University of Michigan

Wolverine World Wide, Inc.

Other

Raymond M. Fredericksen

Daniel E. Norton

Daniel T Barry

Raymond M Fredericksen

Ruk R Peterson

Robert W Soutas-Little

Raphael A Monsanto

Daniel E Norton

Ray Fredericksen

An athletic shoe with a teardrop shaped spring plate in combination with a dynamic fluid heel pad and a viscoelastic midsole, such spring plate being basically symmetrical about its longitudinal axis, and lying forwardly of the fluid pad, having its widest dimension beneath the metatarsal head area and curving gradually up and beneath the phalanges. The spring plate, of multiple layers of parallel fibers embedded in polymer, combines with the heel pad to effect foot control stability, as well as extending useful life to the midsole and footwear.

Teardrop propulsion plate footwear

An athletic shoe having a hydrodynamic heel insert pad in the midsole to above a specially configurated spring plate which extends beneath the medial but not the lateral portion of the heel, through the arch region, to and beneath the metatarsal head region and toe region, serving to eliminate the force spike at heel impact in combination with foot control as the foot proceeds via complex movements through the gait cycle, and efficient toe off.

Propulsion plate hydrodynamic footwear

An athletic shoe with a spring plate in combination with a viscoelastic midsole, such spring plate extending substantially the length of the midsole from the medial side of the heel through the arch where the spring plate is curvilinear and on the exterior of the shoe, through the metatarsal head area and beneath the toes. The spring plate is of multiple layers, each of parallel carbon fibers embedded in polymer, the fibers being at acute angles in successive layers, in symmetry. The stiffness of the plate is anisotropic, being greater longitudinally than laterally. The thickness of the plate forward of the metatarsal break line is half that of the plate rearwardly of the break line.

Spring plate shoe

A special sealed heel bladder defining a space divided into a rear heel chamber positioned in the main heel strike area and a front heel chamber. The rear heel chamber comprises about 60 percent of the total volume. The front heel chamber comprises about 40 percent of the total volume. These chambers are divided by a diagonal interior wall at an angle of 35 degrees to a transverse line or plane and having controlled flow orifice means which regulates rate of flow of a viscous liquid from the rear heel chamber to the front heel chamber upon heel strike. The chambers are filled with a mixture of viscous liquid and a gas, typically air. The volume of viscous liquid is greater than the volume of the front heel chamber and preferably is about 80 to 90 percent of the total volume. The front heel chamber has flexible resilient walls allowing limited expansion capacity caused by temporary resilient bulging of the walls, creating a return biasing force by the walls on the liquid because of a greater pressure momentarily created in the front heel chamber by flow thereinto of a greater amount of liquid than the at-rest volume of the front heel chamber. This resilient biasing force causes effective return flow of liquid back to the rear heel chamber when pressure is released from the rear heel chamber during foot roll and toeoff by the runner.

Fluid dynamic shoe

A system for controlling muscular responses in living beings utilizes electrical stimulation of the muscle and acoustic monitoring of muscle performance. In one aspect, muscle functioning during a physical activity can be monitored acoustically, and the resulting signal compared against predetermined signal characteristics. Deviation of the muscle function from the desired characteristic can be corrected by applying a responsive electrical signal. Additionally, the response of a muscle to electrical stimulation can be monitored acoustically and an appropriate responsive correction to the electric signal, such as in its amplitude, frequency, spectral composition, duty cycle, can be made. In this manner, the invention permits control of muscle functions in dynamic and static states.

System for controlling muscle response

Acoustic signals generated by muscles during contraction are used, in accordance with the invention, to generate signals responsive to muscle activity, measure muscle fatigue and excitation-contraction decoupling, provide a biofeedback response, control cybernetic systems, and control prosthetic devices. Such myoacoustic signals, when compared against myoelectric signals permit the extent of contraction of muscles to be compared against the excitation thereto. Moreover, a plurality of such myoacoustic signals can be compared synchronously against one another in a multichanneled recorder to analyse dynamic muscle problems, such as situations which result in poor posture and improper gait. These myoacoustic signals can also be used to drive prosthetic devices which are currently driven by myoelectric signals. It is an advantage of the present invention that myoacoustic signals can be analyzed using circuitry which is currently available and in use for analyzing myoelectric signals.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Daniel T Barry