Patent Application
20240133695
Not Applicable
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The disclosure relates to monitoring devices and more particularly pertains to a new monitoring device for tracking various aspects of a user's motion with respect to walking or running. The device includes an article of footwear and a pocket integrated into a tongue of the article of footwear. The device includes a tracking unit that is positioned in the pocket which is in communication with a global positioning system. The device includes a temperature sensor integrated into a sole of the article of footwear for sensing the temperature of the surface upon which the user is walking and an accelerometer integrated into the sole for counting the number of steps the user takes.
The prior art relates to monitoring devices including a wearable device that receives a first wake-up signal from a first detected activity location and a second wake-up signal from a second detected activity location. The prior art discloses a footwear system that includes an article of footwear and a plurality of pressure sensors integrated into a sole of the article of footwear. The prior art discloses a smart shoe system that includes an article of footwear that includes a plurality of pressure sensors positioned at strategic locations on the article of footwear and a global positioning circuit. The prior art discloses a footwear sensor unit that includes an article of footwear, a sensor integrated into the article of footwear, an accelerometer integrated into the article of footwear and a gyroscope integrated into the article of footwear.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an article of footwear that is wearable on a user's foot. The article of footwear has a storage pocket that is integrated into a tongue of the article of footwear. A tracking unit is positioned within the storage pocket and the tracking unit is in remote communication with a global positioning system for tracking the speed with which the user moves. A temperature sensor is integrated into the article of footwear to sense the temperature of a support surface upon which the user is walking to determine if the temperature of the support surface is safe to walk upon with bare feet. An accelerometer is integrated into the article of footwear thereby to track the number of steps the user takes.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A tracking unit 28 is provided and the tracking unit 28 is positioned within the storage pocket 18. The tracking unit 28 is in remote communication with a global positioning system 29 thereby facilitating the tracking unit 28 to establish a physical location of the article of footwear 12 thereby facilitating a speed of the article of footwear 12 to be tracked with respect to the user 16 running or walking. In this way the tracking unit 28 facilitates the user 16 to subsequently analyze data collected by the tracking unit 28. Furthermore, the tracking unit 28 facilitates the user 16 to be located by a third party (via employing the global positioning signal) if the user 16 becomes lost, if the user 16 is abducted or if the user 16 finds themselves in any type of situation that would inhibit the user 16 from being able to willingly return to their home.
The tracking unit 28 comprises a tracking housing 30 that is insertable into the open end 24 of the storage pocket 18. The tracking unit 28 includes a tracking control circuit 32 that is integrated into the tracking housing 30 and the tracking control circuit 32 includes an electronic memory 34. The tracking unit 28 includes a tracking transceiver 36 that is integrated into the tracking housing 30 and the tracking transceiver 36 is electrically coupled to the tracking control circuit 32. The tracking transceiver 36 is in wireless communication with the global positioning system 29 thereby facilitating the tracking transceiver 36 to establish the physical location of the tracking housing 30. Additionally, the electronic memory 34 stores data received by the tracking transceiver 36 for subsequently download or analysis. The tracking transceiver 36 may comprise a radio frequency transceiver or the like and the tracking transceiver 36 may employ a global positioning system signal. The tracking unit 28 includes a tracking power supply 40 that is integrated into the tracking housing 30 and the tracking power supply 40 comprises at least one battery 42.
A data control circuit 44 is integrated into a sole 46 of the article of footwear 12 and the data control circuit 44 includes an electronic memory 48. A temperature sensor 50 is integrated into the article of footwear 12 and the temperature sensor 50 is strategically located thereby facilitating the temperature sensor 50 to be in thermal communication with a support surface 52 upon which the user 16 is walking. In this way the temperature sensor 50 can sense the temperature of the support surface 52 to facilitate the user 16 to determine if the temperature of the support surface 52 is safe to walk upon with bare feet. The temperature sensor 50 is integrated into a sole 46 of the article of footwear 12 and the temperature sensor 50 has a sensing element 54 which has a sensing surface 56 that is aligned with a bottom surface 58 of the sole 46. In this way the sensing element 54 can touch the support surface 52 when the user 16 walks or runs on the support surface 52. Furthermore, the sensing surface 56 is comprised of a thermally conductive material thereby facilitating the sensing surface 56 to be in thermal communication with the support surface 52.
A conductor 60 is integrated into the sole 46 of the article of footwear 12 and the conductor 60 is electrically coupled between the sensing element 54 of the temperature sensor 50 and the data control circuit 44 such that the temperature sensor 50 is in electrical communication with the data control circuit 44. Additionally, the electronic memory 48 associated with the data control circuit 44 stores data collected by the temperature sensor 50. The conductor 60 is comprised of an electrically conductive material, such as copper wire, and the electronic memory 48 associated with the data control circuit 44 may comprise random access memory or other type of digital data storage.
An accelerometer 62 is integrated into the article of footwear 12 thereby facilitating the accelerometer 62 to detect when the article of footwear 12 accelerates and decelerates to track the number of steps the user 16 takes. The accelerometer 62 is integrated into the sole 46 of the article of footwear 12 and the accelerometer 62 is electrically coupled to the data control circuit 44 such that the electronic memory 48 associated with the data control circuit 44 stores data collected by the accelerometer 62. The accelerometer 62 may comprise an electronic accelerometer or other type of accelerometer that can detect the motion associated with taking steps for walking or running.
A data transceiver 64 is integrated into the sole 46 of the article of footwear 12 and the data transceiver 64 is electrically coupled to the data control circuit 44. The data transceiver 64 is in wireless communication with a personal electronic device 66 thereby facilitating the data transceiver 64 to upload data stored in the electronic memory 48 associated with the data control circuit 44 into the personal electronic device 66. In this way the data transceiver 64 facilitates the user 16 to subsequently analyze data received from the data transceiver 64, including the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 50 and the number of steps the accelerometer 62 has counted. The data transceiver 64 may comprise a radio frequency transceiver or the like and the data transceiver 64 may employ Bluetooth communication protocols. The personal electronic device 66 may comprise a smart phone or other type of electronic device that has wireless communication capabilities and data storage capabilities. A data power supply 68 is integrated into the sole 46 of the article of footwear 12, the data power supply 68 is electrically coupled to the data control circuit 44 and the data power supply 68 comprises at least one battery 70.
In use, the article of footwear 12 is worn on the user's foot 14 when the user 16 is going walking, running or performing any type of outdoor activity. The accelerometer 62 counts the number of steps the user 16 takes and the temperature sensor 50 monitors the temperature of the support surface 52 upon which the user 16 is walking. The data collected by the accelerometer 62 and the temperature sensor 50 can be downloaded into the personal electronic device 66 to facilitate the user 16 to analyze the data. Furthermore, the tracking unit 28 facilitates the user 16 to determine the distance they ran or walked as well as to facilitate the user 16 to be located in the event the user 16 becomes lost or is otherwise unable to willingly return to their home.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
