METHOD FOR OBSERVING AND/OR MONITORING STRAINS OCCURRING ON A SPORTS SHOE, AND A SPORTS SHOE FOR USE IN SUCH A METHOD

Abstract

A method for observing and/or monitoring strains which occur during sporting activities uses a sport shoe having downwardly extending engaging elements on a support which are pivotable about an axis perpendicular to a tread outsole. The method includes: observing how often the support is turned from its starting position within a time interval; forming a first variable which is a measure for the number of occurred turning movements of the support from the starting position observed within the time interval; and/or determining the pivot angle of the support and forming a second variable which is a measure for the sum of the pivot angles which occurred during the turning movements from the starting position which took place in said time interval, wherein the aforementioned steps are carried out by devices which are provided in or on the sport shoe; and displaying the first and/or second variables.

Claims

1. A method for observing and/or monitoring strains which occur during sporting activities on a sport shoe and/or a golf shoe, which has an outsole on which a support having downwardly extending engaging elements is mounted, which support is pivotable about an axis perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to a tread of the outsole and has a starting position from which said support is pivotable against the action of a reset force which tries to turn the support back into the starting position thereof, wherein the engaging elements are arranged spaced apart from the axis, the method for observing and/or monitoring strains which occur during the sporting activities on the sport shoe comprises the steps of: observing how often the support is turned from its starting position within a time interval; forming a first variable which is a measure for the number of occurred turning movements of the support from the starting position observed within the time interval; and/or determining the pivot angle of the support and forming a second variable which is a measure for the sum of the pivot angles which occurred during the turning movements from the starting position which took place in said time interval, wherein the aforementioned steps are carried out by devices which are provided in or on the sport shoe; and displaying the first variable and/or the second variable.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first variable is proportional to the number of turning movements of the support from the starting position which took place within the selected time interval.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second variable is proportional to the sum of the pivot angles of the turning movements from the starting position which took place within the time interval.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the time interval is freely selectable.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a torque is displayed as the first variable and/or as the second variable.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the variable of the displayed torque is determined in such a manner that it is proportional to the number of turning movements of the support from the starting position and/or proportional to the sum of the pivot angles occurred at this number.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the variable of the displayed torque is determined in such a manner that it is also proportional to the weight of the person wearing the sports shoe.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the torque which is displayed corresponds approximately to the torsional strain on the athlete avoided due to the turning movements of the support from the starting position of the support within the selected time interval.

9. The method according to claim 1, including a spring which is used for generating the reset force.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first variable and/or the second variable are/is displayed on a display device which is mounted on the upper side of the sports shoe or on the cover sole of the sports shoe or laterally on a lining of the sports shoe.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the first variable and/or the second variable are/is transmitted to and/or queried from a computer, a mobile computer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, and/or a smart watch.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first variable and/or the second variable are transmitted in a wireless manner.

13. A sports shoe for performing the method according claim 1, the sports shoe comprising: a position sensor which responds to a change of the position of the support and is arranged in the sports shoe; an electrical circuit arrangement which is connected to the position sensor and arranged in the sports shoe, to which the position sensor transmits signals depending on the change of the position of the support, and in which a first variable is formed from the transmitted signals, said first variable being a measure for the number of turning movements of the support from a starting position observed by the position sensor within a selected time interval, and/or a second variable is formed, which is a measure for the sum of pivot angles at which the support was turned from its starting position within said time interval; an output device which is an integral part of the circuit arrangement or is connected to the circuit arrangement and serves for outputting the first variable and/or the second variable; and a power source.

14. The sports shoe according to claim 13, wherein the position sensor is arranged in the outsole of the sports shoe.

15. The sports shoe according to claim 13, wherein the output device includes a display and/or an LCD display, which is mounted on the upper side of the sports shoe, or on a cover sole of the sports shoe or laterally on a lining of the sports shoe.

16. The sports shoe according to claim 13, wherein the output device suitable for transmitting or exchanging data comprises an interface or a Bluetooth interface.

17. The sports shoe according to claim 13, wherein the position sensor is a proximity sensor.

18. The sports shoe according to claim 13, wherein the position sensor is a displacement sensor.

19. The sports shoe according to claim 13, wherein the power source is a mechanical-electrical converter arranged in the sports shoe, or a solar cell.

20. The sports shoe according to claim 19, wherein the converter converts deformations of the shoe occurring during walking into electrical energy by means of the piezo-electric effect.

21. The sports shoe according to claim 19, wherein the circuit arrangement includes a storage for the generated electrical energy.

22. The sports shoe according to claim 13, wherein the circuit arrangement includes a data storage.

23. The sports shoe according to claim 13, including a spring which is used for generating the reset force, wherein the spring is preloaded in the starting position of the support.

24. A method for observing and/or monitoring strains which occur during sporting activities on a sport shoe, wherein the method comprises the steps of: providing the sports shoe having an outsole on which a support having downwardly extending engaging elements is mounted, which support is pivotable about an axis perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to a tread of the outsole and has a starting position from which said support is pivotable against the action of a reset force which tries to turn the support back into the starting position thereof, wherein the engaging elements are arranged spaced apart from the axis; observing how often the support is turned from its starting position within a time interval; forming a first variable which is a measure for the number of occurred turning movements of the support from the starting position observed within the time interval; and/or determining the pivot angle of the support and forming a second variable which is a measure for the sum of the pivot angles which occurred during the turning movements from the starting position which took place in said time interval, wherein the aforementioned steps are carried out by devices which are provided in or on the sport shoe; and displaying the first variable and/or the second variable.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] An exemplary embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings serves for further explanation of the invention.

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a golf shoe in an oblique view, wherein a portion of the shoe is shown in a transparent manner;

[0035] FIG. 2 shows the shoe from FIG. 1 in a view of the outsole;

[0036] FIG. 3 shows the enlarged detail A from FIG. 2;

[0037] FIG. 4 shows a top view of the rear part of the golf shoe; and

[0038] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram for an example of the circuit used in the golf shoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0039] The golf shoe illustrated in the FIGS. 1 to 4 has an outsole 1, on the bottom side of which a two-armed support 2 is mounted to be pivotable about an axis 3. Two metallic arms 4 and 5, which are formed from a stable sheet metal, extend from the pivot axis 3. The first arm 4 extends towards the forefoot area of the golf shoe and is embedded into a plastic plate 6 which carries four downwardly facing engaging elements 7. The second arm 5 extends into the heel area of the golf shoe and is embedded in a plastic plate 8 which likewise has 4 downwardly facing engaging elements 7. The axis 3 is covered by a circular disk 8, below which a non-illustrated reset spring is arranged which, when the support 2 turns about its axis 3 from the starting position illustrated in FIG. 2 into a position as illustrated in FIG. 3, tries to turn the support 2 back into its starting position. The starting position of the support is fixed by a first stopper 9 against which the first arm 4 rests in the starting position under a preload of the reset spring. The angle at which the support 2 can be turned from its starting position is limited by a second stopper 10, which is situated opposite the first stopper 9 and against which the support 2 abuts with its first arm 4, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0040] The first stopper 9 has a cylindrical shank. Therefore, the first arm 4 has an arc-shaped recess 11 with which it abuts against the first stopper 9.

[0041] In the pivot range of the first arm 4, a position sensor 12 is provided in the outsole 1, which position sensor responds to the presence or absence of the metallic arm 4 below the position sensor 12 and is able in this manner to differentiate whether the support 2 is in its starting position (FIG. 2) or in a position turned from the starting position (FIG. 3).

[0042] FIG. 1 shows schematically the position of circuit arrangement 13 which is arranged in the forefoot area of the golf shoe and connected to the position sensor 12 and to a display device 15 by an electric line 14 which is arranged in the heel area of the golf shoe and is illustrated in a top view in FIG. 4. The line 14 can run between the outsole 1 and a cover sole 16. As illustrated, the display is, e.g., an LCD display as illustrated in FIG. 4.

[0043] The circuit arrangement 13 can be arranged in a recess of the outsole 1 between the outsole and the cover sole 16 and is accessible after removing the cover sole 16.

[0044] FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram for an electrical circuit for carrying out the method. A circuit arrangement 17 includes as a dominating integral part a microprocessor 18 which receives input signals from the position sensor 12 and, depending on the type of position sensor, may form therefrom within a selectable time interval T a “first variable”, which is a measure for the number of turning movements of the support 2 from the starting position observed within the time interval, which turning movements are reported by the position sensor 12. If the position sensor 12 is a displacement sensor or a rotary encoder, the microprocessor 18 may determine from the signals of the position sensor 12 a “second variable” which is a measure for the sum of the pivot angles which occurred during the turning movements from the starting position (FIG. 2) which took place within the selected time interval T, and which are detected by the position sensor 12 and reported to the microprocessor 18.

[0045] The microprocessor 18 can output the “first variable” and/or the “second variable” in two different ways. One possibility is the output via the display 15 which is arranged in the golf shoe and for which a drive circuit 19 is provided in the circuit arrangement 17, which drive circuit is activated by the microprocessor 18. Another possibility is to output the “first variable” and/or the “second variable” on an external computer or on a mobile phone or on a smart watch. For this purpose, a bidirectional interface 20 is provided, in particular a Bluetooth interface, via which the microprocessor 18 can communicate, e.g., with a tablet computer 21, as illustrated in FIG. 4, or with a smartphone or with a smart watch. Via the tablet computer 2 or via a smartphone or via a smart watch, the circuit arrangement 17 can be controlled in the reversed direction in order to switch it on, to switch it off, to reset it, to query it, or to input or change parameters, e.g. the weight of the athlete, provided for the evaluation of the measuring results delivered from the position sensor 12.

[0046] A power source 22, which can be a battery, is provided for operating the circuit arrangement 17, the display 15, the driver circuit 19, the interface 20 and the position sensor 12.

[0047] The arrangement of the circuit arrangement 17 in the forefoot area of the golf shoe has, inter alia, the advantage that instead of a battery 22, e.g., a piezo-electric converter can also be provided there, which piezo-electric converter converts the deformations of the golf shoe occurring during walking into electric energy which can be stored in the circuit arrangement 17, e.g. in a capacitor, and can be used for power supply to the circuit arrangement 17 and to the connected components.

REFERENCE LIST

[0048] 1 outsole [0049] 2 support [0050] 3 axis [0051] 4 metallic arm [0052] 5 metallic arm [0053] 6 plastic plate [0054] 7 engaging element [0055] 8 plastic plate [0056] 9 stopper [0057] 10 stopper [0058] 11 circular recess [0059] 12 position sensor [0060] 13 circuit arrangement [0061] 14 electric line [0062] 15 display [0063] 16 cover sole [0064] 17 circuit arrangement [0065] 18 microprocessor [0066] 19 driver circuit [0067] 20 interface [0068] 21 tablet computer [0069] 22 power source [0070] T time interval