Variable Thickness Footwear Tongue for Pressure Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional footwear designs often fail to effectively distribute pressure and provide adequate cushioning across different regions of the foot, leading to discomfort and reduced flexibility, especially when fastening systems like laces are tightened.
Innovation Solution
A tongue design with varying thicknesses in different portions, where thicker regions provide increased cushioning in high-pressure areas and thinner regions offer flexibility in low-pressure areas, aligning with specific pressure zones on the foot to alleviate pressure and enhance comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the tongue is made uniformly thick, then cushioning is provided across all regions, but flexibility is reduced in low-pressure areas
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue is designed with varying thickness across different regions, with thicker portions in high-pressure areas (medial and lateral sides) to provide enhanced cushioning, and thinner portions in low-pressure areas (central region) to maintain flexibility. This local differentiation of structural properties resolves the contradiction between needing cushioning strength and maintaining flexibility in different zones of the tongue.
2Stress or pressure
If the tongue is made thicker in high-pressure areas, then pressure distribution is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue is segmented into distinct regions with different thickness characteristics: medial portions, lateral portions, and central portions. Each segment is optimized for its specific functional requirements, with thicker edges for pressure distribution and a thinner center for flexibility. This segmentation approach improves pressure distribution while keeping the structural complexity manageable through clear regional differentiation.
Data Source
AI summary
An article of footwear includes a tongue. The tongue includes a medial portion, a lateral portion, a central portion, a top portion and an upper perimeter portion. The medial portion and the top portion have similar thicknesses, which are greater than the thicknesses of the lateral portion, the central portion and the upper perimeter portion. The central portion is the thinnest portion of the tongue. Each portion of the tongue corresponds to a different pressure zone along a foot in order to provide differential cushioning and support against pressure applied by a fastening system.