IMPROVEMENTS TO FOOTWEAR

Abstract: Footwear ventilation means is provided including a pumping chamber (31), and preferably arranged in the heel region (50) of the footwear, whereby operative cyclic supporting loads applied to the footwear will compress the pumping chamber and cause the pumping chamber (31) to contract and pump air under the user's heel pressure and thereby ventilate the footwear. The air may be pumped from the footwear to induce air circulation in the footwear or it may pump air into the footwear for forced air draught ventilation. Induced air draught is preferred for cooling the footwear and forced air draught is preferred for heating the footwear. The outlet (35) from the pumping chamber (31) may be regulated to provide a shock absorbing action which may constitute the or a primary consideration of the pumping chamber configuration.

Description: "IMPROVEMENTS TO FOOTWEAR" — BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION — This invention relates to improvements to footwear. This invention has particular application to sporting footwear such as sneakers and joggers and hereinafter general referred to as sneakers but of course it is not limited there and can be used in boots, shoes and slippers and the like. However for illustrative purposes only, particular reference will be made hereinafter to its application to sneakers. In recent years the construction of sneakers has become very complex with a view to making sneakers comfortable to we and able to minimise shock loadings placed on the body during active use. In order to achieve the desired results many sophisticated construction techniques and synthetic materials have been utilised in their manufacture. However despite the sophisticated nature of such footwear there remains room for improvement both in relation to discomfort resulting from sho loadings applied to the user's feet or in relation to discomfort resulting from the user's feet being either uncomfortably hot or cold or confined without effective ventilation.. Furthermore a common problem remains with sneakers and other footwear, namely foot odour resulting from uncomfortabl hot conditions. This problem is particularly noticeable in sneakers due to the interaction of foot perspiration with the synthetic materials of the sneakers. This condition is aggravated by the lack of air circulation about the foot and may cause fungal growth and other adverse medical problems fo the users. Footwear is also used for activities on cold surfaces and by persons with poor circulation to their extremities includi their feet. At present the most common remedy for such conditions is to wear thick socks as insulation against ingres of the cold. This is only partially effective and may cause discomfort to the user. — SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION — The present invention aims to alleviate at least one of t abovementioned disadvantages and to provide improvements to footwear which will be effective in use. With the foregoing in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadly in ventilation means for ventilating a footwear, including pump means arranged in reactive relationship with the footwear such that in use loading place upon the footwear will cause the pump means to ventilate the footwear. The ventilation may be effected by pumping air to, from or within the footwear. The pump assembly may be of basic form and be constituted by a pumping chamber biassed to an expanded position to induce air therein which is expelled upon compression of the pumping chamber. Alternatively the pump assembly may be in the form of a pumping chamber incorporating valving for selectively pumping air within the footwear. The ventilation means may be adapted to induce a cooling effect or a warming effect to the footwear. The pump assembly may include a pumping chamber having separate air inlet and air outlet means provided with non¬ return valves or the pumping chamber may be provided with openings within the footwear through which air is admitted and expelled to and from the pumping chamber as a result of foot action relative to those openings within the footwear. Preferably the pumping chamber is biased to an expanded position such that after compression it will automatically expand to induce air into the pumping chamber. The biassing means may be an internal coil spring or the like or it constituted by the material and form of the pumping chamber. If desired, the pumping chamber could be adapted to be positively expanded by a linkage or line means operated by longitudinal deformation of the footwear sole during successiv cycles of use. For example a tension member may extend betwee the toe of the sole and the heel such that flexing of the toe portion relative to the remainder of the sole draws the pumpin chamber to an expanded attitude for subsequent compression by the weight of the user bearing upon the sole. Alternatively, pump actuating member may depend from the footwear and be forced upwardly in a pumping action relative to the footwear upon movement of the footwear towards the ground. In one embodiment of the invention the pumping chamber is in the form of an insole assembly having air supply ducts extending along opposing sides thereof and communicating with an air pumping chamber disposed between the air supply ducts and non-return valves interconnecting the air supply ducts wi the pumping chamber. Air may be expelled from or drawn into the pumping chamber and expelled upwardly through the outlets into the footwear. If desired only one air supply duct may b provided to act as an inlet or outlet and a complementary outlet/inlet may be arranged around the side of the insert to communicate with apertures in the sidewall of the shoe. Preferably the or each air inlet has an elevated inlet opening so as to alleviate the pumping of moisture or water through the pumping chamber when the footwear is worn in wet conditions. The air outlets from the footwear could be place in the lower portion or sole if desired. Suitably the or eac air inlet is also provided with filter means adapted to exclu the passage of dirt and other foreign matter and reduce entry of water to the air supply means. The ventilating means may be provided as an insert or it may be formed integrally with the footwear. Furthermore the outlets associated with the pumping chamber may be so formed to permit restricted discharge of air therefrom such that the pumping chamber provides a selected degree of cushioning or shock absorption beneath the user's feet. If desired the air outlet may be progressively adjustable from fully open to ful closed and suitably by control means incorporated into the he of the footwear. In another aspect this invention resides broadly in footwear including ventilation means for ventilating the footwear, the ventilation means including a pump assembly arranged in reactive relationship with the footwear such that in use loading placed upon the footwear will actuate the pump causing air to be circulated through the footwear. In yet another aspect this invention resides broadly in footwear having shock absorbing means including a fluid compression chamber arranged whereby operative supporting loa applied to the footwear will compress the compression chamber and compression chamber outlet regulation means for regulatin the rate of discharge of fluid from said compression chamber. The fluid may be air which is discharged to atmosphere or it may be a fluid which is discharged to a holding chamber from which fluid may be returned to the compression chamber. Preferably the compression chamber is a heel compression chamber. The regulation means may be fixed or externally adjustable valve means and may be a in the form of a non-retu valve assembly. In a further aspect this invention resides broadly in a sole assembly including:- a sole part; a pumping chamber in the heel portion of the sole part; an insole part having air passages therein communicating with an inlet to and an outlet from the pumping chamber, and respective non-return valves operatively interposed betwee the air passages and the inlet an the outlet. — BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS — In order that this invention may be more readily understoo and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a typical embodimen of the invention and wherei :- FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one form of ventilating means according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of another form of footwear incorporating ventilating means of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 5 diagrammatically illustrates the air flow of the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, and FIGS. 6 to 9 illustrate further embodiments of the inventio . — DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT — The ventilating means 10 illustrated in Fig. 1 is in the form of an insole assembly 9 comprising an upper flow-through pad 11 and a lower pumping assembly 12. The pumping assembly 12 includes a compartmentalised pumping chamber 14 and peripheral air supply chamber 13 extending thereabout. The pumping chamber 14 is provided with a series of air outlets 1 on its upper surface, each of which is associated with a non- return valve such as the flap valves 16. Further non-return valves 17 are supported along the inner wall of the pumping chamber and form controlled inlets 18 through which the pumpi chamber communicates with the air supply chamber 13. The pumping assembly 12 is formed of a resilient plastics material which exhibits elastic recovery after each cycle of compression by foot pressure. The air supply chamber 13 is provided with a pair of air inlets 19 which communicate throu snorkel like ducts 20 with filtered air inlets 21 adjacent th upper rear edge of the foot opening 22. In use, when a user walks or runs a cycle of repeated operations may be commenced resultant from the user's weight upon the sole of the footwear cyclically compressing the pumping chamber 14 and causing air to drawn therein through t inlets 18 and be expelled through the non-return valves 16 fo distribution to the interior of the footwear through the flow- through foot pad 11. The pumping chamber 14 expands elastically when the user's weight is removed from the footwear, thus causing air to be induced through the non-retu valves 17 from the air supply chambers 13. After air inducement, the non-return valves 17 close the inlets 18 such that on commencement of the next cycle of operations air is once again expelled into the interior of the footwear through the outlets 15. The chamber 13 communicates with the filtered air inlets 2 for air supply from a position elevated above the ground. Thi is to enable the footwear to be used in damp conditions or in shallow puddles without ingesting water into the pumping chamber. FIG. 4 illustrates the presently preferred embodiment of the invention adapted for inducing a cooling air flow through the footwear 30. For this purpose footwear is constructed wit an integral pumping chamber 31 moulded into the heel section o the sole assembly 32 and adapted to co-operate with a ducted insole 33 through respective inlet and outlet non-return valve 34 and 35. The ducted insole 33 is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 5. It is formed as a non-compressible insert having an air inlet 40 beneath the toe region of the shoe, an inlet passage 41 communicating with the non-return inlet valve 34 and an air outlet passage 42 communicating with the non-return exhaust valve 35 and with a flat exhaust tube 4 adapted to extend upwardly along the inside arch of the footwear for exhausting air upwardly through its outlet 44 and away from a user's foot. The outlet 44 may include a filter. The inside arch portion of the footwear is chosen as there is little pressure on the side of the footwear at this region and thus placement of the exhaust tube 43 at this position should not reduce comfort for a user. Furthermore it will be seen that the passage length between the non-return valves 34 and 35 and the outlet 44 is relatively long. This is provided to damp out and thus reduce the effect the noise emitted from operation of the non-return valves 34 and 35. It is preferred that the non-return valves 34 and 35 are fixed to the ducted insole 33 such that when it is removed fro the footwear the valves 34 and 35 release from their press-sea fit into the inlet aperture 37 and the outlet aperture 38 in the sole assembly 32 for communication with the pumping chambe 31. This allows for easy servicing or replacement of the non- return valves 34/35 as required. Furthermore the insert together with the valves 34/35 may be removed to enable the footwear to be washe and any water drained from the pumping chamber 31 by inverting the footwear. The pumping chamber 31 is located in the heel portion 50 because of the available thickness of the sole assembly 32 in this area and because of the high pressure that is applied to this part of the sole assembly 32 in use, upon contact with the ground. The compression chamber includes a central portion 45 having substantially parallel upper and lower walls 46 and 47 and converging upper and lower peripheral walls as illustrated, so as to maintain operative lateral stability of the sole while allowing for substantially parallel movement between the top and bottom walls 46 and 47 between the expanded and compresse attitudes. The converging upper and lower peripheral walls a formed such that the front of the air chamber 31 is of a deep wedge shape whereas the back and side converging walls of the air chamber 31 are of a shallow wedge form and are so formed that the outermost edge 48 maintains a constant distance from the outer face 49 of the sole to provide a substantially even thickness of material supporting the sole assembly 32 above t pumping chamber 31. The arrangement is such that when compressed the volume of the pumping chamber 31 approaches ze and the line of the ducted insole straightens along the lengt of the footwear to substantially conform to the line of a standard sneaker. In use, impact of the heel portion 50 of the sole assembl 32 will result in rapid compression of air in the pumping chamber 31 and exhaustion of air through the non-return valve 35 to be exhausted through the outlet via the exhaust tube 43. This rapid compression of air in the pumping chamber 31 will result in an increase in air temperature but the hot air bein exhausted away from the user. As weight is taken from the he the compression chamber will expand as a result of the natura resilience of the materials forming the heel portion 50 of th sole assembly 32 and air will be induced through the inlet 40 beneath the user's toe through the flow passage 41 via the inlet non-return valve 34. At the end of the induction cycle the non-return valve 34 will close and upon the next impact with the ground the air will again be compressed and exhauste through the outlet 44. In this manner, cool air will be induced into the footwear through the foot opening or if desired through auxiliary openings in the upper portion there and cycled via the pumping chamber for exhaust upwardly and away from the footwear. The uppers 51 may be formed so as to be able to expand an contract slightly ion front of the foot opening. It is considered that this will assist in the vertical pumping acti of the upper heel 52 relative to the lower heel 53. The non¬ return valves 34/35 may be of a type in which the effective opening provided thereby may be adjustable or alternatively they may be of the type which may be readily replaced to modi the valve operating characteristics, such as to suit a user's needs. Suitably a slide valve could be provided in the ducte insole at the base of the exhaust non-return valve. The slid valve could be utilised to vary the aperture through which ai could be exhausted from the non-return valve into the ducted insole. Furthermore the inside surface of the uppers 51 may include ribs to form air flow paths to assist flow of air to the inlet 40 and past the areas of the foot to be ventilated. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 the heel section of the footwear 61 is hingedly attached to the sole assembly by a transverse hinge 63. The heel section contains a recess 64 in its upper surface in which a compressible air bag is supported and co-operating with a complementary protrusion 65 formed in the underside of the sole assembly 62 above the recess 64. Suitable valving means are provided to duct air pumped by the compressible air bag upon cyclic intake and compression resulting from movement of complementary protrusio 65 into the recess 64 at each step and compression of the air bag therein. The air bag may be biassed to an expanded configuration, such as by the movement of the heel section 60 pivotally away from the sole section 62 when user's weight is removed from the footwear. Alternatively as illustrated in FIG. 7 the footwear 70 may include a pumping chamber 71 mounted externally at the rear thereof and including a vertically reciprocable plunger adapte to be forced upwardly into the chamber 71 to cause the require air pumping action. The plunger 72 extends downwardly from th underside of the footwear 70 such that it will be pushed upwardly in a pumping action upon cyclic contact between the footwear and the ground. An alternative arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 8 wherei distortion of the footwear in use is utilised to actuate the pumping means. In this embodiment it will be seen that an externally mounted cylinder pump assembly 80 is supported between a fixed lower mounting 81 and a fixed upper mounting 82. When the footwear is distorted to a configuration as show in dotted outline, as occurs just prior to lifting the foot V

Claims: THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:- 1. Ventilation means for ventilating a footwear, includin pump means arranged in reactive relationship with the footwear whereby loading placed upon the footwear in use will cause sai pump means to pump air to ventilate the footwear. 2. Ventilation means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pump means includes a pump chamber arranged in reactive relationship with a user's heel. 3. Ventilation means as claimed in claim 2, wherein said pump chamber is a chamber formed in the heel portion of the footwear and said pump means includes respective non-retur valve means interconnecting said pump chamber with an air inle and an air outlet. 4. Ventilation means as claimed in claim 3, wherein said pump chamber is biased to an expanded position and underlies the heel of the user whereby the pump chamber is compressed by heel pressure. 5. Ventilation means as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein said pump chamber is so formed as to maintain lateral stability between the upper and lower portions of the heel assembly. 6. Ventilation means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pump means pumps air from the footwear from an internal air inlet adjacent the toe support of the footwear. 7. Ventilation means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pump means exhausts air from the footwear adjacent the -inside arch of the footwear. 8. Ventilation means as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 and including an insole assembly providing an air passage between said pump means and said air inlet and/or said air outlet. 9. Ventilation means as claimed in claim 8, wherein said insole assembly includes respective non-return valves communicating with said air inlet and said air outlet. 10. Ventilation means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pump means includes a restricte air outlet. 11. Footwear having shock absorbing means including a fluid compression chamber arranged whereby operative supporting load applied to the footwear will compress said compression chamber and compression chamber outlet regulation means for regulating the rate of discharge of fluid from said compression chamber. 12. Footwear as claimed in claim 11, wherein said compression chamber is a heel compression chamber and said regulation mean is a non-return valve assembly. 13. Footwear including a pumping chamber arranged in the sole whereby cyclic supporting loads applied to the footwear actuates said pumping chamber and air ducting means for directing air to or from the footwear. 14. Footwear as claimed in claim 13, wherein said air ducting means includes an air inlet adjacent the toe region of the footwear and non-return valve means permitting air flow from said air inlet to said pumping chamber. 15. Footwear as claimed in claim 14, wherein said air ducting means and said non-return valve means are formed as a removabl insole assembly. 16. A sole assembly including:- a sole part; a pumping chamber in the heel portion of said sole part; an insole part having air passages therein communicating with an inlet to and an outlet from said pumping chamber, and respective non-return valves operatively interposed betwe said air passages and said inlet an said outlet.

Inventors: O'DWYER JAMES MICHAEL, O'DWYER, JAMES, MICHAEL
Applicants: DWYER JAMES MICHAEL O, O'DWYER, JAMES, MICHAEL
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A43B73
IPC codes: A43B7