Patent Publication Number: US-8978271-B2

Title: Shoes having an air circulation function

Description:
Related Applications 
     This application is a 371 application of International Application No. PCT/KR2010/004656, filed Jul. 16, 2010, which in turn claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0066681, filed Jul. 12, 2010, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a shoe having an air circulation function, and particularly, to a shoe having an air circulation function, which can enhance an air circulation function within a shoe by maximize a contraction width and a restoring width of an intermediate sole and a porous valve plate during walking. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     As well known, a shoe is a means protecting a foot of a walking man, and a shoe is generally made with leather or synthetic resin having bad ventilation, and thus, an air circulation within a shoe is bad. Therefore, a bad smell occurs due to a sweat, moisture or the like in a shoe, and disease such as athlete&#39;s foot or eczema occurs due to bacteria propagation. 
     In order to solve such limitations, recently, a shoe having an air circulation apparatus is prevented. In a general configuration of the ventilation shoe, a pump is disposed inside a sole of a shoe, and an air emission pipe and an air suction pipe including a check valve connecting to the pump, are disposed in a front part of the shoe or a rear part of the shoe. Therefore, air within a shoe is sucked to the pump through the air suction pipe to be emitted to an outside of the shoe through the air emission pipe depending on a pumping operation of an elastic member disposed inside the pump, whenever a shoe is landed on a ground. 
     However, in the related art ventilation shoe, because the air suction pipe connects to a front part or a rear part of a shoe, air in a certain part of a shoe can be sucked or emitted. Therefore, air distributed over the whole shoe cannot be circulated efficiently. 
     There is a prior art solving the limitation. The prior art is applied by this applicant on Sep. 7, 2007, and registered on Jun. 30, 2009 (Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0906521 titled as “a footwear having a function of air circulation”). 
     The prior art having an air circulating apparatus includes a sole, a porous valve plate, a plurality of valves and a hard elastic plate. The sole includes a plurality of air chambers connecting to each other through a vent passage, and a passage formed in a circumference, connecting to the air chamber and discharging air to the outside. The porous valve plate is covered on a top surface of the sole. Each of the plurality of valves protrudes from a bottom surface of the porous valve plate, is inserted to the air chamber, is selectively opened or closed depending on an air pressure, and discharge the polluted air within the shoe to the air chamber. Also, the hard elastic plate is disposed between the porous valve plate and the sole, and disperses the load applied to the heel to the whole sole, and thus, uniformly contracts the air chambers in the sole, during walking. Here, the valve has an elastic force, and is formed in a semicircular shape. A top surface of the valve is opened and an inside is vacant. A plurality of opening and closing part, which is spread to the outside depending on an expansion operation of a valve by an air pressure and discharges air flowing into the valve to the air chamber, are formed in the both circumference surfaces of the valve, and the opening and closing parts are incised. 
     However, in the prior art, as shown in  FIG. 6 , even though an intermediate sole and a porous valve plate are pushed with a weight of a user during walking, because a adhesion part protrusion  131  of peripheral part of the porous valve plate  130  of the sole  120  is horizontally formed, an intermediate sole  150  and the porous valve plate  130  are not pushed any more, and particularly, are not pushed above a contraction width and a restoring width of an inner cushion  135 . Therefore, there are limitations in emitting air within a shoe to the outside. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view illustrating a shoe having an air circulation function according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary diagram three-dimensionally illustrating a configuration of a porous valve plate and a sole shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary diagram illustrating a configuration of a valve formed in the porous valve plate shown in  FIG. 2  in detail; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along line A-A′ shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an exemplary diagram illustrating a state in which a foot of a walker shown in  FIG. 4  is being landed on a ground; and 
         FIG. 6  is an exemplary diagram illustrating a configuration of a related art general shoe having an air circulation function. 
       
         
           
             
                 
               
                 
                     
                 
                 
                   Descriptions of reference numbers 
                 
                 
                     
                 
               
              
                 
                     
                 
              
             
             
                 
                 
                 
              
                 
                     
                   10: upper leather 
                   20: sole 
                 
                 
                     
                   21: receiving groove 
                   22: air chamber 
                 
                 
                     
                   24: vent passage 
                   26: passage 
                 
                 
                     
                   30: porous valve plate 
                   40: valve 
                 
                 
                     
                   42: opening and closing part 
                   44: protrusion part 
                 
                 
                     
                   60: inclined adhesion protrusion 
                   70: contraction space 
                 
                 
                     
                     
                 
              
             
           
         
       
     
    
    
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to provide a shoe having an air circulation function which substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. An aspect of the present invention is directed to provide a shoe having an air circulation function which maximizes a contraction width and a restoring width of an inner cushion of an intermediate sole and a porous valve plate to enhance a air circulation function within the shoe, during walking. 
     To achieve these and other advantage and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a shoe having an air circulation function which includes: a sole comprising a receiving groove formed in a central portion of a top surface of the sole, an air chamber emitting air to a bottom of the receiving groove, a vent passage and a passage; an inner cushion disposed on the receiving groove of the sole to provide a cushioning force for restoring an intermediate and a porous valve plate during walking; an inclined adhesion protrusion disposed along an periphery of the receiving groove of the sole and sloping down from an outside to an inside of the sole; a porous valve plate stacked on a top surface of the inner cushion, having a lower end peripheral surface contacting a top surface of the inclined adhesion protrusion with face to face contact, and forming a contracting and restoring space above the top surface of the inclined adhesion protrusion  60  for sucking air within the shoe; a plurality of valves protruding from a bottom surface of the porous valve plate, and selectively opened or closed depending on the contraction and expansion of the porous valve plate pressed by the intermediate sole, when each of the valves is being inserted into the hole formed in the inner cushion, to discharge contaminated air within the shoe into the air chamber of the sole; and an intermediate sole and insole successively stacked on a top surface of the porous valve plate, wherein, the intermediate sole and the porous valve plate are greatly contracted and restored through the contraction and restoring space by a load transferred during walking, and thus, air within the shoes is discharged. 
     Modes For Carrying Out The Invention 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description described below, a typical embodiment to solve the purpose of the present invention will be described. Also, the other embodiments will be described in the below-described embodiment. 
     The present invention provides a shoe having an air circulation function. In the shoe according to the present invention, an inclined adhesion protrusion is formed along a receiving groove of a porous valve plate formed in a surface of a sole, a lower end peripheral surface of the porous valve plate closely contacts the inclined adhesion protrusion. To increase a contraction and restoring space a thickness of an inner cushion is formed to be greater than a depth of the receiving groove of the sole. Also, to increase contraction and restoring force of the porous valve plate, a central portion of an intermediate sole protrudes to a top surface. Therefore, if an upper leather, an intermediate sole and a sole are combined, the porous valve plate is expanded to the protruded portion of a top surface of a central portion of the porous valve and the intermediate sole with a restoring force of the inner cushion. Therefore, when the intermediate sole and the porous valve plate are pushed by a load of a walker during walking, a contraction and restoring width increases through the contraction and restoring space, and thus, much more air within a shoe can be efficiently circulated. 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view illustrating a shoe having an air circulation function according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is an exemplary diagram three-dimensionally illustrating a configuration of a porous valve plate and a sole shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the shoe  100  having an air circulation function includes an upper leather  10 , a sole  20  forming a bottom of the upper leather  10 , and an inner cushion  35 , a porous valve plate  30  and an intermediate sole  50  which are successively stacked on the sole  20 . 
     The inner cushion  35  is inserted to a receiving groove  21  formed in a central portion of a top surface of the sole  20 , and used for providing a primary cushion force to increase an air circulation amount during walking. A hole  37  through which a valve  40  protruding from a bottom surface of the porous valve plate  30  penetrates is formed in the inner cushion  35 . 
     The porous valve plate  30  is formed of a rubber material, formed in a planar shape, and is stacked on the inner cushion  35  inserted to the receiving groove formed in a top surface of the sole  20  to be adhered to an inclined adhesion protrusion  60 . 
     A plurality of valves  40  are integrally formed to protrude in the whole bottom surface of the porous valve plate  30 . Each of the valves  40  has certain elastic force, is respectively inserted to a hole  37  formed in the inner cushion  35 , is opened or closed depending on an air pressure occurring during walking, and emits a contaminated air to an air chamber  22  connecting to the hole  37  in the inner cushion  35 . 
       FIG. 3  is an exemplary diagram three-dimensionally illustrating a configuration of a valve  40  among a plurality of valves formed in the porous valve plate  30 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the valve  40  has certain elastic force, a top surface of the valve  40  is opened, an inside of the valve  40  is vacant, and the valve  40  is formed in a semi-elliptical shape. Also, a plurality of opening and closing parts  42 , which are incised, are formed in the both circumferences surface of the valve  40 . In the valve  40  configured as described above, the opening and closing part  42  is closed with an air pressure occurring during walking, and then, the check valve  28  is opened, and thus, air is emitted. Also, again, the porous valve plate  30  is restored with elasticity of the inner cushion  35 , and thus, the opening and closing part  42  of the valve  40  repeatedly sucks and emits air. That is, if contaminated air within a shoe flows into inside the valve  40 , the valve  40  elastically emits the contaminated air flowing into the valve  40 . At this point, the opening and closing parts  42  formed in both circumference surfaces of the valve  40  are spread, and thus, air flowing into the valve  40  is sucked to the air chamber  22  of the sole  20 . Then, the contaminated air sucked to the air chamber  22  is emitted to the outside through a vent passage  24 , a passage  26  and the check valve  28 . Therefore, contaminated air within a shoe can be emitted to the outside. 
     A protrusion part  44  is integrally formed in a periphery of the valve  40 . The protrusion part  44  prevents a transformation from being transferred to the valve  40 . Here, the transformation occurs when the porous valve plate  30  formed of a rubber material is softened to be transformed due to a chemical action in an adhesive in a process of adhering the porous valve plate  30  to a inclined adhesion protrusion  60  of a top surface of the sole  20  with a adhesive. That is, the valve  40  is injection-molded with the porous valve plate  30  when the porous valve plate  30  is molded. Therefore, if the porous valve plate  30  is softened to be transformed, the valve  40  is also softened to be transformed with the porous valve plate  30 . At this point, the protrusion part  44  prevents the transformation from being transferred to the valve  40 , and thus, a transformation in the valve  40  can be prevented. 
     Moreover, a contraction preventing groove  45  is formed in a periphery of the protrusion part  44  in a shape where the contraction preventing groove  45  is recessed, and the contraction preventing groove  45  prevents the transformation, which occurs due to a chemical action in a process of adhering the porous valve plate  30  to a inclined adhesion protrusion, from being transferred to the valve  40 , together with the protrusion part  44 . 
     Here, the sole  20  configures a bottom of the shoe, the receiving groove  21 , into which the inner cushion  35  is inserted, is formed to be recessed in a central portion of a top surface of the sole  20 , and a plurality of an air chambers  22  are formed to be recessed in a surface of the receiving groove  21  at certain intervals. Each of the valves  40  formed in the porous valve plate  30  is inserted into the air chamber  22 , and thus, each of the air chambers  22  is supplied with contaminated air within a shoe depending on an opening and closing operation of the valve  40 . 
     The vent passages  24  are formed between the air chambers  22 , and the vent passage  24  connects the air chambers  22  to each other. 
     Moreover, the passage  26  is formed in a periphery of a top surface of the sole  20 , and the passage  26  connects to some vent passages  24  formed in a periphery of the sole  20 . 
     As described above, the air chamber  22 , the vent passage  24  and the passage  26  connect to each other and open into each other. Therefore, contaminated air flowing into the air chamber  22  depending on an operation of the valve  40  is emitted to the outside through the vent passage  24  and the passage  26  and finally through the check valve  28  formed in one side of the passage  26 . 
     Here,  FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along line A-A′ shown in  FIG. 1  and illustrating a stacking state of the sole  20 , the inner cushion  35 , the porous valve plate  30  and the intermediate sole  50 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the inner cushion  35  inserted into the receiving groove  21  of the sole  20  is manufactured thickly such that the top surface of the inner cushion  35  is located at a position higher than that of the horizontal surface horizontal to the top surface of the sole  20  when the top surface of the inner cushion  35  is protruding to the outside of the of the receiving groove  21 . 
     An inclined adhesion protrusion  60  is formed in the sole  20  along a peripheral surface of the receiving groove  21  of the sole  20 . The inclined adhesion protrusion  60  is formed to slope down from an outside to an inside of the sole  20  at a certain angle. A lower end peripheral surface of the porous valve plate  30  contacts a top surface of the inclined adhesion protrusion  60  with face to face contact, and thus, a contraction space  70  is formed between the porous valve plate  30  and the inclined adhesion protrusion  60 . Then, the intermediate sole  50  is successively stacked on the porous valve plate  30 . 
     According to the above-described stacking configuration, as shown in  FIG. 5 , when the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  are pushed by a load of a walker, the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  can be more pushed by the slope angle in the contraction space  70  formed between the porous valve plate  30  and the inclined adhesion protrusion  60 . Therefore, a greater contraction and restoring width (H) can be formed by an up-and-down movement of the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30 , and thus, much more air within a shoe can be emitted to the outside of the shoe when compared with a related art shoe. 
     That is, the air permeability of shoe remarkably differs depending on the contraction width (H) of the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  during walking, and the reason is because much more air within a shoe can be emitted through the valve  40  formed in the porous valve plate  30  as the contraction width (H) of the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  becomes greater. Therefore, in the present invention, because the slope angle of the contraction and restoring space  70  formed with the inclined adhesion protrusion  60  and the thickness of the inner cushion  35  are greater than that of the related art shoe shown in  FIG. 6 , the greater contraction width (H) of the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  can be naturally formed, and thus, the air permeability of a shoe can be enhanced. 
     Hereinafter, an operation of the shoe having an air circulation function according to the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 5 . 
     First, as shown in  FIG. 4 , if a foot in the shoe  100  takes off a ground, the inner cushion  35  is restored, and thus, the contaminated air within the shoe is sucked into the receiving groove  21  through the intermediate sole  50  when the opening and closing part  42  formed in a side surface of the valve  40 , which is an air emission means, formed in the porous valve plate  30  is being opened. 
     Next, if the foot lands on a ground, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the opening and closing part  42  of the valve  40  is closed by a load of a walker and an air pressure, and thus, the air chamber  22  of the receiving groove  21  of the sole  20  contracts. In this case, the air flowing into the chamber  22  is emitted to the outside through the vent passage  24  and the passage  26 , and finally through the check valve  28  connecting to the passage  26 . At this point, because the valves  40  is formed with a load of a walker and a contraction of the air chamber  22 , any interference and contact does not occur between the valves  40 , and thus, malfunction due to a damage of the opening and closing part  42  of the valve  40  can be prevented. 
     At this point, as shown in  FIG. 5 , when the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  are pushed with a load of a walker, the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  are much more pushed through the contraction space  70  formed between the porous valve plate  30  and the inclined adhesion protrusion  60  by the slope angle of the contraction space than the related art. Therefore, the greater contraction width (H) of the intermediate sole  50  and the porous valve plate  30  can be naturally formed, and the air permeability of a shoe can be enhanced, and thus, much more air within the shoe can be emitted through the valve  40  formed in the porous valve plate  30 . 
     Industrial Applicability 
     In the shoe having an air circulation function according to the present invention, the inclined adhesion protrusion is formed along the periphery of the receiving groove, a lower end peripheral surface of the porous valve plate contacts the inclined adhesion protrusion with face to face contact, and thus, the contraction and restoring space is formed with the restoring force of the porous valve plate and the inner cushion. Therefore, when the intermediate sole and the porous valve plate are pushed with a load of a walker during walking, the contraction and restoring width (H) of the intermediate sole and the porous valve plate increases through the contraction and restoring space  70  of the inner cushion. Therefore, air within the shoe can be efficiently circulated.