account energy absorption and impact resistance. As a result, the soles cannot play the role of energy absorption and protection when the wearer occasionally engages in strenuous exercise, thus causing health damage. Summary of the invention

[0003] The invention provides a shock absorbing unit, a sole and a design method thereof, which solves the problem that the existing vibration-isolating sole cannot have both shock absorbing and impact-resistant functions.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a shock absorbing unit, the shock absorbing unit comprising a quasi-zero stiffness module and a bistable module;

[0005] The quasi-zero stiffness module comprises two horizontal arms and four oblique arms symmetrically arranged in the upper and lower parts, the two horizontal arms and the four oblique arms are connected end to end in sequence to form a closed figure, two energy storage arms are arranged between the two horizontal arms, the two ends of the two energy storage arms are respectively fixedly connected to the inner sides of the two ends of the two horizontal arms, and the two energy storage arms are arranged in an X shape;

[0006] The bistable module includes a convex module and a concave module symmetrically arranged on both sides of the quasi-zero stiffness module, the convex module includes a first connecting arm and a convex block arranged in the middle of its bottom, one end of the first connecting arm is fixedly connected to the connection between two oblique arms on the same side; the concave module includes a second connecting arm and a concave block arranged in the middle of its top, one end of the second connecting arm is connected to one end of the lower cross arm; the convex block and the concave block are embedded and matched when the shock absorbing unit is deformed.

[0007] Preferably, the shock absorbing unit is made of superelastic material.

[0008] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a sole, comprising an inner sole and an outer sole, wherein a plurality of shock absorbing units as claimed in claim 1 are arranged between the inner sole and the outer sole, and the inner sole and the outer sole are provided with an edge sealing structure.

[0009] In a third aspect, the present invention provides a design method for designing the sole, comprising the following steps:

[0010] The static pressure of the plantar of the wearer when standing is collected, and the insole is segmented according to the static pressure of the plantar to obtain multiple segmented areas;

[0011] Designing the layout of the multiple segmented areas according to the size ranges of the different segmented areas to obtain the corresponding multiple damping unit arrays;

[0012] According to the static pressure of different segmented areas and the corresponding array of shock absorbing units, the load of a single shock absorbing unit in different segmented areas is obtained;

[0013] The structural parameters of the corresponding shock absorbing units are optimized according to the loads of the single shock absorbing units in different segmented areas, and the optimized multiple shock absorbing units are arranged in the corresponding segmented areas.

[0014] Preferably, the divided areas include a toe area, a metatarsal area, a midfoot area and a heel area.

[0015] Preferably, the toe area includes the big toe area and the remaining toe areas, the big toe area adopts a 2×2 array layout, the remaining toe areas adopt a 1×3 array layout, the metatarsal area adopts a 4-5-5 array layout, the midfoot area adopts a 2-1-1 array layout, and the heel area adopts a 1-2-3-2-1 array layout.

[0016] Preferably, the structural parameters include the thickness of the energy storage arm, the inclination angle, and the contour radius of the protrusion and the concave block.

[0017] Preferably, the sole is integrally formed by using additive manufacturing technology.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0019] The present invention provides a shock absorbing unit, including a quasi-zero stiffness module and a bistable module. The quasi-zero stiffness module includes two horizontal arms and four oblique arms, and two energy storage arms are arranged inside the module in an X-shape. The X-shaped energy storage arm will deform under the action of an external force, forming a characteristic of an equivalent stiffness close to zero, thereby playing a shock absorbing role. The bistable module includes a convex module and a concave module symmetrically arranged on both sides of the quasi-zero stiffness module, and the convex block on the convex module and the concave block on the concave module are embedded and matched. When the entire unit is severely deformed by the impact force, the convex module and the concave module are embedded and stuck together, thereby preventing the impact energy from being transmitted to the human body, thereby playing a protective role for the human body.

[0020] The present invention also provides a sole design method, which divides the insole according to the static pressure of the sole to obtain multiple segmented areas, and obtains the load of a single shock absorbing unit in different segmented areas according to the static pressure of different segmented areas and the corresponding shock absorbing unit array. The present invention optimizes the design of the vibration isolation units at different parts of the sole by region, taking into account the different sole pressure loads of the wearer, so as to avoid stress concentration when the wearer is standing still, and at the same time can attenuate the vibration generated during movement. In addition, according to the degree of impact deformation of the sole when the wearer is impacted, the comfort is improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0022] Figure 1 is a structural diagram of the shock absorbing unit of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the sole of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the complete structure of the sole of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a process of optimizing the structural parameters of multiple shock absorbing units according to the static pressure of the sole of the foot according to the present invention;

[0026] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the optimization results of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of multiple segmented regions of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of multiple unit arrays of the present invention.

[0029] In the figure: 1- horizontal arm, 2- oblique arm, 3- energy storage arm, 4- first connecting arm, 5- protrusion, 6- second connecting arm, 7- concave block, 8- inner bottom, 9- outer bottom, 10- edge sealing structure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] The present invention provides a shock absorbing unit, referring to Figure 1 , specifically an energy absorption and shock absorption unit, including a quasi-zero stiffness module and a bistable module. The quasi-zero stiffness module is used to attenuate plantar vibration during light exercise, and the bistable module is used to store mechanical impact energy of large impact deformation, thereby protecting the wearer from damage caused by sudden impact. The quasi-zero stiffness module includes two horizontal arms 1 and four oblique arms 2 symmetrically arranged in the upper and lower parts. The two horizontal arms 1 and the four oblique arms 2 form a regular hexagon. Two energy storage arms 3 are arranged between the two horizontal arms 1. The two ends of the two energy storage arms 3 are respectively fixedly connected to the inner sides of the two ends of the two horizontal arms 1, and the two energy storage arms 3 are arranged in an X shape. The "X"-shaped energy storage arm will deform under the action of external force, forming a characteristic of an equivalent stiffness close to zero, thereby playing a shock absorbing role.

[0032] The bistable module includes a convex module and a concave module symmetrically arranged on both sides of the quasi-zero stiffness module. The convex module includes a first connecting arm 4 and a convex block 5 arranged in the middle of its bottom. One end of the first connecting arm 4 is fixedly connected to the connection between the two oblique arms 2. The concave module includes a second connecting arm 6 and a concave block 7 arranged in the middle of its top. The convex block 5 is embedded and matched with the concave block 7. When the deformation of the entire unit is small (slight movement, vibration), the convex module and the concave module are not in contact, so they do not work. When the entire unit is severely deformed by the impact force, the convex module and the concave module are embedded and stuck together, and the impact energy is stored in the "X"-shaped energy storage arm, thereby preventing the impact energy from being transmitted to the human body and playing a protective role for the human body.

[0033] In this embodiment, the energy absorbing and shock absorbing unit is made of a super elastic material, including but not limited to soft rubber materials such as TPU and PU.

[0034] Reference Figure 2-Figure 3 The present invention also provides a sole, which is composed of an edge sealing structure 10, an inner sole 8, an outer sole 9 and a plurality of shock absorbing units. The plurality of shock absorbing units are arranged between the inner sole 8 and the outer sole 9, and the edge sealing structure 10 seals the inner sole 8 and the outer sole 9 to obtain the sole.

[0035] The present invention also provides a design method, which is used to design the above-mentioned sole, and specifically includes:

[0036] The static pressure of the plantar of the wearer when standing is collected, and the insole is regionally segmented according to the static pressure of the plantar to obtain multiple segmented areas.

[0037] The unit layout design is performed on the multiple segmented areas according to the size ranges of the different segmented areas to obtain the corresponding multiple unit arrays.

[0038] The loads of the plurality of units are obtained according to the static pressures of the plurality of segmented regions and the corresponding unit arrays.

[0039] The structural parameters of the shock-absorbing unit are optimized through the loads of multiple units.

[0040] The structural parameters of multiple shock-absorbing units are optimized according to the static pressure of the plantar surface.

[0041] According to the plantar static pressure distribution (attached Figure 6 ) The sole area is divided into "toes", "metatarsals", "midfoot" and "heel", and the shock-absorbing units are optimized through machine learning, and the optimized shock-absorbing units are distributed inside different areas of the sole (see Appendix Figure 7 ), according to the size range of different areas, the design layout corresponding to the shock-absorbing unit structure is selected. The big toe area uses a 2×2 array layout, the other toe areas use a 1×3 array layout, the metatarsal area uses a 4-5-5 array layout, the midfoot area uses a 2-1-1 array layout, and the heel area uses a 1-2-3-2-1 array layout. According to the number of unit layouts in different areas, the pressure value of the area divided by the number of units is the unit load design value of the area. The edge sealing structure is a randomly generated lattice structure used to lightweight the sole, and the final sole structure is integrated using additive manufacturing technology.

[0042] According to the sole space in each area and the unit distribution that can be accommodated after reasonable optimization, the number of units placed in different areas is determined. Then, according to the pressure distribution of the load in different areas, it is divided by the number of units to obtain the load design value of each unit.

[0043] According to the wearer's plantar pressure, refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 , based on the machine learning algorithm, the structural parameters matching different loads (thickness of the X-shaped oblique arm, tilt angle, and contour radius of the concave and convex unit) are obtained. The units with both vibration isolation (zero stiffness performance) and impact resistance (bistable energy absorption) are reasonably arranged on the surface 2 according to the plantar pressure. The edge sealing structure 1 can fix the vibration isolation unit to the upper and lower surfaces and encapsulate the vibration isolation unit inside the midsole of the shoe.

[0044] This solution optimizes the design of vibration isolation units in different parts by region, taking into account the different plantar pressure loads of the wearer, to avoid stress concentration when the wearer is standing still, and to attenuate the vibration generated during movement. In addition, based on the allowable deformation range of the sole when the wearer is impacted, a bistable structure is designed to improve the wearer's comfort and avoid injuries caused by impact during strenuous exercise. The midsole structure composed of various modules can meet the prevention of vibration-related diseases such as peripheral vascular spasm and white fingers in daily industrial production.

[0045] A unit structure with both bistable and zero stiffness characteristics is adopted. Through machine learning, the unit parameters with equivalent stiffness approaching zero within a specific deformation range and bistable characteristics after exceeding a certain deformation range are searched. Within a small deformation range where the equivalent stiffness approaches zero (daily walking or light exercise), the sole has a shock-absorbing effect. After the sole exceeds a certain deformation range (strenuous exercise or impact), the sole unit has bistable performance, which can absorb and store impact energy, thereby protecting the wearer.

[0046] The present invention intends to realize the customized design of the filling unit by using the equivalent stiffness vibration isolation principle and the bistable energy absorption theory, taking into account the plantar pressure distribution of different groups of people, so as to realize the adaptive distribution of static pressure, shock absorption during light exercise (relying on the equivalent stiffness principle) and impact resistance during intense exercise (relying on the bistable theory). The present invention adopts a unit structure with both bistable and zero stiffness characteristics, and searches for the equivalent stiffness approaching zero within a small deformation range through machine learning. When the unit deformation range exceeds a certain value, the unit has a bistable characteristic, so that the structure has a shock-absorbing effect in the small deformation range where the equivalent stiffness approaches zero (daily walking, light exercise). After the sole exceeds a certain deformation range (intense exercise, impact), the sole unit has a bistable performance, which can absorb and store impact energy and play a protective role for the wearer. Avoid the discomfort caused by long-term standing or movement vibration of the wearer.

[0047] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, those skilled in the art may make other changes and modifications to these embodiments once they have learned the basic creative concept. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0048] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A shock absorbing unit, characterized in that: The shock absorbing unit includes a quasi-zero stiffness module and a bistable module; The quasi-zero stiffness module comprises two horizontal arms (1) and four oblique arms (2) which are symmetrically arranged in an upper and lower manner, the two horizontal arms (1) and the four oblique arms (2) are connected end to end in sequence to form a closed figure, two energy storage arms (3) are arranged between the two horizontal arms (1), two ends of the two energy storage arms (3) are respectively fixedly connected to the inner sides of two ends of the two horizontal arms (1), and the two energy storage arms (3) are arranged in an X shape; The bistable module comprises a convex module and a concave module symmetrically arranged on both sides of the quasi-zero stiffness module, the convex module comprising a first connecting arm (4) and a convex block (5) arranged in the middle of its bottom, one end of the first connecting arm (4) being fixedly connected to the connection point of two oblique arms (2) on the same side; the concave module comprises a second connecting arm (6) and a concave block (7) arranged in the middle of its top, one end of the second connecting arm (6) being connected to one end of the lower cross arm (1); the convex block (5) and the concave block (7) being embedded and matched when the shock absorbing unit is deformed.

2. A shock absorbing unit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shock absorbing unit is made of superelastic material.

3. A shoe sole, comprising an inner sole (8) and an outer sole (9), characterized in that: A plurality of shock absorbing units as claimed in claim 1 are arranged between the inner bottom (8) and the outer bottom (9), and the inner bottom and the outer bottom are provided with an edge sealing structure (10).

4. A design method, characterized in that: For designing the sole as claimed in claim 2, comprising the following steps: The static pressure of the sole of the wearer when standing is collected, and the insole (8) is segmented according to the static pressure of the sole to obtain a plurality of segmented areas; Designing the layout of the multiple segmented areas according to the size ranges of the different segmented areas to obtain the corresponding multiple damping unit arrays; According to the static pressure of different segmented areas and the corresponding array of shock absorbing units, the load of a single shock absorbing unit in different segmented areas is obtained; The structural parameters of the corresponding shock absorbing units are optimized according to the loads of the single shock absorbing units in different segmented areas, and the optimized multiple shock absorbing units are arranged in the corresponding segmented areas.

5. A design method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The segmented areas include a toe area, a metatarsal area, a midfoot area, and a heel area.

6. A design method as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The toe area includes the big toe area and the remaining toe areas. The big toe area adopts a 2×2 array layout, the remaining toe areas adopt a 1×3 array layout, the metatarsal area adopts a 4-5-5 array layout, the midfoot area adopts a 2-1-1 array layout, and the heel area adopts a 1-2-3-2-1 array layout.

7. A design method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The structural parameters include the thickness and inclination angle of the energy storage arm (3) and the contour radius of the convex block (5) and the concave block (7).

8. A design method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The sole is integrally formed by using additive manufacturing technology.

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