Bicycle Shoe Sole with Variable Groove Width for Pedal Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shoe soles for bicycle pedals are too firmly fixed, leading to poor operation feeling and inefficient pedaling force transmission due to grooves aligning parallel to engagement parts, causing the foot to turn improperly and resulting in suboptimal engagement with the pedal.
Innovation Solution
A shoe sole design with grooves oriented in a longitudinal direction and protrusions with varying widths and inclinations, allowing for secure engagement with bicycle pedals even when the foot turns, ensuring effective force transmission and alignment with pedal engagement parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If grooves are formed parallel to engagement parts to ensure engagement, then engagement reliability is improved, but operation feeling deteriorates due to excessive locking force
Solution Approach 1:
The groove width is made non-uniform along its length, with different widths at different positions. This allows the groove to provide strong engagement force at certain locations while maintaining easier release at others, resolving the contradiction between reliable engagement and comfortable operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove width parameter is varied along the length of the groove. By changing the width parameter from constant to variable, the engagement characteristics are optimized to provide both reliable locking and comfortable operation feeling.
2Device complexity
If grooves are formed parallel to engagement parts for simple structure, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but pedaling force transmission efficiency deteriorates when foot turns
Solution Approach 1:
The groove structure incorporates varying width characteristics at different locations, allowing it to adapt to different engagement scenarios. This local variation enables effective force transmission even when the foot turns, while maintaining a relatively simple overall groove structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove is pre-designed with non-uniform width to anticipate and accommodate foot turning during pedaling. This preliminary design consideration ensures that the groove maintains effective engagement and force transmission capability throughout the pedaling motion.
3Ease of manufacture
If uniform groove width is used for manufacturing simplicity, then manufacturing precision requirements are reduced, but engagement adaptability deteriorates when foot position changes
Solution Approach 1:
The groove width is designed to vary at specific locations rather than being uniformly changed throughout. This allows manufacturing to focus on specific critical sections while maintaining overall simplicity, and provides enhanced adaptability for different foot positions and engagement scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
A shoe sole comprises a bottom surface including a plurality of grooves arranged in a longitudinal direction of the shoe sole for engaging the engagement parts 6a, 6b that are formed parallel to the pedal shaft 8 of the bicycle pedal, and a protrusion having a ground contact surface between the grooves adjacent in the longitudinal direction, the sole characterized in that the protrusion has a width W2 in the longitudinal direction on an inner side in the left-right direction with respect to both feet of a wearer that is wider than a width W1 on an outer side in the left-right direction with respect to both feet of a wearer.