EP0452576A1

EP0452576A1 - Shoe insole laminate

Info

Publication number: EP0452576A1
Application number: EP90304153A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Chi-Ming Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-04-18
Filing date: 1990-04-18
Publication date: 1991-10-23

Abstract

A shoe insole laminate includes at least one substrate film (11, 50, 60, 61, 70) having at least one layer of gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40) formed on the substrate film (11, 50, 60, 61, 70) at intervals and gas circulating passages (13) between the gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41). Each of the gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) has a wall made of a pliable plastic material. The gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) deform upon the application of pressure on the shoe insole laminate for shock-absorbing purposes.

Description

This invention relates to a shoe insole, more particularly to a shoe insole laminate having layers of gas envelopes formed therein.
Conventionally, shoe insoles, which are adapted to be placed onto the sole or midsole of a shoe, are made of plastic sheet, wooden fiber or leather. However, such a shoe insole has poor ability for shock-absorbing and allowing the sweat and/or air to pass therethrough, making the user uncomfortable. An improved shoe insole, which is made of a rubber or plastic foamed material, has been widely used to improve the flexibility and the shock-absorbing ability of the shoe insole. However, because the foamed shoe insole has a plurality of microcells formed therein, the sweat from the feet of the user will be retained in said microcells of said shoe insole, reducing the ability of the air ventilation in the shoe and thus causing foot disease. Moreover, the conventional shoe insole cannot be accommodated to closely attach to the sole of the user's foot. Therefore, the contacting area between the sole of the user's foot the shoe insole is small when the user is walking or running, causing the pressure exerted by the foot to be locally applied to the shoe insole. That is to say, said pressure cannot be uniformly distributed to the whole shoe insole, resulting in injury to the user's foot. In addition, since heat radiated from the ground will easily penetrate the sole of the shoe and the conventional shoe insole of poor insulation quality, the user's feet can not be completely protected from temperature effects of the enviroment.
We have now found it possible to provide a shoe insole laminate which is a good shock-absorber as well as air permeable.
We have also found it possible to provide a shoe insole laminate which can closely attach to the sole of the user's foot so as to uniformly distribute pressure over the whole shoe insole laminate.
We have further found it possible to provide a shoe insole laminate which can reflect radiation heat from the ground.
According to the present invention there is provided a shoe insole laminate comprising at least one substrate film having at least one layer of gas envelopes formed on said substrate film at intervals and gas circulating passages between said gas envelopes, each of said gas envelopes having a wall made of pliable plastic material, said gas envelopes deforming upon the application of pressure on said shoe insole laminate.
Accordingly, a shoe insole laminate of this invention includes at least one substrate film having at least one layer of gas envelopes formed on the substrate film at intervals and gas circulating passages between the gas envelopes. Each of the gas envelopes has a wall made of a pliable plastic material. The gas envelopes deform for shock-absorbing purposes upon the application of presure on the shoe sole laminate. In this way, the shoe insole laminate can accomodate the sole of the user's foot to uniformly distribute the pressure applied by the foot to the whole shoe insole laminate. Some or all of the laminations have a plurality of apertures formed therein so that said layers of gas envelopes can communicate with the adjacent layer of gas envelopes for circulating the heat and moisture in the shoe. Therefore, heat and moisture will be uniformly distributed over the shoe and can be easily expelled out of said shoe insole laminate, keeping the upper portion of said shoe insole laminate dry. In addition, some of the substrate films are metal films with a bright reflection surface, so that the radiation heat from the ground can be reflected by the reflection surfaces of the substrate films.
Various preferred features and embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged elevational view of the first preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 4 is a sectional schematic view of the first preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate in a compressed position;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a second preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a third preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a fourth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a fifth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a sixth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a seventh preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 11 is a sectional view of an eighth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a ninth seventh preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 13 is a sectional view of a tenth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate of this invention;
Fig. 14 is a sectional schematic view of the tenth preferred embodiment of the shoe insole laminate of this invention adhered to the midsole of a shoe;
Fig. 15 is a schematic view showing the shoe insole laminate of this invention in a first operating position; and
Fig. 16 is a schematic view showing the shoe insole laminate of this invention in a second operating position.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, a preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate includes a layer of gas envelopes 10 formed at intervals on a pliable plastic substrate film 11 of predetermined thickness, which is cut in the shape of the midsole of a shoe. Each of the gas envelopes 12 has a wall made of a pliable plastic material. Each of the gas envelopes 12 is filled with a compressible gas, for example, air. The gas envelopes 12 have gas circulating passages 13 formed therebetween. The gas envelopes 12 deform upon the application of pressure, as best illustrated in Fig. 4, so as to provide a shock-absorbing effect when a user walks or runs.
Referring to Fig. 5, a sectional view of a second preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate is shown. In this embodiment, the shoe insole laminate is formed with two layers of gas envelopes 10, 20. A plurality of gas envelopes 12, 21 of said first and second layers 10, 20 are respectively formed on the opposite sides of the substrate film 11. The gas envelopes 12 of the first layer 10 are aligned with said gas envelopes 21 of said second layer 20.
Referring to Fig. 6, a sectional view of a third preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate is shown. In this embodiment, the shoe insole laminate is similar to that of the second embodiment except that the the gas envelopes 12 of the first layer 10 are staggered with the gas envelopes 21.
Referring to Fig. 7, a fourth preferred embodiment of the shoe insole laminate of this invention includes four substrate films 50 and four layers of gas envelopes 10, 20, 30, 40. The four layers of gas envelopes have two upper layers 10, 20 and two lower layers 30, 40. The layers of gas envelopes are staggered with an adjacent layer of gas envelopes. The gas pressure in the gas envelopes 12, 21 of the two upper layers 10, 20 is smaller than that in the gas envelopes 31, 41 of the two lower layers 30, 40. Therefore, the resilient force of the gas envelopes 12, 21 of the two lower layers 30, 40 is greater than that of the gas envelopes 31, 41 of the upper layers 10, 20, improving the shock-absorbing property of the shoe insole laminate.
Referring to Fig. 8, a fifth preferred embodiment of the shoe insole laminate of this invention is shown. In this embodiment, the structure of the shoe insole laminate is similar to that of the fourth embodiment, except that the sizes of the gas envelopes 12, 21 of the two upper layers 10, 20 are larger than those of the gas envelopes 31, 41 of the two lower layers 30, 40. Therefore, the shock-absorbing property of the shoe insole laminate can be improved in the same manner as described in the fourth embodiment.
Referring to Fig. 9, a sixth preferred embodiment of the shoe insole laminate of this invention is shown. In this embodiment, the structure of the shoe insole laminate is similar to that of the fourth embodiment except that the walls of the gas envelopes 12, 21 of the two upper layers 10, 20 are thinner than those of the gas envelopes 31, 41 of the two lower layers 30, 40. Therefore, the shock-absorbing property of the shoe insole laminate can be improved in the same manner as described in the fourth embodiment.
Referring to Fig. 10, a seventh preferred embodiment of this invention is shown. A layer of gas envelopes 10 is formed between upper and lower protecting layers 60, 61. The upper and lower protecting layers are plastic films having a sufficient toughness to protect the gas envelopes 12 of the layer 10 from being damaged. The lower protecting layer 61 is thicker and harder than the upper protecting layer 60 so that the shoe insole laminate can be easily positioned in the shoe.
It is noted that when the shoe insole laminate is cut in the shape of the midsole of the shoe, some of the gas envelopes near the edges of the substrate films are broken or damaged. However, the edges of the substrate films can be welded together by high frequency wave so as to improve the aesthetic quality thereof.
Referring to Fig. 11, an eighth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole laminate is shown. The shoe insole laminate includes two layers of gas envelopes 10, 20 and first and second substrate films 50, 70. The first substrate film 50 is made of a pliable plastic material. The second substrate film 70 is a metal film with a bright reflection surface 71 so that the heat radiating from the ground can be reflected to protect the foot of the user from the effect of the environment. In addition, the metal film can release the static charges to the ground by the other part of the shoe.
Referring to Fig. 12, a ninth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole of this invention is shown. In this embodiment, two layers of gas envelopes 10, 20 are formed between three metal films 70.
Referring to Fig. 13, a tenth preferred embodiment of a shoe insole of this invention is shown. Two layers of gas envelopes 10, 12 are respectively formed on two opposite sides of the plastic substrate film 11 and aligned with each other. A plurality of apertures 81 are formed in the plastic substrate film 11 among the gas envelopes 12, 21, so that the upper layer of of gas envelopes 10 can communicate with the lower layer of gas envelopes 20 for circulating heat and moisture in the shoe. Therefore, heat and moisture will be uniformly distribute over the shoe and can be easily expelled out of the shoe insole laminate, keeping the upper portion of said shoe insole laminate dry.
The shoe insole laminate of this invention can be adhered to the sole 90 of the shoe, serving as an insole of said shoe, as best illustrated in Fig. 14.
It can be seen that the shoe insole laminate of this invention can accommodate the sole of the user's foot to uniformly distribute the pressure applied by the foot over the whole shoe insole laminate whether the user stands or walks. The gas envelopes of respective layers of gas envelopes 10, 20, 30, 40 will deform to absorb the shock and the pressure on the shoe insole laminate, as shown in Figs. 15, 16, making the user's feet comfortable.

Claims

A shoe insole laminate comprising at least one substrate film (11, 50, 60, 61, 70) having at least one layer of gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40) formed on said substrate film (11, 50, 60, 61, 70) at intervals and gas circulating passages (13) between said gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41), each of said gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) having a wall made of a pliable plastic material, said gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) deforming upon the application of pressure on said shoe insole laminate.
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which comprises two layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20), wherein said two layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20) are respectively formed on two opposite sides of said substrate film (11), said gas envelopes (12, 21) in one of said layers being aligned with said gas envelopes (12, 21) of the other said layer.
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which comprises two layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20), wherein said two layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20) are respectively formed on two opposite sides of said substrate film (11), said gas envelopes (12, 21) in one of said layers being staggered with said gas envelopes (12, 21) of the other said layer.
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which comprises four substrate films (50) and four layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40), wherein said four layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40) have two upper layers (10, 20) and two lower layers (30, 40), said layers of gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) being staggered with an adjacent layer of said gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41), the gas pressure in said gas envelopes (12, 21) of said two upper layers (10, 20) being smaller than that in said gas envelopes (31, 41) of said two lower layers (30, 40).
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which comprises four substrate films (50) and four layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40), wherein said four layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40) have two upper layers (10, 20) and two lower layers (30, 40), said layers of gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) being staggered with an adjacent layer of said gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41), the sizes of said gas envelopes (12, 21) of said two upper layers (10, 20) being larger than those of said gas envelopes (31, 41) of said two lower layers (30, 40).
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which comprises four substrate films (50) and four layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40), wherein said four layers of said gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40) have two upper layers (10, 20) and two lower layers (30, 40), said layers of gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) being staggered with an adjacent layer of said gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41), said walls of said gas envelopes (12, 21) of said two upper layers (10, 20) being thinner than those of said gas envelopes (31, 41) of said two lower layers (10, 20).
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which includes a plurality of layers of substrate films (11, 50, 70) and gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40), wherein said layers of gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) are aligned with an adjacent layer of gas envelopes (12, 21, 31, 41) and each of said substrate films (11, 50, 70) has a plurality of apertures (81) formed therein so that said layers of gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40) can communicate with each other.
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which includes a plurality of layers of substrate films (11, 50, 60, 61, 70) and gas envelopes (10, 20, 30, 40), wherein at least one of layers of said substrate films (60, 61) is a plastic film having a toughness sufficient to protect said gas envelopes.
A shoe insole laminate as claimed in Claim 1, which includes a plurality of layers of substrate films (11, 50, 60, 61, 70) and gas envelopes, wherein at least one of said layers of substrate layers (70) is a metal film with a bright reflection surface (71).