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FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001]The present invention relates to the technical field of footwear and relates, in particular, to footwear with active control of the temperature and humidity.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002]The inside of the footwear, such as, for example, boots and shoes, is characterized by a microclimate, which often negatively influences the comfort of the person wearing the footwear. Besides determining drawbacks in terms of comfort, an inappropriate microclimate inside the footwear may cause problems as regards hygiene and health, as well as favoring the development of bacteria, fungi and bad smells.

[0003]The microclimate determined inside the footwear depends on various factors, such as, in particular, the structure of the footwear, the materials used for the manufacturing thereof, the external ambient temperature, the measurement of the footwear, the body temperature of the person wearing it, the type of activity being carried out when wearing the footwear, the material and type of socks and, not least, the subjective tendency to an increased or reduced sweating of the skin on the foot. Thus, ensuring the control of the temperature and humidity inside the footwear is highly complex.

[0004]To improve the thermal features of the footwear, the focus has mainly concentrated so far on the research for new materials and new structures of the footwear.

[0005]Successively, solutions were developed based on actively controlling the temperature. For example, patent US 6,041,518 discloses a footwear provided with an active control system using a resistive heating plate and a fan. Other examples of footwears provided with systems for actively controlling the footwear using fans are disclosed in patent application US 2010/0005687 A1 and in patent US 8,209,882 B2.

[0006]However, footwear using systems for actively controlling the temperature of the prior art have relatively complex, heavy and costly structures and are particularly subject to faults or malfunctioning. In fact, in some ways, so far, this has prevented the industrial development and marketing thereof.

[0007]Therefore, the object of the present description is to provide a solution adapted to ensure a precise control of the temperature and humidity inside the footwear and which is such, at the same time, as to completely, or at least partially, overcome the drawbacks of footwear of the prior art.

[0008]Such object is achieved by means of footwear as defined in general in claim 1 . Preferred and advantageous embodiments of the aforesaid footwear are defined in the appended dependent claims.

[0009]The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of a particular embodiment, made by way of example and consequently not limiting in any way, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described in the following paragraph.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]Figure 1 shows a schematic side view with some sectional and/or transparent parts of a first exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of footwear comprising a system for actively controlling the temperature and humidity.

[0011]Figure 2 shows a functional block diagram of the system for actively controlling the temperature and humidity.

[0012]Figure 3 shows a view from above of an insole or a midsole comprised in the footwear in figure 1.

[0013]Figure 4 shows an exploded view of a second exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of footwear comprising the system for actively controlling the temperature and humidity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014]With reference to the appended figures, footwear 1, in particular a shoe, is shown therein. According to a particularly advantageous and non-limiting embodiment, the footwear 1 is a work shoe, e.g. a safety shoe. According to alternative embodiments, the footwear 1 is a boot, or a sports shoe, or a walking shoe or a medical shoe.

[0015]The footwear 1 comprises a housing seat 2 for a foot 3. For example, the housing seat 2 is delimited at the side and at the top by an upper 4 and at the bottom by an insole 5 or a midsole 5. The upper 4 is made, for example, of natural leather, synthetic leather, fabric, non-woven fabric or any combination of these materials. If the footwear 1 comprises an insole 5, said insole 5 is, for example, and without thereby including any limit, a removable insole.

[0016]In the example, the footwear 1 further comprises a sole 6 arranged beneath the housing seat 2. The sole 6 comprises a heel portion 7 (or rear portion 7), a tip portion 8 (or front portion 8) and an intermediate portion 9 (or central portion 9) arranged between the heel portion 7 and the tip portion 8. The sole 6 is preferably made of a plastic material, e.g. of TR (thermoplastic rubber), PVC (plasticized polyvinyl chloride), TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), PUR (bi component polyurethane), EVA (ethyl vinyl acetate).

[0017]The footwear 1 further comprises an active control system 20 for actively controlling the temperature and humidity inside the housing seat 2. In particular, said active control system 20 allows controlling the temperature and humidity of the air contained or passing inside the housing seat 2. The active control system 20 is completely, or mainly, or partially integrated in the footwear 1.

[0018] The active control system 20 for actively controlling the temperature and humidity comprises an electronic control unit 21, which is, or which comprises, for example, a microprocessor or a microcontroller. According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the electronic control unit 21 comprises an Arduino ™ hardware platform or a similar or equivalent platform. The electronic control unit 21 comprises hardware and software components, which allow and are configured to control the temperature and humidity of the air contained or passing in the housing seat 2 of the footwear 1.

[0019]According to an advantageous and non-limiting embodiment, the electronic control unit 21 is arranged in a containment seat located in the heel portion 7 of the sole 6.

[0020]The active control system 20 further comprises at least one temperature sensor 22 and at least one humidity sensor 23 operatively connected to the electronic control unit 21 for supplying the electronic control unit 21 with a first electrical signal bearing information correlated to the temperature, in particular of the air inside the housing seat 2 and a second electrical signal bearing information correlated to the humidity, in particular, of the air, inside the housing seat 2, respectively.

[0021]The temperature sensor 22 and the humidity sensor 23 can be arranged close to each other, e.g., they can be integrated into a single chip or they can be arranged spaced apart from each other. In figure 1, said sensors 22, 23 are shown inside the housing seat 2 close to each other and in the zone of the housing seat 2 arranged above the heel portion 7 of the sole 6. However, in other embodiments, such sensors 22, 23 could be arranged in other positions inside the housing seat 2 or an air treatment tank 10, both close to each other and spaced apart from each other indifferently. In an advantageous embodiment, the sensors 22, 23 are integrated in the electronic control unit 21.

[0022]The active control system 20 further comprises at least one temperature control element 32 operatively connected to the electronic control unit 21 and which is controllable for varying the temperature inside the housing seat 2, in particular, for varying the temperature of the air contained or passing in the housing seat 2.

[0023]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the temperature control element 32 comprises at least one Peltier cell 32. In the particular example shown in the figures, the control system 20 comprises two Peltier cells 32 arranged spaced apart from each other. One of said Peltier cells is arranged inside, or on the tip portion 8 of the sole 6 and the other of said Peltier cells is arranged inside, or on the intermediate portion 9 of the sole 6. Alternative embodiments of the footwear 1 could comprise only one Peltier cell 32 or more than two Peltier cells 32.

[0024]Advantageously, the use of one or more Peltier cells 32 allows varying the temperature of the air inside the housing seat 2 of the footwear 1 without using mechanical or electromechanical parts with movable members, such as, for example, fans.

[0025]Furthermore, depending on the needs, the use of Peltier cells allows both lowering the temperature inside the housing seat 2 of the footwear 1 and increasing it by means of a simple inversion of the polarity of the electrical control signal supplied to the Peltier cells 32. For this reason, according to a particularly advantageous embodiment in keeping with the example shown in figure 2, the active control system 20 comprises at least one drive circuit 34 operatively interposed between the electronic control unit 21 and a respective Peltier cell 32, adapted and configured to supply the respective Peltier cell 32 with a control signal with invertible polarity, so as to selectively implement both a cooling function and a heating function, based on the needs. The drive circuit 34 comprises, for example, a plurality of switches, which can be electronically controlled by the electronic control unit 21.

[0026]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the active control system 20 comprises at least one sheet or thermally conductive mesh 320, which is in thermal contact with one or more Peltier cells 32 to extend an area of action of said cell or of said Peltier cells 32 inside, or at the base of the housing seat 2. The sheet or thermally conductive mesh 320 are made, for example, of aluminum or copper. Although the sheet or thermally conductive mesh 320 are not shown in figure 1, e.g. said sheet or said thermally conductive mesh 320 are arranged beneath and above the insole or midsole 5 so as to dissipate both the useful upper temperature and the lower undesired one.

[0027]The active control system 20 further comprises at least one humidity control element 33 operatively connected to the electronic control unit 21 and which is controllable by the latter for varying the humidity inside the housing seat 2, in particular, for varying the humidity of the air contained, or passing in the housing seat 2. Said at least one humidity control element 33 is adapted and configured to vary the humidity by means of electrolysis and is, for example, an ionic membrane element. A humidity control element 33 of this type, when supplied with an electrical control signal having a relatively contained voltage, e.g. in the order of 3 Volts, allows efficiently removing the excess humidity from a closed environment, or generally increasing or decreasing the level of humidity in said environment. Therefore, advantageously, the humidity control element 33 can be used to reduce the humidity generated by the activity of the sweat glands placed in abundance on the sole of the foot, which act in conjunction with air not full of humidity, to lower the body temperature. Normally, the known footwear prevents this natural activity due to the incapacity of the air in the environment 2 to absorb the water in the liquid and gaseous forms thereof.

[0028]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the at least one humidity control element 33 comprises a solid state polymer electrolyte membrane. A humidity control element 33 of this type electrolytically decomposes the gases forming the water and removes the humidity using a solid state polymer electrolyte membrane. Consequently, this humidity control element 33 is cheap, light, does not have movable parts and is devoid of vibrations. In the absence thereof, it is impossible to lower the temperature as the dew point would easily be exceeded and the water would condense inside the housing seat 2.

[0029]In a humidity control element 33 of the type stated above, when a direct current is applied to the porous electrode attached to the solid state polymer electrolyte membrane, the humidity on the anode side

(dehumidifying side) is separated into hydrogen ions (H

+) and oxygen (0). The hydrogen ions pass through the solid polymer electrolyte membrane on the cathode side

(humidity discharge side). The hydrogen ions react with the oxygen present in the air on the cathode side to form water molecules (gas) and they are dispersed into the atmosphere through a vent conduit 60, which opens out into the opening 61 placed at the top of the footwear 1. Such vent conduit 60 preferably communicates with a segregation chamber 65, which is fluidically separate from the housing seat 2. When the humidity control element 33 is controlled so as to reduce the humidity in the housing chamber 2, the segregation chamber 65 contains air having a greater percentage of humidity than that in the housing seat 2 and therefore, it is important to discharge this air with excess humidity outside the housing seat 2. The example of the vent conduit 60 must not be interpreted as limiting and therefore, this can be replaced by any similar or equivalent element, or by any element, which is generally capable of obtaining the same effect.

[0030]A humidity control element 33 of the type described above is currently marketed, for example, under the name RosahL by the Mitsubishi Electric Corp group and is described, for example, in patent application JP 06063343 A.

[0031]It should also be noted that, theoretically, a humidity control element 33, which allows varying the humidity by means of electrolysis, is a reversible element, and, based on the arrangement and needs, allows both increasing and reducing the level of humidity of the air contained in an environment.

[0032]According to an advantageous embodiment, the active control system 20 comprises at least one air treatment tank 10, which is separated from the housing seat 2 and fluidically connected to the housing seat 2 by means of one or more communication conduits 41. Said at least one humidity control element 33 is arranged and configured to vary the humidity of the air contained in the air treatment tank 10 before the air is introduced into the housing seat 2.

[0033]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the air treatment tank 10 is delimited by at least one elastically deformable wall 11 by means of a pressure force exerted by the foot 3 to determine an exchange of air between the housing seat 2 and the air treatment tank 10. Conveniently, the elastically deformable wall 11 is made of one or more shaped sheets of polycarbonate or other material. For example, said shaped sheets are sheets made of Lexan™. Preferably, the elastically deformable wall 11 has a rounded shape so as to form a leaf spring, which will return, to the user, part of the weight force exerted thereon, facilitating the stress.

[0034]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the air treatment tank 10 is arranged in the sole 6.

[0035]According to an advantageous embodiment, said at least one air treatment tank 10 comprises at least two air treatment tanks 10 separated from each other by a conduit 42, or a wall, which can be selectively opened and closed by means of a pressure force exerted by the foot 3 during a movement of the foot 3, for example, when the person wearing the footwear 1 is moving. In the particular example shown in figure 1, without thereby introducing any limitation, the footwear 1 comprises three air treatment tanks 10, which are separated from one another into pairs by means of conduits 42 or walls, which can be selectively opened and closed by means of a pressure force exerted by the foot 3 during a movement of the foot 3. Preferably, said three air treatment tanks 10 are arranged in the heel portion 7, in the tip portion 8 and in the intermediate portion 9 of the sole 6, respectively.

[0036]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the footwear 1 further comprises an insole 5 inside the housing seat 2 or a midsole 5 arranged at the base of said housing seat 2. Said insole 5 or said midsole 5 preferably include a wall having a multitude of protruding elements 50 on which the foot 3 is intended to rest and said protruding elements 50 are uniformly distributed, or substantially uniformly distributed on said wall for allowing an exchange of the air from the air treatment tank 10 to the housing compartment 2 of the footwear 1. Preferably, said protruding elements 50 are elements having a rounded or hemispherical surface.

[0037]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, connection conduits 51 are defined among the protruding elements 50, which, by crossing the insole or midsole 5 in the thickness thereof, put the housing seat 2 of the footwear 1 in fluidic communication with the air treatment tank 10 or with the air treatment tanks 10. Due to the presence of the protruding elements 50, when a user wears the footwear 1, it is possible to ensure an exchange of air between the treatment tank 10 and the housing seat 2 because, resting on the protruding elements, the user's foot doesn't interrupt the connection conduits 51, or at least it doesn't interrupt them all at the same time. Such connection conduits 51 are preferably in fluidic communication with the communication conduits 41.

[0038]According to an advantageous, but not limiting embodiment, the segregation chamber 65 is placed beneath the air treatment chamber 10 and is fluidically separated therefrom, for example, by a septum 66 or a by membrane 66. In the example in figure 1, the membrane 66 of the central treatment chamber 10 could be the same membrane as the humidity control element 33 and, for example, divides one same chamber into two parts, of which the upper one represents the air treatment chamber

10 and the lower one, the segregation chamber 65, or a portion thereof. If an air treatment chamber 10 is comprised in the heel portion of the sole 6, a septum or a membrane 66 similarly divides the air treatment chamber 10 from the segregation chamber 65. If an air treatment chamber 10 is comprised in the tip portion 8 of the sole 6, it is not necessary to make this division, as this chamber 10 can be used as a pump, which pushes the air contained therein into the central air treatment chamber 10 by means of a conduit 42 and into the segregation chamber 65 by means of a one-way valve 67, i.e. which allows the air flow only from the air treatment chamber 10 of the tip portion 8 of the sole 6 towards the segregation chamber 65. In this way, the air contained in the segregation chamber 65 can easily be expelled from the segregation chamber, e.g. by means of the vent conduit 60, thereby ensuring an efficient operation of the humidity control element 33.

[0039]According to an embodiment, the active control system 20 comprises at least one supply battery 26, preferably at least one rechargeable lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery.

[0040]The supply battery 26 allows supplying the footwear 1 with the electricity required for the operation of the electronic control unit 21 and every other further component of the active control system 20 or, more generally, of the footwear 1, which requires a power supply for the operation thereof.

[0041]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the active control system 20 comprises an inductive receiver 27 for the wireless charging of the supply battery 26. In this way, it is possible to charge the supply battery 26 by resting the footwear 1 on an inductive charging mat. According to a further embodiment, in addition, or as an alternative to the inductive receiver 27 the active control system 20 comprises one or more energy harvesting elements, which allow charging the supply battery 26, or at least supplying the active control system 20 with an energy contribution. For example, the active control system 20 comprises one or more piezoelectric elements 25, e.g. piezoelectric disks 25, which allow transforming, into electricity, mechanical stress to which the footwear 1 is subject, in particular, the sole 6 or insole or midsole 5, during use of the footwear 1. According to a further embodiment, the active control system 20 comprises, in addition to, or as an alternative to the inductive receiver 27 and/or the energy harvesting elements 25, an electric recharging connector, e.g. a USB recharging socket.

[0042]Preferably, the active control system 20 further comprises a charge management module 28 for managing the recharge of the supply battery 26. Such management module 28 manages, for example, the inductive recharging of the supply battery 26 and/or recharging by means of the energy harvesting elements 25 and/or recharging by means of the recharging connector. Preferably, the management module 28 for recharging the supply battery 26 is also designed to condition the electrical supply signals supplied to the electronic control unit 21 or to each further component of the active control system 20, or more generally, of the footwear 1, which requires a power supply for the operation thereof.

[0043]According to an advantageous embodiment the footwear 1 comprises one or more light signaling devices 24, such as, for example, LEDs, operatively connected to the electronic control unit 21 so that the electronic control unit 21 can control the start-up and shut-down thereof.

[0044]According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the active control system 20 further comprises a data communication wireless interface 29, preferably a short-range communication wireless interface, such as, for example a Wi-Fi interface or Bluetooth. Such data communication wireless interface 29 allows operatively connecting the active control system 20 and, in particular, the electronic control unit 21 to an external monitoring or control device, such as, for example, a smartphone, a smartwatch, a laptop or a tablet-pc. In this way, by means of an application program or "App", installed on board the external monitoring or control device, for example, depending on the personal or contingent needs, a user, for example, can customize the parameters and settings of the active control system 20 for actively controlling the temperature and humidity and/or also monitor the operation of the other components of such active control system 20.

[0045]Figure 4 shows a further embodiment of the footwear 1. In figure 4 the upper has been omitted and the portion of the footwear 1 is shown extending from the insole 5, or midsole 5, and the sole 6. Said footwear 1 portion comprises an active control system 20 for actively controlling the temperature and humidity, which is identical to the one described before, apart from the differences and details, which will be illustrated below.

[0046]In the embodiment in figure 4, the segregation chamber 65 and the air treatment tank 10 are arranged in the heel portion 7 of the sole 6. The segregation chamber 65 and the air treatment tank 10 are fluidically isolated from each other. A housing seat 330 housing the humidity control element 33, described above, is interposed therebetween, so that it fluidically isolates the segregation chamber 65 and the air treatment tank 10 from each other.

[0047]The segregation chamber 65 communicates with the external environment by means of at least one vent conduit 60, which preferably faces one side of the footwear 1. The air treatment tank 10 communicates with the housing seat 2 of the footwear 1 by means of at least one communication conduit 41. Two communication conduits 41 are comprised in the particular non-limiting example shown in figure 4.

[0048]According to a preferred embodiment, an intermediate conduit 410 is interposed between the air treatment chamber 10 and the at least one communication conduit 41. The intermediate conduit 410 preferably communicates with a chamber 210, which preferably houses the temperature sensor 22 and the humidity sensor 23. Said chamber 210 preferably houses the electronic control unit 21 and more preferably, said sensors 22, 23 are integrated into the electronic control unit 21.

[0049] According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the at least one communication conduit 41 is defined in a shaped laminar element 400 above the sole 6. Preferably, the shaped laminar element 400 is at least partially elastically flexible and is made, for example, of polycarbonate. The shaped laminar element 400 preferably comprises at least one spring 450, e.g. a steel spring, and said spring 450 preferably protrudes into the heel portion 7 of the sole 6. In the particular example shown in figure 4, the shaped laminar element 400 comprises two leaf springs 450, which are received in the air treatment tank 10 and in the segregation chamber 65, respectively.

[0050]According to an advantageous embodiment, one or more of the following elements: the vent conduit 60, the chamber 210, the intermediate conduit 410 are also defined in the shaped laminar element 400.

[0051]Advantageously, the shaped laminar element 400 is sealingly coupled to the sole 6, for example, it is welded to the sole 6 or coupled by means of a sealing material, such as, for example, a glue or sealing resin.

[0052]According to an embodiment, the footwear 1 further comprises a multi-layer element 320, 330 housing the one or more temperature control elements 32. In the particular example shown in figure 4, the multilayer element 320, 330 comprises a thermally conductive lower layer 320, an intermediate layer 330 inside which two chambers 321 are defined, each housing a respective Peltier cell 32, a thermally conductive upper layer 320. The thermally conductive layers 320 are made, for example, of aluminum. According to an advantageous embodiment, the intermediate layer 330 is made of an anti-perforation fabric. Advantageously, the thermally conductive layers 320 are in thermal contact with the Peltier cells 32. According to an embodiment, only one of said thermally conductive layers 320 could be comprised. Furthermore, the intermediate layer 320, 330 could have only one chamber 321 to accommodate only one Peltier cell 32.

[0053]The multilayer element 320, 330 is arranged preferably above the shaped laminar element 400. More preferably, the multi-layer element 320, 330 is sealingly coupled to the sole 6, e.g. it is welded to the sole 6 or coupled by means of a sealing material, such as, for example, a glue or sealing resin. [0054]According to an advantageous embodiment, the multi-layer element 320, 330 comprises one or more through holes 51 adapted to put the at least one communication conduit 41 in communication with the housing seat 2 of the footwear 1.

[0055]Again with reference to the embodiment in figure 4, in this case too, the footwear 1 preferably comprises a midsole 5 or an insole 5 above the multi-layer element 320, 330 and it is also provided with one or more through holes 51 communicating the one or more through holes 51 of the multi-layer element 320, 330. According to an advantageous embodiment, the insole 5 or midsole 5 seals the air treatment tank 10 and the segregation chamber 65 at the top.

[0056]Finally, in the embodiment in figure 4, a compartment 260 housing the supply battery 26, is preferably defined in the central portion 9 of the sole.

[0057]From the above, it is apparent that footwear 1 of the type described above allows fully achieving the set objects in terms of overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art. In fact, the integration of the system for actively controlling the temperature and humidity described above inside the footwear allows adjusting the temperature and humidity in a particularly efficient, precise and cheap manner. With respect to other known solutions, as the active control system 20 is devoid of fans or other movable electromechanical members it is possible to significantly reduce the risk of faults or malfunctioning, and further allows achieving significant performance in terms of volume and weight containment. [0058]Without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the embodiments and the constructional details may be broadly varied relative to the above description disclosed by way of non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.