Sole Board Forefoot Channel for Flexibility and Toe Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing footwear often lacks adequate cushioning, support, and flexibility, leading to soreness, fatigue, and potential injuries such as blisters, muscle, tendon, and ligament damage, and bone stress fractures, especially during daily activities and athletic movements.
Innovation Solution
A sole board with a channel in the forefoot region, varying in thickness and depth, providing increased flexibility during initial bending and enhanced stiffness during later phases to protect against hyperextension.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the sole board is made rigid to provide support and prevent hyperextension, then strength and stability are improved, but flexibility and comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The sole board is divided into multiple regions with different thicknesses and channel configurations. The forefoot region has a channel that segments the material structure, allowing independent deformation in different zones. This segmentation enables the sole board to provide rigid support in the midfoot while maintaining flexibility in the forefoot during bending.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the sole board have locally optimized properties. The forefoot region features a channel and reduced thickness for flexibility, while the midfoot and heel regions maintain greater thickness and density for support. This local quality variation resolves the contradiction by providing both flexibility where needed and strength where required.
2Strength
If the sole board thickness is increased to provide cushioning and support, then strength and comfort are improved, but flexibility and adaptability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The sole board exhibits dynamic properties that change during bending. Initially rigid to provide cushioning, the channel structure allows the forefoot region to flex dynamically as the wearer moves. The varying thickness creates a dynamic response where the sole board adapts its stiffness based on the bending angle and region, maintaining cushioning while enabling flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical parameters of the sole board vary across different regions and during deformation. The channel modifies the effective thickness and stiffness parameters locally in the forefoot region. As the sole board bends, the deformation characteristics change, allowing the same structure to provide both cushioning and flexibility through parameter variation rather than fixed properties.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the sole board is designed with a channel to increase flexibility, then adaptability and comfort are improved, but structural integrity and strength deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The channel creates a thin-film effect in the forefoot region, allowing the sole board to flex more easily while maintaining overall structural integrity through the remaining material continuity. The channel acts as a controlled weakness that enables flexibility without completely compromising the structural framework, similar to how thin-film structures provide flexibility while maintaining overall strength.
Data Source
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AI summary
A sole board for an article of footwear includes a plate that has a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region. The sole board includes a channel disposed in a top surface of the plate in the forefoot region. The channel extends from a lateral edge of the plate to a medial edge of the plate. A depth of the channel at the lateral and medial edges of the plate is different than a depth of the channel at a middle of the channel.