Patent ID: 7392601

Claim:
A foot covering, comprising: a heel region; a toe region; a sole region disposed between the heel region and the toe region; a collar region providing an opening for insertion of a wearer's foot into the heel, toe and sole regions of the foot covering; and an elasticized chimney structure comprising a plurality of chimneys for moving heat or moisture from within the foot covering out of the collar region, each of the chimneys including a pair of elongated supports and a series of distributed braces connecting the pair of elongated supports together along the lengths thereof; wherein each of the chimneys is flexible and the series of braces are movable from an at-rest position to a stretched position or a compressed position as the foot moves during wear, and wherein the braces are positioned in the at-rest position at a predetermined angle of between about 15° and 67° relative to the elongated supports.