EP2561771A1

EP2561771A1 - Footwear capable of presenting visual information

Info

Publication number: EP2561771A1
Application number: EP20110006907
Authority: EP
Inventors: Keng-Hsien Lin
Original assignee: DINGZING CHEMICAL Corp
Current assignee: DINGZING ADVANCED MATERIALS INCORPORATED
Priority date: 2011-08-24
Filing date: 2011-08-24
Publication date: 2013-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2031-08-24
Also published as: EP2561771B1

Abstract

A footwear capable of presenting visual information includes: a footwear body (3) including a sole portion (31), and an upper portion (32) that is connected to the sole portion (31), that defines a receiving space (321) for receiving a foot, and that has an outer surface; a display device (5) including a display unit (51) that is disposed on the outer surface of the upper portion (32), and a light-transmissive protection layer (52)that is disposed to cover the display unit (51); a control device (4) including a control unit (41) that is connected electrically to the display unit (51) for controlling operation of the display unit (51) todisplay visual information on the display unit (51); and a power supply (6) that is connected electrically to the display device (5) and the control device (4) and that is operable for powering the control device (4) and the display device (5).

Description

The present invention relates to a footwear, more particularly to a footwear capable of presenting visual information.
The sole purpose of wearing footwear was to protect our feet. However, footwear nowadays is often aesthetically designed to reflect character and taste of the wearer. Taiwanese Patent No. 200924661 discloses footwear with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) disposed thereon for providing illumination.
However, considering the high cost of OLEDs, the aforesaid application of OLEDs is rather limited and wasteful. Moreover, the aforesaid footwear is unable to satisfy personalization need of consumers.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a footwear that is capable of alleviating the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the present invention, a footwear capable of presenting visual information includes:

a footwear body including a sole portion, and an upper portion that is connected to the sole portion, that defines a receiving space for receiving a foot, and that has an outer surface;
a display device including a display unit that is disposed on the outer surface of the upper portion, and a light-transmissive protection layer that is disposed to cover the display unit;
a control device including a control unit that is connected electrically to the display unit for controlling operation of the display unit to display visual information on the display unit; and
a power supply that is connected electrically to the display device and the control device and that is operable for powering the control device and the display device.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of a footwear capable of presenting visual information, according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the footwear;
Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control device of the footwear;
Figure 4 is a schematic diagram to illustrate an exemplary application of the footwear;
Figure 5 is a block diagram to illustrate operational relationship among components in the exemplary application illustrated in Figure 4;
Figure 6 is a schematic diagram to illustrate another exemplary application of the footwear;
Figure 7 is a block diagram to illustrate the second preferred embodiment of a footwear according to the present invention;
Figure 8 is a block diagram to illustrate the third preferred embodiment of a footwear according to the present invention;
Figure 9 is a schematic diagram to illustrate the fourth preferred embodiment of a footwear according to the present invention;
Figure 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the footwear of the fourth preferred embodiment; and
Figure 11 is a block diagram to illustrate the fourth preferred embodiment of a footwear according to the present invention.

Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the first preferred embodiment of a footwear capable of presenting visual information according to the present invention includes a footwear body 3, a control device 4, a display device 5, and a power supply 6.
The footwear body 3 includes a sole portion 31, and an upper portion 32 that is connected to the sole portion 31, that defines a receiving space 321 for receiving a foot, and that has an outer surface. The display device 5 includes a display unit 51 that is disposed on the outer surface of the upper portion 32, and a light-transmissive protection layer 52 that is disposed to cover the display unit 51. In this embodiment, the control device 4 is embedded in the sole portion 31, the display unit 51 includes an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, and the protection layer 52 is made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).
The control device 4 includes a control unit 41 (e.g. , a programmable chip) that is connected electrically to the display unit 51 for controlling operation of the display unit 51 to display visual information on the display unit 51. The power supply 6 is connected electrically to the display device 5 and the control device 4, and is operable for powering the display device 5 and the control device 4. The power supply 6 includes at least one of a battery module and a generator module capable of harvesting power from walking.
In this embodiment, the control device 4 further includes a triggering unit 42 that is connected electrically to the control unit 41, and that is responsive to a triggering signal received thereby to trigger operation of the control unit 41 to display the visual information on the display unit 41.
Shown in Figures 4 and 5 is an exemplary application where the triggering unit 42 in each of a first pair of the footwear and that in each of a second pair of the footwear are configured to mutually transmit and receive the triggering signal, such that each of the triggering units 42 is responsive to the triggering signal received thereby to trigger operation of the control unit 41 to display the visual information on the display unit 51.
In another exemplary application, during a football match, a coach may signal a player on the same team by sending a triggering signal to the player via such as a remote control 45 (see Figure 6) to thereby trigger display of corresponding visual information on the display unit 51 of a footwear worn by the player.
Furthermore, in one modification, the triggering unit 42 is operable to trigger operation of the control unit 41 to display the visual information on the display unit 51 according to a system time. For example, the triggering unit 42 may be configured to trigger operation of the control unit 41 to display different visual information on the display unit 51 during different days.
Referring to Figure 7, the difference between the first and second preferred embodiments resides in that, in the second preferred embodiment, the control device 4 further includes a wireless receiver unit 46, which may be a global positioning system (GPS) receiver unit, connected electrically to the control unit 41. The control unit 41 is further configured to wirelessly receive information content, which may be GPS location information, via the wireless receiver unit 46, and to generate the visual information from the information content thus received.
For example, the control unit 41 may be configured to obtain a distance travelled by the wearer of the footwear based upon the GPS location information received by the control unit 41 via the GPS receiver unit 46, and to present the visual information according to the distance thus obtained.
It is worth noting that, in the preferred embodiments, the control device 4 further includes a storage medium having information content stored therein, and the control unit 41 is operable to generate the visual information from the information content in the storage medium. However, generation of the visual information is not limited to such. In other embodiments, the control unit 41 may be configured to generate the visual information based upon such as broadcast signals received thereby.
Referring to Figure 8, the difference between the first and third preferred embodiments resides in that, in the third preferred embodiment, the control device 4 further includes an input interface unit 47 connected electrically to the control unit 41. The control unit 41 is configured to receive information content from such as a signal transmitter 48 via the input interface unit 47, and to store the information content thus received in the storage medium.
In this embodiment, the input interface unit 47 is a wireless input interface unit. In other embodiments, the input interface 47 may be a wired input interface unit.
Referring to Figures 9 to 11, the difference between the first and fourth preferred embodiments resides in that, in the fourth preferred embodiment, the display device 5 includes a plurality of display units 51 disposed on the outer surface of the upper portion 32, and a plurality of light-transmissive protection layers 52 that are disposed to cover the display units 51, respectively.
In summary, in addition to providing illumination, the footwear of the present invention is able to present customizable visual information on the display unit 51.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

A footwear capable of presenting visual information, comprising:
a footwear body (3) including a sole portion (31), and an upper portion (32) that is connected to said sole portion (31), that defines a receiving space (321) for receiving a foot, and that has an outer surface;

a display device (5) including a display unit (51) that is disposed on said outer surface of said upper portion (32), and a light-transmissive protection layer (52) that is disposed to cover said display unit (51);

a control device (4) including a control unit (41) that is connected electrically to said display unit (51) for controlling operation of said display unit (51) to display visual information on said display unit (51); and

a power supply (6) that is connected electrically to said display device (5) and said control device (4) and that is operable for powering said control device (4) and said display device (5).
The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control device (4) further includes a wireless receiver unit (46) that is connected electrically to said control unit (41), said control unit (41) being configured to wirelessly receive information content via said wireless receiver unit (46) , and to generate the visual information from the information content thus received.
The footwear as claimed in claim 2, wherein said wireless receiver unit (46) is a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and the information content received by said control unit (41) via said wireless receiver unit (46) is GPS location information.
The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control device further includes a triggering unit (42) operable to trigger operation of said control unit (41) to display the visual information on said display unit (51).
The footwear as claimed in claim 4, wherein said triggeringunit (42) is responsive to a triggering signal received thereby to trigger operation of said control unit (41) to display the visual information on said display unit (51).
The footwear as claimed in claim 4, wherein said triggering unit (42) is operable to trigger operation of said control unit (41) to display the visual information on said display unit (51) according to a system time.
The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control device (4) further includes a storage medium having information content stored therein, said control unit (41) being operable to generate the visual information from the information content in said storage medium.
The footwear as claimed in claim 7, wherein said control device (4) further includes an input interface unit (47) connected electrically to said control unit (41), said control unit (41) being configured to receive the information content via said input interface unit (47), and to store the information content thus received in said storage medium.
The footwear as claimed in claim 8, wherein said input interface unit (47) is a wireless interface unit.
The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said power supply (6) includes at least one of a battery module and a generator module capable of harvesting power from walking.
The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display unit includes at least one organic light-emitting diode display.
The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said light-transmissive protection layer (52) is made of thermoplastic polyurethane.