Patent Publication Number: US-7721466-B2

Title: Shoe sole and insole structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to an improved shoes sole and insole structure, more particularly a kind of sole and insole structure that allows wearer to replace the sole at will and keeps the inside of shoes aerated and dry. In addition, it allows the right side or left side of the heel part of the sole to be raised to balance uneven wear at the right side or left side of the heel. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   The sole of footwear nowadays typically has a single-layer structure. When the sole is worn to a certain extent and needs to replaced, the sole and instep must be separated manually and a new sole is sewed or glued to the instep. Such sole replacement requires the work of a professional for regular consumers lack the tools to do their own repair. In addition, many shoes on the market nowadays come with a sole design to improve aeration and dryness. But sole design with such purpose typically has one or two air charging means at limited locations and with limited aeration area and quantity. Thus its aeration effect is not striking. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The object of the present invention is to provide a shoe sole and insole structure. 
   To realize the aforesaid object, in the shoe sole and insole structure provided herein, the sole comprises an upper sole and a lower sole; the lower sole consists of a plate body disposed with a plurality of through-holes spaced apart thereon and having a plurality of lock plugs respectively inserted into the through-holes; the upper sole consists of a plate body extendingly disposed on its undersurface with the same number of lock bars at places corresponding to the through-holes on the lower sole. The upper sole directly laminates over the lower sole, and each lock bar on the plate body of upper sole is respectively inserted into each through-hole on the plate body of lower sole. Each through-hole is then inserted with a lock plug to secure the lock bar to form a sole with readily replaceable lower sole. 
   In the shoe sole and insole structure according to the invention, the insole has a plate body disposed with a plurality of groove rings on its undersurface and having a small through-hole on the plate body at the center location of each groove ring and a plurality of ladle discs respectively glued in the groove rings to form an insole with a plurality of air pockets. 
   Each lock bar on the undersurface of the upper sole plate body of the sole is designed into a bar with a ball-shaped protrusion of larger diameter or protruding ring of larger diameter at the end. The lock plug is designed with a column having a transverse through hole thereon and a cylindrical pit is configured at the center of the uppersurface of column, which communicates with the transverse through-hole. As such, the lock bar is inserted into the cylindrical pit on the uppersurface of the lock plug column and secured at the transverse through-hole. 
   The marginal edge of the ladle disc is disposed with a plurality of convex rings of different heights. The through-holes on the lower sole plate body are designed as tapered through-holes that are big at the top and small at the bottom. The column of lock plug is designed as a tapered column that is big at the top and small at the bottom. 
   The embodiment of the invention allows consumers to replace the sole by themselves, and balance the uneven wear at the left side or right side of the heel. When worn, the invention is fully charged with air inside that keeps the shoes fully aerated and keeps the feet of the wearer dry and comfortable. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a side view and partial vertical section of the invention assembled with an instep. 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the invention viewed from the bottom. 
       FIG. 3  is a magnified view showing the vertical section of the part of upper sole and lower sole locking to each other and the part of ladle discs of insole, and the diagram of insole performing air blowing. 
       FIG. 4  is a magnified view showing the vertical section of the part of upper sole and lower sole locking to each other and the part of ladle discs of insole, and the diagram of insole performing air suction. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , the shoe sole  1  of the invention comprises a lower sole  11  and an upper sole  12 . The uppersurface of upper sole  12  is lined with an insole  2 . The detailed structures of each parts are as shown in  FIG. 2 , where the lower sole  11  has a plate body  110  made of synthetic resin material and disposed with a plurality of through-holes  111  spaced apart thereon, and consists of a plurality of lock plugs  3  made of rubber or semi-flexible plastic material, which are respectively inserted in the through-holes (as shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 ). The upper sole  12  has a plate body  120  made of synthetic resin material and having the same number of lock bars  121  extendingly disposed on its undersurface at places corresponding to the through-holes  111  on lower sole  11 . 
   When assembling the sole  1  of the invention, directly laminate the upper sole  12  over the lower sole  11 , and insert each lock bar  121  on the upper sole plate body  120  into the corresponding through-hole  111  on the lower sole plate body  110 , and then plug in from bottom up a lock plug into each of the through-holes  111  to secure the lock bars  121  to complete the assembly of a sole  1  with readily replaceable lower sole  11 . 
   After wearing the shoes made with the sole  1  of the invention as shown in  FIG. 1  for a while, the lower sole  11  should be replaced when it shows sign of wear. When that happens, wearer only needs to in sequence remove each lock plug  3  from the lower sole  11  to separate the worn lower sole  11  from the upper sole  12  and discard it, and then attach a new lower sole  11  in a manner described above, and insert back the old lock plugs  3  or new lock plugs  3  into each through-hole  111  on the new lower sole plate body  111  to complete the job. The whole process is easy and quick without the use of adhesive or hand sewing, and doable by the consumers themselves. 
   The detailed structures of the insole  2  of the invention is as shown in  FIG. 2 , where the insole  2  comprises a plate body  20  made of synthetic resin material and disposed with a plurality of groove rings  21  spaced part on its undersurface, and a small through-hole  22  is configured at the center location of each groove ring  21 . The insole  2  also comprises a plurality of ladle discs  4  respectively secured in the groove rings  21  with glue or adhesive to form an insole  2  with a plurality of air pockets. When a shoe as shown in  FIG. 1  is lined with an insole  2  of the invention, in the instant of each “treading” movement, the plurality of air-sac like ladle discs  4  on the undersurface of the plate body  20  of insole  2  are treaded flat as shown in  FIG. 4 . The air in the disc body  40  is pressed and ejected inside the shoes in the direction of the arrow. In the instant the foot is “lifted”, the air-sac like ladle discs  4  automatically restore to original shape, as shown in  FIG. 3 . Such continuous alternation of treading and lifting during walking causes air convection in the shoes lined with an insole  2  herein, giving the feet a fresh, cool, dry and comfortable feel, even when the sole of the foot perspires and accumulates sweat in the shoes. 
   Again referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , to make sure each lock bar  121  on the undersurface of the upper sole plate body  120  of sole  1  securely engages each lock plug  3  on the lower sole plate body  110  without loosening, the lock bar  12  is designed into a bar having a ball-shape protrusion of larger diameter  122  or a protruding ring of larger diameter at the end. The lock plug in correspondence is designed as a column  30  with a transverse through-hole  31 , and a cylindrical pit  32  is configured at the center of the uppersurface of column  30 , which communicates with the transverse through-hole  31 . As such, when a lock bar  121  engages a lock plug  3 , the lock bar  121  is inserted into the cylindrical pit  32  at the uppersurface of the lock plug column  30  to reach the transverse through-hole  31  on column  30  and secured therein without loosening or dislodging. As a result, the shoe sole  1  of the invention is assembled firmly into one piece without separation or dislodging after the plurality of lock bars  121  of upper sole  12  join the plurality of corresponding lock plugs  3  on lower sole  11 . 
   To prevent the lock plugs  3  disposed in the through-holes  111  on lower sole plate body  110  from upward displacement after they engage the lock bars  121  of upper sole plate body  120 , the column  30  of lock plug  3  may be designed into a tapered column bigger at the bottom and smaller at the top, and the through-holes  111  may correspondingly be designed into tapered through-holes smaller at the top and bigger at the bottom. In addition, to make it easier to glue each ladle disc to the groove ring  21  on the undersurface of plate body  20  of insole  2 , the marginal edge of the disc body  40  of ladle disc  4  is disposed with a convex ring  41 ,  41   a  or  41   b  so each ladle disc can be securely embedded in the groove ring  21  via the convex ring  41  on its disc body  40 , and fixated with glue or adhesive without slightest movement or loosening. The convex rings  41 ,  41   a ,  41   b  may be designed into convex rings  41 ,  41   a ,  41   b  of several (at least three) different heights. Ladle discs  4  having higher (or thicker) convex rings  41   a  or  41   b  are installed over groove rings  21  on the left or right side of the heel part of insole plate body  21 , while the rest of the insole plate body  21  are installed with ladle discs  41  having shortest (or thinnest) convex rings to offset and balance the part on the left or right side of the heel part of lower sole  11  that is prone to wear, thereby giving the wearer a stable and comfortable feel when walking and extending the service life of sole  1 .