Patent ID: 6751892
Filing Date: 2004-06-22
Classification: A43B

Abstract:
A minefield shoe for reducing the danger of accidental detonation of a land mine by a wearer of the shoe, the shoe comprising:(a) a cushion including a plurality of inflatable compartments, said cushion having, when inflated, at least one flexible, substantially flat, ground-contacting surface extending across said compartments; (b) passages, disposed within said cushion, for providing fluid communication between said compartments, and (c) means for attaching the shoe to a boot of the wearer, wherein each of the compartments of said cushion is in fluid communication with at least one other of said compartments, via said passages, so as to moderate any increase in internal pressure of any one of said compartments resulting from a decrease in internal volume of said one compartment, thereby to allow deformation of said ground-contacting surface to form a matching counterpart of terrain engaged by the shoe, while maintaining a substantially even distribution of said load on the shoe along all of said ground-contacting surface, and wherein said passages are disposed and configured such that said fluid communication between said compartments is effected solely within a volume externally bounded by said plurality of inflatable compartments.