This application is related to and claims priority benefits from German Patent Application No. 102020200558.3, filed on Jan. 17, 2020 (“the '558 application”). The '558 application is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
The present invention relates to a sole with haptic feedback and a shoe comprising the sole.
Staying fit and healthy is an often-desired wish of today's society. To achieve this goal, regular sporting activity has proven to be effective. One of the most popular sports to perform is running. However, little thought is given to the correct technique whilst running or jogging. On a competitive level, a good running style can result in a faster running speed and higher endurance. On an amateur level, improving running style can help to reduce the risk of injuries. However, even if an athlete is trying to improve his way of running, it is not easy to judge one's own technique without the use of an additional person, such as a coach, or expensive technical equipment, such as a video recording device. Thus, there is a need for a device, tool or sports apparel, which is adapted to provide reliable feedback about a running technique.
In the footwear industry, various solutions are available to provide a user with direct or indirect feedback. For example, prior art document U.S. Ser. No. 10/136,842 B2 discloses a sensor in a footwear apparatus, which is positioned to monitor an activity technique of the user when the footwear apparatus is joined with a foot of the user. When a poor technique is detected, pins, balls or rods may be adapted to contact the user's foot causing discomfort and thus indicating a bad technique and motivating the user to improve the technique. Prior art document US2013/0041617 A1 relates to systems and methods for monitoring athletic performance. A sensing unit, adapted to be attached to a shoe of a user, is monitoring a movement of a foot, such as a strike location. The determined performance characteristic is then transmitted to a remote receiver informing the user. Furthermore, prior art document US2016/0192862 A1 relates to a shoe-based analysis system. A sole of a shoe, having at least a portion of a foam is replaced by a self-sensing composite polymeric foam adapted to generate voltage data. The voltage data is transformed into force data, compared to a profile and fed-back to a user via vibrations, a sound, a light pattern or a visual display for a wearer of the shoe.
Most of the prior art documents disclose the usage of electric devices for determining and/or providing feedback information about the running technique. Such devices are often expensive, prone to errors, in need of maintenance and increase the ecological footprint of the user. In addition, using a feedback system in the form of pins, which are hard, stiff, static in their position can potentially provide a disturbing haptic feedback for the user. In some instances, the disturbing haptic feedback may cause injuries with the user adapting their gait to include undesired movement patterns in order to avoid the undesired haptic feedback.
It is therefore a problem underlying the present invention to provide an improved haptic feedback to a user so that the above outlined disadvantages of the prior art are at least partly overcome.
The terms “invention,” “the invention,” “this invention” and “the present invention” used in this patent are intended to refer broadly to all of the subject matter of this patent and the patent claims below. Statements containing these terms should be understood not to limit the subject matter described herein or to limit the meaning or scope of the patent claims below. Embodiments of the invention covered by this patent are defined by the claims below, not this summary. This summary is a high-level overview of various embodiments of the invention and introduces some of the concepts that are further described in the Detailed Description section below. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings and each claim.
In some aspects, the present disclosure is directed to a sole for a shoe, the sole comprising: a. a sole component; and b. at least one loose particle(s) contained within the sole component, c. wherein the loose particle(s) provides haptic feedback to a user of the sole during an athletic activity. The sole component may comprise a midsole and/or an insole. The sole component may comprise particles of an expanded material (which are fused at their surfaces; and/or wherein at least a portion of the sole component is manufactured by an additive manufacturing technique. The loose particles may be at least partially arranged within a cavity in the sole component. In some aspects, providing the haptic feedback does not involve any electronic components and/or wherein the haptic feedback comprises feedback on a region of the user's foot where foot strike occurs, feedback on a roll-off behavior of the user's foot, feedback on a stride length of the user, feedback on a stride frequency of the user, a massage effect of the user's foot or a combination thereof. The loose particles may comprise an expanded material. The expanded material may be expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (eTPU). The loose particles may comprise a metal. The loose particles may be contained within the sole component at least partly by a mesh-like material disposed on a top side of the sole component. The loose particles may be contained within the midsole at least partly by an outsole of the sole. The loose particles may be contained within a pouch made of a mesh-like material or wherein the loose particles are contained within a pouch made from a foil material. The loose particles may exhibit a different response to compression forces exerted by the foot of the user during use when compared to the surrounding material of the sole component. The loose particles may be arranged in a forefoot region of the shoe to aid the user in achieving a forefoot running strike and/or wherein the loose particles are arranged in a heel region of the shoe to aid the user in achieving a forefoot running strike. The loose particles may change the effective weight of the sole during use of the sole. The loose particles may move along the longitudinal direction of the sole and/or the loose particles may move along a medial-to-lateral direction of the sole. The outsole may comprise a mesh-like material on the side facing the midsole. The loose particles may be contained within a pouch made from a foil material and comprising a fluid. The effective weight of the sole may depend at least partially on a stride frequency of the user. In some aspects, the present disclosure is directed to a shoe comprising a sole as described in this paragraph.
In the following detailed description, embodiments of the invention are described referring to the following figures:
The above-mentioned problem is at least partly solved by the subject matter of the independent claims of the present invention. Exemplary embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides a sole for a shoe, in particular, a running shoe, comprising a sole component and at least one loose particle(s) contained within the sole component. The loose particles provide haptic feedback to a user of the sole during an athletic activity.
The claimed invention therefore provides a sole for a shoe with an improved haptic feedback by using at least one loose particle(s) in the sole component. The loose particles provide, in a simple but effective manner, a special feedback to the user of a shoe including such a sole, which allows the user to improve the running technique. The word “loose” in the present context should be understood as meaning not directly attached to a surrounding material and each other. Thus, the at least one loose particle(s) of the claimed invention may be flexible and able to move within the sole, at least to some extent.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the sole component may comprise a midsole and/or an insole. In this manner, the present invention may provide an immediate haptic feedback resulting from loose particles in almost direct contact with a sole of a user's foot.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the sole component may comprise particles of an expanded material, which may be fused at their surfaces.
The particles of expanded material may, for example, comprise at least one of the following materials: expanded ethylene-vinyl-acetate (eEVA), expanded thermoplastic urethane (eTPU), expanded polypropylene (ePP), expanded polyamide (ePA), expanded polyether block amide (ePEBA), expanded polyoxymethylene (ePOM), expanded polystyrene (ePS), expanded polyethylene (ePE), expanded polylactide (ePLA), expanded polyethylene terephthalate (ePET), expanded polybutylene terephthalate (ePBT), and expanded thermoplastic olefin (eTPO). According to the requirement profile of the sole component, at least one of these materials may be beneficially used for the manufacture of the sole component due to their substance-specific properties. Moreover, expanded particles, in particular expanded TPU, are characterized by their good elastic and cushioning properties. On the one hand, expanded particles may be particularly cushioning. Thus, external shocks which arise for example when the shoe hits the ground may be well cushioned so that a pleasant wearing comfort is achieved. On the other hand, expanded particles can provide a large elasticity. By means of a large elasticity, the energy which is absorbed for deforming the sole is—to a large extent—released again by the sole. Thus, the major part of the energy is not lost. This may lead to a very specific haptic feedback to the athlete.
Furthermore, providing a mixture of expanded material fused at their surfaces and at least one loose particle(s) within the same sole component may provide areas of different haptic nature and/or haptic quality which leads to an even more advanced feedback to the athlete. The loose particles may comprise the same or different material as the fused particles. The different areas may be distinguishable by a user during a roll-off movement of the foot, thus leading to changing haptic feedback sensations depending on a specific composition and/or assembly of the sole component.
In some embodiments of the present invention, at least a portion of the sole component may be manufactured by an additive manufacturing technique.
The additively manufactured portion of the sole component, in particular of the midsole, may for example comprise a lattice structure, a heel element, a base portion or others. According to an embodiment, the additively manufactured portion of the sole component may be manufactured from one class of material, in particular from polyether block amide (PEBA) or from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). This may allow a particularly efficient manufacturing of the portion of the sole component. Alternatively, the additively manufactured portion of the sole component may also be manufactured from polyolefins, for example polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS) and/or polypropylene (PP). In principle, it is possible to use an arbitrary mixture of different materials (from different classes of materials or from the same class of materials with slightly different properties) for additive manufacture. By combining sole components comprising at least an additively manufactured portion and at least one loose particles within the same sole component, areas of different haptic nature and/or haptic quality similarly as described above with reference to a sole component comprising fused particles of expanded materials may be provided.
In an embodiment, the loose particles may be at least partially arranged within a cavity in the sole component. To this end, the loose particles may be at least partially embedded within the sole component, while being able to freely move around within the cavity. While all of the particles could be embedded in the sole component, also embodiments are comprised, wherein such an amount of particles are filled into the cavity of a sole that the particles extend above or below the surface of the surrounding sole material. The various amounts of filling may be used to result in an intended haptic feedback. This feedback may be optimized for an individual or for a desired feedback level (strength of feedback). For example, feedback regarding the user's running technique may be further optimised for speed of learning the technique, for example, intense feedback for a professional athlete to quickly learn ranging through to light/mild feedback for an amateur athlete just starting to run.
In some embodiments, providing the haptic feedback may not involve any electronic components. This embodiment may be particularly suitable for athletes enjoying athletic activities in harmony with the environment thinking about their ecological footprint. Additionally, as it is known that electric components, such as for example electric circuits or batteries, are negatively affected or even damaged by shocks, impacts, moisture or similar, which are common external factors for shoes during athletic activities, the above-mentioned embodiment may also provide a shoe comprising a highly durable and/or failure-insusceptible manner of providing haptic feedback. Furthermore, electronic devices require a power supply or internal battery. The need for a power source creates a burden of maintenance work for the user, for example regularly charging or changing the battery.
In some embodiments, the present invention may provide a haptic feedback comprising feedback on a region of the user's foot where foot strike occurs, feedback on a roll-off behavior of the user's foot, feedback on a stride length of the user, feedback on a stride frequency of the user, a massage effect of the user's foot, or a combination thereof. As a sole of the foot is characterized by its high density of sensory receptor cells, loose particles may be adapted and optimized for various haptic feedback sensations. Such sensations may for example be helpful in improving a running technique of a user of the shoe. Additionally or alternatively, such sensations may also, for example, help loosening tense tissue of the user's foot. In this manner, an improved recovery during and after intense training sessions may be provided by the massage effect of the loose particles within the sole component. Receiving feedback about a roll-off behavior may for example reduce injuries resulting from long-term running with a poor/non-optimised technique. Feedback about stride length and/or stride frequency may be specifically beneficial for increasing the efficiency of running or running speed. This may result in an overall performance enhancement of the runner. Feedback on a region of the user's foot where foot strike occurs may help to reduce a landing on a specific area/point of the foot.
Therefore, the above-mentioned different scenarios of haptic feedback or also various combinations thereof may help the runner to improve the running technique, increase the efficiency of running or running speed, help to recover, reduce the risk of injuries and/or also reduce the amount of energy lost due to poor/non-optimised landing and roll-off behaviour while running.
In an embodiment, the loose particles may comprise an expanded material, in particular expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (eTPU). Other expanded materials as described above with reference to expanded materials fused at their surfaces may also be applicable for the loose expanded particles. Loose expanded material provides similar to fused expanded material good cushioning and a high elasticity. Such characteristics provide various benefits in using expanded material for soles, as already described above. Furthermore, loose particles of expanded material are quiet in their movement. In addition, if the expanded material comprises TPU, the surface of the loose eTPU particles may feature a certain stickiness/roughness so that the particles may stay predominantly in place increasing the haptic sensation.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the loose particles may comprise metal or hard material. It is well known that metal comprises a relatively high specific weight compared to standard materials used for manufacture of soles, such as for example plastics or rubber materials. It is also known that loose particles are able to move freely within the provided boundaries. By combining both characteristics and thus using loose metal particles within a sole component, a haptic sensation of the shoe may be created which may specifically feedback information regarding a change in momentum or a change in direction of motion of the shoe. It may be noted that a combination and/or mixture of loose particles comprising an expanded material and loose particles comprising metal or hard material within the same sole component may be possible.
In an embodiment, the loose particles may generally be spherical or ellipsoid in shape. A mixture of spherical and ellipsoid loose particles may also be beneficial. As the loose particles of the present invention are intended to provide haptic feedback to a user of the sole during an athletic activity, an almost direct contact between the user's foot and the loose particles may occur. Thus, using generally spherical or ellipsoidal shaped loose particles may prevent the user from discomfort, pain or even injuries while running, as sharp edges and corners are prevented. Furthermore, as the loose particles according to the present invention should be able to essentially freely move around within, for example, a cavity of the sole component, spherical or ellipsoid shapes may improve this behaviour because no sharp corners or edges of one loose particle may get caught on corners or edges of another loose particle.
In an embodiment, the loose particles may be contained within the sole component at least partly by a mesh-like material disposed on a top side of the sole component. In this manner, the present invention may provide an almost direct contact of loose particles with the sole of a user's foot. The almost direct contact may only be separated by the mesh like material and an optional thin layer of textile from a shoe upper in some embodiments. As it is known that the sole of the foot is highly susceptible for perceiving and transmitting immense amounts of stimuli to the human brain through for example the medial and lateral plantar nerves, an almost direct contact may provide a high degree of haptic sensation. The haptic feedback may thus also be received, even if the impact on the sole of the foot may be caused by a soft and/or elastic material. In addition, the impact on the sole of the foot may be sufficiently weak. This may help in providing the haptic feedback for improving and maintaining a good running technique without turning it into a negative experience due to an excessive stimulus.
In some embodiments the loose particles may be contained within the midsole at least partly by an outsole of the sole, in some embodiments an outsole comprising a mesh-like material on the side facing the midsole. Depending on the desired haptic feedback or the individual athlete, a volume having the complete thickness of the midsole may be filled with loose particles. Thus, the outsole may at least partly prevent the loose particles from dropping out. For some athletic shoes a high breathability may be of importance. To this end, the outsole may comprise openings greater than a size of each of the loose particles. In this case an additional mesh-like material may be arranged between the outsole and the midsole in order to avoid a loss of particles. The openings of the mesh-like material are typically smaller than the size of the loose particles.
In some embodiments the loose particles may be contained within a pouch made of a mesh-like material. To prevent the loose particles from dropping out of the sole component a mesh-like pouch may be beneficial. The mesh-like pouch may for example be used to define a volume in which loose particles can freely move. It may also be possible for a user of the shoe to have multiple pouches with various percentages of filling. Thus, different haptic sensations may be possible by using differently filled pouches. Exchanging of the pouches may be conducted by the user or at a selling or service facility of the shoe.
In some embodiments the loose particles may be contained within a pouch made from a foil material. To prevent moisture and/or dirt from entering the pouch of the loose particles, a foil completely enclosing the loose particles may be beneficial. The foil may be sufficiently thin in order not to significantly reduce the amount of haptic sensation from the loose particles for a user. In addition, the pouch may comprise a fluid. The loose particles may be suspended within the fluid to provide a good medium for the loose particles to move around whilst still exerting little resistance to the movement. In this manner, the fluid may be adapted to improve the massage effect of the loose particles.
In some embodiments the loose particles may exhibit a different response to compression forces exerted by the foot of the user during use when compared to the surrounding material of the sole component. The inventors found out that a sole of a user's foot can distinguish between an area of loose particles and area of surrounding material of the sole component. This may provide a great variety of possibilities of different haptic sensations to, for example, guide an athlete to run in a certain way or help the athlete recovering. Other haptic feedback scenarios are also possible. The loose particles according to the present invention may be arranged in multiple separate areas, in one single area or across most of the area of the sole component. Thus, the perceptible difference of the loose particles may help to improve various aspects of a running technique. The loose particles may also be adapted to provide additional support of the user's foot.
In some embodiments the loose particles may be arranged in a forefoot region of the shoe to aid the user in achieving a forefoot running strike. As already described above, it is a frequent goal for ambitious runners to master the forefoot running strike. The forefoot running strike describes a landing and rolling-off over the ball of the foot compared to the heel running strike with a landing on the heel and a rolling-off over the complete sole of the foot. If the athlete rolls-off over a forefoot, midfoot or heel region during a stride, the perceptible nature of the sole component material changes. This effect may be of use when learning the forefoot running strike. Therefore, an arrangement of loose particles in the forefoot region may be distinguishable from the surrounding sole component material, thus providing the athlete a direct haptic feedback whether he or she landed on the forefoot as desired or not.
In some embodiments the loose particles may be arranged in a heel region of the shoe to aid the user in achieving a forefoot running strike. As described above, the basis for the haptic feedback is a perceptible difference between the loose particles and the surrounding material of the sole component. However, as it may take some time to learn and get used to the forefoot running strike, especially for those who have just started to learn this technique, arranging the loose particles in the heel region may be beneficial. As already mentioned, the loose particles may be adapted to provide an increased cushioning compared to the surrounding material of the sole component. Therefore, for inexperienced forefoot strikers, an increased cushioning in this area can prevent injuries but may still indicate and feedback an undesired zone of landing on the foot.
In some embodiments the loose particles may change the effective weight of the sole during use of the sole. The term “effective weight”, as used within the present invention, is to be understood as meaning “of a perceptible weight by the user”, which may change during movement of the shoe based on for example centrifugal forces or a change in momentum of the loose particles. For example, if the loose particles may comprise an actual weight, which may be at least twice the weight of the surrounding sole component material having the same size, a change of momentum of the loose particles may provide a substantial haptic feedback to the user. The change of momentum of the loose particles may be perceived by the user as if an external force would be applied on the sole of the shoe. Thus, the effective weight of the sole may be used as haptic sensation to feedback an information about a running technique to the athlete wearing the shoe.
In addition, the effective weight of the sole may depend at least partially on a stride frequency of the user. As described above, a change in momentum may be perceived by the user as an external force applied to the sole of the shoe. Therefore, as a high stride frequency will result in multiple changes in momentum of the loose particles within a short period of time, the perceived external forces may occur more often and additionally may be felt stronger. Thus, the change of effective weight of the sole during athletic activity may provide a haptic sensation for the user of the shoe. The haptic sensation may help for example to enhance the used running technique.
In some embodiments the loose particles can move along a longitudinal direction of the sole. As the longitudinal direction of the sole usually aligns with the direction of foot movement during running, the change of effective weight based on the loose particles may directly depend on a stride frequency. For example, if at the beginning of a stride the foot is at its furthest distance behind the body and starts to move to a point furthest in front of the body, the loose particles would be pressed against the closest part of a containment to a heel region based on the direction of the applied acceleration. The containment may be a cavity, a rod, a tube or similar. This effective weight of the sole or in other words an inertia of the loose particles may already be perceived by the user as a haptic sensation. After swinging the leg in a forward direction, at some point the user will start to reduce the speed of the swing to initiate a landing on the ground. The loose particles however may still move in the forward direction and therefore may impact on the closest part of the containment to a forefoot region. The impact may be perceived by the user as a haptic sensation. Additional sensations may be perceived during a complete cycle of a stride. Therefore, the loose particles may feedback multiple sensations to the user, which may be used to enhance the applied running technique for example by increasing the stride frequency, reducing a stride length or others.
In some embodiments, the loose particles can move along a medial-to-lateral direction of the sole. Similar principles of the perceived effective weight and the resulting haptic sensations based on an inertia and/or impacts of the loose particles on a containment within the sole as described above regarding a longitudinal direction may also be valid for a medial-to-lateral direction. However, as the direction of movement of the loose particles is different as compared to the previous embodiment, the resulting haptic sensation may feedback different information. For example, if an athlete is used to toss or swing the foot sideways while running, which may increase the long-term risk of injuries and reduce the efficiency of the running performance, loose particles, able to move in a medial-to-lateral direction of the sole can feedback the occurrence of such undesired tossing. Further feedback information regarding to sideways movements may also be applicable by the present invention.
It may be noted that a longitudinal direction and a medial-to-lateral direction may also comprise directions diverging up to an angle of 45° from the indicated direction. Thus, a diagonal moving direction of the loose particles may also be applicable according to the present invention.
In another aspect the present invention provides a shoe, in particular running shoe, comprising a sole according to one of the above-described embodiments.
The subject matter of embodiments of the present invention is described here with specificity to meet statutory requirements, but this description is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claims. The claimed subject matter may be embodied in other ways, may include different elements or steps, and may be used in conjunction with other existing or future technologies. This description should not be interpreted as implying any particular order or arrangement among or between various steps or elements except when the order of individual steps or arrangement of elements is explicitly described.
In the following, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail, with reference to a sole and a shoe with haptic feedback. While specific feature combinations are described in the following with respect to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to such embodiments. In particular, not all features have to be present for realizing the invention, and the embodiments may be modified by combining certain features of one embodiment with at least one features of another embodiment.
The arrangement of loose particles 240 in a heel region 272 as depicted in
As a more advanced athlete may be able to adapt his or her technique faster than an athlete relatively new to sports, an arrangement of loose particles 240 in a forefoot region 273 as depicted in
In a similar embodiment depicted in
It may be noted that an exchangeable tube or rod 1380 may also be applicable in a cavity arranged in a medial-to-lateral direction or any other direction. Furthermore, an embodiment comprising a cavity arranged in a longitudinal direction and a cavity arranged in medial-to-lateral direction may also be possible. In this manner, a user can decide for which movement haptic feedback is desired and attach a tube or rod 1380 comprising loose particles to the respective cavity 1370 accordingly. The user may also attach two tubes or rods 1380 at the same time, each arranged in one of the cavities 1370 for receiving haptic feedback for both movement directions simultaneously. The number of cavities and tubes of a midsole may not be limited to the above examples.
It may be noted that the features described above relating to loose particles 140, 240, 340, 540, 640, 1440 arranged in a midsole 120, 121, 122, 220, 221, 222, 320, 321, 322, 420, 421, 422, 520, 621, 722, 1428 for providing haptic feedback may be similarly arranged within an insole 1629a-b in accordance with the present invention or vice versa.
In the following, further embodiments are described to facilitate the understanding of the invention:
1. Sole for a shoe (100, 101, 102, 103, 500, 600, 1100), in particular a running shoe, comprising:
2. Sole according to embodiment 1, wherein the sole component comprises a midsole (120, 121, 122, 220, 221, 222, 320, 321, 322, 420, 421, 422, 520, 621, 722, 823, 824, 825, 923, 924, 925, 1023, 1024, 1024, 1126, 1227, 1327, 1428) and/or an insole (1629a, 1629b).
3. Sole according to embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the sole component comprises particles of an expanded material (360, 460, 560, 660, 760, 960, 1060, 1160, 1260, 1360), in particular of expanded thermoplastic polyurethane, eTPU, which are fused at their surfaces.
4. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-3, wherein at least a portion of the sole component is manufactured by an additive manufacturing technique.
5. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-4, wherein the loose particles are at least partially arranged within a cavity (370, 470, 570, 670, 770, 870, 970, 1070, 1170, 1270, 1370) in the sole component.
6. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-5, wherein providing the haptic feedback does not involve any electronic components.
7. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-6, wherein the haptic feedback comprises feedback on a region of the user's foot where foot strike occurs, feedback on a roll-off behavior of the user's foot, feedback on a stride length of the user, feedback on a stride frequency of the user, a massage effect of the user's foot or a combination thereof.
8. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-7, wherein the loose particles comprise an expanded material, in particular expanded thermoplastic polyurethane, eTPU.
9. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-7, wherein the loose particles comprise a metal.
10. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-9, wherein the loose particles are generally spherical or ellipsoid in shape.
11. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-10, wherein the loose particles are contained within the sole component at least partly by a mesh-like material (450, 1050) disposed on a top side of the sole component.
12. Sole according to one of embodiments 2-11, wherein the loose particles are contained within the midsole at least partly by an outsole (530, 630, 1130, 1230, 1330) of the sole, in some embodiments, an outsole comprising a mesh-like material (550, 650, 1150) on the side facing the midsole.
13. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-8 and 10-12, wherein the loose particles are contained within a pouch (745a-745f) made of a mesh-like material (750).
14. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-8 and 10-12, wherein the loose particles are contained within a pouch (1445, 1545) made from a foil material.
15. Sole according to embodiment 14, wherein the pouch comprises a fluid (1447, 1547).
16. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-8 and 10-15, wherein the loose particles exhibit a different response to compression forces exerted by the foot of the user during use when compared to the surrounding material of the sole component.
17. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-8 and 10-16, wherein the loose particles are arranged in a forefoot region (273, 373, 473, 773) of the shoe to aid the user in achieving a forefoot running strike.
18. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-8 and 10-17, wherein the loose particles are arranged in a heel region (272, 372, 472, 672) of the shoe to aid the user in achieving a forefoot running strike.
19. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-7 and 9-12, wherein the loose particles change the effective weight of the sole during use of the sole.
20. Sole according to embodiment 19, wherein the effective weight of the sole depends at least partially on a stride frequency of the user.
21. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-7, 9-12, 19 and 20, wherein the loose particles can move along the longitudinal direction (874, 875, 974, 1074, 1274) of the sole.
22. Sole according to one of embodiments 1-7, 9-12 and 19-21, wherein the loose particles can move along a medial-to-lateral direction (876, 877, 976, 1076) of the sole.
23. Shoe (100, 101, 102, 103, 500, 600, 1100), in particular running shoe, comprising a sole according to one of the preceding embodiments.
Different arrangements of the components depicted in the drawings or described above, as well as components and steps not shown or described are possible. Similarly, some features and sub-combinations are useful and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. Embodiments of the invention have been described for illustrative and not restrictive purposes, and alternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this patent. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above or depicted in the drawings, and various embodiments and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claims below.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2020 200 558.3 | Jan 2020 | DE | national |