Modular Footwear Lacing Engine With Interchangeable Take-Up Mechanisms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motorized lacing systems in footwear face challenges such as high cost, complexity, and poor serviceability, which hinder their adoption in mass production and user convenience.
Innovation Solution
A modular footwear platform with interchangeable motorized and non-motorized lacing engines, incorporating sensors and load cells for automated lace tightening, allowing for retail-level assembly and integration with standard assembly processes, enabling various footwear designs from casual to high-performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If motorized lacing systems are implemented in footwear, then automated lace tightening performance is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lacing system is divided into modular components including a lacing engine, drivetrain, lace cable, and footwear platform. This segmentation allows for standardized mass production of individual modules and enables flexible assembly configurations, reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining automated functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The lacing engine and drivetrain are designed as universal components that can be integrated across multiple footwear types and styles. This multi-functionality allows a single standardized mechanism to serve various applications, economies of scale in production, and reduces per-unit manufacturing costs through component reuse.
2Extent of automation
If motorized lacing systems with multiple components are used, then automated lacing functionality is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drivetrain components (motor, gear system, spool) are merged into a single integrated lacing engine assembly. This consolidation reduces the number of separate components that need to be managed, simplifies the overall system architecture, and maintains automated functionality while reducing perceived complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The drivetrain is nested within the lacing engine housing, with the motor, gear train, and spool arranged in a compact nested configuration. This nesting approach minimizes the overall footprint, reduces the number of external connections required, and simplifies the system's external interface while preserving internal automated mechanisms.
3Extent of automation
If complex motorized lacing systems are integrated into footwear, then automated tightening capability is improved, but serviceability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The lacing engine and drivetrain are extracted as removable modules from the footwear platform, allowing them to be easily accessed, removed, and replaced without disassembling the entire footwear structure. This extraction approach maintains automated functionality while dramatically improving serviceability through simple module replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular lacing engine design enables the entire automated mechanism to be replaced as a single serviceable unit. If a component fails, the entire engine module can be quickly removed and replaced, with the faulty unit sent for centralized repair or replacement, simplifying field service operations while maintaining automated capability.
4Adaptability or versatility
If modular interchangeable lacing engines are designed, then adaptability to different footwear types is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lacing engine and drivetrain are designed with standardized mounting interfaces and connection points that work across multiple footwear types including shoes, boots, and athletic footwear. This universal design enables a single complex mechanism to serve multiple applications without requiring design modifications, achieving adaptability without increasing the base device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates adjustable and configurable elements within the lacing engine that can be adapted to different footwear geometries and lacing patterns. This dynamic configurability allows the same basic mechanism to accommodate various footwear types through simple adjustments rather than requiring multiple specialized designs.
Data Source
AI summary
Lacing engine systems, apparatus, and methods of operation are discussed. In an example, a lacing engine apparatus can include a housing, a drivetrain, and a lace take-up mechanism for retracting a length of lace cable upon activation. The drivetrain can include various reduction gears to reduce rotational speed out of the motor and power the lace take-up mechanism. The lace take-up mechanism can include structures such as a double-yoke, a radial pulley including an outer rotating disc and an inner stationary disc, a variable take-up spool, or a zip-strip mechanism.