Utveckling av Trailplate - En skyddande innersula
The project aimed to develop a protective and stabilizing insole called Trailplate for soft andlight shoes. The demand came primarily from off-road runners in France, Switzerland, andAustria. The project was carried out at Icebug, a company that develops shoes mainly forrough terrain. The main focus has been on the trailplate which is designed to fit severaldifferent shoes.Torsional stiffness and bending resistance were the main objectives. To improve the existinginsole, a material with the right features was required. The optimal design would meet theabove functional requirements and provide comfort. Due to financial aspects sizing was alsooptimized.The results show that that the material of the insole must have a Young's modulus of at least 5 GPa to reduce deflection while maintaining a minimum thickness of 2 mm. The choice of material was also affected by costs and production aspects. While carbon was found to be amaterial with very desirable characteristics its high cost shifted to focus to hard plastic. Thefinal recommendation for Icebug was Polyoxymethylene (POM) because it had the desiredqualities with the added bonus of being cost effective. The final design included a flexibleforefoot that follows the foots flex line (the metatarsal-phalangeal joint), ridges in the forefootto prevent deflection, and a hole at the heel to increase the foots natural suppression.The product will help off-road runners in rocky terrain by offering support and protection fortheir feet.