WO2019203285A1

WO2019203285A1 - Sole for sports artificial foot

Info

Publication number: WO2019203285A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/016542
Authority: WO
Inventors: 大太糸井; 耕平佐橋
Original assignee: 株式会社ブリヂストン
Priority date: 2018-04-17
Filing date: 2019-04-17
Publication date: 2019-10-24
Also published as: JPWO2019203285A1

Abstract

This sole, for a sports artificial foot having a leaf-spring shaped foot part extending toward the toe side, is mounted, via at least one bent part, to a ground-contact region extending in an arc shape from the toe to the bent part side. The sole has a bottom surface having a shape conforming to the extension shape of the ground-contact region. The bottom surface has a plurality of width-direction land parts that extend in the width direction of the foot part and that are demarked by a plurality of width-direction grooves extending in the width direction. The total surface area of the width-direction land parts on one side in the width direction is larger than that of the width-direction land parts on the other side, wherein a center line which passes through the center in the width direction and extends in the longitudinal direction of the foot part is set as a boundary therebetween.

Description

Prosthetic sole for competition

The present invention relates to a sole that is attached to a contact area of a prosthetic leg for competition, and more particularly to a sole for a prosthetic leg that suppresses slippage of the prosthetic leg during competition.

Conventionally, a prosthetic leg for competition (hereinafter also referred to as a prosthetic leg for competition or simply a prosthetic leg) has a leaf spring-like leg part extending to the toe side through the curved part, and the contact area extends in an arc shape from the toe to the curved part side. Is known). Generally, such a prosthetic leg having a leaf spring-like foot portion is provided with a sole that contacts the road surface on the bottom surface of the contact area.

For example, Patent Document 1 exemplifies a sole that is attached to the lower surface of a curved plate spring-like prosthetic leg for competition, such as jogging or running. That is, Patent Document 1 describes a sole in which spikes are attached to the lower surface of a sole that contacts the road surface, and a sole in which a number of outsole portions each having a hexagonal ground surface are provided.

JP 2016-150189 A

However, in the sole exemplified in Patent Document 1, a part of the sole is worn out at an early stage, so that the service life of the entire sole is shortened.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sole for a prosthetic leg for competition, in which the service life of the entire sole is extended by suppressing uneven wear of the sole.

The inventor earnestly investigated the means for solving the above-mentioned problems. In other words, a detailed study of the wear pattern of the bottom of the sole of the prosthetic leg for competition revealed that the wear mode of the half-width region bordering on the dividing line of the width of the bottom of the sole was different. Based on this, the present invention has been completed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sole of a prosthetic leg for competition having improved uneven wear resistance.

The sole of the prosthetic leg for competition of the present invention is a contact of the prosthetic leg having a leaf spring shape extending toward the toe side through at least one curved part and extending in an arc shape from the toe to the curved part side. A sole to be worn in a region, the sole having a bottom surface shaped according to the extending shape of the contact region, and the bottom surface is partitioned by a plurality of widthwise grooves extending in the width direction of the foot. The width direction land portion on one side in the width direction, having a plurality of width direction land portions extending in the width direction and having a center line extending in the front-rear direction of the foot portion through the center in the width direction as a boundary. The total surface area is larger than the total surface area of the width direction land portion on the other side.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a sole for a prosthetic leg for competition, in which the use life of the entire sole is extended by suppressing uneven wear of the sole.

It is a side view of the artificial leg for competition with which the sole concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention was equipped. It is a figure which shows the pattern of the sole bottom face of the sole of the artificial leg for competitions concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows one shape of the width direction land part of FIG. It is a figure for explaining the operation | movement of a foot | leg part and a grounding form in steps when the artificial leg for competition is worn and the wearer goes straight ahead. It is a figure for explaining the operation | movement of a foot | leg part and a grounding form in steps when the artificial leg for competition is worn and the wearer goes straight ahead. It is a figure for explaining the operation | movement of a foot | leg part and a grounding form in steps when the artificial leg for competition is worn and the wearer goes straight ahead. It is a figure for explaining the operation | movement of a foot | leg part and a grounding form in steps when the artificial leg for competition is worn and the wearer goes straight ahead. It is a figure which shows the pattern of the sole bottom face of the sole of the artificial leg for competitions concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows one shape of the width direction land part of FIG.

Hereinafter, the sole of the prosthetic leg of the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as a sole) of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a prosthetic leg 1 for competition equipped with a sole 5 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The prosthetic leg 1 for competition has a leaf spring-like leg 2 and a sole 5 is attached to a contact area on the tip side. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the base end part of the foot part 2 is connected to a socket via an adapter, and a wearer wears a prosthetic leg by accommodating the stump of a wearer's leg in a socket. be able to. As the adapter and the socket, those corresponding to the stump position of the foot such as a thigh prosthesis and a crus prosthesis are used. FIG. 1 shows the foot 2 and the sole 5 in an upright state of a wearer who wears the prosthetic leg 1 for competition.

Hereinafter, in this embodiment, in the height direction of the prosthetic leg for competition, the side where the foot 2 is connected to the adapter is referred to as the connection side, and the side where the foot 2 contacts the road surface S is referred to as the ground side. Further, the toe T of the prosthetic leg 1 for competition refers to the foremost point where the foot 2 extends from the connection side and terminates. Further, a direction extending from the toe T in parallel to the road surface S is referred to as a foot front-rear direction Y. Furthermore, the direction over the width direction of the foot 2 is referred to as the width direction W.

In this embodiment, the foot portion 2 of the prosthetic leg 1 for competition has a shape extending in a plate shape toward the toe T via at least one curved portion, in the illustrated example, 1 curved portion 3. In FIG. 1, the foot part 2 includes, in order from the connection side to the ground side, a straight part 2 a, a curved part 2 b that is convex toward the toe T side, a curved part 3 that is convex toward the rear side in the foot front-rear direction Y, The curved portion 2c and the grounding portion 4 extending to the toe T side in an arc shape protruding to the grounding side.

Although the material of the foot 2 is not limited, it is preferable to use carbon fiber reinforced plastic or the like from the viewpoint of strength and weight reduction.

The grounding portion 4 has, on the grounding side, a contact area 4s extending in an arc shape from the toe T toward the bending portion 3, and a sole 5 is attached to the contact area 4s. The contact area 4s refers to the entire area that comes into contact with the road surface S when the wearer who wears the prosthetic leg 1 performs a straight traveling operation. In the state where the sole 5 is attached, the contact area 4s is the sole 5 It contacts with the road surface S via.

The sole 5 has a shape according to the extended shape of the contact area 4s. The grounding side of the sole 5 is a bottom surface 5s. As shown in FIG. 1, the bottom surface 5s has a shape in which the arcs X1 and X2 are continuous from the toe T side to the bending portion 3 side. In the present embodiment, the arc X1 and the arc X2 have different radii of curvature, but may have the same radius of curvature.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 2, a groove shape to be imparted to the bottom surface 5s of the sole of the prosthetic leg for competition according to the first embodiment, a so-called groove pattern will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bottom surface 5 s has a plurality of width direction land portions 12 extending in the width direction W and defined by a plurality of width direction grooves extending along the width direction W.

In the present embodiment, the total surface area a1 of the land portion in the width direction on one side Si1 in the width direction W with the center line CL extending through the center in the width direction of the bottom surface 5s extending in the foot front-rear direction Y as the boundary is It is larger than the total surface area a2 of the width direction land portion 12 in Si2. Here, the total surface area a1 refers to a total sum of the surface areas of land portions from the center line CL to the bottom surface end portion SE1 of the one side Si1 in the plan view of the bottom surface 5s, and the total surface area a2 refers to the bottom surface 5s. In the plan view, the total surface area of the land from the center line CL to the bottom surface end SE2 of the other side Si2 is a total value. The width direction land portion 12 has a structure extending across the center line CL, and the surface area of each width direction land portion 12 is one side Si1 with the center line CL as a boundary even in one width direction land portion 12. And the other side Si2. In a prosthetic leg for competition, depending on the shape of the prosthetic leg, the wearer's running method, and the like, wear on one side with the center line CL of the bottom surface 5s as a boundary tends to progress, and uneven wear tends to occur on the bottom surface 5s. Accordingly, by increasing the total surface area a1 of the land portion of the one side Si1 in the present embodiment, which is more prone to wear, than the total surface area a2, the rigidity is increased, and the wear resistance performance is improved. Further, uneven wear of the entire bottom surface 5s can be suppressed.

In the sole bottom surface 5s, it is preferable that at least one of the width direction land portions has a non-axisymmetric shape with respect to the center line CL. In FIG. 2, all the width direction land portions 12 are axisymmetric with respect to the center line CL, but some width direction land portions are axisymmetric and some width direction land portions are axisymmetric shapes. It is good also as what has.

In the present embodiment, at least one of the non-axisymmetric widthwise land portions 12, and in the illustrated example, all the widthwise land portions 12 have a wavy shape in which the width of the land portion at a half wavelength of the wave is a repetition of wide and narrow. And it is preferable that the land part width | variety of one side is wide in 1 wavelength of the wave which becomes convex on the toe side. The term “wave” as used herein refers to a sine wave, zigzag, unevenness, or the like that has substantially the same shape that changes phase with substantially the same period, and is preferably a sine wave or a zigzag shape having the same phase. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the land portion width that extends along the wavy line P 2 exhibiting such a wave shape and that is the width in the normal direction of the wavy line is changed. That is, it has a wave shape in which the land width in the half wavelength of the wave (wave peak to valley or valley to peak) is wide and narrow. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the width-direction land portion 12 has a half-wavelength portion λ3, that is, a land portion width w1 from the valley V2 of the wavy line P2 to the adjacent mountain M2. And the land part width w2 from the mountain M2 to the adjacent valley V2 has a wave shape in which the land part width w1 is relatively wide and the land part width w2 is narrow. Further, for one wavelength λ4 of the wave, ½ wavelength, that is, the land width w2 from the peak M2 of the wave line P2 to the adjacent valley V2, and the land width w1 from the valley V2 to the adjacent mountain M2 However, the relationship where w1 is relatively wide and w2 is narrow is repeated. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, it is preferable that the land width w1 on the bottom end SE1 side is wide at one wavelength of a wave that protrudes toward the toe T, that is, λ3 in the illustrated example. By making the land portion width w1 wider than the land portion width w2, the rigidity of the land portion on the side where more severe wear occurs can be increased, and the uneven wear resistance performance on the bottom surface 5s can be improved. Furthermore, by making the land portion width w2 on the other side narrower than that on the one side, it is possible to avoid slipperiness caused by increasing the land portion width. By combining the above and appropriately setting the land widths w1 and w2, it is possible to achieve both drainage performance and wear resistance performance. From such a viewpoint, the ratio w1 / w2 of the land widths w1 and w2 is preferably 2.0 to 15. More preferably, the land widths w1 and w2 satisfy the following numerical ranges.
2.0mm <w1 <4.0mm
0.3mm <w2 <1.0mm
In the present embodiment, the shape of the land portion is not particularly limited as long as the total surface area a1 is larger than the total surface area a2. In the illustrated example, in the illustrated example, a portion having the land portion width w1 is set on the other side. By arranging more than Si2, total surface area a1 is larger than total surface area a2.

In the present embodiment, the one side Si1 is preferably outside the bottom surface 5s. In other words, the outside is the body side of the wearer of the prosthetic leg 1 for competition. In the prosthetic leg 1 for competition, there are many wearers who run in such a manner that the input from the outside to the inside of the bottom surface 5s increases, and wear on the outside of the bottom surface 5s tends to progress. Therefore, the uneven wear of the bottom surface 5s can be suppressed by increasing the wear resistance performance outside the bottom surface 5s. In addition, there is a wearer who travels in such a manner that the input from the inside to the outside of the bottom surface 5s increases, and in this case, the uneven wear can be suppressed by setting the one side Si1 to the inside of the bottom surface 5s. it can.

Next, the groove pattern of the bottom surface 50s of the sole of the prosthetic leg for competition according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4D, FIG. 5 and FIG. The sole of the prosthetic leg for competition according to the second embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of the first embodiment, and is different from the first embodiment only in the groove pattern of the bottom surface 5s.

The pattern of the bottom surface 50s of the prosthetic leg sole for competition according to the second embodiment is based on the knowledge about the ground contact form obtained by the experiment described later. Therefore, the experimental results of the ground contact configuration of the bottom surface 50s described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D. 4A, FIG. 4B, FIG. 4C, and FIG. 4D are for explaining step by step the operation of the foot 2 and the ground contact form with the bottom surface 50s when the wearer wearing the competition artificial leg 1 travels straight ahead. FIG. The upper part of each drawing is a side view of the foot 2 and the sole 5, and the lower part of each drawing is the transition of the ground contact form of the bottom surface 50s when the wearer wearing the competition prosthetic leg 1 performs a straight running operation. Is shown.

That is, FIG. 4A shows a state in which the competition artificial leg 1 lifted by the wearer is lowered onto the road surface S and the entire weight is loaded on the competition artificial leg 1. As shown in the lower part of the drawing, when the prosthetic leg 1 is lowered onto the road surface S, the contact area of the bottom surface 50s is in the vicinity of the center of the bottom surface, and is spaced from the curved part 3 and the toe T side in the front-rear direction. It is a free area.

FIG. 4B shows a state in which the wearer steps forward from the state of FIG. 4A while the full weight is loaded on the prosthetic leg 1 for competition. In the case of a healthy person's running, it is common to step on the ground in order from the heel side to the toe side of the shoe sole to be grounded first, but the prosthetic leg for competition 1 is more curved than where it was grounded first. The grounding area has moved to the part 3 side.

FIG. 4C shows a state in which the wearer swings forward the opposite leg to the side on which the athletic prosthetic leg 1 is worn and starts to kick out the athletic prosthetic leg 1. When this kicking-out operation is started, the game prosthetic leg 1 is grounded in a region on the toe T side of the bottom surface 50s from the region shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

FIG. 4D shows a state immediately before leaving the road surface S at the final stage where the wearer kicks out the prosthetic leg 1 for competition. In order to kick out from the toe T on the bottom surface 50s, the grounding is performed in a region closer to the toe T than FIG. 4C.

Based on the experimental results shown in FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, FIG. 4C, and FIG. 4D, the inventor believes that it is advantageous for improving the performance of the prosthetic leg sole that the bottom surface 50s is functionally separated according to the transition of the above-described ground contact region. As a result, the following groove pattern for that purpose was conceived.

That is, the groove pattern shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the groove pattern shown in FIG. 2 except that the three rows of the width direction land portions 12 are left and the sipe 13 is formed on the toe T side of the width direction land portion 12. The width

direction land portions

14, 10 and 11 are sequentially arranged on the curved portion 3 side of the row of land portions 12, respectively.

The shape of the width

direction land portions

10, 11, 12, and 14 arranged on the curved portion 3 side of the width direction land portion 12 will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6, the width-direction land portion 10 is a land portion that extends with a predetermined width along a wavy line P 1 that exhibits a wave shape based on the above-described wave definition. Thus, by making the width direction land portion 10 corrugated, the edge component in the width direction W can be increased and the edge component in the front-rear direction can also be imparted, and a higher edge effect can be obtained overall. Can do. That is, even if the input direction is deviated from the width direction W when the wearer of the prosthetic leg 1 is running, the edge effect can be sufficiently exhibited.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the wavy shape in the width direction land portion 10 means that the toe protrudes from the position of the peak M 1 and the valley V 1 of the wavy line P 1 to one side or the other side in the foot front-rear direction. You may provide the side protrusion part 10b and the curved part side protrusion part 10c. By providing the toe side protruding portion 10b and the curved portion side protruding portion 10c, the edge component can be further increased, and the edge effect in both the foot front-rear direction Y and the width direction W can be enhanced.

Further, the width-direction land portion 10 is line-symmetric with respect to a line segment extending in the foot front-rear direction Y through the wave peak M1 or valley V1 in one wave wavelength (wave peak-to-peak or valley-to-valley). It is preferable. As shown in FIG. 6, the width-direction land portion 10 is axisymmetric with respect to a line segment b1 extending in the foot front-rear direction Y through the mountain M1 of the wave line P1 in one wave portion λ1 of the wave. The minute λ2 is line-symmetric with respect to a line segment b2 that extends in the foot front-rear direction Y through the valley V1. According to the said structure, even if an input direction shifts | deviates from the width direction W at the time of the driving | running | working of the wearer of the artificial leg 1 for competitions, an edge function can be exhibited reliably.

Here, the area where the width

direction land portions

10, 11 and 14 are arranged corresponds to the ground contact area shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B above, and the wearer first lands, and the total weight is on the prosthetic leg 1 for competition. This is the area where the stepping action is performed in a loaded state. Therefore, it is important that the region is sufficiently gripped with the road surface S so that the balance of the entire body is maintained even if the wearer applies the total weight to the prosthetic leg 1 for competition. Therefore, by arranging the width direction land portion 10 excellent in the edge effect in the width direction W and the width

direction land portions

11 and 14 similar to the width direction land portion 10, a high edge function is given to the region. In addition, a sufficient grip force for the road surface S is ensured, and a high slip resistance performance is given to the area.

Further, the bottom surface 50s is preferably provided with a sipe 13 in a region on the toe T side of the width direction land portion 12 and from the edge on the toe T side toward the curved portion 3 side. In the region where the sipe 13 is arranged, as shown in FIG. 4D, the wearer swings forward the foot opposite to the side on which the prosthetic leg 1 is worn, and performs the kick-out operation of the prosthetic leg 1 for competition. It is an area. This region is a region where wear is particularly likely to proceed because the grounding is made in order toward the toe T and the wearer touches and slides the road surface S on the bottom surface 50s. Therefore, in this region, it is important to improve the wear resistance and maintain the resistance to slipping during ground contact.

In particular, the constant region from the edge of the bottom surface 50s on the toe T side where the sipe 13 is formed is a region corresponding to the arc X1 continuous from the toe T with a constant radius of curvature in FIG. As shown in the above, when the wearer wearing the competition prosthetic leg 1 performs the kicking-out operation, the wearer tends to come into contact with the ground at the end to cause more severe wear. Therefore, in this region, it is necessary to provide particularly high wear resistance. Therefore, the sipe 13 having a width smaller than that of the groove formed in another region is formed, and the edge component is distributed without impairing the rigidity. Therefore, the sole 5 can be protected from intense wear, and the service life of the foot 2 itself can be extended.

Here, in the present embodiment, the region where the width direction land portion 12 is arranged is a state before the above-described state shown in FIG. 4D, that is, as shown in FIG. This is a region that is grounded when the operation is started. In this region, when shifting from the stepping-in operation to the kicking-out operation, the input difference between the one side Si1 and the other side Si2 with the center line CL as a boundary is particularly significant depending on the shape of the artificial leg and the wearer's running method. This is the area. Therefore, by arranging the width direction land portion 12 in this region, the land portion rigidity on the side where more severe wear occurs can be increased, and uneven wear of the bottom surface 5s can be effectively suppressed.

In the present embodiment, the angle θ1 formed by the wave line P2 of the wave direction land 12 shown in FIG. 3 and the reference line O1 of the wave line P2 is the wave line of the width direction land part 10 shown in FIG. The angle θ2 is preferably smaller than the angle θ2 formed by P1 and the reference line O2 of the wavy line P1. The reference line O1 and the reference line O2 extend in a direction along the width direction W. By setting the angle θ1 to be smaller than the angle θ2, the propulsive force in the foot front-rear direction Y can be improved.

Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
The inventive example sole and the comparative example sole of the present invention are respectively prototyped and subjected to performance evaluation. The invention example sole is provided with functions such as drainage performance defined in the present invention by the arrangement of the pattern of the bottom surface of the sole and the change of the groove. Comparative Example 1 is a sole having a bottom surface with a line-symmetric pattern with respect to the center line CL, and the total surface areas of the land portions on both sides with respect to the center line are the same. Inventive Example 1 is a sole having the bottom surface of the pattern shown in FIG. Invention Example 2 is a sole having the bottom surface of the pattern shown in FIG. The comparative example sole and the invention example sole manufactured as described above are mounted on the prosthetic leg for competition shown in FIG. 1 to evaluate uneven wear resistance.

[Uneven wear resistance]
A player with healthy legs on the left side wears a prosthetic leg for competition on the right side, and indexes the appearance of the bottom of the sole after traveling 200 km on public roads. In addition, the index of the comparative example 1 is set to 100, and it shows that the one where an index difference is larger is excellent in partial wear-proof performance. In Comparative Example 1 and Inventive Example 2, a player with healthy feet on the left side wears a prosthetic leg for competition on the right side, and the appearance of the bottom surface of the sole is indexed after traveling 200 km on a public road. Also in Invention Example 1, the appearance of the bottom surface of the sole is indexed after a player with healthy legs on the left side wears a prosthetic leg for competition on the right side and travels 200 km on a public road.

1: prosthetic leg for competition, 2: foot part, 2a: straight part, 2b, 2c: curved part, 3: curved part, 4: grounding part, 4s: contact area, 5: sole, 5s, 50s: sole bottom, 10 11, 12, 14: Land portion, 10b: Toe side protruding portion, 10c: Curved portion side protruding portion, 13: Sipe

Claims

A prosthetic leg for competition having a leaf spring-like foot portion extending to the toe side through at least one curved portion,
A sole to be attached to a contact area extending in an arc shape from the toe to the curved portion side,
The sole has a bottom surface shaped according to the extending shape of the contact area,
The bottom surface has a plurality of widthwise land portions extending in the width direction, which are partitioned by a plurality of width direction grooves extending in the width direction of the foot portion,
The total surface area of the width direction land portion on one side in the width direction is the total surface area of the width direction land portion on the other side, with a center line extending in the front-rear direction of the foot portion passing through the center in the width direction. Bigger than the sole of the prosthetic leg for competition.
The athletic prosthetic sole according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the widthwise land portions has a non-symmetrical shape with respect to the center line.
At least one of the non-axisymmetric widthwise land portions has a wavy shape in which the land width at a half wavelength of the wave is a repetition of wide and narrow,
In one wavelength of the wave convex to the toe side, the land portion width on the one side is wide.
The sole of the prosthetic leg for competition according to claim 2.
The sole of the prosthetic leg for competition according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the bottom surface has the non-axisymmetric width direction land portion adjacent to a portion continuous from the toe at a constant radius of curvature.
The sole of the artificial leg for competition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein one side in the width direction is an outside of the bottom surface.