Shoe-Mounted Bowling Bracket for Foot-Controlled Ball Aiming

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Solution Overview

Problem

Individuals without functioning hands face a significant disadvantage in playing bowling and other ball-rolling sports due to the inability to grasp and accurately aim the ball, as traditional methods require hand manipulation.

Innovation Solution

A bowling apparatus comprising a bracket member with a concave shape and a tongue member that attaches to a shoe, allowing users to control and aim balls using their foot, with adjustable dimensions and attachment methods to accommodate different ball sizes and user needs.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a bowler uses traditional hand-based ball manipulation, then accurate aiming and ball control are achieved, but bowlers without functioning hands cannot participate effectively

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAccessibility to bowlers with disabilitiesVSAvoidBall control and aiming accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a shoe-based apparatus as an intermediary device that mediates between the bowler's foot and the bowling ball. The bracket member with concave shape cradles the ball, while the tongue member with lace holes provides secure attachment to the shoe, creating a mechanical interface that enables foot-based ball control comparable to hand-based control

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the hand-based mechanical system with a foot-based mechanical system. By attaching the bracket and tongue members to the shoe, the bowler's foot becomes the new actuator for ball manipulation, substituting the lost hand function with an adapted lower-extremity mechanism

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Adaptability or versatility

If a bowler without hands kicks the ball down the lane, then ball delivery is possible, but accurate aiming becomes extremely difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAbility to deliver ballVSAvoidAiming accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the physical parameters of ball interaction by introducing the concave bracket member that cradles the ball. This geometric constraint changes how the ball is held and released, providing stable positioning and controlled trajectory that enables accurate aiming through the foot-based apparatus

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Adaptability or versatility

If a shoe-based bowling apparatus is designed with adjustable dimensions, then adaptability to different ball sizes and users is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAccommodation of different ball sizes and usersVSAvoidStructure with adjustable components

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent incorporates dynamic adjustability into the apparatus by making the bracket member and tongue member dimensions configurable. The lace holes in the tongue member allow for adjustable positioning, and the bracket's concave shape can be adapted to different ball sizes, enabling the device to dynamically accommodate various users and ball specifications

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS10384100B2Shoe based bowling apparatus

Publication Date: 2019.08.20 MANOU NICHOLAS

AI summary

A shoe based bowling apparatus that includes: a bracket member having a concave shape to receive therein and remain in contact with at least one third of a circumference of a bowling ball; and a tongue member including a first end bent upward at an angle of approximately 90 degrees from a center portion thereof, the first end extending from a center of the bracket member, and a second end bent upward at an angle sufficient to rest along a length of a tongue of a shoe while the first end remains extending away from a surface in which the shoes rests, the second end being connected to a front end of the shoe.