Personalized Footwear Shell Assembly for Precise Force Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional footwear fails to provide a personalized fit for individual foot shapes and sizes, leading to inefficient force and load transfer during high-performance activities, which affects the wearer's performance.
Innovation Solution
A personalized footwear assembly with a plantar and dorsal shell assembly, customizable through 3-D printing, featuring engagement panels to restrict foot movement and enhance force transfer, utilizing materials like Nylon and TPU to create a precise, comfortable fit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional footwear is constructed with a small range of sizes to fit a wide variety of feet, then manufacturing complexity is reduced and production efficiency is improved, but the fit precision and force transfer efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by utilizing 3-D printing technology to vary the physical parameters of the footwear (shape, size, structural density) based on individual foot measurements. This allows each footwear unit to be precisely customized to the wearer's foot geometry while maintaining efficient production through automated digital manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by creating a digital 3-D model of the wearer's foot before manufacturing. This preliminary digital modeling and measurement phase enables the customization process to be highly efficient, as the precise fit parameters are determined in advance through scanning and modeling, eliminating the need for trial-and-error fitting during production.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional footwear uses standardized sizing, then manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but the force transfer efficiency and performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing approach from standardized mass production to parameter-driven customized production. By varying the geometric parameters of the footwear shell based on individual foot measurements, the system achieves both efficient force transfer (through precise fit) and manufacturing simplicity (through automated 3-D printing processes).
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical manufacturing methods (molding, cutting, assembly) with additive manufacturing (3-D printing). This substitution enables complex personalized geometries to be produced directly from digital models without requiring complex tooling or assembly processes, thus maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving superior force transfer efficiency.
3Adaptability or versatility
If footwear is designed for general comfort, then adaptability to different foot types is improved, but the performance and responsiveness for high-performance activities deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different structural characteristics in different regions of the footwear shell. The 3-D printed structure can vary density, thickness, and rigidity at different locations to match the specific anatomical features and performance requirements of the wearer's foot, thus achieving both comfort adaptability and performance responsiveness simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A footwear assembly, such as a cycling show, includes a plantar shell assembly and a dorsal shell assembly. The plantar shell assembly includes a plantar shell shaped to conform to a bottom surface contour of the wearer's foot and a panel system include one or more engagement panels configured to contact medial, lateral, and/or dorsal surfaces of the wearer's foot. The dorsal shell assembly includes one or more dorsal shells shaped to conform to an upper surface contour of the wearer's foot. The dorsal shell assembly can be coupled to the plantar shell to apply a compressive force to the wearer's foot via the engagement panels and at least partially prevent movement of the wearer's foot relative to the plantar shell.