Heel Suspend Footbed With Pronation Adapting Mechanism

Abstract

A thin footbed having incorporated spring structure that can adapt to a person's gait to avoid injuries and has minimal heel center pressure for prolonged comfort. The spring structure is made a carbon fiber and textile fabric hybrid material for high energy absorption capacity to prevent injuries from hard surface impacts.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE[0001]Priority is claimed from the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 154,709, entitled “Flexible Carbon Fiber Composites and Method of Making Thereof” filed on Apr. 30, 2015, entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present application relates to shoe sole, and more particularly to a footbed with pronation adapting mechanism that includes a pair of unique light-weight and durable carbon fiber springs attached to the footbed surface to adapt to foot pronation during gait cycles and to mediate body weight impacts to the foot and joints.[0003]Note that the points discussed below may reflect the hindsight gained from the disclosed inventions, and are not necessarily admitted to be prior art.[0004]The cyclic gaits of human biped running or walking include lateral heel rolling motions within healthy range of pronation or supination, such that when the heel initially strikes a surface, the ground impact forces are di...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a footbed that has a soft and suspended heel center to alleviate discomfort and pain. It also has two attached heel side longitudinal springs that provide adequate support strength and can be adjustable separately to compensate pronation or supination abnormality. The springs are designed to deform independent of each other to provide lateral flexibility with rocking motion during each step, preventing excessive pronation induced injuries. The footbed also contains a pair of thin arched springs made of a new class of hybrid elastic composite material that has unprecedented material characteristics. This composite material has uniquely high elastic flexibility and durability, providing high spring constants in a lightweight and thin format.

Problems solved by technology

Excessive pronation and supination are common foot ailments that are the result of faulty foot mechanics and can lead to injuries in the foot, ankles, and knees.

Supinated foot, however, does not make enough “inward roll” in the foot's motion, the weight of the body isn't transferred at all to the big toe, forcing the outside of the foot and the smaller toes to take the majority of the overweight.

Overpronation and underpronation (supination) are thus potentially harmful, and are associated with many overuse injuries.

However, these improvement designs neglect the impact of pressure on the foot heel center.

Because the heel center contains major neuronal nerves that are sensitive and prone to irritation, even with cushioning, pressure on the heel center can create discomfort that leads to pain.

With these shoes the center of the heel will press onto the rigid midsole during each walking step, causing discomfort and perhaps pain after wearing for an extended time.

The population with sensitive heels will not be able to feel comfortable with these types of shoes.

Some athletic shoes tend to have soft heel center cushioning, but because of the added thickness and width of the cushioning, there is an unwanted increase in the level of pronation / supination in initial landing that is much more than that of barefoot locomotion.

A rotatable device made of metal plates with a bow shape is constructed at the heel center of the shoe, although covered with a flat plate top, it can still cause discomfort to the heal center because of the rigidness of the metal.

And in US 2013 / 0139412, a bulge structure made of composite material is configured around the heel center in the shoe sole, adding discomfort to the heel center.

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