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US 2021/0195987 A1Published application
Adjustable flex footwear system
AssigneeW. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
InventorDarrin Haugen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a footwear system with tunable flexibility properties and a process of reversibly modifying the flexibility of footwear. In particular, there is described a footwear system comprising at least two items of footwear and at least two footwear flexibility modulators with anisotropic flexibility properties. In use, the footwear system can be reversibly switched from a stiff configuration to a flexible (i.e. less stiff) configuration. Also disclosed is a method of reversibly modulating the flexibility of footwear.
Claims20
A footwear system comprising:
- two items of footwear, one for a left foot and one for a right foot of a user;
- and
- at least two footwear flexibility modulators, each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators configured to be removably located in, on or under at least a portion of each of the two items of footwear,
- wherein each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators has a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis perpendicular to each other, the longitudinal axis and lateral axis defining a plane of the footwear flexibility modulator,
- wherein the plane has a first surface and a second surface;
- wherein each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators has anisotropic flexibility properties such that it defines a first flexural stiffness when bending in a first direction and a second flexural stiffness when bending in a second direction opposite the first direction, and wherein the first flexural stiffness is greater than the second flexural stiffness;
- and
- wherein, in use, the footwear system is configured to be worn in one of two configurations:
- a) a first configuration in which each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators is disposed in, on or under at least a portion of each item of footwear with the first surface facing towards or substantially towards a collar region of each item of footwear;
- b) a second configuration in which each footwear flexibility modulator is disposed in, on or under at least a portion of each item of footwear with the second surface of the footwear flexibility modulator facing towards or substantially towards the collar region of the upper of each item of footwear;
- wherein the footwear flexibility modulator provides a greater resistance to bending during a gait cycle in the first configuration than in the second configuration;
- and wherein the footwear system can be reversibly switched from the first configuration to the second configuration by reversing each of the footwear flexibility modulators so that, in use, the opposite of the first or second surfaces of the footwear flexibility modulator faces towards or substantially towards the collar region of the upper of each item of footwear.
9 more elements
A footwear system comprising at least two reversible footwear flexibility modulator inserts, the at least two reversible footwear flexibility modulator inserts comprising at least two layers:
- a first layer providing an increased bending resistance in a first bending direction relative to a bending resistance in a second bending direction, the second bending direction being opposite to the first bending direction.
A process of reversibly modulating the flexibility of footwear, the process comprising:
- a) providing two items of footwear, one for a left foot and one for a right foot of a user;
- b) providing at least two footwear flexibility modulators, each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators configured to be removably located in, on or under at least a portion of each of the two items of footwear,
- wherein each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators has a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis perpendicular to each other, the longitudinal axis and lateral axis defining a plane of the footwear flexibility modulator,
- wherein the plane has a first surface and a second surface;
- wherein each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators has anisotropic flexibility properties such that it defines a first flexural stiffness when bending in a first direction and a second flexural stiffness when bending in a second direction opposite the first direction, and wherein the first flexural stiffness is greater than the second flexural stiffness;
- and
- c) disposing at least one of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators in, on or under at least a portion of each item of footwear such that, in use, one of the first surface or the second surface of the footwear flexibility modulator faces towards or substantially towards a collar region of an upper of each item of footwear;
- d) removing the at least two footwear flexibility modulators from the items of footwear;
- e) reversing the at least two footwear flexibility modulators;
- f) disposing the at least two reversed footwear flexibility modulators in, on or under at least a portion of each item of footwear such that, in use, the other of the first surface or the second surface of each of the at least two footwear flexibility modulators faces towards or substantially towards the collar region of the upper of each item of footwear for modifying the flexibility of the item of footwear;
- and
- g) optionally, repeating steps d) to f) to revert the flexibility properties of each item of footwear.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.