Improvements in Ventilated Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 19th Dec., 1896)
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ventilated Boots and Shoes.
I, MATHEW HILGERT, of Salt Lake City, in the County of Salt Lake, and
State of Utah, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to shoes and boots and has for its object to provide means for
ventilating and causing a circulation of air in the sole and beneath the foot of the
wearer in order to prevent over-heating, perspiration and the evils resulting
therefrom, some of those evils being the production of corns, bunions, callousness,
general soreness, weariness, etc.
A further object of my invention is to arrange a device of the class named in
the sole of a shoe or boot without weakening or impairing the durability thereof,
and in the accomplishment of this object the invention primarily contemplates an
improvement in the insole or inner sole of a boot or shoe whether such insole forms
a part of the sole structure of the boot or shoe itself, or is an independent insole
adapted to be removably fitted within the boot or shoe in a similar manner to the
common felt or similar insoles used in foot-wear.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following
description and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the
appended claims.
1
In the drawings:-
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a shoe or boot provided with a
ventilating device constructed in accordance with my invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan view partly broken away of the insole of the boot or shoe.
Fig. 3 is a detail in perspective of an independent removable insole embodying
the ventilated device contemplated by this invention.
Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the separate insole illustrated
in Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of the separate removable insole embodying
the invention.
Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of
the drawings.
In carrying out my invention I form an air chamber or cavity I, in the seat of
the heel 2 of the shoe or boot, the floor of said chamber or cavity being in or above
the plane of the upper surface of the heel proper, whereby the strength and
durability of the heel are equal to those of the shoe or boot not provide with the
device embodying my invention. "Said chamber or cavity may be of any desired
depth according to the requirements, the depth being regulated by the thickness of
a false insole 3 which is arranged between the outer sole 4 and the usual insole 5,
and in which false insole is cut an opening to form said chamber or cavity 1. The
lining 6 is arranged upon the insole as in the usual construction.
Communicating with the said chamber or cavity 1, is channel 7 formed by
cutting a slot in the insole 3 and which extends longitudinally of the shoe or boot
in the inner layer of the sole, and the insole 5 is provided at the ball or adjacent to
the toe of the shoe or boot with ports 8 which register with similar openings 9 in
the lining 6. This channel 7 may be provided with any desired number of

page_text: branches: 10, having ports 11, also registering with openings 12 in the lining, said
branch channels 10 being also formed by cutting slots in the insole 3.
The insole extends over the chamber or cavity at the heel of the shoe or boot,
and thereby closes the top of the same, whereby the only inlet to and outlet from
said chamber or envity is through-the channel 7 and its ports as above described,
and arranged in the chamber or cavity and resting at its lower end upon the floor
thereof is a spring 13 preferably of spiral construction with its reduced upper end
in contact with the under surface of the portion of the insole which covers the
chamber or cavity. The upward pressure of this spring bulges or convexes the
contiguous portion of the insole, or the portion which covers the chamber or cavity
and which for convenience we will hereinafter term the flexible cover of the
chamber, this portion of the insole which forms the cover being represented by the
numeral 14. The portion 14 of the insole 5 is quite an important feature of
the invention, and at this point it will be observed that the portion 14 of the insole
is the heel portion thereof and is cut of a greater size than the interior of the boot
or shoe at the counter thereof so that when fitted in place within the boot or shoe
above the spring 13 it will provide a loose normally dished flexible imperforate
cover portion for the chamber or cavity 1, and thereby forms an air bulb which is
operated by the heel of the wearer during the act of walking.
This being the construction of the device it will be seen that in operation the
pressure of the heel of the wearer upon the cover of the chamber or cavity
depresses said cover against the tension of the spring 13 and thus forces air which
is contained in the chamber or cavity through the channel 7 and its branches and
discharges the same at the fore part of the shoe or boot. beneath the ball and toes
of the foot, and as-the ports 8 and 11 in the channel and branches are made smail
in diameter at the rear ends of the series and increase in size toward the toe of the
shoe it will be seen that a portion of the air contained in the chamber will be
discharged through each of the ports.
When the foot of the wearer is raised, as in swinging the foot which is toward
the rear forward in the act of taking an advance step, the spring elevates the
cover 14 of the chamber or cavity, thus holding it in contact with the heel of the
foot, and this upward movement of the cover produces a partial vacuum in
the chamber or cavity and causes an inward draught of air from the fore part of
the shoe or boot through the channel to the chamber, the air thus drawn in being
again expelled when the heel of the wearer is again depressed.
Therefore, an alternate depression and elevation of the cover of the air-chamber
or cavity is caused during walking, thus alternately forcing the air from the
chamber to the toe of the shoe or boot, and drawing it from the toe into the
chamber, and this continuous circulation of the air within the shoe or boot has
the effect of cooling the foot and preventing perspiration and the evils such as are
above enumerated, also adding to the durability of the material forming the shoe
or boot by avoiding the hardening and consequent breaking thereof.
Furthermore, the construction described provides a cushion to relieve the jar
upon the foot in placing the heel upon the ground or floor as in taking a
forward step.
The channel and its branches may be constructed of any suitable kind of metal
or of wood, or similar material, the object to provide an unobstructed passage from
the air chamber at the heel of the shoe or boot to the toe or front portion of the
same in order that the air contained in the shoe or boot may be forced backward
and forward beneath the sole of the foot to prevent over-heating.
Inasmuch as air is not taken from the outside of the shoe or boot, but is simply
circulated therein, the temperature of the foot is not lowered by a draught of cold
air, and, in addition to this the fact that the chamber and the communicating
chanuels have no exterior outlets.prevents the introduction of dust or water to the
interior of the shoe or boot.
In carrying out the invention it will be obvious that the insole may form a.part
of the shoe structure itself ae illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and as bereinbefore fully

page_text: described, or may be embodied in a separate removable insole such as illustrated in
Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings. In the construction already described, while
the ventilated insole forms a part of the sole structure of the shoe it is to be noted
that the said ventilating insole is laminated and essentially comprises a false-
insole 3 and the main insole 5 which when assembled together in connection with
the circulating slots and the spring 13, provide a complete ventilated insole, but
the same ventilating means may obviously be carried out in connection with a
separate removable insole, and in Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the drawings an insole of
this character is illustrated and designated by the numeral 15. The separate-
removable insole 15 is adapted to be placed in a shoe like an ordinary removable
insole and may be constructed of leather, rubber, gutta percha, celluloid, paper
mache or any other material commonly used in the construction of insoles.
The separate removable insole 15 embodying the invention is also laminated and
essentially comprises a series of sole blanks or laminas 16 connected together and
given the ordinary form or configuration of the insole of a boot or shoe. The
laminated insole 15 has formed in the heel portion thereof between the separate-
layers or blanks a circular opening 17 corresponding to the circular opening I in.
the construction previously described, and the said insole 15 also has formed
between the separate layers or blanks forming the same a longitudinal circulating-
slot 18 communicating at one end with the opening 17 and at its other end with a.
single circulating opening 19 formed in the upper portion of the insole near the
front or toe end thereof. The upper portion of the laminated insole 15 is provided
with a soft lining 20, corresponding to the lining 6 in the construction previously
described and which lining 20 is enlarged at the heel portion of the insole to form
a cover for the circular opening 17, and is held dished or elevated by the-
spring 13 supported within the circular opening 18 at the heel portion of the insole
and bearing under the enlarged heel portion of the lining 20 to provide an air bulb.
of precisely the same construction and for the same purpose as the air bulb
described in connection with the insole 3-5 forming a part of the shoe-
structure.
In the two modifications of the invention described, only one spring is shown in-
the cavity of the heel of the insole, but in practice a plurality of springs may be
employed and various other changes in the form, proportion and the minor details
of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or
sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a boot or shoe, the combination with the outer sole and solid heel of the
boot or shoe; of a false insole fitted on the outer sole and heel and provided at one
end directly over the heel with a circular opening and also having air circulating
slots communicating with such opening, the main insole arranged over the false-
insole and provided at the ball of the boot or shoe with openings communicating
with the circulating slots of the false insole, said main insole being also provided
with an enlarged heel portion of a greater size than the interior of the boot or shoe
at the counter thereof to form a loose flexible imperforate cover portion for the
circular opening in the false insole, and a spring supported on the solid heel under
the enlarged heel portion of the main insole to normally dish and elevate said heel
portion of the main insole to provide an air bulb operated by the heel of the
wearer during the act of walking, substantially as set forth.
2. In a boot or shoe, a laminated insole provided at the heel thereof with a
circular opening, and also having an air circulating slot communicating with such.
opening, the upper portion of the insole being provided near the front end with an
opening communicating with the circulating slot, said upper portion of the insole
being further provided with an enlarged heel portion forming a loose flexible.
imperforate cover portion for the circular opening in the insole, and a spring-

page_text: supported within the insole under the enlarged heel portion thereof to normally
dish and elevate said heel portion of the insole, to provide an air bulb operated by
the heel of the wearer during the act of walking, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 14th day of November 1896.
BOULT & WADE.
Agents for the Applicant.