Forward-Tilt Catcher Shoe for Stable Low-Fatigue Crouching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Baseball catchers face significant physical challenges and risks of injury due to their crouching position, which is painful and fatiguing, and requires quick movements like jumping and chasing, necessitating a shoe design that supports their unique demands.
Innovation Solution
A shoe with a forward tilt, featuring a heel elevation greater than the toe, allowing the heel to remain on the ground while maintaining the crouch position, optionally with a removable heel for versatility, and incorporating features like a hinge for durability and cleats for traction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the catcher maintains a crouching position with knees off the ground, then the catcher can be ready to react quickly, but the catcher experiences pain and fatigue in the back of legs, knees, ankles and back
Solution Approach 1:
The shoe is divided into two functional parts: a standard forefoot portion and a removable elevated heel portion. This segmentation allows the heel to provide elevation support while the forefoot maintains normal ground contact, distributing the catcher's weight and reducing strain on the back of legs, knees, ankles and back during the crouching position.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces vertical dimension (elevation) to the heel portion, raising it 1-3 inches above the ground. This dimensional change allows the catcher to maintain a crouching position with the heel elevated, reducing the angle of knee bend and decreasing the mechanical stress on the back of legs, knees, ankles and back while maintaining readiness.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the heel is elevated to support the crouch position, then the catcher experiences less pain and fatigue, but the catcher cannot have the full sole on the ground for stability
Solution Approach 1:
The shoe design segments the contact with the ground into two parts: the elevated heel portion that reduces strain on the back of legs, knees, ankles and back, and the forefoot portion that maintains full ground contact for stability. This segmentation allows both elevated heel benefit and stable ground contact to coexist.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the heel is made elevated and fixed, then the catcher gets support in crouch position, but the catcher must change shoes to bat or run
Solution Approach 1:
The heel portion is designed to be removable, transforming the shoe from a static structure to a dynamic one. The catcher can attach the elevated heel when catching (to reduce strain on back of legs, knees, ankles and back) and remove it when batting or running (to maintain full sole ground contact and versatility), allowing the shoe to adapt to different gameplay requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The removable heel portion can be discarded (removed) when not needed for catching, allowing the catcher to use the shoe for batting or running without the elevated heel. The heel can then be recovered (reattached) when returning to catching, providing ongoing support and reducing strain on the back of legs, knees, ankles and back.
Data Source
AI summary
A shoe configured for athletic activity features a sole including a heel portion, an interior floor portion, a toe portion, a rear portion, a top, and left and right sides, all assembled to define a closed-end cavity sized for ingress and egress of a human foot, and further including means for releasably clamping the shoe against the foot, wherein a top surface of said interior floor portion at the rear of the shoe has an elevation that is 1.5 to 3.375 inches greater than a top surface of said interior floor portion at the front (toe region) of the shoe. The heel portion of said sole may be wider laterally than other portions of the sole.