Patent attributes
Embodiments of footwear, in particular, a shoe, sandal or boot, may reduce the effort and improve the performance of walking, running, hiking, as well as jumping, hopping, and other motion involving the ankle, lower leg and Achilles tendon, through integration of force-carrying mechanisms within footwear that manage the forces and energy associated with such motion by productively harvesting and storing energy during dorsiflexion motion and releasing and returning energy during plantar flexion and limiting range of motion that conduce towards ankle inversion and eversion. Such footwear may comprise a yoke connected to footwear at a pivot approximately in parallel to the axis of rotation of the ankle and a tension spring suspended approximately parallel to the Achilles tendon.
