U.S. patent application number 10/071553 was filed with the patent office on 2003-08-07 for shoe pad with a gas discharging valve.
Invention is credited to Hong, Dick.
Application Number | 20030145487 10/071553 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27659258 |
Filed Date | 2003-08-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030145487 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hong, Dick |
August 7, 2003 |
Shoe pad with a gas discharging valve
Abstract
A flexible pad body includes an inflatable part that is
compressible and that confines a cavity injected with high pressure
gas such that the pressure in the cavity is greater than the
ambient pressure, and at least a discharging valve installed in the
inflatable part and having a valve opening for permitting fluid
communication between the cavity and the atmosphere. The
discharging valve is deformable in such a manner that when foot
pressure is applied on the pad body, the discharging valve is
deformed, which, in turn, results in opening of the valve opening,
and that when the pad body is relieved from the foot pressure, the
discharging valve recovers to its non-deformed state, which, in
turn, results in closing of the valve opening.
Inventors: |
Hong, Dick; (Taichung City,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LADAS & PARRY
224 SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE, SUITE 1200
CHICAGO
IL
60604
US
|
Family ID: |
27659258 |
Appl. No.: |
10/071553 |
Filed: |
February 5, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/3R ;
36/43 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B 7/081 20130101;
A43B 17/035 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
36/3.00R ;
36/43 |
International
Class: |
A43B 007/06; A43B
013/38 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A shoe pad comprising: a flexible pad body including an airtight
flat inflatable part that is compressible and that confines a
cavity adapted to store a high pressure gas therein in such a
manner that the pressure in said cavity is greater than the ambient
pressure so as to permit discharge of the gas from said cavity into
the atmosphere; and at least a discharging valve installed in said
inflatable part and including a valve body that has a valve opening
for permitting fluid communication between said cavity and the
atmosphere, said discharging valve being deformable in such a
manner that when foot pressure is applied on said pad body, said
discharging valve is deformed, which, in turn, results in opening
of said valve opening, thereby permitting the discharge of the gas
from said cavity into the atmosphere, and that when said pad body
is relieved from the foot pressure, said discharging valve recovers
to its non-deformed state, which, in turn, results in closing of
said valve opening, thereby preventing the discharge of the gas
from said cavity into the atmosphere.
2. The shoe pad of claim 1, further comprising an injection valve
installed in said inflatable part and adapted for injection of the
high pressure gas into said cavity.
3. The shoe pad of claim 1, wherein said inflatable part has top
and bottom walls and a peripheral side wall interconnecting said
top and bottom walls and having a front end that is formed with a
wall opening which is in fluid communication with said cavity via
said discharging valve, said valve body of said discharging valve
extending from a periphery of said wall opening into said cavity
and having a generally cone-shaped inner wall that has a diverging
end extending from said periphery of said wall opening and a
converging end opposite to and extending convergingly from said
diverging end to define said valve opening so that when the foot
pressure is applied on said pad body and compresses said diverging
end, said converging end is deformed together with said diverging
end, which, in turn, results in opening of said valve opening.
4. The shoe pad of claim 3, wherein said discharging valve further
includes an elastic returning member that is disposed in said
cone-shaped inner wall between said converging and diverging ends
and that has two opposite ends extending in a direction transverse
to said top and bottom walls and connected to said cone-shaped
inner-wall.
5. The shoe pad of claim 4, wherein said pad body further includes
an outer part confining a receiving space that is defined by an
inner face and that receives fittingly said inflatable part, said
peripheral side wall of said inflatable part having a shape
conforming to said inner face, said outer part having a top face
that is flush with said top wall of said inflatable part, and being
formed with at least an L-shaped vent hole extending from said top
face to said inner face to communicate with said wall opening in
said front end of said peripheral side wall.
6. The shoe pad of claim 1, wherein the high pressure gas is
oxygen.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to a shoe pad, more particularly to a
shoe pad with a gas discharging valve.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] It is known to incorporate ventilating devices into shoe
pads in shoes for air exchange between the inside of the shoes and
the atmosphere. However, the conventional ventilating devices allow
only limited air exchange with the atmosphere, because air is
trapped in and circulates mostly inside the shoe.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide
a shoe pad with an inflatable part that can store a gas therein and
that is provided with a gas discharging valve for discharging the
gas from the inflatable part into the shoe upon walking, thereby
purging and refreshing the air inside the shoe.
[0006] According to the present invention, a shoe pad comprises: a
flexible pad body including an airtight flat inflatable part that
is compressible and that confines a cavity adapted to store a high
pressure gas therein in such a manner that the pressure in the
cavity is greater than the ambient pressure so as to permit
discharge of the gas from the cavity into the atmosphere; and at
least a discharging valve installed in the inflatable part and
including a valve body that has a valve opening for permitting
fluid communication between the cavity and the atmosphere, the
discharging valve being deformable in such a manner that when foot
pressure is applied on the pad body, the discharging valve is
deformed, which, in turn, results in opening of the valve opening,
thereby permitting the discharge of the gas from the cavity into
the atmosphere, and that when the pad body is relieved from the
foot pressure, the discharging valve recovers to its non-deformed
state, which, in turn, results in closing of the valve opening,
thereby preventing the discharge of the gas from the cavity into
the atmosphere.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the
invention,
[0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe pad embodying this
invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shoe pad of
FIG. 1;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a top view of the shoe pad of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the shoe pad taken along line
IV-IV of FIG. 3;
[0012] FIG. 5 is a partly cutaway view to illustrate configuration
of a discharging valve of the shoe pad of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 6 is a sectional view to illustrate deformation of a
discharging valve of the shoe pad of FIG. 1 when the latter is
subjected to a foot pressure;
[0014] FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view to illustrate the
discharging valve of the shoe pad of FIG. 1 at a non-deformed
state;
[0015] FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view to illustrate the
discharging valve of the shoe pad of FIG. 1 at a deformed state
when subjected to a foot pressure; and
[0016] FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of a second preferred
embodiment of the shoe pad with a discharging valve modified from
the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] FIGS. 1 to 7 illustrate a first preferred embodiment of a
shoe pad of this invention for a shoe 40.
[0018] The shoe pad includes: a flexible plastic pad body 100
including an airtight flat inflatable part 20 that is compressible
and that confines a cavity 30 therein; an injection valve 26
installed in the inflatable part 20 and adapted for injection of a
gas, such as oxygen, into the cavity 30 in such a manner that the
pressure in the cavity 30 is greater than the ambient pressure so
as to permit discharge of the gas from the cavity 30 into the
atmosphere; and at least a discharging valve 6 installed in the
inflatable part 20 and including a valve body 61 that has a valve
opening 60 for permitting fluid communication between the cavity 30
and the atmosphere. The discharging valve 6 is deformable in such a
manner that when a foot pressure is applied on the pad body 100,
the discharging valve 6 is deformed (see FIGS. 6 and 8), which, in
turn, results in opening of the valve opening 60, thereby
permitting the discharge of the gas from the cavity 30 into the
atmosphere, and that when the pad body 100 is relieved from a foot
pressure, the discharging valve 6 recovers to its non-deformed
state (see FIGS. 4 and 7), which, in turn, results in closing of
the valve opening 60, thereby preventing the discharge of the gas
from the cavity 30 into the atmosphere.
[0019] The inflatable part 20 has top and bottom walls 22, 21 and a
peripheral side wall 24 interconnecting the top and bottom walls
22, 21 and having a front end 241 that is formed with a wall
opening 242 which is in fluid communication with the cavity 30 via
the discharging valve 6. Portions 23 of the top and bottom walls
22, 21 of inflatable part 20 are connected by high frequency
welding techniques so as to flatten the inflatable part 20. The
valve body 61 of the discharging valve 6 extends from a periphery
of the wall opening 242 into the cavity 30, and has a generally
cone-shaped inner wall 62 having a diverging end 621 extending from
the periphery of the wall opening 242, and a converging end 622
opposite to and extending convergingly from the diverging end 621
to define the valve opening 60 so that when the foot pressure is
applied on the pad body 100 and compresses the diverging end 621,
the converging end 622 is deformed together with the diverging end
621, which, in turn, results in opening of the valve opening
60.
[0020] The discharging valve 6 further includes an elastic
returning member 64 that is disposed in the cone-shaped inner wall
62 between the diverging and converging ends 621, 622 and that has
two opposite ends extending in a direction transverse to the top
and bottom walls 22, 21 and connected to the cone-shaped inner-wall
62.
[0021] The valve body 61 further includes an end extension 65
having a cone-shaped inner face 651 that diverges from the
converging end 622 of the inner wall 62.
[0022] The pad body 100 further includes an outer part 10 confining
a receiving space 11 that is defined by an inner face 111 and that
receives fittingly the inflatable part 20. The peripheral side wall
24 of the inflatable part 20 has a shape conforming to the inner
face 111. The outer part 10 has a top face 13 that is flush with
the top wall 22 of the inflatable part 20, and is formed with at
least an L-shaped vent hole 12 extending from the top face 13 to
the inner face 111 to communicate with the wall opening 242 in the
front end 241 of the peripheral side wall 24 of the inflatable part
20.
[0023] With reference to FIG. 7, a groove 66 is formed among the
top and bottom walls 22, 21 and the valve body 61 to surround the
valve body 61, and extends from a position between the diverging
and converging ends 621, 622 to a free end of the end extension
65.
[0024] Since the valve opening 60 is very small, the rate of gas
discharge from the cavity 30 through the valve opening 60 each time
the pad body 100 is subjected to foot pressure is relatively small.
As such, the gas stored in the cavity 30 can last for a period of
time without the need for frequent refill of the gas into the
cavity 30.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 9, a second preferred embodiment of the
shoe pad of this invention is shown to be similar to the previous
embodiment, except that the groove 66 only surrounds a part of the
valve body 61.
[0026] With the invention thus explained, it is apparent that
various modifications and variations can be made without departing
from the spirit of the present invention. It is therefore intended
that the invention be limited only as recited in the appended
claims.
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