Footwear Sole with Toe Recess and Elevated Ball for Natural Movement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shoes often lead to foot bending and toe stretching, which is unnatural and can result in passive movement patterns, potentially causing discomfort and health issues, especially with higher heel designs that exacerbate these problems.
Innovation Solution
A sole design featuring a recess in the toe area and increased thickness in the bale area, creating a greater distance between the foot support surface and the base plane compared to the heel area, simulating an uphill movement and encouraging natural gripping and toe activation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the heel is raised higher than the ball of the foot, then heel support is improved, but the foot is bent upwards and toes are extended causing unnatural movement patterns
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of raising the heel higher than the ball of the foot (conventional design), the patent inverts this approach by making the ball of the foot area thicker than the heel area. This inversion allows the foot to maintain a more natural, neutral position without upward bending or toe extension, while still providing adequate heel support through the heel cup structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different thickness characteristics to different regions of the sole. The ball of the foot area is made thicker to support natural foot positioning, while the heel area has a specific thickness configuration with a heel cup. This local differentiation of structural properties allows each region to fulfill its specific functional requirement without compromising overall natural foot movement.
2Ease of manufacture
If the sole has constant thickness, then manufacturing is simple, but it cannot promote natural foot movement or compensate for misalignments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from constant thickness to variable thickness design where the ball of the foot area is thicker and the heel area has differentiated thickness. This local quality variation enables the sole to promote natural foot movement and compensate for misalignments while remaining manufacturable through standard molding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the thickness parameter of the sole across different regions. By making the ball of the foot area thicker than the heel area, and incorporating a heel cup structure, the sole adapts to promote natural foot positioning and movement patterns, thereby enhancing foot health functionality without significantly complicating manufacturing.
3Device complexity
If the ball of the foot is positioned lower than the heel, then conventional shoe design is maintained, but passive walking effect promotes flat feet and misalignments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional heel-elevated design by making the ball of the foot area thicker than the heel area. This inversion positions the ball of the foot higher than or at the same level as the heel, eliminating the passive walking effect that causes flat feet and misalignments, while maintaining simple shoe design without complex mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a sole (3) of which a foot support surface is formed on its upper surface (5), wherein the sole (3) comprises a toe area (8) extending to its front end and intended for the toes, a heel area (11) extending to its rear end (9) and intended for the heel (10), a midfoot area (13) located between the heel (11) and the toe area (8) and intended for the midfoot (12), and a ball of the foot area (15) located between the midfoot (13) and the toe area (8) and intended for the ball of the foot (14), wherein at least one recess (19) is provided in the sole (3) in the toe area (8), which provides space for the natural grasping movement, preferably of all toes, downwards, and wherein at least for a part of the ball of the foot area (15) the foot support surface has a distance from a base plane (7), which forms the support surface when the sole (3) is placed on it.which is greater than the minimum distance (dFm) of the foot contact surface to the base plane (7) in the heel area (11). Furthermore, the invention relates to a shoe with such a sole.