US20080178496A1

US20080178496A1 - Shoe sole having insole and midsole forming mated air chambers

Info

Publication number: US20080178496A1
Application number: US11/627,988
Authority: US
Inventors: Ming-Hsiung Lin; Hsi-Liang Lin
Original assignee: CHAN CHAO-YUNG
Current assignee: CHAN CHAO-YUNG
Priority date: 2007-01-29
Filing date: 2007-01-29
Publication date: 2008-07-31

Abstract

A shoe sole includes a bottom, an insole, and a midsole. The insole forms a plurality of air passages extending therethrough, and has a bottom face on which a plurality of first raised sections is formed to delimit a plurality of first air chambers. The midsole is positioned between the insole and the bottom and has a top face opposing the bottom face of the insole and forming a plurality of second raised sections that delimits a plurality of second air chambers, the second raised sections being configured to correspond in position to the first raised sections so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, the first raised sections are respectively positioned on the second raised sections and the first air chambers respectively correspond to the second air chambers to form combine air chambers that each have an increased volume.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shoe sole having an insole and a midsole both forming air chambers mating each other, and in particularly to a shoe sole having an insole that has a bottom face forming a plurality of raised sections delimiting a plurality of air chambers and a midsole having a top face forming a plurality raised sections corresponding to the raised sections of the insole and delimiting a plurality of air chambers corresponding to the air chambers of the midsole so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, the raised sections of the insole are respectively positioned on the raised sections of the midsole and the insole air chambers are respectively combined with the midsole air chambers to form combined air chambers that each have an increased volume.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Modern people, especially urban residents, often wear shoes for a very long time of a day, even as long as eight or nine hours a day. Wearing shoes for such a long time often caused discomfort of the wearer's soles, especially when air inside the shoes is not allowed to freely exchange with surrounding atmosphere for ventilation and heat dissipation. Thus, most shoe manufacturers are devoted themselves to development of shoes that allow air exchange for heat dissipation and ventilation purposes. For example, air chambers are formed in shoe sole by arranging ribs on a bottom face of an insole. When the insole is stacked on an outsole, the interior spaces delimited by the ribs form the air chambers. When the wearer walks, his or her soles repeatedly and cyclically depress/release the insole to compress and expand the air chambers and thus driving air into the shoe for ventilation and cooling.
However, since the insole that is positioned on the bottom or outsole has a very limited distance from the bottom, the air chambers delimited by the raised ribs are of very limited volume. This imposes a severe constrain to the amount of air pumped into the shoe whereby heat dissipation or cooling cannot be efficiently and sufficiently effected.
Thus, it is desired to provide a shoe sole that has forms air chambers in both an insole and a midsole so that the insufficiency of cooling can be overcome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a shoe sole comprising a bottom, an insole, and a midsole, wherein the insole forms a plurality of air passages extending therethrough, and has a bottom face on which a plurality of first raised sections is formed to delimit a plurality of first air chambers and wherein the midsole is positioned between the insole and the bottom and has a top face opposing the bottom face of the insole and forming a plurality of second raised sections that delimits a plurality of second air chambers, the second raised sections being configured to correspond in position to the first raised sections so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, the first raised sections are respectively positioned on the second raised sections and the first air chambers respectively correspond to the second air chambers to form combined air chambers that each have an increased volume.
The bottom of the shoe sole defines a plurality of holes in communication with the second air chambers of the midsole so s to allow air exchange between inside and outside the shoe to be carried out through the holes.
The shoe sole may further comprises an air-permeable and humidity-blocking film interposed between the insole and the midsole to prevent water from flowing upward from the second air chambers toward the insole.
The insole has a top face forming a plurality of compressible sections corresponding the first air chambers in position so that when the wearer of the shoe walk, the compressible sections are cyclically depressed to pump air inside the air chambers into the shoe forming air streams toward the wearer's sole and/or pump air/water trapped in the air chambers out of the shoe and to draw surrounding air into the sole when the compressible sections are released from depression for replenishing fresh air into the shoe.
Further, the midsole has an outer circumference through which a plurality of channels is defined and in communication with outward-leading holes defined in the bottom for expelling trapped water and heat out of the sole.
The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciated these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a cosmetic jar constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the circled portion designated by 2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an assembled view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom side perspective view of an insole of the shoe sole in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a top plane view of a midsole of the shoe sole of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to FIGS. 1-6, a shoe sole constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a bottom 10, an insole 20, and a midsole 30. The insole 20 forms a plurality of through holes 21 serving as vent holes or air passages. A plurality of raised sections 22 is formed on a bottom face of the insole 20 to delimit a plurality of insole air chambers 23 on the bottom face of the insole 20. The midsole 30 is positioned between the insole 20 and the bottom 10. The midsole 30 has a top face opposing the bottom face of the insole 20 and a plurality of raised sections 31 is formed on the top face of the midsole 30 to delimit a plurality of midsole air chambers 32. The raised sections 31 of the midsole 30 are configured to substantially correspond in position and shape/size to the raised sections 22 of the insole 20 whereby when the insole 20 is stacked on the midsole 30, the insole raised sections 22 are positioned, in a one-to-one fashion, on the midsole raised sections 31 respectively. Consequently, the insole air chambers 23 of the insole 20 correspond, also in a one-to-one fashion, in position to the midsole air chambers 32 whereby each insole air chamber 23 and the corresponding midsole air chamber 32 together form a continuous air chamber having an enlarged volume.
The bottom 10 has a circumferential wall (not labeled) in which a plurality of sideways-extending and circumferentially-distributed through holes 11 is defined. The holes 11 are in fluid communication with the midsole air chambers 32 whereby air exchange between inside and outside of the sole can be performed by air flowing through the holes 11.
Preferably, and as illustrated in the drawings, an air-permeable and humidity-blocking film 40 is interposed between the insole 20 and the midsole 30, serving as a barrier that prevents water, which enters the midsole air chambers 32 through the holes 11, from flowing upward into the insole air chambers 23 and further reaching and wetting a wearer's sole through the air passages 21 of the insole 20.
The insole 20 has a top face, opposite to the raised sections 22, forming a plurality of compressible sections 24, which are preferably corresponding in position and number to the insole air chambers 23. The compressible sections 24 are depressible downward to compress the air volume contained in the corresponding insole air chambers 23 and midsole air chambers 32, which pumps air contained in the air chambers 23, 32 out of the sole through the air passages 21 to form air streams flowing toward the wearer's sole, and when the compressible sections 24, which are made resilient, are released from the depression, the compressible sections 24 resiliently restore the original un-depressed condition, and the restoration of the compressible sections 24 expands the volume of the air chambers 23, 32 to draw outside air into the air chambers 23, 32 through the holes 11.
Thus, when the wearer is walking, the compressible sections 24 are repeatedly compressed and released with the stepping-down and up-lifting movements of the wearer's sole and as a consequence thereof, air is continuously and cyclically forces to enter the shoe through the air passages 21 and freshen the wearer's sole and replenished by drawing outside air into the sole through the holes 11.
Referring particular to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, a plurality of outward-extending channels 33 is defined through a circumferential wall of the midsole 30 and communicating between the midsole chambers 32 and the holes 11 of the bottom 10, preferably in a one-to-one fashion, but not necessarily. The outward-extending channels 33 serve to drain air or water trapped in the midsole air chambers 32 out of the sole through the holes 11.
Also formed in the midsole 30 is a circumferentially-extending channel 34 that are substantially co-extensive with the outer circumference of the midsole 30 and are in fluid communication with the outward-extending channels 33, whereby all the channels 33 are put in communication with each other through the channel 34. Thus, even if the outward-extending channels 33 are not in perfect alignment with the holes 11 and only one channel 33 are aligned with the hole 11, the air and water trapped in the midsole air chambers 32 can be expelled out of the sole.
It is apparent to those having ordinary skills that the midsole 30 and the bottom 10 can be formed integrally as a unitary member or part of the shoe sole and the present invention is considered encompassing such a modification.
It is also apparent that the present invention is applicable to all kinds of shoes, including an Oxford shoes, sports shoes, leather shoes, boots, slip-ons, sandals, boots, and slippers.
To summarize, the shoe sole of the present invention has a structure comprising a bottom 10 on which an insole 20 and a midsole 30 are stacked, wherein the insole 2 defines a plurality of air passages 21 and has a bottom face forming a plurality of raised sections 22 that delimits a plurality of insole air chambers 23 and wherein the midsole 30, positioned under the insole 20, has a top face forming a plurality raised sections 31 that delimits a plurality of midsole air chambers 32 and that is arranged to correspond to the raised sections 22 of the insole 20 so that when the insole 20 is stacked on the midsole 30, the raised sections 22 of the insole 20 are positioned, in a on-to-one fashion, on the raised sections 31 of the midsole 30 respectively and each insole air chamber 23 of the insole 20 is jointed with the corresponding midsole air chamber 32 of the midsole 30 to form a continuous, combined air chamber having an increased volume for preservation of an increased amount of air therein that enhances heat dissipation from inside the shoe.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A shoe sole comprising a bottom, an insole, and a midsole, wherein:

the insole forms a plurality of air passages extending therethrough, and has a bottom face on which a plurality of first raised sections is formed to delimit a plurality of first air chambers; and

the midsole is positioned between the insole and the bottom and has a top face opposing the bottom face of the insole and forming a plurality of second raised sections that delimits a plurality of second air chambers, the second raised sections being configured to correspond in position to the first raised sections so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, the first raised sections are respectively positioned on the second raised sections and the first air chambers respectively correspond to the second air chambers to form combined air chambers that each have an increased volume.

2. The shoe sole as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an air-permeable and humidity-blocking film interposed between the insole and the midsole.

3. The shoe sole as claimed in claim 1, wherein the midsole has an outer circumference through which first channels are formed, the first channels being arranged in alignment with through holes defined in the bottom respectively.

4. The shoe sole as claimed in claim 1, wherein the midsole is integrally formed with the bottom.

5. The shoe sole as claimed in claim 1, wherein the midsole has an outer circumference through which first channels are formed, a second channel along the outer circumference and in communication with the first channels.