Size-Adjustable Sport Shoe with Telescopic Gear Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional size-adjustable shoes face issues such as ergonomic limitations, ease of use problems, and aesthetic concerns, particularly due to reliance on heel mechanisms or fasteners, making them inconvenient and prone to damage, especially for outdoor activities and varying foot sizes.
Innovation Solution
A size-adjustable shoe design featuring a telescopic adjusting device with gear racks, a resilient mechanism, and a handle that allows for quick and effortless size adjustment without tools, ensuring the shoe head slides smoothly along the insole while maintaining a covered toe for safety and aesthetic appeal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a heel adjustment mechanism is used to change shoe size, then the shoe can be adjusted, but the mechanism is easily damaged by external forces and wearer weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the heel adjustment mechanism entirely and replaces it with a head portion sliding mechanism. The adjustment function is extracted from the heel area and relocated to the head portion, which moves along a guiding groove in the insole, eliminating the vulnerability of heel mechanisms to external forces and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of adjusting size by moving the heel (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by making the head portion movable relative to the insole. This inversion relocates the adjustment function to a more durable position that is not directly exposed to external forces and weight.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a movable head portion is used to adjust shoe size, then the shoe can be resized, but the head portion must be affixed via fasteners requiring tools for adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The head portion is designed to slide automatically along the guiding groove in the insole without requiring external fasteners or tools. The adjustment mechanism serves itself by allowing the head portion to move freely along the groove and lock into position through the elastic member, enabling tool-free adjustment during outdoor activities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes the fastener system (screws and nuts) from the adjustment mechanism. The head portion is no longer affixed to the insole but instead moves along a guiding groove, eliminating the need for tools and simplifying the adjustment process for the wearer.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the shoe length is shortened without a toe cover, then the shoe can be adjusted, but the wearer may easily get tripped by the extension of the upper layer
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a toe cover that extends over the toe area of the insole before the head portion reaches its retracted position. This preliminary structural element prevents the wearer from tripping by covering the potential extension of the upper layer, ensuring safety regardless of the shoe's adjusted length.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a sliding mechanism with holding spring force is used, then the shoe can be adjusted, but great effort is required to overcome the spring force for unlocking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the holding spring force from the adjustment mechanism. Instead of using a spring-loaded system that requires force to overcome, the head portion simply slides along a guiding groove in the insole, eliminating the need to overcome spring force and significantly reducing the effort required for adjustment.
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
Enables quick, safe, and convenient size adjustments suitable for various foot sizes, enhancing usability and appearance, particularly during outdoor activities, without the need for tools or fasteners, and is adaptable for different sport shoe configurations.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient device sheathes on the gear shaft between the gear and the handle
Data Source
AI summary
A size-adjustable sport shoe includes a shoe head, a shoe insole, and an adjusting telescopic device including a gear, a shaft gear, first and second gear racks, and handle. The first and second gear racks are located at two lateral sides of an elongated adjustment groove at the shoe head, wherein the upper surface of the second gear rack is lower than the upper surface of the first gear rack. The gear shaft is coupled between the gear and the handle. When the handle is folded perpendicularly to an axis direction of the gear shaft, the gear meshes with the first gear rack to lock up the shoe head at the shoe insole. When the handle is folded to coincide with the axis direction of the gear shaft, the gear meshes with the second gear rack to allow the shoe head to be slid from the shoe insole.