Boots – shoes – and leggings – Boots and shoes – Ventilated
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-10
2001-09-04
Kavanaugh, Ted (Department: 3728)
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Boots and shoes
Ventilated
Reexamination Certificate
active
06282813
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sole for any type of shoes, particularly a sole made, for example, of moulded rubber, characterized in that its construction is such as to guarantee an effective transpiration of the foot and to be impermeable to water and humidity.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Especially in case of shoes provided with a rubber sole it is extremely important to ensure an effective ventilation of the foot in order to avoid that an excessive perspiration causes the sweat to impregnate the fixed insole in contact with the skin of the foot and to produce annoying damages such as reddening of the skin, sores, etc., besides bad smell.
On the other hand many shoes with leather sole are not devoid of such a trouble.
In order to overcome such a problem a number of solutions have been brought forward, among which a recent one has been described in Italian Patent No. 1,232,798, available on the market with the name GEOX (registered trademark). Such a solution provides an osmotic membrane placed in the rubber sole and communicating with the inside of the shoe through holes in the fixed insole and with the outside through holes in the tread. As a result, the sole is made to transpire, though it stays impermeable to humidity. Although the membrane is protected by suitable layers of inert, transpiring material and it stands the mechanical stress due to the extension and torsions caused by the movement during walking, such a solution does not provide suitable guarantees of durability for the shoe as it requires strict maintenance conditions which cannot be easily kept up. One example is that the shoe must not be dried by heat sources so as not to damage the membrane.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide a solution to the problem of transpiration, for example, of a rubber sole or a leather sole, keeping the impermeability unchanged without using membranes made of special material and as such needing particular care, but only providing within the width of the sole a plurality of air discharging valves of resilient material provided with microholes establishing a communication between the inside and the outside of the shoe and acting as check valves. Advantageously, in case of rubber soles, such valves are preferably one piece and made in one moulding step along with the sole, and essentially consist of a membrane provided with a cavity directed towards the fixed sole on its upper side and with a hollow space or a chamber which communicates with the tread and then with the outside on its lower side. Such a chamber is capable of protecting the membrane from any type of atmospheric agent.
The microhole of each valve is made in the membrane at the centre of its concavity.
According to another feature of the invention, the microhole is pierced through the membrane during a machining step following the moulding of the sole which is processed again to mechanically pierce the membrane by needles or stings. It should be appreciated that in such a way the hole pierced through the membrane will never result to be fully regular as it would be the case if the hole was pierced during the moulding step, but it looks much like a tearing so that the membrane can perfectly plug into it.
Such a combination of measures during walking causes the user's weight to increase the air pressure in the chambers so as to oppose to the concavity of the membrane, following the deflection and the resilient deformation of the chambers located in the area in contact with the ground. Thus the hole inside the membrane closes and prevents outside fluids from entering the shoe. On the other hand, when the pressure inside the membrane is greater than the pressure in the outer chamber, the hole inside the concave membrane is opened causing the release of the inner air until the inside pressure coincides with the outside pressure.
Number and distribution of the valves in the sole may obviously be different according to the circumstances. Sometimes only a few valves located in suitable zones of the tread, for example near the heel or in three zones of the foot sole corresponding to toes, arch, and heel, etc. may be provided.
As an alternative, rather than having the valves of resilient material made in one piece with the sole during one moulding step, they may be inserted through holes made at crucial spots of the sole.
Further advantages and features of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings which show only by way of a not limiting example some preferred embodiments. In the drawings:
REFERENCES:
patent: 2090881 (1937-08-01), Wilson
patent: 3061950 (1962-11-01), Levine
patent: 4063371 (1977-12-01), Batra
patent: 4118878 (1978-10-01), Semon
patent: 4290211 (1981-09-01), Csengeri
patent: 4345387 (1982-08-01), Daswick
patent: 5588226 (1996-12-01), Schenkel
patent: 5746012 (1998-05-01), Caletti et al.
patent: 5992052 (1999-11-01), Moretti
patent: 0103061 (1984-03-01), None
patent: 0382904 (1990-08-01), None
patent: 2495447 (1982-06-01), None
patent: 2290016 (1995-12-01), None
Kavanaugh Ted
Stevens Davis Miller & Mosher LLP
LandOfFree
Shoe sole provided with transpiration aid avoiding the inlet... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Shoe sole provided with transpiration aid avoiding the inlet..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Shoe sole provided with transpiration aid avoiding the inlet... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2538157