US 4,364,186 AGranted

Ventilated footwear

AssigneeFukuoka Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorSadao Fukuoka

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Abstract

A ventilated article of footwear, such as a shoe, is provided with an outer sole of deformable material having a raised peripheral portion of enlarged thickness surrounding the entire periphery thereof. An inner sole of non-deformable material is mounted above the outer sole in normally spaced relation therefrom to define an air chamber between the soles. The inner sole is perforated with a plurality of apertures providing communication between the air chamber and the interior of the shoe. A compressible supporting material is located in the air chamber between the inner and outer soles and normally biases the deformable outer sole away from the inner sole to provide a relatively deep air chamber. When the wearer of the shoe applies his weight upon the outer sole, the latter deforms upwardly compressing the compressible supporting material and reducing the depth of the air chamber. As the volume of the air chamber decreases, the air therewithin is compressed and is forced through the apertures in the inner sole to the interior of the shoe to provide air circulation. When the wearer's weight is relieved, the deformable outer sole returns to its original position under the biasing action of the supporting material, in cooperation with the raised peripheral portion of the outer sole, to return the air chamber to its original depth and cause a return flow of outside air through the interior of the shoe and into the air chamber.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A ventilated article of footwear comprising an outer sole of deformable material having a concavity of appreciable depth formed in its upper surface and extending over substantially the entire area of said outer sole, said outer sole also having a upstanding peripheral portion of selected thickness entirely surrounding the body thereof,

an inner sole mounted above said outer sole and overlying said concavity to form an air chamber of appreciable depth between said soles, with said upstanding peripheral portion bordering and enclosing said air chamber, said inner sole having a plurality of ventilating apertures formed therein and providing communication between said air chamber and the interior of said article of footwear,
and supporting means of deformable material located within said air chamber in abutment with said inner sole and outer sole and being adapted to compress in response to deformation of the outer sole when the weight of the wearer is applied to the latter,
whereby the upstanding peripheral portion of said deformable outer sole provides a force factor for upward deformation of said outer sole toward said inner sole under applied weight of the wearer, and for restitution of said outer sole to its non-deformed condition when the wearer's weight is released therefrom, the upward deformation of said outer sole reducing the depth of said air chamber sufficiently to compress the air therein, thereby discharging said compressed air through said ventilating apertures into the interior of said article of footwear.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.