U.S. patent application number 13/192796 was filed with the patent office on 2013-01-31 for footwear capable of presenting visual information.
The applicant listed for this patent is Keng-Hsien Lin. Invention is credited to Keng-Hsien Lin.
Application Number | 20130025166 13/192796 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47596034 |
Filed Date | 2013-01-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130025166 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Keng-Hsien |
January 31, 2013 |
FOOTWEAR CAPABLE OF PRESENTING VISUAL INFORMATION
Abstract
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.
Inventors: |
Lin; Keng-Hsien; (Kaohsiung
City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Lin; Keng-Hsien |
Kaohsiung City |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
47596034 |
Appl. No.: |
13/192796 |
Filed: |
July 28, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/137 ;
36/136 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43B 3/001 20130101;
A43B 3/0005 20130101; A43B 3/0078 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
36/137 ;
36/136 |
International
Class: |
A43B 23/24 20060101
A43B023/24 |
Claims
1. A footwear capable of presenting visual information, comprising:
a footwear body including a sole portion, and an upper portion that
is connected to said 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 said outer
surface of said upper portion, and a light-transmissive protection
layer that is disposed to cover said display unit; a control device
including a control unit that is connected electrically to said
display unit for controlling operation of said display unit to
display visual information on said display unit; and a power supply
that is connected electrically to said display device and said
control device and that is operable for powering said control
device and said display device.
2. The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control device
further includes a wireless receiver unit that is connected
electrically to said control unit, said control unit being
configured to wirelessly receive information content via said
wireless receiver unit, and to generate the visual information from
the information content thus received.
3. The footwear as claimed in claim 2, wherein said wireless
receiver unit is a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and
the information content received by said control unit via said
wireless receiver unit is GPS location information.
4. The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control device
further includes a triggering unit operable to trigger operation of
said control unit to display the visual information on said display
unit.
5. The footwear as claimed in claim 4, wherein said triggering unit
is responsive to a triggering signal received thereby to trigger
operation of said control unit to display the visual information on
said display unit.
6. The footwear as claimed in claim 4, wherein said triggering unit
is operable to trigger operation of said control unit to display
the visual information on said display unit according to a system
time.
7. The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control device
further includes a storage medium having information content stored
therein, said control unit being operable to generate the visual
information from the information content in said storage
medium.
8. The footwear as claimed in claim 7, wherein said control device
further includes an input interface unit connected electrically to
said control unit, said control unit being configured to receive
the information content via said input interface unit, and to store
the information content thus received in said storage medium.
9. The footwear as claimed in claim 8, wherein said input interface
unit is a wireless interface unit.
10. The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said power supply
includes at least one of a battery module and a generator module
capable of harvesting power from walking.
11. The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display unit
includes at least one organic light-emitting diode display.
12. The footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
light-transmissive protection layer is made of thermoplastic
polyurethane.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a footwear, more
particularly to a footwear capable of presenting visual
information.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] 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.
[0005] 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.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide
a footwear that is capable of alleviating the aforesaid drawbacks
of the prior art.
[0007] According to the present invention, a footwear capable of
presenting visual information includes:
[0008] 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;
[0009] 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;
[0010] 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
[0011] 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.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] 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:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the first preferred
embodiment of a footwear capable of presenting visual information,
according to the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the footwear;
[0015] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control device of
the footwear;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram to illustrate an exemplary
application of the footwear;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a block diagram to illustrate operational
relationship among components in the exemplary application
illustrated in FIG. 4;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram to illustrate another
exemplary application of the footwear;
[0019] FIG. 7 is a block diagram to illustrate the second preferred
embodiment of a footwear according to the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 8 is a block diagram to illustrate the third preferred
embodiment of a footwear according to the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram to illustrate the fourth
preferred embodiment of a footwear according to the present
invention;
[0022] FIG. 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the
footwear of the fourth preferred embodiment; and
[0023] FIG. 11 is a block diagram to illustrate the fourth
preferred embodiment of a footwear according to the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] 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.
[0025] Referring to FIGS. 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.
[0026] 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).
[0027] 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.
[0028] 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.
[0029] Shown in FIGS. 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 41.
[0030] 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 FIG. 6)
to thereby trigger display of corresponding visual information on
the display unit 51 of a footwear worn by the player.
[0031] 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.
[0032] Referring to FIG. 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 maybe 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.
[0033] 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.
[0034] 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.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 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.
[0036] 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.
[0037] Referring to FIGS. 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.
[0038] 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.
[0039] 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.
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