U.S. patent application number 10/354623 was filed with the patent office on 2004-05-13 for flow regulator adaptable to ventilating systems inside shoes.
This patent application is currently assigned to YAMAMOTO LIMITED. Invention is credited to Buttigieg, Carmel.
Application Number | 20040088882 10/354623 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32105690 |
Filed Date | 2004-05-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040088882 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Buttigieg, Carmel |
May 13, 2004 |
Flow regulator adaptable to ventilating systems inside shoes
Abstract
A flow regulator formed by a three way valve and by an external
adapter. The valve is joined to the pump located in the heel area
of the shoe soles, as normally used in ventilating systems, and the
adapter basically permits the adjustment of the whole system to a
wide number of sizes.
Inventors: |
Buttigieg, Carmel; (Santa
Venera, MT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BUCKNAM AND ARCHER
1077 Northern Boulevard
Roslyn
NY
11576-1696
US
|
Assignee: |
YAMAMOTO LIMITED
|
Family ID: |
32105690 |
Appl. No.: |
10/354623 |
Filed: |
January 30, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/3B ; 36/29;
36/35B |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B 13/206 20130101;
A43B 21/285 20130101; A43B 13/203 20130101; F16K 11/105 20130101;
A43B 7/082 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
036/003.00B ;
036/035.00B; 036/029 |
International
Class: |
A43B 013/20 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 8, 2002 |
MT |
1798 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1) A flow regulator adaptable to ventilating systems inside shoes
composed by a three-way valve and by an external adapter, said
three-way valve is formed-by a central part (30) which has an
internal hole (32a) terminating with an orifice (33a) and a lateral
part (31) which has an internal hole (32b) terminating with an
orifice (33b), into the internal hole (32a) of the central part
(30) the ball (34), the spring (35) and the cap (36) are inserted,
into the lateral part (31), the ball (34) and the cap (36) are
inserted, said external adapter (37) which has a central hole for
entering the lateral part (31) of the three-way valve and a smaller
internal hole made into its head (40) which allows the air
flow.
2) A flow regulator, according to claim 1 which is adaptable to
various sizes of shoes through the external adapter (37) whose
central hole has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the
lateral part (31) of the three-way valve in order to slide over it
only with a pressure just to seal it, this sliding movement makes
the adaptation of the whole pumping system to various sizes of
soles.
3) A flow regulator, according to claim 1, which is inserted into a
sole which has a pre-formed hole made with three diameters: the
external one (12c) lodges the head (40) of the adapter, the
intermediate one (12b) lodges the collar (39) of the adapter and
the internal one (12a) lodges the central body of the adapter, said
position makes a joint which does not allow to the head (40) any
movement.
4) A flow regulator, according to claim 1, where the spring
inserted into the central hole (32a) of the three-way valve is
replaced by a plastic insert (41) having the same dimension and the
same function.
5) A flow regulator, according to claim 1, where the two caps (36)
of the three-way valve, which obviously have an internal hole, have
the internal top made with an inclined spout (36a) in this case it
is possible to avoid the use of the spring for keeping the ball in
the right position, its length allows very little movements of the
ball which, when is sucked, closes the hole (33b) and when is
expelled touches the cap (36) but does not close its hole because
its surface is inclined and the air can flow out.
6) A flow regulator, according to claim 1, where the two balls (34)
of the three-way valve used for closing the orifice (33a) of the
central hole (32a) and the orifice (33b) of the lateral hole (32b)
are produced with rubber.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 of
Maltese Application No. 1798 filed Nov. 8, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The ventilation inside shoes is a subject very important in
the shoe market. The producers are looking for new devices which
can improve this matter, concentrating their efforts also to the
reduction of the costs.
[0004] Following these targets many researches proposed a lot of
patents generally addressed toward the use of the force of a pump
situated in the heel area.
[0005] When the heel is pressed to the ground, during the impact
phase of a step, the pump pushes the air therein externally the
shoe and when the heel is raised, during the push-off phase, the
pump sucks in air to replace the air previously forced onto the
shoe.
[0006] This air has a one-way flow because all the present
ventilating systems use a pump which has an inlet which includes a
one-way valve allowing air into the pump and an outlet including a
one-way valve allowing air into the shoe. The prior art does not
mention anything about a device for the adaptation of these valves
to various sizes.
[0007] 2. Description of The Prior Art
[0008] With references to the above Field of the Invention, among
the patents which refer to these purposes, the most pertinent are
the following:
[0009] Pearse UK Pat. Application--GB 2 262 024 A
[0010] Jung U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,981
[0011] Huang U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,581
[0012] Kwon U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,626
[0013] Fukuoka U.S. Pat. No 5,505,01
[0014] Lee U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,622
[0015] Vecchiola U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,694
[0016] Yamamoto U.S. Ser. No. 09/685,121 (Application)
[0017] All these patents, as many other ones, could avoid the use
of two or more one-way valves and work better using the flow
regulator proposed by the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0018] The objectives of the present invention are to provide an
only three-way valve joined to an external adapter to a ventilation
system inside a shoe.
[0019] The advantages of this invented valve can be resumed as
follows:
[0020] A minor production cost because the system adopts a single
valve instead of two or more.
[0021] A minor assembling cost for the same reason.
[0022] Better sealing of the whole ventilating system because each
joint of a valve represents a possible critical point for the air
seal.
[0023] An only one direct flow derived from the pumping device.
[0024] The adaptability of the three-way valve with a wide range of
widths of soles using its external adapter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] Other objects and features of the present invention will
become apparent from the following detailed description considered
in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be
understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose
of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the
invention.
[0026] In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote
similar elements throughout the several views:
[0027] FIG. 1 is a side view of a shoe provided with a pump in the
heel area joined to two one-way valves.
[0028] FIG. 2 is a cross section of the components of a one-way
valve.
[0029] FIG. 3 is a cross section of a one-way valve positioned for
the expulsion of the air.
[0030] FIG. 4 is a cross section of a one-way valve positioned for
the suction of the air.
[0031] FIG. 5 is a top view of the sole portion provided with a
pumping device joined to a one-way valve for the expulsion of the
air and to two one-way valves for the suction of the air inside the
shoe.
[0032] FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the invented three-way
valve.
[0033] FIG. 7 is a top view of the assembled invented three-way
valve.
[0034] FIG. 8 is a side view of a shoe provided with a pumping
device joined to the invented three-way valve which is joined to an
external adapter.
[0035] FIGS. 9a-9b-9c-9d is the view of the movements made during
the assembling for the adaptability of the three-way valve with the
external adapter.
[0036] FIG. 10a-10b is the view of the air flow during the
walking.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0037] With reference to the above drawings, FIGS. 1-2-3-4-5 show
the prior art, where, in FIG. 1 a pump (11) is located into the
heel area of a sole (12) and joined in the lateral side, through a
pre-formed hole, to a one-way valve (13) inserted in the position
of expulsion, as better shown in FIG. 3, and joined in the front
side to a tube (15) where the other one-way valve (13) is inserted
in the position of suction, as better shown in FIG. 4. The
components of a standard one-way valve are shown in FIG. 2, where
the body valve (16) has an internal hole (17a-17b) which has a
narrowing (18). Into the longer part (17b) of this body valve the
following components are inserted : the ball (19), the spring (20)
and the flat cap (21). The ball and the spring are-metallic.
[0038] FIG. 5 shows the top view of a sole (12) where the pump, for
a better sucking effect, has two tubes (15) with the corresponding
two one-way valves.
[0039] FIG. 6 shows the exploded view of the invented three-way
valve, where the body valve is formed by a central part (30) which
has an internal hole (32a) terminating with an orifice (33a) and a
lateral part (31) which has an internal hole (32b) terminating with
an orifice (33b). Into the internal hole (32a) of the central
part(30) the ball (34), the spring (35) and the cap (36) are
inserted. From the other side, the lateral part (31), the ball (34)
and the cap (36) are inserted. In this three-way valve the two
balls used are produced in rubber instead of iron like the prior
art. It is easy to understand that a rubber ball closes the orifice
very well because its surface adheres perfectly to the edge of the
orifice making a perfect sealing. The sealing in this valve, as in
every pneumatic device, is the most important factor.
[0040] In the same FIG. 6 another very important component is
shown: the external adapter (37). This invented component is
studied to adapt the three-way valve to various sizes of soles,
which, clearly, have different distance between the lateral part
(31) and the edge of the sole. The two caps (36), which obviously
have an internal hole, have the internal top made with an inclined
spout (36a) and is not flat like the other ones used in many
applications of the prior art. In this case it is possible to avoid
the use of the spring, specially in the lateral hole, (32b), for
keeping the ball in the right position. The length of this cap is
projected in order to allow a very little movement of the ball
which, when is sucked, closes the hole (33b) and when is expelled
touches the cap (36) but does not close its hole because its
surface is inclined (36a) and the air can flow out. If this surface
were flat the ball could close the hole and no air could flow.
[0041] The external adapter (37) obviously has a central hole (38a)
for entering the lateral part (31) of the three-way valve and a
smaller internal hole (38b) made into its head (40) which allows
the air flow. The central hole (38b) has a diameter smaller than
the diameter of the lateral part (31) in order to slide over it
only with a pressure just to seal it.
[0042] This sliding movement makes the adaptation of the whole
pumping system to various sizes of soles, as shown in FIGS.
9a-9b-9c-9d.
[0043] The hole pre-formed into the sole has three diameters: the
external one (12c) lodges the head (40) of the adapter, the
intermediate one (12b) lodges the collar (39) of the adapter and
the internal one (12a) lodges the central body of the adapter. Once
this adapter is inserted into the sole can not move.
[0044] The head of this adapter may be round (40a) or elliptic
(40b).
[0045] The spring (35) inserted into the central part (32a) of the
valve can be replaced by a plastic insert (41) whose length is
shorter than the distance between the cap (36), when totally
inserted, and the ball when is touching the orifice (33a). The work
of the spring, as this plastic insert, is to allow a little
movement of the ball for closing the mentioned orifice or for
setting it open. The section of this plastic insert can be
triangular (41a), square (41b), pentagonal (41c) or a tube (41d),
the important fact is that the air can circulate inside the central
hole (32a) and the lateral hole (32b). FIG. 7 shows all the
components assembled and FIG. 8 when located into the heel area.
FIGS. 9a-9b show the insertion of the external adapter (37) into
the lateral part, FIG. 9c its adaptation for big sizes long
distances (x) between the edge of the sole and the central body
(30) of the three-way valve, while FIG. 9d its adaptation for small
sizes=short distance (y) between the edge of the sole and the
central body (30) of the three-way valve.
[0046] At last FIG. 10a and 10b show the real effect of the
three-way valve once inserted into the sole during the walking.
[0047] FIG. 10a shows what happens when the foot touches the
ground: the pump (11) is compressed and therefore deflates pushing
the air outside, this is possible because the air flow derived from
the pump pushes the ball of the central hole (32a) to close the
orifice (33a) and pushes the other ball of the lateral hole (32b)
to open the orifice (33b) leaving free the air to go out.
[0048] FIG. 10b shows what happens when the foot raises from the
ground: the pump, now uncompressed, inflates and therefore sucks
the air internally the shoe through the tube (15), this is possible
because through this sucking force the ball of the central hole
(32a) is moved along it, setting free the orifice (33a) and the
ball of the lateral hole (32b) is sucked closing the orifice
(33b).
[0049] Accordingly, while a few embodiments of the present
invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood
that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in
the appended claims.
* * * * *