Integrated Lateral Wedge Shoe Sole for Knee Load Redistribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shoe modifications for addressing knee pain and degenerative joint disease often interfere with the shoe's comfort, safety, and functionality, and fail to provide a universal solution that effectively redistributes load across the knee joint, leading to potential injuries and uneven wear.
Innovation Solution
Integrating a lateral wedge angle into the shoe sole's design, ensuring it traverses the entire lateral side from heel to toe with uniform thickness, to redistribute load and alleviate knee pain without altering the shoe's performance or comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If external attachments or inserts are added to the shoe, then orthopedic adjustment capability is improved, but shoe comfort, safety, and functionality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the orthopedic wedge adjustment directly into the shoe sole construction, eliminating the need for separate external attachments or inserts. The wedge is integrated as an inherent structural component of the sole, ensuring both orthopedic functionality and shoe performance are maintained as a unified system
Solution Approach 2:
The shoe sole is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it provides both the orthopedic wedge adjustment capability and maintains normal shoe functionality (comfort, safety, traction). The integrated design allows the sole to serve as both a structural support element and a functional shoe component without compromise
2Adaptability or versatility
If partial sole adjustment is made, then localized orthopedic support is improved, but uniform load redistribution deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sole is segmented into distinct functional zones: a wedge portion that provides the orthopedic adjustment angle and a non-wedged portion that maintains normal sole characteristics. This segmentation allows localized adjustment while preserving overall load distribution through proper zone definition and transition design
3Productivity
If wedge angle traverses entire lateral side with uniform thickness, then load redistribution effectiveness is improved, but shoe construction complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge portion of the sole is designed with uniform thickness across its lateral extent, creating a consistent adjustment angle that effectively redistributes load. This local quality control in the wedge zone achieves therapeutic effectiveness while the rest of the sole maintains normal construction, balancing effectiveness with manageable complexity
Data Source
AI summary
This invention generally relates to a shoe in which an orthopedic adjustment has been integrated into the construction of the shoe itself. The invention entails adjusting one or more of the soles or other construction features of the shoe itself in order to accommodate a medical condition or treatment regimen. In particular, in instances of abnormalities in the knee joint, there is a need to redistribute the weight of the body from an afflicted symptomatic medial compartment of the knee to an un-afflicted and asymptomatic, or lesser effected and less symptomatic compartment so as to relieve the pain and stress at the most afflicted and most symptomatic compartment. Benefits are also achieved by reducing a common ankle injury, and by improving lateral cutting, cornering, and push off maneuvers. The present invention achieves all this by laterally wedging the sole of a shoe, where the angle is chosen to counter and redistribute the weight of the body accordingly thereby changing the axial load on the knee and ankle joints.