Patent Application
20230309649
The invention relates to footwear and specifically to hybrid soles for footwear.
Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves the purpose to ease locomotion and prevent injuries. Footwear can also be used for fashion and adornment as well as to indicate the status or rank of the person within a social structure. Socks and other hosiery are typically worn additionally between the feet and other footwear for further comfort and relief. Cultures have different customs regarding footwear. These include not using any in some situations, usually bearing a symbolic meaning. This can however also be imposed on specific individuals to place them at a practical disadvantage against shod people if they are excluded from having footwear available or are prohibited from using any. This usually takes place in situations of captivity, such as imprisonment or slavery, where the groups are among other things distinctly divided by whether or not footwear is being worn. Footwear has been in use since the earliest human history, archeological finds of complete shoes date back to the Chalcolithic (ca. 5000 BCE). Some ancient civilizations, such as Egypt and Greece however saw no practical need for footwear due to convenient climatic and landscape situations and used shoes primarily as ornaments and insignia of power.
The Romans saw clothing and footwear as unmistakable signs of power and status in society, and most Romans wore footwear, while slaves and peasants remained barefoot. The Middle Ages saw the rise of high-heeled shoes, also associated with power, and the desire to look larger than life, and artwork from that period often depicts bare feet as a symbol of poverty. Depictions of captives such as prisoners or slaves from the same period well into the 18th century show the individuals barefooted almost exclusively, at this contrasting the prevailing partakers of the scene. Officials like prosecutors, judges but also slave owners, or passive bystanders were usually portrayed wearing shoes. During the Middle Ages, men and women wore pattens, commonly seen as the predecessor of the modern high-heeled shoe, while the poor and lower classes in Europe, as well as slaves in the New World, were usually barefoot. In the 15th century, chopines were created in Turkey and were usually 18-20 cm (7-8 inches) high. These shoes became popular in Venice and throughout Europe, as a status symbol revealing wealth and social standing.
During the 16th century, royalty such as Catherine de Medici and Mary I of England began wearing high-heeled shoes to make them look taller or larger than life. By 1580, men also wore them, and a person with authority or wealth might be described as, well-heeled. In modern society, high-heeled shoes are a part of women's fashion and are widespread in certain countries around the world.
For many people, supportive shoes can make a significant difference in overall foot health and how people feel each day. It is vital that feet have all the support they need to function at their best. One of the most common causes of foot pain is wearing unsupportive shoes that leave essential elements of the feet unsupported and improperly aligned. Over time, this can cause pain and strain that can limit mobility. Orthopedic shoes are intended to provide support. Shoes that lack sufficient support can exacerbate an existing foot problem. For example, without the proper arch and heel support, those who suffer from plantar fasciitis will experience stretching and tearing on surfaces of the plantar fascia which will worsen inflammation that causes heel pain and discomfort. Unsupportive footwear, when combined with foot problems, can create an endlessly frustrating cycle that makes it difficult to heal and attain comfort and relief. To break that cycle, it's vital to wear supportive footwear so that you can get relief from cumbersome and prohibitive foot problems. Supportive footwear can help improve balance and optimize stability. Many shoes do not have the supportive features needed to maintain natural alignment.
Cushioning and flexibility are other aspects of footwear required for comfort and utility. To effectively and easily walk or run some flexibility is required in footwear. However, there has been a trade-off between support and flexibility. More flexible shoes are less supportive. More supportive shoes are less flexible. Similarly cushioning may be important to foot comfort, but the same trade-off applies. Cushioning may result in greater flexibility but may reduce support.
Modern footwear may be made up of leather or plastic, and rubber. In fact, leather was one of the original materials used for the first versions of a shoe. The soles can be made of rubber or plastic, sometimes having a sheet of metal inside. Roman sandals had sheets of metal on their soles so that it would not bend out of shape. More recently, footwear providers like Nike, have begun to source environmentally friendly materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,426,792 shows a cushioning system for athletic footwear that provides a large deflection for cushioning the initial impact of a foot-strike, a controlled stiffness response, a smooth transition to bottom-out, and stability, and more specifically to a system that allows for customization of these response characteristics by adjustment of the orientation of a single bladder or insert in a resilient foam material. This system is designed to address impact areas limited to one or two bladders but suffers the drawback of not being able to address the flexibility of the sole in relation to the flexibility of a foot.
A living hinge or integral hinge is a thin flexible hinge (flexure bearing) made from the same material as the two rigid pieces it connects. It is typically thinned or cut to allow the rigid pieces to bend along the line of the hinge. The minimal friction and very little wear in such a hinge make it useful in the design of microelectromechanical systems, and the low cost and ease of manufacturing make them quite common in clamshell containers and other disposable, recyclable packaging, for example, the hinge on the lid of a Tic Tac® box.
Plastic living hinges are typically manufactured in an injection molding operation that creates all three parts at one time as a single piece, and if correctly designed and constructed, it can remain functional over the life of the part. Thermoforming can also produce hinged products. Polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) are materials used for living hinges, due to excellent fatigue resistance. Living hinges may be made from an extension of the parent material (such as polypropylene plastic). They are the thin section of plastic that acts as a connection between two larger plastic sections. Since they are very thin, they may be made from flexible polypropylene and may be able to rotate about one axis 180 degrees or more—potentially for millions of cycles without breaking. Contrary to most hinges which involve multiple parts assembled in a traditional mechanism, living hinges are not a separate entity. They can be described as a purposeful fault line at a predetermined point in the material which is carefully designed such that it doesn't fail after repeated bending. The bottle cap on a ketchup bottle is an example of a living hinge.
Living hinges may be made using a subtractive process such as by CNC machining. Living hinges may also be formed by injection molding. An additive process such as 3D printing may also be used to form a living hinge.
A living hinge can be created in wood using various methods. A variant on the kerf bend can be used to create living hinges in laser-cut wood. The technique is used for making light-duty hinges with large radii. It is possible to create a living wood joint by hand, but the result is less accurate.
U.S. Ser. No. 10/918,160B2, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, shows a sole structure for an article of footwear comprises a unitary midsole having a first portion and a second portion rearward of the first portion. A bottom surface of the unitary midsole defines a groove extending from a medial side to a lateral side of the unitary midsole, and a top surface of the unitary midsole defines a slit disposed over the groove and extending from the medial side to the lateral side. The unitary midsole forms a living hinge at the groove and the slit, with the living hinge connecting the first portion to the second portion so that the first portion and the second portion are selectively pivotable relative to one another at the living hinge between a first orientation and a second orientation. The groove is wider in the first orientation than in the second orientation, and the slit is wider in the second orientation. The footwear has a sole structure having a front sole portion, a rear sole portion, and a living hinge extending transversely across the sole structure from a medial side to a lateral side of the sole structure and connecting the front sole portion to the rear sole portion. The article of footwear has a divided footwear upper including a front upper portion and a separate rear upper portion. The front upper portion is fixed to the front sole portion and defines at least the forefoot region of the footwear upper, and the rear upper portion is fixed to the rear sole portion and defines the heel region of the footwear upper. The front sole portion and the rear sole portion are selectively pivotable relative to one another at the living hinge between a use position and an access position. In the use position, the front upper portion and the rear upper portion together define a foot-receiving cavity and an ankle opening, and the rear upper portion overlaps the front upper portion at a medial side of the sole structure and at a lateral side of the sole structure. In the access position, the front upper portion and the rear upper portion are spaced apart from one another so that the ankle opening is larger than in the use position. Accordingly, the article of footwear with the divided upper portion may enable hands-free foot entry in the access position, while the overlapping front and rear upper portions provide lateral stability to the upper in the use position.
According to an advantageous feature, the use of the design makes it possible to use hard or rigid materials such as wood in shoes yet still maintain the flexibility needed for comfortable walking and movement. With a hybrid sole as described, it is an object to obtain the advantages of support and flexibility. This is to get the experience of standing and walking on hard, flat surfaces no matter what the actual surface. This is important as the posture and walking technique is usually significantly better on hard, flat surfaces.
The area, shape, size, and height of the portions of the insole could be vary based on design, material, and functional objectives and considerations. Further, even though flat surfaces have been illustrated in the figures, any of the portions could have contours based on design, material, and functional objectives and considerations. For example, the segmented sole with rigid segments may be used for shoes having a drop i.e., with the heel being higher than the toe. Additionally, any of the segments may have contours, for example, for providing arch support.
As used in this application, a segment refers to any of the parts into which a thing may naturally be divided, separated, or demarked. Each component of an object having distinct components may be a segment. In an object having two or more areas exhibiting different properties, each area may be a segment regardless of whether the areas are integral. A section is meant to refer to a segment that is integral to an adjoining segment. A component is meant to refer to a segment of an object that is non-integral with other segments of the object.
It is an object to have a hybrid sole for footwear that uses hard materials such as wood, plastic, etc. in the sole to support the wearer, while still being able to maintain flexibility of the shoe sole. The hybrid sole as described herein has advantages over prior wood soles. Cork soles are comparatively soft and flexible. Other sandals with wood soles are not flexible.
A multiple segment sole structure for use in footwear may include at least one rigid segment positioned to correspond to an area of a wearer's foot that is weight-bearing and at least one flexible segment conjoined to a rigid segment positioned and sized to correspond to an area of a wearer's foot that is less weight-bearing or flexible. The rigid segment may be wood. The rigid segment may be conjoined to the flexible segment at a conjoined interface and wherein the conjoined interface may be configured to be at an angle to a normal surface of said segments and said flexible segment overhangs said rigid segment at the conjoined interface. However, any given segment could overhang another or the interface between segments could be normal to the surface depending on design and performance objectives. The flexible segment may be an elastomeric material such as an EVA foam. The rigid segment may correspond to a forefoot region of the sole structure. The flexible segment may correspond to a midfoot region of said sole structure, and the second rigid segment may correspond to a rearfoot region of said sole.
The multiple segment sole structure may have segments conjoined in other configurations. The interface between conjoined segments may be simple or complex. A simple interface could be oriented normally to the surface of the sole. As described, one or more of the flexible segments may overhang an adjacent rigid segment at a conjoined interface. One or more of the rigid segments may overhang an adjacent flexible segment at a conjoined interface. A complex interface may be used also. A complex interface allows a greater surface area of adjacent segments to bond and may provide greater mechanical strength.
A cover layer may be over the conjoined segments and an underbase layer may be under the conjoined segments. When a cover or underbase layer are present, the segments could be adhered to the cover layer and or the underbase layer, possibly in addition to or in place of being adhered to each other.
For example, the segments could be individually glued to an underbase layer to hold them in the desired position without them being glued to each other.
In a five-segment configuration, a first rigid segment may be conjoined to a first flexible segment at a first conjoined interface and a second rigid segment conjoined to the first flexible segment at a second conjoined interface and conjoined to a second flexible segment at a third conjoined interface, A third rigid segment may be conjoined to the second flexible segment at a fourth conjoined interface. The first conjoined interface, second conjoined interface, third conjoined interface, and fourth conjoined interfaces may be oriented generally perpendicular to the length of the sole. One or more of the interfaces may be straight-line interfaces.
One or more of the conjoined interfaces may be complex interfaces, such as s-shaped curve interfaces, zig-zag interfaces, key hole interfaces, or other configurations. For example, in a five-segment configuration, the first conjoined interface and the fourth conjoined interface may be s-shaped curve interfaces; and the second conjoined interface and the third conjoined interface may be straight-line interfaces. An interface may exhibit a zigzag shape or any type of interlocking configuration. These configurations may increase strength and durability due to enhanced surface area and potentially a mechanical interference to separation.
The sole structure may have a flexible sole layer of a size and shape generally suitable to accommodate a perimeter of a wearer's foot and exhibiting a continuous, discontinuous, or partial frame with one or more recesses. Rigid inserts may be in the recesses. At least a portion of the perimeter of one or more of the recesses may exhibit an undercut contour and wherein the rigid inserts may have an external perimeter shape generally matching a contour of the recesses. The flexible sole layer may be the midsole, the insole, or other suitable layer of the sole.
Parts of the insole, midsole, and/or outsole, including inserts, may be customized and/or interchangeable to target conditions e.g., foot pain. People could experiment with barefoot walking with flat and hard portions on their morning walks but then replace those portions with those with more cushion and support for use during the rest of the day.
The outsole, midsole, and the insole body/frame could all be separate components that are joined using fasteners or adhesives. Or the outsole, midsole, and the insole body/frame could consist of a single unit e.g., injection molded foam or carved rubber. The interchangeable portions of the insole and the optional, removable insole cover could then be installed separately. Generally, the outsole of a shoe is the very bottom of the shoe, the part that contacts the ground. The insole is the part of the shoe that the foot rests upon. The midsole is the part or parts of the sole that lie between the insole and the outsole.
The sole may be configured with slots to permit insertion of segments having desired characteristics to allow a degree of customization to the soles. For example, inserts could be slid in from one or both sides of the sole. The surface of the slots and the base of the interchangeable portions could have features such as contours, grooves, or protrusions (the counterpart being holes) to help secure the interchangeable portions firmly in place. The slots could also be used to secure add-on portions that sit on top of the sole surface e.g., if the user wants to have reinforced arch support.
It is an object to allow for use of “smart pads” as interchangeable Portions of a hybrid sole.
The same design of the insole with interchangeable portions can also support the use of “smart” portions in place of the regular interchangeable portions. These smart portions can be self-sufficient, in that they could contain all the electronics and machinery necessary to offer the desired feature set. A modular approach allows users to get more value out of the purchase of footwear. For example, being able to take advantage of newer technology without having to plan for it in advance when making the initial purchase. The smart portions may contain basic components such as:
The smart portions could contain a variety of sensors such as:
The smart portions could further contain components such as:
Use Cases & Application:
All other considerations that apply to regular interchangeable portions also apply to their smart counterparts e.g., the surface of the slots and the base of the interchangeable portions could have features such as contours, grooves, or protrusions (the counterpart being holes) to help secure the interchangeable portions firmly in place.
It is a further object to provide smart soles with interchangeable portions, including where the entire insole layer becomes interchangeable as opposed to just individual portions of the insole. Smart portions (segments inserted or present in a hybrid insole) could be self-contained, or they could rely on a central unit for things such as power, storage, wireless communication, and so on. The Central Unit could have a variety of components housed in a single enclosing unit or the components could simply be interconnected without being in the same enclosure or some combination thereof. The connectors that connect the smart portions to the central unit may protrude out, they could be flush with the top surface or even be depressed within the contacting surface. For the scenario with just one smart portion acting as the insole, there could be one or more than one connector. This kind of modular design would allow users to upgrade their smart portions without having to replace the entire unit. This could help lower the cost of upgrading to the latest compatible feature set for the end user.
All other considerations that apply to regular interchangeable portions also apply to their smart counterparts e.g., the surface of the slots and the base of the interchangeable portions could have features such as contours, grooves, or protrusions (the counterpart being holes) to help secure the interchangeable portions firmly in place.
An enhanced configuration may include an enhanced midsole with hollow portions. A sole with rigid segments admits of further modifications to reduce weight and enhance energy return i.e., absorbing and returning more of an athlete's kinetic output; flexibility; stability; and durability. The midsole may have hollow areas oriented perpendicular to the Sagittal Plane of the foot. This orientation may align the midsole hollow areas with the rigid and flexible areas within the midsole segment. The hollow areas of the midsole make the structure more flexible and reduce the material used, thereby reducing weight. The size, shape, and location of the hollow areas may be based on the design and functional objectives while also factoring in other considerations such as the materials used. The stability and durability of the midsole with hollow areas may be enhanced by a retaining layer, such as the outsole continuously closing the hollow areas. Furthermore, encapsulation of the outer periphery may seal the hollow areas and prevent water and dirt from entering the cavities. The encapsulation material may be EVA, PU. Or other suitable materials and the materials may be transparent, translucent, or opaque. In addition, the midsole itself and sole portion may have any appropriate shape including being thicker and broader underneath the heel and tapering towards toe box. The sole may also be of uniform thickness throughout.
Trapezoidal prism-shaped segments may be located directly underneath the flexible sole segments and/or under solid-to-flexible interfaces to improve stability and durability. The hollow areas or segments between hollow areas may have shapes that are variations of trapezoidal prisms, for example with curved lateral faces.
Parallelepiped-shaped segments between hollow areas can further improve the energy return while potentially compromising on stability. The orientation can be determined based on the objective. The shape of segments between hollow areas may be forward-leaning (heel-to-toe orientation) to optimize for running. Backward-leaning parallelepiped-shaped segments may be placed at the forward tip of the shoe for counteracting the force when the wearer lands on the toes to improve the stability and durability of the sole. Cuboid-shaped segments (not shown) between hollow areas may also be used to provide stability and durability.
An alternative to the use of conjoined rigid and flexible segments made of different materials would be the use of solid materials that are made flexible in the desired locations using living hinges (also called integral hinges). A living hinge or integral hinge is a flexible hinge (flexure bearing) made from the same material as the two rigid pieces it connects. It is typically thinned or cut to allow the rigid sections to bend along the line of the hinge. This alternative approach allows for use of a midsole or insole constructed of a single substrate. The substrate may incorporate living hinges at the lines of flexibility. Such a substrate may be created by injection molding, a subtractive process such as by using a CNC machine or laser to cut portions of the substrate, or an additive process such as 3D printing. The substrate having lines of flexibility enabled by a living hinge may be customized for an individual using measurement of specific parameters of the individual's foot. Based on the measurements a substrate may be cut by a laser or a CNC machine at the location(s) indicated by the measurements. In an additive process, a custom 3D printed substrate may be fabricated according to individual needs or measurements. Mass production may be facilitated by an injection molding process. The substrate may be fabricated with appropriately placed living hinges. The substrate may be supported by the hollow under-soul features as discussed above. Various configurations of living hinges may be used. Examples include a straight (or kerf), bowling pin, beehive, cross, hex, or diamond configuration for a natural hinge.
A recess-mounted mechanical hinge, such as a butler hinge, also called a butler tray hinge, may be used to connect adjacent rigid segments instead of a flexible segment or living hinge. Options include a single hinge, an extended hinge, or more than one hinge to permit a line of flexibility.
A multi-segment sole structure for use in footwear may be constructed of two or more segments conjoined and having an upper support surface and an opposing lower base surface. At least one of the segments may be a rigid segment positioned to correspond to a weight-bearing area of a wearer's foot. At least one of the segments may be a flexible segment conjoined to the rigid segment. The sole structure may include two or more co-planar rigid segments and may include a flexible segment that is co-planar with the rigid segments and conjoined to consecutive rigid segments. At least the flexible segment may be arranged in an area to correspond to a less-weight bearing area of the foot. The rigid segments may be wood. The rigid segments may be conjoined to a flexible segment at a conjoined interface and the conjoined interface may be at an angle to the upper support surface. A flexible segment may overhang a rigid segment, or a rigid segment may overhang a flexible segment at the conjoined interface. The flexible segment may be an elastomeric material. A rigid segment may be located to correspond to a forefoot region of the sole structure. A flexible segment may be located to correspond to a midfoot region of the sole structure. A second rigid segment may be conjoined to a first flexible segment and the second rigid segment may be located to correspond to a rearfoot region of the sole.
A first rigid segment may be conjoined to a first flexible segment at a first conjoined interface located along a front edge of the first flexible segment and the first flexible segment may overhang the second rigid segment at a second conjoined interface located along a rear edge of the first flexible segment. A cover layer may be over the conjoined segments and an under base layer may be under the conjoined segments.
A first flexible segment may be conjoined to a first rigid segment at a first conjoined interface located along a front edge of the first flexible segment and a second rigid segment may be conjoined to the first flexible segment at a second conjoined interface located along a rear edge of the first flexible segment and conjoined to a second flexible segment at a third conjoined interface along a front edge of the second flexible segment. A third rigid segment may be conjoined to the second flexible segment at a fourth conjoined interface along the rear edge of the second flexible segment. The first conjoined interface, the second conjoined interface, the third conjoined interface, and the fourth conjoined interface may be oriented generally perpendicular to the surface of the sole. At least one flexible segment may be a living hinge segment having a thickness that approximates a thickness of an adjacent rigid segment. The upper surfaces of the rigid and flexible segments may be generally smooth and uninterrupted by thinning of material to form a living hinge. The flexible segments may be surface mounted, recessed hinges such as butler tray hinges. The conjoined interfaces may be straight-line interfaces. The conjoined interfaces may be s-shaped curve interfaces. The first conjoined interface and the fourth conjoined interface may be s-shaped curve interfaces, while the second conjoined interface and the third conjoined interface may be straight-line interfaces. An under-base layer may be provided under the conjoined segments. The under-base layer may include one or more rigid segments supporting a rigid segment or supporting an interface between a rigid segment and a flexible segment. The under base layer may include a plurality of substantially transverse supports alternating with hollow areas. One or more of the transverse supports may be trapezoidal prism supports or inverted trapezoidal prism supports. The trapezoidal prism supports may be located to support the flexible segments. The trapezoidal prism supports may be located to support the rigid segments. The transverse supports may be forward-leaning or backward-leaning parallelepiped supports.
A sole structure for footwear may include a flexible sole layer sized and shaped to accommodate a perimeter of a wearer's foot and may have a continuous frame. One or more recesses may be provided to receive rigid inserts. The recesses may have an undercut contour and the rigid inserts may have an external perimeter shape generally matching a contour of the recesses. The inserts may include sensors and may be connected to a processor with storage and a communications interface.
Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.
Moreover, the above objects and advantages of the invention are illustrative, and not exhaustive, of those that can be achieved by the invention. Thus, these and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description herein, both as embodied herein and as modified in view of any variations which will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Before the present invention is described in further detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, as such may, of course, vary. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting, since the scope of the present invention will be limited only by the appended claims.
Where a range of values is provided, each intervening value between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the range of values. The upper and lower limits of any stated smaller ranges within the larger range may independently be included in the smaller ranges, subject to any specifically excluded limit in any stated range.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, a limited number of the exemplary methods and materials are described herein.
Throughout the description of the embodiments, it is understood that the reference to a wearer is not a reference to an individual wearer or a precise size. It is intended that the sole may be made in multiple sizes, i.e., shoe sizes and may not be custom fit to an individual wearer. In this description, reference to length is intended to refer to the distance along a line between the edge of the sole somewhere near the heel area to an opposing edge somewhere near the toe area. It is not intended to be a precise anatomical reference. Throughout this disclosure, reference to width is intended to refer to any point along one side of the sole to an opposing point on the other side of the sole. The orientation of a width is generally perpendicular to the orientation of the length. Neither orientation is intended to be precise unless precisely specified in anatomical terms, for example, the anatomical axis of a foot is defined as the line connecting the first metatarsal heads. The origin of the foot local coordinate system situates on the upper ridge of the calcaneus bone. The position of the functional axis of a foot is defined by its intersection point with the XOY plane of the foot coordination system, whereas the location of the anatomical axis is determined by its intersection point with the XOY plane of the foot coordination system. See Raychoudhury, Sivangi & Hu, Dan & Ren, Lei. (2014), Three-Dimensional Kinematics of the Human Metatarsophalangeal Joint during Level Walking, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2:73 (10.3389/fbioe.214.00073) the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The soles as described in the various embodiments are composed of a segmented layer. The layers may each be the size of the entire sole of the footwear. Segments may be conjoined at an interface. The interface is the boundary between two connected segments in a single layer. The interface may be formed, and segments connected by adhesive, by welding, by being connected to a common or connected layer without being mechanically joined to each other.
The hybrid soles may be provided with interchangeable inserts. The interchangeable inserts may have various rigidities or compositions. In addition, the rigid inserts may function as a housing for electronic components including various sensors, power storage and transmission. For example, one or more of the inserts may contain motion sensors, batteries and/or piezoelectric sensors and generators along with capacitive or chemical storage. In this way, the action of walking can generate sufficient energy to drive the sensors, temporarily store sensor output, and communicate, for example, by IOT Bluetooth communications to a receiver for processing.
The interfaces between the segments shown in
The embodiment illustrated in
According to an embodiment for determining sole specifications, the sole specifications may be based on foot length and width. For example, a given specification may serve individuals with foot length and width within the corresponding ranges determined for the specification in question. The measurements may be determined by tracing the outline of the feet. Then the length may be measured from the back/central part of the heel to the end of the longest toe. Width may be measured across the widest part of the foot (usually across the ball of the foot). Foot length and width may be correlated to shoe size or foot size. For a given individual, specifications may be measured in terms of distances of the various anatomical features (e.g., tuberosity of the fifth metatarsal) from the back part of the heel. The positions of the anatomical features can be marked on the paper at the same time as tracing the foot outline. The anatomical features used for deriving the specifications can be observed visually or they could be felt by hand. Other methods that could be used for measuring foot length and width, as well as the locations of the various anatomical features, include X-Rays, 3D Scanning, Plantar Pressure Data/Image, and so on.
When designing and making shoes for an individual, the approach outlined would suffice. However, when designing and manufacturing shoes for a larger set of people, that is, people with the same foot size but possibly varying anatomical features, a statistic-based system and process may be used to optimize fit and comfort across a larger user base. For example, first, establish the various foot sizes, with a foot size determined by ranges of foot length and width or their approximate values. Foot sizes could be established using existing standards. One mechanism for this may be by using a Brannock Foot Measuring Instrument as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,725,334. Alternatively, measurements from a diverse set of individuals may be captured and grouped to establish custom purpose sizes. Custom purpose sizes may have sufficient granularity so that when footwear is constructed by custom sizes, and acceptable percentage of consumer population will be satisfied with the fit and feel of at least one size footwear. Second, for a given size, measurements may be taken from a statistically sufficient number of individuals to represent a target audience. One method for determining a sufficient sample size is power analysis to determine the size of a pool of individuals to represent the target audience (e.g., with or without any feet-related conditions, etc.). Third, measurements for a given size are then evaluated to determine the specifications. For this, statistical methods, anatomical considerations, or a combination of these and other methods could be used. For example, averages (mean values), median, max, min, etc. could be used for determining the specifications. Outliers may be filtered out using statistical methods
A sole may be configured by optimizing the location of the interfaces between segments. The locations specified in this paragraph may be customized for a single wearer or may be based on the statistical position of the anatomical characteristics of a pool of individuals having the size (standard or custom size). The locations of the interfaces relative to the anatomical features may be determined empirically, or at least confirmed empirically. The positions may vary based on the materials used, the thickness of the layers, and the intended use of the footwear. Considering the embodiment in
Parallelepiped shaped segments 138 and 139 between hollow areas can further improve the energy return while potentially compromising on stability. The orientation can be determined based on the objective. As shown in the figures, the shape of segments between hollow areas may be forward-leaning 138 (heel-to-toe orientation) to optimize for running. Backward-leaning parallelepiped shaped segments 139 may be placed at the forward tip of the shoe for counteracting the force when the wearer lands on the toes to improve the stability and durability of the sole. Cuboid-shaped segments (not shown) between hollow areas may also be used to provide stability and durability.
It should be noted that a hybrid sole is not limited to utilizing the same flexible connecting structure to provide flexibility between adjacent rigid segments or sections. A hinge 215 may be utilized between one set of adjacent rigid segments and a different flexible connection structure, such as segments made of flexible material conjoined between adjacent rigid segments as well as living hinge sections may be used between other sets of adjacent rigid segments. In addition, the embodiment illustrated in
It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
All publications mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference to disclose and describe the methods and/or materials in connection with which the publications are cited. The publications discussed herein are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the present invention is not entitled to antedate such publication by virtue of prior invention. Further, the dates of publication provided may be different from the actual publication dates, which may need to be independently confirmed.
The invention is described in detail with respect to preferred embodiments, and it will be apparent from the foregoing to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and the invention, therefore, as defined in the claims, is intended to cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit of the invention.
It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the disclosure. Moreover, in interpreting the disclosure, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.
