Footwear Collar Elevator Structure for Hands-Free Donning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing footwear articles with collar elevators face challenges in efficiently facilitating the donning and doffing process, particularly when hands-free operation is desired, as they often require manual manipulation and may lead to structural breakdown over time.
Innovation Solution
The incorporation of a collar elevator mechanism, comprising a deformable element with lever arms and a base, that stores potential energy to move the ankle collar from a lowered to a raised state, allowing hands-free donning and reducing structural stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a collar elevator mechanism is used to enable hands-free donning, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The collar elevator mechanism is designed to automatically elevate the ankle collar using a deformable element that stores and releases potential energy. The system serves itself by utilizing the energy stored during foot insertion to automatically perform the collar elevation function, eliminating the need for manual operation while maintaining a relatively simple structure through self-powered operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable element stores potential energy in advance during the foot insertion process. This pre-stored energy is then released to automatically elevate the ankle collar, enabling hands-free operation. The preliminary storage of energy during insertion prepares the system for automatic collar elevation without requiring additional manual action.
2Device complexity
If manual manipulation of the ankle collar is required during donning, then device complexity is reduced, but ease of operation worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The collar elevator mechanism automatically performs the collar elevation function using energy stored during foot insertion. The system eliminates the need for manual manipulation by designing a self-powered mechanism that uses the deformable element to automatically raise the ankle collar, improving ease of operation while maintaining acceptable structural complexity.
3Ease of operation
If repeated manual manipulation of the ankle collar occurs, then ease of operation is maintained, but reliability deteriorates due to structural breakdown
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic collar elevation mechanism eliminates repeated manual manipulation by using a deformable element that stores and releases potential energy. This self-powered system performs collar elevation automatically during donning, reducing mechanical stress on the collar structure and improving reliability by preventing structural breakdown from repeated manual handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable element acts as an energy buffer that absorbs and stores potential energy during foot insertion. This pre-stored energy cushion prevents the need for repeated manual collar manipulation, thereby protecting the collar structure from excessive stress and potential breakdown, enhancing both ease of operation and structural reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables easy, hands-free donning and doffing of footwear articles while minimizing structural wear, enhancing user convenience and extending the lifespan of the footwear.
Implementation Method 1
a deformable element with lever arms and a base, that stores potential energy to move the ankle collar from a lowered to a raised state
Data Source
AI summary
A footwear article includes a footwear upper defining a foot-receiving cavity with a heel region and defining an ankle opening, the footwear upper including an ankle collar at the ankle opening. The footwear article has a sole structure secured to the footwear upper and underlying the foot-receiving cavity, the sole structure including a strobel and a midsole. The footwear article including a collar support disposed inward of an exterior layer of the footwear upper at the heel region, and extending from the sole structure to the ankle opening. The ankle collar is movable from a raised state positioned farther from the sole to a lowered state positioned closer to the sole during donning, and wherein the collar support has a shoehorn structure operable to move a portion of the ankle collar rearward in a longitudinal direction as the ankle collar moves from the raised state to the lowered state.