Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Other

James J Muller

Christopher Aldrich Brown

Nicholas Workman

Jessica Shelsky

Michael Doyle

Lorenzo M Dube

Andrew R Vickery

Jessica K Y Cheu

Pedro D Oporto

Olivia G Steen

Tristin J Carlton

Winton Parker

Alexander R Alvarez

Julia A Dunn

Kyle R Mudge

Allysa Grant

Rachael Naoum

Abigale McAdams

Josephine Bowen

Sarah Duquette

Eric Motler

A force dissipating device in a footwear appliance includes an actuator responsive to a displacement force from a shoe sole surface, and an elastic field of resilient, compressible material. The elastic field is elongated in a direction aligned with the displacement force, and an inclined surface is attached to the actuator and disposed against the elastic field. The actuator is adapted for movement parallel to the elastic field, while the inclined surface is oriented to compress the elastic field in a direction defined by the inclined surface. The inclined surface is oriented at an angle to compress the elastic field in a direction substantially perpendicular to vertical actuator displacement, thus providing a constant region of opposed, compressive force that is generally constant, rather than increasing with displacement distance.

Downwards absorbing and upwards accommodating footwear heel

A force absorbing device for a footwear appliance includes a shoe upper and a shoe sole having a planar sole surface, such that forces between the shoe upper and planar sole surface in ground contact are absorbed by force mitigation assemblies disposed in the shoe sole. A force mitigation assembly adapted for an athletic shoe includes a linkage to a wearer interface responsive to movement based on activity of the wearer. An attachment to a sole surface receives ground forces transmitted from frictional contact between the sole surface and a surface against which the sole is disposed, such as for running, turning, etc. A force mitigation assembly absorbs these forces received from the sole surface for directing the received force in a controlled manner. An elastic field in the force mitigation assembly is defined by a resilient material adapted to deform in response to the received force.

Footwear force mitigation assembly

A force absorbing device for a footwear appliance includes a shoe upper and a shoe sole having a planar sole surface, such that forces between the shoe upper and planar sole surface in ground contact are absorbed by force mitigation structures disposed in the shoe sole. A footwear article includes a split-sole system that redefines a shoe sole as coplanar surfaces having a force mitigating interface for receiving sudden forces and effectively mitigating these forces by storing kinetic energy and releasing it over time. An elastic field in the force mitigation structure is defined by a resilient material adapted to deform in response to the received force. Frictional engagement between the upper and lower sole may also be augmented by surface characteristics such as dimples, voids and lubricants, in addition to interference engagement with an elastic field.

Adjustable response elastic kinetic energy converter and storage field system for a footwear appliance

An impact absorbing footwear device employs opposed planar sole portions engaged by a selective resistance coupling that biases the opposed planar sole portions in a non-linear manner in response to forces exerted by the wearer against the sole portion in frictional contact with a floor surface. The planar sole portions are disposed in a footwear appliance that takes the form of an athletic shoe sole. The selective resistance coupling includes a plurality of resilient deformation members that engage the planar sole portions in an opposed circumferentially aligned manner, selectively deform in response to pressure exerted by the wearer for preventing ACL and other impact related injuries, and recover to an undeformed rest position without breakaway to allow the wearer uninterrupted usage while dampening forces that surpass an injury threshold from the resilient deformation that allows the planar sole portions to temporarily misalign.

Self-recovering impact absorbing footwear

A method and apparatus to allow one person to feed a fishtape through a conduit into an electrical circuit panel box and electrically insulating the fishtape from contact with live electrical wires at the electrical circuit panel box, including the steps of: a) placing a translucent closed ended tubular device onto a first end of an empty conduit extending within the electrical circuit panel box; b) feeding a fishtape through a second end of the conduit until the fishtape hits the translucent closed ended tubular device positioned at the first end of the conduit; c) visually inspecting the translucent closed ended tubular device within the electrical circuit panel box to locate the fishtape; and d) removing the translucent closed ended tubular device that contains the fishtape, whereby one person can feed a fishtape through the conduit until the fishtape hits the translucent closed ended tubular device without hitting any live wires located in the electrical circuit panel box, thereafter the person can then identify which conduit within the electrical circuit panel box contains the fishtape by visually inspecting the closed ended tubular threaded safety device.

Closed ended tubular safety device and method

Growing community of inventors

Worcester, MA, United States of America

James J Muller