Abrasion-Resistant Shoe Upper Protector with Deformable Medial Ribs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional baseball shoes suffer from premature abrasion of the shoe upper, particularly in the tiptoe and medial regions, due to friction during pitching or throwing, and existing solutions like the pitcher's toe guard are cumbersome to attach and do not adequately protect the medial region.
Innovation Solution
A shoe upper with a tiptoe protector and a medial region protector made of abrasion-resistant resin material, featuring a deformable portion with reinforcement ribs that extend obliquely, providing enhanced abrasion resistance and flexibility to prevent tearing while allowing easy toe joint bending.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a separate pitcher's toe guard is attached to the shoe, then the tiptoe portion is protected from abrasion, but the medial region remains unprotected and the device becomes cumbersome to attach
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the tiptoe protector and medial region protector into a single integrated protector unit that is attached as one piece to the shoe upper. This merging eliminates the need to separately attach multiple guards and ensures both the tiptoe and medial regions are protected simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between protection coverage and attachment complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated protector serves multiple functions: it protects both the tiptoe portion and the medial region from abrasion, provides structural reinforcement, and maintains flexibility for athletic movements. This multi-functionality allows a single device to address multiple protection needs without increasing attachment complexity
2Ease of manufacture
If a uniform thickness protector is used, then manufacturing is simplified, but the medial region lacks the flexibility needed for toe joint bending
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a deformable portion in the medial region protector with different physical properties (higher deformability) compared to the rest of the protector. This localized variation in material properties allows the medial region to flex with toe joint movements while maintaining abrasion resistance, and the structure can still be manufactured as a single piece through injection molding
3Strength
If reinforcement ribs are added to the deformable portion, then structural strength is improved, but the deformability may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The reinforcement ribs are strategically positioned within the deformable portion to provide localized structural support where needed while maintaining overall flexibility. The ribs create a ribbed structure that resists excessive deformation in specific areas (preventing tearing) while allowing necessary flexion for toe joint movement, achieving both strength and deformability in the same component
Data Source
AI summary
A shoe upper of a shoe includes first and second shoe upper sections together surrounding a foot, while covering a tiptoe and a heel of the foot, and a protector provided on part of an outer surface of the second shoe upper section and made of a single type of abrasion resistant resin material. The protector includes a tiptoe protector arranged to correspond to a tiptoe portion of the second shoe upper section, and a medial region protector provided on a medial region, of the second shoe upper section, extending from a backend of the tiptoe protector to a portion of the midfoot. The medial region protector has a deformable portion which has a mesh structure and is more deformable than the tiptoe protector, and a plurality of reinforcement ribs which divide the deformable portion into a plurality of regions.