Shock absorbing structure and shoe to which the shock absorbing structure is applied

Abstract

A shock absorbing structure is formed by including a column member, an elastic ring member that is provided by being fitted onto the column member, and upper and lower pressure receiving portions that are connected by the column member, wherein the column member is capable of being deformed and restored at least in a pressure receiving direction, the ring member has an effective working height set to be lower than the column member, and is formed to be in a non-bonded state with the upper and lower pressure receiving portions, and at a time of pressure reception, the column member undergoes compression deformation in the pressure receiving direction first, and thereafter, the ring member undergoes compression deformation in the pressure receiving direction next, whereby multi-stage shock absorbing performance is exhibited.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to a shock absorbing structure that is incorporated into a sole of a sports shoe, or a running shoe, for example, so as to be easily observed visually from outside and absorbs impact applied to a foot of a wearer at a time of landing on the ground, and particularly relates to a novel shock absorbing structure that enables a repulsive force to shift smoothly to a kick-out motion of the wearer while enabling the impact to be absorbed in a stepwise manner, and a shoe to which the shock absorbing structure is applied.BACKGROUND ART[0002]In many sports shoes, running shoes and the like, shock absorbing members (shock absorbing structures) are incorporated in order to absorb an impact which is applied to legs (feet, knees and the like) of those who wear the shoes. A number of research and development activities have been earnestly carried out, and various proposals have been made as the shock absorbing structures like this.[0003]The prese...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0034]The shock absorbing structure exhibits multi-stage shock absorbing performance by at a time of pressure reception, the column member undergoing compression deformation in the pressure receiving direction first, and thereafter, the ring member undergoing compression deformation in the pressure receiving direction with the column member, while accompanied by an action of restricting bulging deformation of the column member by the ring member, next. Therefore, while the shock absorbing performance (impact absorbing characteristic) is enhanced, the repulsive force can be enhanced intentionally and in a stepwise manner in accordance with a shock absorbing stage, so that bottoming can be prevented, and a repulsion characteristic can be further given. Further, when the ring member is made deformable in an entire circumferential direction (since deformation is not restricted), the shock absorbing characteristic of the ring member can be exhibited to the greatest extent possible, and an excellent shock absorbing characteristic can be realized.

[0035]Further, if the effective working height of the ring member is set at a ratio of 0.2 to 0.95 of the column member (the height), favorable multi-stage shock absorbing deformation can be realized. That is, if the above described ratio is less than 0.2, the height dimension of the ring member is too small to realize favorable multi-stage shock absorbing deformation, and since a strength support action of the column member by the ring member decreases, load flexibility of the column member becomes large, so that when the shock absorbing structure is provided in a shoe, for example, stability at a time of running and at a time of walking is reduced.

[0036]Further, when the above described ratio exceeds 0.95, the height dimension of the ring member is so large (so high) this time that the distance between the pressure receiving portion and the ring member is so short (a clearance is too small) that effective multi-stage shock absorbing deformation is lost.

[0037]Further, if the effective working height of at least one of the column member and the ring member is formed not to be constant throughout the entire circumference (formed to differ partially), the pressure receiving portion inclines toward a side with a low effective working height when the load is applied, and when the shock absorbing structure is provided in a shoe, for example, a tilting action of tilting a leg of a wearer to a specific direction at the time of landing, or a load guiding action of guiding the load applied to a foot to a proper direction can be generated.

[0038]Further, if the column member is formed of a foam, and the ring member is formed from a solid material, at the initial stage of impact absorption, soft shock absorbing performance is obtained, and from here, the repulsion characteristic is gradually enhanced to realize the shock absorbing characteristic at the same time. That is, since a foam deforms accompanied by volume contraction (compression characteristic is high), bulging deformation in the radial direction at the time of compression deformation is smaller than that of a solid material, so that if the column member is formed of a foam, the column member undergoes deformation that contracts substantially only a volume and exhibits a soft shock absorbing characteristic, at the initial time of pressure reception when only the column member is substantially compressed. Thereafter, pressure reception advances to reach the stage accompanied by deformation of the ring member, compression deformation of the ring member is added to the compression deformation of the column member this time, but the ring member has a larger non-compression characteristic (volume change at the time of deformation is extremely small) than the column member since the ring member is formed from a solid material, and therefore has an action of restricting compression deformation of the column member relatively strongly, and with the shock absorbing performance of the ring member itself also added, the repulsion characteristic is enhanced. If the column member is formed of a foam, and the ring member is formed from a solid material in this way, the shock absorbing characteristic and the repulsion characteristic can be realized at the same time.

[0039]Further, since the sole of a shoe is generally formed of a foam, the configuration in which the column member is formed of a foam is also preferable in the case of adopting the structure in which the column member and the sole are integrated, and is also advantageous in terms of productivity and cost of the shoe. Since a foam itself is light, the configuration also contributes to reduction in weight of the shoe, as a matter of course.

Problems solved by technology

It has been one of problems that although the materials themselves have high shock absorbing performance, the states of the soft materials cannot be observed from the outside, that is, the ability to attract attention as a product is low.

Even when bottoming does not occur, a repulsion characteristic is small, so that in the process from landing to kicking-out with toes, reduction of a so-called repulsion characteristic occurs, such as excessive turning of an ankle and a deviation of a center of the gravity (landing stability), and reduction in a propulsion force by a repulsive force at the time of kicking out, and therefore, there has been the problem to make a shock absorbing characteristic and performance of facilitating running and jumping compatible.

However, it is not sufficient to simply expose a shock absorbing material to outside.

That is, when a columnar shock absorbing material is vertically fixed between a midsole and an outer sole as in Patent Literature 11 described above, the shock absorbing material easily causes “unsteadiness” with the column bends and tilts by compression deformation, and therefore, use of a rigid resin material for the columnar member, or another support member for a periphery is required.

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