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US 4,342,158 AGranted
Biomechanically tuned shoe construction
OwnerThomas A. McMahon, Peter R. Greeneinventors
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OwnerThomas A. McMahon, Peter R. Greeneinventors
Estimating the term…
A biochemically tuned shoe has a heel construction that provides a force-deflection response which is optimal for a particular person and a particular use. The heel construction features a main spring that is characterized by a large vertical compliance while at the same time exhibiting an extremely high resistance to a lateral shear (horizontal compliance). The main spring is preferably a coned disk spring formed of a plastic material or a vertical stack of operatively coupled coned disk springs. The main spring can be embedded in a conventionally shaped heel formed of a resilient material such as an open or closed cell foamed rubber or plastic secured to the sole of the shoe. In other forms, the heel construction is replaceably secured to the sole by a threaded stud with or without an intermediate assembly. In a preferred form, the main spring acts in cooperation with a resilient member to extend the characteristic load deflection curve of the main spring. The resilient member can be the foamed rubber or plastic heel material that embeds the main spring or a column of a highly resilient material such as a soft rubber located at the center of the coned disk main spring. The heel construction of this invention provides a vertical compliance, expressed as its inverse, a spring constant, of 3,000 to 25,000 lbf/ft. In terms of deflection, when used in an adult running shoe, the heel exhibits a maximum deflection of 1/8 inch to 5/8 inch at the peak applied load, typically 400 to 500 pounds of force (lbf).
A shoe that is biomechanically tuned for an optimal response for the person wearing the shoe and a selected use of the shoe has an upper and a sole that each extend in a generally horizontal direction and includes a heel construction comprising a main spring formed of a resilient material, said main spring being structured to flex repeatedly in a generally vertical direction transverse to said horizontal direction over a relatively small maximum vertical displacement while providing a high degree of vertical compliance during each complete loading cycle associated with said use and also structured to provide a high degree of resistance to lateral shear, said main spring being structured to transiently store the impact force on said heel construction during each said vertical flexure and then returning said transiently stored energy to the person with a high level of efficiency.
A shoe that is biomechanically tuned for an optimal response for the person wearing the shoe and a selected use of the shoe has an upper and a sole that each extend in a generally horizontal direction and includes a heel construction comprising a main spring formed of a resilient structural material and characterized by a coned disk configuration that is an exoskeleton for said heel to provide substantially all of the structural rigidity of said heel, said main spring being structured to flex repeatedly with a high degree of compliance during each complete loading cycle associated with said use in a vertical direction transverse to said horizontal direction over a relatively small maximum vertical displacement while providing a high degree of resistance to lateral shear, said main spring being structured to transiently store the impact force on said heel construction during each said vertical flexure of and then returning said transiently stored energy to the person with a high degree of efficiency.
A shoe that is biomechanically tuned for an optimal response for the person wearing the shoe and a selected use of the shoe has an upper and a sole that each extend in a generally horizontal direction and includes a heel construction comprising
A shoe that is biomechanically tuned for an optimal response for the person wearing the shoe and a selected use of the shoe has an upper and a sole that each extend in a generally horizontal direction and includes a heel construction comprising
A shoe that is biomechanically tuned for an optimal response for the person wearing the shoe and a selected use of the shoe has an upper and a sole that each extends in a generally horizontal direction and include a heel construction comprising
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.