WO2016037879A1

WO2016037879A1 - Size-adjustable sensor shoes

Info

Publication number: WO2016037879A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/069835
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matthias FAUSCH; Michael VILLIGER; Pavel PYK; Kynan Eng
Original assignee: Zurich Universitaet Institut fuer Medizinische Virologie; YouRehab AG
Current assignee: Zurich Universitaet Institut fuer Medizinische Virologie; Reha Stim Medtec AG
Priority date: 2014-09-09
Filing date: 2015-08-31
Publication date: 2016-03-17
Anticipated expiration: 2017-03-09

Abstract

A footwear item comprises a flexible toe section (3), a flexible heel section (4) and a leg section, wherein the toe section (3) and the heel section (4) each incorporate one or more concavities or loops or straps into which one or more toes or the heel, respectively, of a wearer's foot can be inserted, optionally while wearing a shoe (2) or socks. The heel section (4) and the toe section (3) are connected via one or more elastic and/or length-adjustable shanks (5). A leg section comprises one or more flexible links (7) connected to at least one of the toe section (3), the heel section (4), or the one or more shanks (5), and the leg section incorporates at least one elastic spring element (6) which is shaped to fit partially or completely around a leg (1) of the wearer.

Description

SIZE-ADJUSTABLE SENSOR SHOES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a footwear item, particularly for being equipped with sensor means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sensorized footwear measures various physical properties (e.g. acceleration, temperature) associated with the foot and leg. It has applications in many areas including sports, elderly care, entertainment, rehabilitation and health monitoring. Sensorized shoes are usually constructed as a combination of sensor modules with normal or specialized shoes. Current sensorized footwear has a number of disadvantages, including:

• The need to produce many different sizes to cover the full range of human foot sizes, resulting in higher production costs;

• The need for separate types of footwear for users who wish to use the footwear in different ways, e.g. barefoot, with socks, or over other standard footwear;

• Difficulty with putting on and removing the footwear for wearers with impaired arm or hand function, resulting e.g. from unilateral paresis.

The fixation of sensors to the foot and leg is desirable to enable the measurement of kinematic, dynamic, pressure, temperature and other physical properties associated with the foot and leg. To work well, the sensor fixation method needs the following attributes:

• Easy fitting by non-expert users with poor arm/hand function

• Fixation method working on bare feet/legs, over socks or over normal shoes

• Positioning that is accurate and easy to reproduce across removal and re- fixation of the sensors to the foot/leg

· Rapidly adjustment without the use of tools

• Easy removability for washing and service

A number of size-adjustable foot coverings exist. US 2006/0196078 to Terlizzi et al. describes a protective foot cover for use in dance, exercise or athletic applications. It comprises an elastic fabric with a foot opening and two protective pads. In a similar way, WO 2005/000049 to Song et al. describes a foot protection device for fighting games, comprised of an elastic exterior cover with openings for the toes, the ball of the foot and the heel. The openings for the heel and the ball of the foot are intended to minimize slip of the foot on a floor or other surface. While both are size-adjustable due to the elasticity of the materials used in their construction, neither is suitable for use over the top of shoes or socks. Furthermore, neither has features for incorporating sensors, nor for easy fitting by users using one hand.

A number of sensorized shoes use sensor modules which are embedded in the sole or heel of the shoe. CN 202600620 U and CN 103150036 A describe a motion sensor embedded in a shoe, the movements of which are decoded to replace a mouse and keyboard. US 4736312 to Dassler et al. describes the use of motion sensors embedded in a shoe, used for evaluating running motion. Both of these designs require a specially designed shoe with one or more cavities for the sensor modules, and thus cannot be used with normal shoes.

One sensorized module for footwear module incorporates a degree of size adjustment. US 5714706 to Nakada and Katou describes a method for controlling musical sounds using a player's foot movements, in which a sensor unit placed inside a shoe consists of a toe unit and a heel unit, joined by a sliding coupling. The sliding coupling makes the module suitable for different foot sizes, but the sensor module requires it to be placed inside a shoe to function. Moreover, no information is provided about the required thickness of the sensor unit, nor how to make it thin enough to function inside a normal shoe. Another sensorized module can be placed on top of a normal shoe. US 2006/0020421 to Darley et al. describes an apparatus comprised of a mount to be placed under the laces of a shoe, secured using a pivoting housing mechanism incorporating a locking tongue-and-groove. This method has the advantages of working on a normal shoe, easy fitting and good position repeatability, but it cannot work on bare feet or feet wearing socks. In addition, it does not provide any sensor functionality for the leg.

WO 2010/022882 to Eng et al. describes an overshoe designed for users to wear barefoot or with socks or to slip on over their own shoes. One embodiment consists of flexible toe and heel elements, connected by a flexible shank. It has an optional lower leg element, connected via a strap or struts and secured via a leg strap. This method has the following disadvantages: • It does not specify how the leg strap can be secured using one hand, nor how the overshoe as a whole can be fitted using one hand.

• The positioning of the shank below the sole of the foot will cause it to arch the foot disadvantageously, due to the eccentric shank forces applied at the toe and heel elements.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved footwear item that does not have the shortcomings of the known devices. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above and other objects can be achieved by the footwear item as defined in claim 1. The footwear item of the present invention comprises:

• a flexible toe section

• a flexible heel section

· a leg section

wherein the toe section and the heel section each incorporate one or more concavities or loops or straps into which one or more toes or the heel, respectively, of a wearer's foot can be inserted, optionally while wearing a shoe or socks, and the heel section and the toe section are connected via one or more elastic and/or length- adjustable shanks, and wherein

a leg section comprises one or more flexible links connected to at least one of the toe section, the heel section, or the one or more shanks, and

the leg section incorporates at least one elastic spring element which is shaped to fit partially or completely around a leg of the wearer.

The footwear item is basically an overshoe with a general size matched to a given type of wearer, which could be a person of any age, including children and adults.

Advantageous embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.

According to one embodiment (claim 2), the elastic spring element is shaped as an open ring section with an opening less than the predefined diameter of the wearer's leg, so that it can be wrapped around the leg using one hand by placing the ring opening against the leg and applying radial inwards force relative to the leg, in that the open elastic spring opens as the force is applied, and then snaps shut as it encloses the leg. By "predefined diameter of the wearer's leg" is meant any pre-selected leg diameter expected for a person having a foot size matching the footwear item.

In some embodiments (claim 3), the elastic spring element incorporates a strap, buckle, Velcro tab or other fastening means which allows the open elastic spring to be pulled tight around the leg.

According to an advantageous embodiment (claim 4), the one or more shanks are arranged so that when stretched by placing a foot in the footwear, the centre of force exerted by the stretching of the one or more shanks passes close to the centre of gravity of the user's foot. In this manner the net eccentric forces applied at the toe and heel elements when the overshoe is worn on a foot or shoe are minimized.

According to a preferred embodiment (claim 5), the footwear comprises at least one attachment point for a sensor module.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment (claim 6), the attachment point for a sensor module comprises a clip and a retaining patch, wherein the retaining patch partially covers and securely holds the clip against any part of the base material of the footwear, and wherein the clip has one or more hooks or other fastening means which are used to secure the sensor module to the clip.

In a particularly preferred embodiment (claim 7), the footwear item further comprises at least one sensor module attached to the attachment point.

The sensor module may be configured to measure bending, rotation, elongation or pressure and may be a 2D or 3D accelerometer, a magnetometer, a potentiometer such as a bend, linear or rotary potentiometer, a position encoder or a pressure sensor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of achieving them will become more apparent and this invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of various embodiments of this invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: is a side elevation view of an embodiment of the invention for use with shoes;

is a cross sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 1 A; is a side elevation view of an embodiment of the invention for use with socks or barefoot;

shows a sensor module, as a side elevation view (Figure 3A) and as a top view (Figure 3B);

shows a clip for holding the sensor module of Figure 3, as a side elevation view (Figure 4A) and as a top view (Figure 4B); and shows a retaining patch for holding the clip of Figure 4, as a side elevation view (Figure 5A) and as a top view (Figure 5B).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figures 1A and 1 B show an embodiment of the invention in which the user's leg 1 is wearing a normal shoe 2. The shoe 2 would normally be one which is comfortable for the patient, with a low sole. The toe of the shoe 2 is inserted into a toe section 3 and secured at the rear by a heel section 4, which is connected via a shank 5 running along both sides of the shoe. The toe section 3 is shaped to fit either a shoe of a particular size, or a bare or socked foot of a larger size. The tension in the shank 5 keeps the assembly securely attached to the shoe 2. The toe section 3 is usually made of a flexible, light and robust material such as leather, although other materials can be used. Depending on the user, the material used for the external surface of the toe section 3 can be either low-friction to assist with toe sliding on the floor for patients who have difficulty lifting their toes during walking, or high-friction to maximize toe grip. A spring-elastic element 6 wraps partly around the leg 1 and is attached to the shank 5 via a flexible member 7. The spring-elastic element 6 is optionally secured around the leg 1 by means of a strap 8a. One or more sensor units 9 are placed on the foot and the leg 1 , but they can also be placed in other suitable locations. The sensor units 9 can be attached using Velcro, clips or any other method.

Figure 1 B depicts one possible detail of the embodiment of Figure 1A. Shown is a cross-section of the user's leg 1 . The spring-elastic element 6 is shaped so that its opening is less than the diameter of the cross-section of the user's leg 1 . In addition, the spring-elastic element 6 has an optionally flared opening, so that when the base of the spring-elastic element 6 is pushed over the leg 1 , the spring-elastic element 6 will open to pass over the leg 1 , and then close when it has passed the point of maximum cross-section of the leg 1 , to close securely around the leg 1 . Final securing of the spring-elastic element 6 is optionally provided by a strap 8a. In this embodiment, the strap 8a is made of Velcro hooks, attached to a strap fixation area 8b which is made of Velcro loops.

Figure 2 depicts an alternative embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the user's leg 1 and foot is either barefoot or wearing socks. The toe section 3 is the same as that used in the embodiment of Figure 1 . The heel section 4 has an optional extra strap which wraps around the bottom of the foot/shoe, providing further security against slipping. It has two spring-elastic elements 6 attached to the toe section 3 via a flexible member 7 which runs down the front of the foot. The two spring-elastic elements 6 are secured using one strap 8a each, matched to strap fixation areas 8b (not shown, ref. Figure 1A). Figures 3 to 5 illustrate a fixation method for the sensor modules which provides advantages for rapid attachment combined with accurately repeatable fixation and fine adjustment. The sensor module 9, which in this case is approximately shaped as a rectangular prism, contains a groove 9a on each of two sides. A clip 22 is shaped with hooks 22a so that the grooves 9a in the sensor module 9 are held by the hooks 22a, when the sensor module 9 is pushed vertically onto the clip 22. The hooks 22a on the clip 22 are made of an elastic material and shaped so that they flex and then snap shut into the groove 9a when the sensor module 9 is pressed vertically into the clip 22. A retaining patch 23 contains holes 23a which are shaped so that the hooks 22a on the clip 22 pass through the holes 23a. The retaining patch 23a is made of Velcro hooks or any other surface attachment method, and the corresponding area to which it is attached (e.g. toe section 3, heel section 4, spring-elastic element 6) is covered with Velcro loops or any other complementary surface attachment method. During initial adjustment, the retaining patch 23 is used to position the clip 22 so that it works optimally for a particular user. Subsequently, the user can quickly and precisely re-attach the sensor module 9 on the clip 22 without needing to re-calibrate the position. The clip 22 is designed so that, when the retaining patch 23 is placed over it, there is sufficient remaining clearance to attach the sensor module 9. The sensor module 9 optionally also has Velcro hooks or another attachment method fixed to its underside, so that, if desired, it can also be attached to any matching area (e.g. toe section 3, heel section 4, spring-elastic element 6) without using the clip 22. It is clear that there are many other possible embodiments of the invention, and that the possible fields of application of the invention are not restricted to those mentioned above.

The different features and innovations mentioned above can be combined in many different ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is also clear that variations in:

• the mechanical properties and geometry of the materials used to construct a particular embodiment;

• the specific arrangements of components within a particular embodiment;

• the manufacturing processes used;

• any other implementation detail used to construct a particular embodiment are all covered by the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 Leg of user

2 Shoe worn by user

3 Toe section

4 Heel section

5 Shank

6 Spring-elastic section

7 Flexible link

8a Strap

8b Strap fixation area

9 Sensor module

9a Groove

22 Clip

22a Hook

23 Retaining patch

23a Hole

Claims

1 . A footwear item comprising a flexible toe section (3), a flexible heel section (4) and a leg section, wherein

the toe section (3) and the heel section (4) each incorporate one or more concavities or loops or straps into which one or more toes or the heel, respectively, of a wearer's foot can be inserted, optionally while wearing a shoe (2) or socks, and

the heel section (4) and the toe section (3) are connected via one or more elastic and/or length-adjustable shanks (5), and wherein

a leg section comprises one or more flexible links (7) connected to at least one of the toe section (3), the heel section (4), or the one or more shanks (5), and the leg section incorporates at least one elastic spring element (6) which is shaped to fit partially or completely around a leg (1 ) of the wearer.

2. The footwear item according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic spring element (6) is shaped as an open ring section with an opening less than the predefined diameter of the wearer's leg (1 ), so that it can be wrapped around the leg using one hand by placing the ring opening against the leg and applying radial inwards force relative to the leg, in that the open elastic spring opens as the force is applied, and then snaps shut as it encloses the leg.

3. The footwear item according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic spring element (6) incorporates a strap (8a), buckle, Velcro tab or other fastening means which allows the open elastic spring to be pulled tight around the leg.

4. The footwear item according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the one or more shanks (5) are arranged so that when stretched by placing a foot in the footwear, the centre of force exerted by the stretching of the one or more shanks (5) passes close to the centre of gravity of the user's foot.

5. The footwear item according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the footwear comprises at least one attachment point for a sensor module (9).

6. The footwear item according to claim 5, wherein the attachment point for a sensor module (9) comprises a clip (22) and a retaining patch (23), wherein the retaining patch (23) partially covers and securely holds the clip (22) against any part of the base material of the footwear, and wherein the clip (22) has one or more hooks (22a) or other fastening means which are used to secure the sensor module to the clip (22).

The footwear item according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising at least one sensor module (9) attached to the attachment point.