Training Footwear With Adjustable Balancing Platform
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current footwear lacks the ability to effectively train users in achieving centred balance, a crucial skill for various sports and activities, as most footwear does not allow easy identification of a properly balanced position, especially for non-experts, and existing training aids like the SkiA Sweetspot Trainer are limited in application and require expensive ski boots.
Innovation Solution
A kit comprising a pair of footwear items with a brace that restricts ankle movement and a platform with a balancing member that can be adjusted to focus pressure on the 'sweet spot' under the arch of the foot, allowing users to practice balancing on different-sized balancing members to improve their balancing skills in a variety of sports and activities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional footwear is used, then footwear is simple and inexpensive, but users cannot identify proper balanced position and cannot train balancing skills
Solution Approach 1:
The footwear is divided into distinct functional components: a base element representing the sweet spot location, a platform for foot placement, and a brace assembly for ankle support. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function in training balancing skills while maintaining overall system manageability
Solution Approach 2:
The platform acts as an intermediary between the user's foot and the ground, providing a controlled interface for balancing training. The brace serves as an intermediary structure that restricts ankle movement to teach proper balance positioning without requiring complex electronic sensors or feedback systems
2Reliability
If SkiA Sweetspot Trainer is used, then balancing training is effective, but it requires expensive ski boots and is limited to skiing applications
Solution Approach 1:
The footwear design creates a universal balancing training device that can be applied across multiple sports and activities (skiing, skating, surfing, martial arts, yoga, etc.) rather than being limited to skiing. The adjustable brace and platform configuration allows it to serve different balancing training needs while maintaining the core function of teaching centred balance
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces expensive specialized equipment (ski boots costing hundreds of pounds) with a more affordable footwear design. While not disposable, the reduced cost makes the training device accessible to more users and removes the barrier of requiring expensive sport-specific footwear for balancing training
3Ease of operation
If balancing members of different sizes are used, then users can progress from easier to harder balancing exercises, but the device becomes more complex to assemble and adjust
Solution Approach 1:
The balancing member configuration is made dynamic and adjustable, allowing users to change the size and type of balancing members based on their skill level and training goals. This enables progressive training from larger, more stable bases to smaller, more challenging ones while keeping the adjustment process straightforward through the modular design
Data Source
AI summary
A kit includes a pair of items of footwear; wherein each item of footwear includes a brace that is arranged to be releasably secured to at least part of a wearer's leg and/or foot; a platform that is operably connected to the brace; and a securing mechanism for releasably securing a balancing member, or a stack of balancing members, underneath the platform. The kit includes balancing members for each item of footwear so that one balancing member can be replaced with another balancing member that has a smaller ground-contacting area, or so that it can have another balancing member with a smaller ground-contacting area stacked underneath it.