Patent Application
20120216431
This invention relates to a ventilating shoe and more particularly to a ventilating shoe that includes a removable deodorant and/or perfumed pad.
Foot odor and infections are common problems associated with microbial growth in the enclosed environment of a shoe. Moisture resulting from foot perspiration provides an ideal growth environment for both bacteria and fungus causing odor and athlete's foot, respectively.
The inhibition of such microbial growth has been a long sought goal of the shoe industry, and numerous approaches have been proposed and tried. Commonly, activated carbon is incorporated into a shoe insole in an effort to absorb odors and moisture. Although partly effective in controlling odor, the degree of moisture absorption is not sufficient to inhibit microbial growth in most cases. Thus, the odor continues to be produced and athlete's feet and other infections can occur. Moreover, the ability of the activated carbon to absorb odor is quite limited and the effectiveness of the insole is usually short lived.
Antimicrobial agents have also been incorporated within a shoe insole with varying degrees of success. Usually, however, the antimicrobial agents are either released too rapidly to provide for long-term effectiveness or entrapped too securely within the insole to provide for sufficient activity.
In view of the above, there have been a number of approaches for deodorizing shoes. For example, a U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,110 of Shiang discloses an insole-ventilating shoe including an insole having an air pumping device formed on a rear portion of the insole. The insole has an inner guide protruding upwardly to exchange fresh air outside of the shoe vamp, and plural ventilating grooves with through holes formed on a front portion of the insole for circulating air from the pumping device in the insole and shoe for comforting an individual's foot.
A more recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,661 of Chu discloses a unidirectional airflow ventilating shoe and a unidirectional airflow ventilating insole for shoes. As disclosed, a unidirectional airflow ventilating shoe having an ordinary upper and sole. A unidirectional airflow ventilating layer (1) is provided on the sole inside the shoe. The ventilating layer has a compressible cavity (2), air inlet (3), main airflow passage (4), branches (5) and air outlets (6). Fresh air outside the shoe is unidirectionally sucked into the ventilating layer and blown out to a fore part inside the shoe.
For convenience sake, a unidirectional airflow ventilating insole can be made for any kind of shoes. The insole comprises an upper portion (7) and lower portion (8). The structure and shape of the upper portion is the same as that of the ventilating layer (1). Lower portion (8) can either form an entirety with upper portion (7), or be an elastic substrate adhered to the bottom surface of the upper portion with adhesives. The insole can be used in any kind of shoes and attain the same result as unidirectional airflow ventilating shoes.
Finally, a U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,458 of Dever et al. discloses a deodorizer for masking foot and shoe odors through controlled release of fragrance and which utilizes releasable interlocking surfaces for retaining the deodorizer in contact with the shoe.
Notwithstanding the above it is presently believed that there is a need and a potential commercial market for a ventilating shoe that includes a removable deodorant and/or perfumed pad. There should be a demand because such shoes incorporate a removable pad that can be easily and readily replaced with a relatively inexpensive insole that contains a deodorant and/or perfume pad. In addition, the shoes contain a unique ventilating structure that helps to aerate the shoe to reduce moisture and odor together with an air cushion under the insole. Further, it is desirable to provide a convenient deodorizer for masking foot and shoe odors in which the perfume component can be easily applied to and removed from the shoe interior, is comfortable to use and incorporates a unique valve arrangement that allows air to be drawn into the shoe and at the same time tends to resist the outflow of air through such inlets.
In essence the present invention contemplates a ventilating shoe that includes a removable deodorant and/or perfumed pad. The shoe includes a water resistant sole having an upper and lower surface in the general shape of a human foot and an upper shoe portion with an opening and a tongue in an upper portion thereof. The shoe also includes means for closing the opening to thereby envelop an individual's foot. In addition, the shoe contains connecting means attaching the upper show portion to the sole. A series of small openings are provided between the sole and the upper shoe portion and surround the sole on each side thereof with the exception of the back of the shoe. An open porous pad and a deodorant and/or perfume impregnating the pad is provided while a longitudinal extending air chamber under the porous pad includes a vent in a rear surface of the sole for admitting air into the chamber and an opening in the back portion of the shoe allows for inserting and removing the porous pad from the shoe. Finally, each of the small openings and the vent each include a pair of generally S-shaped overlapping elements to permit ingress of air into the shoe and slightly resist the outflow of air through adjacent small openings.
The invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals have been used to indicate like parts.
a is a schematic illustration of a slipper in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention;
b is a top or plane view of the slipper shown in
c is a top or plane view of a slipper in accordance with the slipper shown in
As shown in
One feature of the invention resides in a plurality of small openings 34 between the sole 24 and the upper shoe portion 26 slightly above the sole. These openings 34 that may be spaced as little as ¼ to ¼ inch from one another extend around a forward portion and both sides of the shoe 20 and may extend partially around the back of the shoe. However, the back of the shoe includes a valve assembly 36 that communicates with a longitudinally extending air chamber 38 that extends along the length of the shoe 20 between the sole 24 and pad 22. The rear portion of the shoe 20 also includes an opening 40 (
A deodorant and/or perfumed pad 22 or insole is shown in
As shown in
A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
While the invention has been described in connection with its preferred embodiments it should be recognized that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims.
