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US 11,589,642 B1Granted
Ventilated shoes
OwnerSalvatore Deianainventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ventilation apparatus for an article of footwear has a hollow air pump chamber, one or more one-way air valves positioned through the top wall of the air pump chamber, and an air intake channel with a one-way valve coupled through an opening into the air pump chamber. Action of stepping down on the air pump chamber deforms the walls and increases pressure in the air pump chamber, and forces air out of the air pump chamber through the one or more one-way air valves positioned through the top wall of the air pump chamber, and action of lifting weight off the air pump chamber causes the deformed walls to return toward original form, decreasing pressure in the air pump chamber and drawing air in through the air intake channel.
Claims17
A ventilation apparatus of an article of footwear comprising:
- a hollow air pump chamber having an outer shape of an inside of the article of footwear, the hollow air pump chamber having a flexible side wall of a constant height around an outer periphery in the outer shape, a flexible top wall, a flexible bottom wall, and a plurality of air cushion elements extending between a surface of the flexible bottom wall and a surface of the felexible top wall inside the hollow air pump chamber, each air cushion element formed from flexible material, having alternating circular horizontal cross sections of a larger diameter and a smaller diameter, and being closed on both ends;
- a plurality of one-way air valves positioned through the flexible top wall of the air pump chamber, allowing air flow only out of the air pump chamber;
- and
- an air intake channel coupled through an opening into the air pump chamber, the air intake channel having a one-way air valve allowing air to flow only into the air pump chamber;
- wherein action of stepping down on the air pump chamber deforms the walls of the air pump chamber in a manner to decrease volume and increase pressure in the air pump chamber, and forces air out of the air pump chamber through the plurality of one-way air valves positioned through the flexible top wall of the air pump chamber, and action of lifting weight off the air pump chamber causes the deformed walls to return toward original form, decreasing pressure in the air pump chamber and drawing air in through the air intake channel.
2 more elements
An article of footwear, comprising:
- a sole portion;
- an upper portion adapted to retain a user's foot;
- an opening in the upper portion adapted to enable the user to insert the foot;
- and
- a ventilation apparatus supported on the sole in the article of footwear, the ventilation apparatus comprising:
- a hollow air pump chamber having an outer shape of an inside of the article of footwear, the hollow air pump chamber having a flexible side wall of a constant height around an outer periphery in the outer shape, a flexible top wall, a flexible bottom wall, and a plurality of air cushion elements extending between a surface of the flexible bottom wall and a surface of the felexible top wall inside the hollow air pump chamber, each air cushion element formed from flexible material, having alternating circular horizontal cross sections of a larger diameter and a smaller diameter, and being closed on both ends;
- a plurality of one-way air valves positioned through the flexible top wall of the air pump chamber, allowing air flow only out of the air pump chamber;
- and
- an air intake channel coupled through an opening into the air pump chamber, the air intake channel having a one-way air valve allowing air to flow only into the air pump chamber;
- wherein action of stepping down on the air pump chamber deforms the walls of the air pump chamber in a manner to decrease volume and increase pressure in the air pump chamber, and forces air out of the air pump chamber through the plurality of one-way air valves positioned through the flexible top wall of the air pump chamber, and action of lifting weight off the air pump chamber causes the deformed walls to return toward original form, decreasing pressure in the air pump chamber and drawing air in through the air intake channel.
7 more elements
A method for ventilating an article of footwear, comprising:
- implementing a ventilation apparatus comprising a hollow air pump chamber having an outer shape of an inside of the article of footwear, the hollow air pump chamber having a flexible side wall of a constant height around an outer periphery in the outer shape, a flexible top wall, a flexible bottom wall, and a plurality of air cushion elements extending between a surface of the flexible bottom wall and a surface of the felexible top wall inside the hollow air pump chamber, each air cushion element formed from flexible material, having alternating circular horizontal cross sections of a larger diameter and a smaller diameter, and being closed on both ends in the article of footwear;
- stepping down on the hollow air pump chamber having a flexible top, bottom and side walls in the article of footwear, deforming the walls of the air pump chamber in a manner to decrease volume and increase pressure in the air pump chamber, forcing air out of the air pump chamber through a plurality of one-way air valves positioned through the top wall of the air pump chamber;
- and
- lifting weight off the air pump chamber causing the deformed walls to return toward original form, decreasing pressure in the air pump chamber and drawing air in through an air intake channel having a one-way air valve allowing air only into the air pump chamber.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.