Shoe Sole With Deformation Restraining Part For Ankle Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shoe soles do not effectively restrain the motion of the ankle joint, leading to increased energy dissipation and strain at the ankle joint during activities like walking or running.
Innovation Solution
A shoe sole design featuring a bottom part with a rear bottom surface part extending from the rearfoot to the midfoot and a toe portion with a height between 100% to 250% of the rear bottom surface part's thickness, combined with a deformation restraining part on the medial and lateral sides that extends from the forefoot to the midfoot, providing higher hardness and rigidity than the bottom part.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the shoe sole is designed with a curved forefoot region and heel-toe height difference, then the ankle joint motion is restrained and energy dissipation is reduced, but the shoe sole structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The shoe sole is divided into multiple functional regions: a curved forefoot region with specific radius of curvature, a heel portion with elevated height, and a deformation restraining part with different stiffness characteristics. This segmentation allows each region to independently contribute to restraining ankle joint motion while maintaining overall structural coherence.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the shoe sole are assigned different mechanical properties: the forefoot region has curved geometry to guide motion, the heel portion has increased height to alter leverage, and the deformation restraining part has higher hardness to limit excessive motion. This local differentiation optimizes energy dissipation without requiring uniform complexity throughout the entire sole.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the deformation restraining part with higher hardness is added to restrain ankle joint motion, then the stability is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shoe sole employs composite construction with a deformation restraining part made of material having higher hardness than the base sole material. This composite approach provides enhanced stability through the stiffer restraining elements while the base material maintains flexibility and comfort, allowing manufacturers to work with layered or molded composite structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformation restraining part extends in the width direction across the forefoot region, adding a lateral dimension to the restraint mechanism. This dimensional expansion provides stability not only in the forward-backward direction but also laterally, while the extension along the width can be efficiently produced through conventional molding or lacing techniques.
Data Source
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AI summary
A shoe sole 1 includes a bottom part 20 and a deformation restraining part 30. The bottom part 20 includes: a rear bottom surface part 24 formed to extend from a rearfoot to a midfoot portion and to be, when the shoe sole is placed on a virtual surface S as a flat surface, in contact with the virtual surface S; and a toe portion 26 of which a height from the virtual surface S is set to 100% or greater and 250% or less with respect to a thickness in the rear bottom surface part 24. The deformation restraining part 30 is disposed in an edge part on a medial side and a lateral side of the bottom part 20 and extends from a forefoot to the midfoot portion along the bottom part 20. The deformation restraining part 30 has higher hardness than the bottom part 20.