Boots – shoes – and leggings – Boots and shoes – Ventilated
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-07
2001-04-03
Kavanaugh, Ted (Department: 3728)
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Boots and shoes
Ventilated
C036S028000, C036S029000, C036S141000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209226
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to shoes, particularly to a sole capable of providing an effective ventilation and massage of the user's foot during walking.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are known to be a number of moulded soles for shoes comprising resilient chambers located both on the upper surface of the sole so as to contact the insole underneath the foot and projecting downwards from the sole so as to act as a tread. Such chambers are indeed air chambers communicating with the inside of the shoe and allowing the foot to be more or less effectively ventilated during walking in order to oppose to the troublesome, not very hygienic perspiration of the foot. They also provide a more or less strong cushioning effect because of their deflection and expansion back to their original state during walking.
However, in spite of the several solutions brought forward the results are not very satisfactory since a greater rate of foot ventilation would be desirable, avoiding at the same time an excessive deflection of the air chambers which could give the user troubles. Moreover, there arises the need of an air circulation not only limited to the ejection and suction always of the same air but providing a real air change.
The present invention seeks to overcome the above problems and provides a shoe sole of the above-mentioned type in which the arrangement of the air chambers is not limited to the upper or lower side of the sole anymore but takes up the whole thickness of the sole, thus also ensuring an effective shock-resistant action against any soil unevenness on which the foot is laid besides enough ventilation to the benefit of the user's foot.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a sole of the above-mentioned type wherein the air chambers are provided with means capable of exerting a beneficial, tonic action causing the user's feet to be massaged in a more significant manner than heretofore known.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a particularly light, cost-effective shoe sole of simple, sturdy construction being affected by no problems caused by any of its mechanical parts and/or delicate components.
Finally, another object of the invention is to provide a shoe sole wherein the tread is capable of expelling any material stuck on it during walking.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
All of the objects listed above are accomplished according to the present invention by a sole which comprises a plurality of air chambers or hollow spacers generally hemispherically shaped and with a circular plan extending under the sole and forming the tread to replace the common spacing reticulated pattern on the upper side of the sole.
According to another feature of the invention, the shape of a single spacer is similar to that of an igloo with a central hole at the top.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a little member projecting towards such central hole and capable of plugging the same during the deflection is provided inside each igloo.
The form of the “igloo”-shaped spacers having a thickness gradually decreasing towards their upper portion as well as the selection of materials capable of being resiliently deformed is such as to create an air circulation with air change under the user's foot sole during walking.
The sole's performance as it was described so far may be summarized as follows: the movement during walking with repeated cycles of the user's weight loading onto and unloading from the foot sole is used to create an air circulation under the foot. In fact each single igloo exerts a pumping action due to its resilient deformation. During the user's weight loading step, the igloos deflect and deform and their reduction in volume causes the air contained therein to be forcibly expelled through the upper hole.
During the following user's weight unloading step, the consequent resilient return causes an air suction with the ensuing filling of the igloos with the air from the shoe.
It should be appreciated that the air circulation is not limited to an expulsion and a suction of the same air to the detriment of a real air change. In fact the lower surface of a fixed insole rests on the igloos so as to form a valve which causes, in the expulsion step, the air pressure to push the edge of the upper holes against the fixed insole preventing the air from escaping sideways and forcing the same to reach the inside of the shoe and the user's foot. In this way, air is prevented from lingering in the gaps among the igloos. In other words, once expelled the air is conveyed through the transpiring frame of the fixed insole.
During the suction step, the shape and the thinness of the edge or lip of the upper holes of the igloos allow fresh air to enter the latter through the openings in the vamp that communicates with the outside.
According to trials and the basic laws of enthalpy it should be appreciated that a real air circulation is established as described above.
Trials carried out on different kinds of shoes have shown that the volume of circulated air is more than good enough to guarantee an effective ventilation of the foot and advantageously reduce the effects of its perspiration.
Another advantage of the invention is that the igloos provide a pleasant, effective massage to the sole of the foot so that blood circulation results to be improved.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2090881 (1937-08-01), Wilson
patent: 3533171 (1970-10-01), Motoki
patent: 3608215 (1971-09-01), Fukuoka
patent: 4071963 (1978-02-01), Fukuoka
patent: 4118878 (1978-10-01), Semon
patent: 4223456 (1980-09-01), Cohen
patent: 4547978 (1985-10-01), Radford
patent: 4654982 (1987-04-01), Lee
patent: 109770 (1928-01-01), None
patent: 474016 (1929-03-01), None
patent: 3010824 (1981-10-01), None
patent: 8312206 (1983-09-01), None
patent: 0780063 (1997-06-01), None
patent: 9201398 (1992-02-01), None
Kavanaugh Ted
Stevens Davis Miller & Mosher LLP
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