Self-Opening Shoe With Medial Lateral Spring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Many individuals struggle to put on and take off shoes due to limited mobility, lower back pain, or other maladies, as they often cannot reach down with both hands to open the shoe and secure their foot.
Innovation Solution
A self-opening shoe equipped with a shoe-opening spring that exerts medially and laterally outward forces to increase the shoe opening, facilitating the insertion and removal of the foot without manual assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional shoe closure system is used, then the shoe can be securely closed, but it requires manual effort to open and close the shoe
Solution Approach 1:
The shoe-opening spring automatically opens the shoe by exerting medially and laterally outward forces on the upper edges, eliminating the need for manual intervention. The spring facilitates the transition from closed to open state without requiring the user to reach down and manipulate the closure, thereby resolving the technical contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The shoe-opening spring is pre-loaded to store mechanical energy that is released to automatically open the shoe. This preliminary action of pre-loading the spring allows the shoe to open itself without requiring manual effort at the moment of use, addressing the contradiction by providing ease of operation through预先 stored energy rather than complex real-time mechanisms.
2Ease of operation
If the shoe opening is increased to facilitate foot insertion, then ease of insertion improves, but the structural integrity of the shoe may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The shoe-opening spring dynamically adjusts the opening size by exerting forces on the upper edges during the insertion process, then maintains the closure in a secure state afterward. This dynamic behavior allows the shoe to provide both easy insertion (when the spring is activated) and structural integrity (when the closure is secured), resolving the technical contradiction between ease of operation and strength.
3Ease of operation
If a shoe-opening spring is added to assist with opening, then ease of operation improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shoe-opening spring is designed to automatically perform the opening function without requiring additional control mechanisms or user intervention. By making the spring self-activating through its mechanical connection to the closure system, the invention improves ease of operation while minimizing the increase in device complexity, as the spring integrates with existing shoe components rather than adding a separate control system.
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
The shoe-opening spring allows for easy and effortless opening and closing of the shoe, enabling individuals with mobility issues to put on and take off their shoes with minimal resistance and discomfort.
Implementation Method 1
a shoe-opening spring that exerts medially and laterally outward forces to increase the shoe opening
Data Source
AI summary
A shoe-opening spring includes a base with a medial edge and a lateral edge, a medial spring protruding upwardly from the medial edge of the base, and a lateral edge protruding upwardly from the lateral edge of the base. When the shoe-opening spring is present within a shoe and in a relaxed arrangement, the medial spring and the lateral spring may respectively exert medially and laterally outward forces against respective medial and lateral sides of the shoe. When the medial and lateral sides of the upper of the shoe are pulled together, for example, with a closure of the shoe, the shoe-opening spring may be placed in a tensed arrangement, in which state the shoe-opening spring may remain until the closure is released.