An Adaptive Sole

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of the adaptive sole. The invention, particularly relates to an adaptive sole that can be adapted according to the plurality of foot activities of the user for various foot activities such as walking, running, jumping, mountaineering and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various shoes are specifically designed to be worn for participating in several sports or any casual and formal occasions. Since the design of the sole of the shoe is according to the related foot activity, however, with the suitable sole, user can reduce the risk of foot problems. Various soles are performance footwear products and designed to meet very specific functional requirements of the user. The mechanics, says for walking are distinct from other activities, such as running or aerobics, so it is important to wear and required a walking shoe to get the most comfort and efficiency out of the activity.

In conventional, the use of resilient material with spring devices inside the sole member at the heel point and/or under the ball portion of the foot. Further, the sole of a shoe can also be utilized as a spring-activated cushion and an air bag or air chamber coupled with the sole of the shoe. These kinds of mechanism can provide cushioning effects with optionally cooling effects and/or air circulations inside the shoes. The ability of a sole to dissipate damaging forces on the surface of the foot of the user rests partly depends on the composition and more significantly on the construction technique of the manufacturer for the related foot activity. It is the major downside in the sole designing that leads most users to select erroneous athletic shoe for sporting activities.

There have been a number of solutions provided for converting sole of the shoes to adapt them for use in various activities and few of them have been discussed below: US 6430843 B1 discloses an article of footwear with a dynamically-controlled cushioning system. The cushioning system comprises a fluid-filled bladder having a plurality of separate sealed cushioning chambers and a control system. The control system is comprised of a CPU, pressure sensors and valves. The control system is used to control fluid communication between the chambers to dynamically adjust the pressure in the cushioning chambers for various conditions such as the activity that the footwear is used in, the weight of the individual and the individual's running style. The footwear can adjust the sole according to the need of the user.

US 5918381 A pertains a Shoe sole with liquid-powered ventilating fans. The sole of a shoe enables the feet of a user to cool and dehumidify, providing superior comfort to the feet of the person wearing the shoe. The sole comprises two layers, one of which has a liquid-filled area with a liquid powered turbine and the other layer containing a built-in air fan or fans or other turbines, which are powered by the liquid turbine responding to the liquid movement in the outer layer. These two layers are molded or otherwise connected to a shoe sole. The mechanical or magnetic gearing of all the turbines is configured to control the direction of air movement.

US 6134812 A discloses a shoe sole that makes it possible for the forces which are exerted when the foot is placed on the ground to be utilized for aiding the walking action of the user. A first cavity in the heel region with an intermediate pressure- storage space in the ball-of-the-foot region, and a further, third cavity in a space between the sole, the space being located between the ball-of-the-foot region and heel region. A line with a valve connects the second and third cavity, and a line with a valve connects the third and fourth cavities. Line and blocking mechanism connect the third cavity to the outside air and/or the shoe interior. A line and a valve connect the first cavity to the outside air. An outsole is provided beneath the sole.

US 4722131 A relates to an air cushion shoe sole, i.e. molded of elastomeric material and has at least one cavity which in cross-section is substantially rectilinear. The cavity has a plurality of depressions, wherein each cavity is having an air valve for introducing a shock absorbing material, such as gas, liquid, or a combination thereof into that cavity. Each air valve has means in it for automatically bleeding off a portion of the shock absorbing material introduced into the cavity once the pressure of that material reaches a predetermined level.

Several attempts have been made in the prior art for designing an adaptive sole that can be used with numerous sports activity, and materials, such as rubber, a conduit, a shock absorbing means, mechanical, or magnetic gearing, air-fans, turbines, swivel means inside the sole are to be used to the complex arrangement. These arrangements, however, often cause instability of the shoe which in turn can lead to various problems and injuries during running or other related activities. The above mentioned prior arts can only perform certain aspects say for example, provides an adaptive sole by a means of compoundly organized elements such as air fans, turbines, valves with the sole cushion material.

Accordingly, there remains a need in the prior art to have an improved sole mechanism, for proficient level of comfort to the feet of the user which also enables the user, having a suitable sole according to the activity of the feet of the user, therefore overcome the aforesaid problem and shortcomings. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of shoe sole having air cushion means now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved adaptive sole according to the user need. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved gait adaptive sole that actuates the suitable air pressure inside the sole by the according to the foot pressure of the user while performing the related task, which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.

An object of the invention is to provide a gait adaptive sole, i.e. having an inner sole mounted on an air compressing layer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the unified air pooling region, which is comprised of a plurality of air blotches to propel the air inside air compressing layer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the gait adaptive sole which is made of the material selected from a group of rubber material, resilient material, polyurethane, or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds and a combination thereof, although other suitable material can also be used by the producer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a plurality of air level regulating valves that propels the air inside the air compressing layer via the plurality of air blotches.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the air volume to the sole structure, which is substantially according to the requirement of the feet activity of the user. It is another object of the present invention to provide the gait adaptive sole, which is having a simple adaptive mechanism by placing the air level regulating valve and the plurality of air blotches between the air compressing layer, and further, the air is pumped as per required for the related foot activity of the user from each of the air blotches to make the air pooling region via the air level regulating valve.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure 1 shows a top perspective view of an adaptive sole in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 shows a top cross-section view of the adaptive sole in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that the embodiments may be combined, or that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural and logical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

The present invention generally provides a gait adaptive sole (200), i.e. having an inner sole (220) mounted on an air compressing layer (210); a plurality of air blotches (215) for making an air pooling region for the air compressing layer (210) that varies according to the foot pressure applied by the user; a plurality of air regulating valves to propel the air inside the air compressing layer (210) via the plurality of air blotches (215); the first regulating valve (205) takes the air from the surrounding to fill each of the air blotches (215) and the second air regulating valve (207) takes the air from the plurality of air blotches (215) to propel the air inside the other portion of the air compressing layer (210). Further, the plurality of air blotches (215) is axially placed inside the air compressing layer (210).

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated, in FIG. 1 , a top perspective view of the gait adaptive sole (200) of the shoe is utilized in this embodiment, the plurality of air blotches (215) propels the air inside the air compressing layer (210), by the foot pressure of the user via the first air regulating valve (205), The volume of air is regulated by a plurality of foot activities, and further, the plurality of foot activities includes the activities such as walking, running, jumping, mountaineering and the like. To start with, the air is entered inside each of the air blotches (215) via the first air regulating valve (205) and promotes the air compressing layer (210) to receive the air from the plurality of air blotches (215) via the second air regulating valve (207). Further, the air regulating means is providing an air propelling mechanism to the sole member (230) of the present invention.

The first air regulating valve (205) is placed, but not limited to, immediately downstream, on the outsole layer (225) of the sole member (230). The plurality of air blotches (215) is adapted to propel the air inside the air compressing layer (210) by placing the second air regulating valve (207).

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the air compressing layer

(210) maintains the air level with respect to the plurality of air blotches (215) according to a plurality of foot activities of the user. The pressure is exerted by the foot of the user on each of the air blotches (215) that further impregnates the air via the air regulating valve (205) to make the air pooling region inside the air compressing layer (210). Preferably, the air regulating valve (205) is placed to transfer the substantially air to the unified air pooling region, i.e. the plurality of air blotches (215) and the remaining portion inside the air compressing layer (210). The plurality of air regulating valves (205) impregnates the substantial air, according to the plurality of foot activities of the user.

Referring to FIG. 2, the sole member includes an insole (220) and an outsole (225) and further, the plurality of foot activities creates associated air level between the insole (220) and the outsole (225), i.e. an air compressing layer (210) by the foot pressure of the user. The sole structure (200) is made of material selected from a group of rubber material, resilient material, elastic material, polyurethane, or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds and a combination thereof, although other suitable material can also be used by the producer.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the air level regulating valve (207) is an air connecting element for the unified air pooling region, i.e. the plurality of air blotches (215) inside the air compressing layer (210). The air pressure is determined by each of the air blotches (215) which is located between the insole (220) and the outsole layer (225) and further, maintains the air volume inside the air compressing layer (210) by means of the air level regulating valve (207) for regulating the required air level according to the foot activity of the user.

The above-mentioned gait adapting sole allows the user to be worn a footwear such as a shoe that eliminates the need to change the footwear with distinct foot activities says for example walking, running, jumping, particular need of the shoe while playing the related sport and the like which remain organized the user in one place about their shoes so that they do not appear cluttered with a number of shoes in their shoe storage means. In addition, the present invention preserves the use of one sole for various activities, organizes them so that they do not become cluttered, and entices children and adults use more of the necessary footwear that are designed to maintain proper health of their feet. The present invention also provides adequate ventilation for the feet of the user and to deter growth of microorganisms inside the footwear.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-discussed embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

The benefits and advantages which may be provided by the present invention have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. These benefits and advantages, and any elements or limitations that may cause them to occur or to become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features of any or all of the embodiments.

While the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvements to the embodiments described above are possible. It is contemplated that these variations, modifications, additions and improvements fall within the scope of the invention.