Shoe Sole Visual Indicators for Foot-Ground Interaction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shoes and soles fail to effectively enhance propulsion during running and walking by not providing adequate awareness or assistance to the wearer for proper foot-ground interaction, leading to inefficient motion.
Innovation Solution
A shoe design with a sole featuring an upper surface, a lower surface, and a peripheral surface, including indicators on the side surfaces adjacent to the MP joint support region to visually alert the wearer to push the ground effectively, promoting efficient running and walking by enhancing foot-ground interaction awareness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If visual indicators are added to the sole to enhance wearer awareness and improve propulsion efficiency, then running and walking efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by providing visual indicators (first and second indicators in different colors) on the peripheral surface of the sole adjacent to the MP joint support region. These colored indicators visually guide the wearer to apply appropriate pressure at the correct location, enhancing awareness and propulsion efficiency without requiring complex mechanical or electronic systems.
2Device complexity
If the sole structure is simplified without visual indicators, then manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but wearer awareness and propulsion efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses simple visual indicators with different colors on the sole's peripheral surface to provide directional guidance to the wearer. This low-complexity approach effectively enhances wearer awareness and propulsion efficiency without requiring complex structures, maintaining simplicity while achieving the desired performance improvement.
3Reliability
If indicators are provided on both medial and lateral side surfaces, then wearer awareness is maximized, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing indicators selectively on specific portions of the sole's peripheral surface - specifically on the medial foot side surface and/or lateral foot side surface adjacent to the MP joint support region. This localized approach ensures wearer awareness is enhanced at the critical location without unnecessarily increasing complexity across the entire sole structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A sole includes an upper surface defining a support surface that supports a bottom of a foot of a wearer, a lower surface defining a ground contact surface, and a peripheral surface connecting the upper surface and the lower surface. The upper surface includes an MP joint support region that supports the bottom of the foot at a position corresponding to an MP joint of the foot of the wearer, and the peripheral surface includes a pair of side surfaces including a medial foot side surface located on a medial foot side and a lateral foot side surface located on a lateral foot side. Among the pair of side surfaces, a portion adjacent to the MP joint support region of at least one side surface is provided with an indicator visually indicating that the portion is different from the other portion of the one side surface.