Wheeled Undersoles with Lateral Articulation for Fast Walking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current urban mobility solutions, such as skating and traditional walking, lack the combination of speed, safety, comfort, and ease of use, particularly in maintaining natural walking rhythm and stability at higher speeds without requiring learning or effort.
Innovation Solution
A pair of rolling shoes or undersoles with lateral articulation and a motor system that compensates for skid forces, allowing for walking at speeds two to three times faster than normal walking by using wheels or tracks and a servo-controlled motor system to maintain balance and stability, while allowing natural heel-to-toe movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If one uses traditional walking, then safety and comfort are maintained, but walking speed is limited to normal pace
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical friction-based walking mechanism with a rolling mechanism using wheels or tracks. The rolling shoes or undersoles substitute the traditional foot-ground friction interaction with wheel-ground contact, enabling higher speeds while maintaining ease of operation through automatic rolling motion that requires no learning or special effort from the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The rolling shoes or undersoles perform the propulsion function automatically through their rolling mechanism. The system self-propels the user at higher speeds without requiring additional motor input or complex control, as the rolling action naturally converts the user's weight and leg movement into forward motion, maintaining ease of use while increasing speed.
2Speed
If one uses skating or rollerblades, then walking speed increases, but natural walking rhythm and balance are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The rolling shoe is divided into two independent parts: a rear part and a front part, each capable of supporting the body weight separately. This segmentation allows each part to function independently during different phases of the walking cycle, maintaining stability while enabling higher speeds. The rear part handles heel strike and the front part handles toe-off, preserving natural walking rhythm.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic lateral articulation between the rear and front parts, allowing them to pivot relative to each other in the vertical plane. This dynamic adjustment enables the shoe to adapt to the natural movements of the foot during walking, maintaining balance and stability at higher speeds while preserving the natural walking rhythm and posture.
3Device complexity
If one uses a fixed rigid shoe, then structural simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to natural foot movements is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The rolling shoe incorporates dynamic lateral articulation that allows the rear and front parts to pivot relative to each other in the vertical plane. This dynamic joint enables the shoe to adapt to the natural movements of the foot during walking, particularly the separation and elevation of the heel, while maintaining overall structural simplicity through a straightforward hinge or axis mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local flexibility through the lateral articulation joint between the rear and front parts, while maintaining rigidity in other structural elements. This localized adaptability allows the shoe to accommodate natural foot movements without compromising the overall structural simplicity or requiring complex mechanisms throughout the entire shoe structure.
4Device complexity
If one uses rolling shoes without lateral articulation, then device complexity is reduced, but comfort during natural walking movements decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The lateral articulation mechanism provides dynamic adaptation to natural foot movements with minimal added complexity. The hinge or axis system allows the rear and front parts to pivot relative to each other, absorbing the mechanical stress of heel elevation and toe contact, thereby enhancing comfort while maintaining relatively simple device architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral articulation acts as an intermediary mechanism between the rigid rolling structure and the flexible natural foot movements. This intermediate joint absorbs the conflict between maintaining a simple rigid structure and accommodating complex natural movements, providing comfort through a straightforward pivoting action that requires no additional actuators or control systems.
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 safe and comfortable walking at higher speeds without the need for learning, maintaining natural walking balance and rhythm, and compensating for skid forces to prevent slipping, thus enhancing urban mobility.
Implementation Method 1
The operating principle of the invention is based on the compensation of the natural forward or backward skidding force, that is to say of the component parallel to the ground, forward during heel strike 1-5a , and backwards during the final phase of step 1-5b, of the force transmitted to each rolling shoe or undersole by the carrying leg
Implementation Method 2
This lateral articulation of the rear part 2-2 (a little more than half of the undersole) with respect to the front part 2-3 is obtained thanks to an axis or a hinge system 1-3, the rear part thus being able to pivot in the vertical plane to follow the separation and the elevation of the heel of the wearing foot relative to its toe 1-10
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a personal transport means for walking at faster speeds than normal walking, made up of a pair of wheeled shoes or wheeled undersoles (1-1) that can be adapted by quick attachment (1-2) to the soles of the normal shoes of a walker, laterally articulated (1-3) to follow the natural movements of the heels relative to the tips of the feet (1-10) during normal walking, and allowing walking at higher speeds, without any skating movements, without having to gain momentum, and without modifying the rhythm, amplitude or longitudinal stability of natural walking, by means of a servomotor (1-4) which allows the speed of the driving wheels to exceed the skidding force (1-5a, 1-5b) resulting from the force transmitted by the supporting leg (1-6), and comprising an accelerator (1-8) and a brake (1-9) controlled by the foot of the walker.