Cushioned footpad with reinforcing support structure
OwnerNicholas John Vitale, Michael George Vitaleinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A footpad for a self-balancing vehicle comprising a low durometer elastomeric material body for enhanced ride comfort and a support structure comprising at least one stiffer reinforcing member having at least a portion embedded in the elastomeric material body and in close proximity to the elastomeric material body edges for improved footpad response and fixation integrity.
Claims21
A footpad for a self-balancing vehicle, the footpad comprising a top surface nearest a rider's foot, a bottom surface nearest the self-balancing vehicle and a thickness between the top and bottom surfaces, the footpad further comprising:
- a body comprising an elastomeric material having a durometer between 20 Shore OO and 90 Shore A, the elastomeric material body having a plan view perimeter and a plan view minor dimension;
- a support structure comprising at least one reinforcing member, the at least one reinforcing member comprising a material having a Modulus of Elasticity greater than the Modulus of Elasticity of the elastomeric material;
- at least a portion of the support structure is embedded in the elastomeric material body;
- and
- the support structure having a plan view region comprising all visible and hidden reinforcing member plan views, the support structure plan view region intersects at least 15% of an imaginary plan view region between the elastomeric material body plan view perimeter and an inner boundary offset from the elastomeric material body plan view perimeter by the lesser of 1.5 inches or 15% of the elastomeric material body plan view minor dimension.
A footpad for a self-balancing vehicle, the footpad comprising a top surface nearest a rider's foot, a bottom surface nearest the self-balancing vehicle and a thickness between the top and bottom surfaces, the footpad further comprising:
- a body comprising an elastomeric material having a durometer between 20 Shore OO and 90 Shore A;
- a support structure comprising at least one reinforcing member, the at least one reinforcing member comprising a material having a Modulus of Elasticity greater than five times the Modulus of Elasticity of the elastomeric material;
- at least a portion of the support structure is embedded in the elastomeric material body;
- and
- at least one interior portion comprising a plan view area and only the elastomeric material through the footpad thickness, the sum of all interior portion plan view areas is at least 5.0 square inches.
A footpad for a self-balancing vehicle, the footpad comprising:
- a body comprising an elastomeric material having a durometer between 20 Shore OO and 90 Shore A, the elastomeric material body having a plan view perimeter and a plan view minor dimension;
- a support structure comprising at least one reinforcing member, the at least one reinforcing member comprising a material having a Modulus of Elasticity greater than five times the Modulus of Elasticity of the elastomeric material;
- at least a portion of the support structure is embedded in the elastomeric material body;
- the support structure having a plan view region comprising all visible and hidden reinforcing member plan views, the support structure plan view region intersects at least 20% of an imaginary plan view region between the elastomeric material body plan view perimeter and an inner boundary offset from the elastomeric material body plan view perimeter by the lesser of 1.5 inches or 15% of the elastomeric material body plan view minor dimension;
- and
- at least one fastener aperture through the elastomeric material body or at least one of the at least one reinforcing member or both the elastomeric material body and at least one of the at least one reinforcing member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.