I've wondered when this type of idea would hit the shoe market. Forget about absorbing the shock though, week end athletes want power. If a pair of spring shoes can safely add several inches to your vertical leap, or improve your time in the 40, they couldn't keep them on the shelves.
From DAMPS footware technology
"It's an attractive idea, but will it click? That's the questions Jeffrey Brown hopes to answer in the affirmative with his invention: athletic shoes with a magnet-and-springs suspension system. He says the show should be popular with leisure walkers and those whose jobs require them to be on their feed for lengthy periods, such as postal workers.
Brown call his technology "Directional Axial Magnetic Propulsion Systems" - D.A.M.P.S. The show springs help absorb the impact, and the magnets provide extra propulsion on the rebound stride, said Brown, general partner and CEO of B&B Technologies,LLP.
Each shoe contains two magnets aligned to repel each other.They release the impact energy very efficiently without dissipating it by friction heat, Brown said.
Brown said his company is seeking to raise $1.5 million to $5.2 million from venture capitalists to begin manufacturing. He's considering nine locations, all in San Diego County.
It's been a long road for Brown, who has been working on the magnetic shoe concept for about seven years. His original design produces a shoe with a bulky, cumbersome heel, because of the suspension system.. His latest version reduces the bulk,while keeping the cushioning and propulsion effect." |
