Article of footwear with dynamic support

摘要

An article of footwear with a dynamic support system that controls arrays of tiles in the upper of the footwear to adjust the level of support provided in different regions of the upper. Sensors in the sole of the footwear, in the upper of the footwear and/or in an article worn by the wearer of the footwear measure the level of stress or other characteristics and provide input to one or more microprocessors that control motors located in the sole or in the upper of the footwear. When the motors are activated, they may compress or loosen arrays of tiles to adjust the stiffness of the upper in one or more regions of the upper.

主权项

1. An article of footwear comprising:
a sole; an upper; a microprocessor; at least one sensor in communication with the microprocessor, wherein the at least one sensor is embedded in at least one of the sole and the upper; an array of diamond-shaped tiles; the array of diamond-shaped tiles including a plurality of rows of tiles and a plurality of columns of tiles; the array of diamond-shaped tiles being embedded in the upper with a plurality of cables laced through the vertices of the diamond-shaped tiles and through alternate columns or alternate rows of tiles and wound around a reel; a reversible motor attached to the reel such that the reversible motor can rotate the reel in a first direction to pull in the plurality of cables and compress the array of tiles and wherein the reversible motor can rotate the reel in a second direction opposite to the first direction to loosen the array of diamond-shaped tiles; wherein the microprocessor is in communication with the reversible motor and can activate the reversible motor to rotate the reel in the first direction or in a the second direction, and wherein the microprocessor comprises at least one algorithm that receives input from the at least one sensor and, in response to the input, determines whether to rotate the reel in the first direction to pull in the cable to compress the array of diamond-shaped tiles or to rotate the reel in the second direction to loosen the array of diamond-shaped tiles.