Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A43—FOOTWEAR
  • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
  • A43B23/00—Uppers; Boot legs; Stiffeners; Other single parts of footwear
  • A43B23/02—Uppers; Boot legs
  • A43B23/06—Waterproof legs
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A43—FOOTWEAR
  • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
  • A43B23/00—Uppers; Boot legs; Stiffeners; Other single parts of footwear
  • A43B23/07—Linings therefor
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A43—FOOTWEAR
  • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
  • A43B7/00—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements
  • A43B7/06—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements ventilated
  • A43B7/08—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements ventilated with air-holes, with or without closures
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A43—FOOTWEAR
  • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
  • A43B7/00—Footwear with health or hygienic arrangements
  • A43B7/12—Special watertight footwear

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a waterproofed footwear provided with a ventilation and transpiration arrangement.
• a variety of footwear items are known nowadays to be provided with an upper made of a transpiring material or provided with some arrangement adapted to create a forced ventilation of the foot by taking advantage of the pumping effect that is brought about during walking as the sole undergoes repeated compression and bending, to the purpose of enabling sweat to be expelled out of the footwear thanks to the permeable nature of the material or to the circulation of air inside the footwear.
• US 5,086,572 discloses a ventilation arrangement for a footwear, which comprises an upper provided with air inlet and outlet openings located in the upper portion, and a one-way valve located in the lower portion near the sole; an insole is provided with a plurality of perforations in the surface facing the foot and a plurality of channels in the surface facing downwards, both such perforations and channels being adapted to communicate with such one-way valve.
• This arrangement is effective in allowing for continuous ventilation inside the footwear during walking.
• a drawback of the footwear provided with such a ventilation arrangement lies in the fact that, in order to reach an effective ventilation for the foot, the footwear itself must be provided with openings towards the outside; in the solution disclosed in US patent no. 5,086,572 the upper must be provided with at least an opening to accommodate the oneway valve so as to establish a connection of the latter with the interior of the footwear.
• Such connection will not ensure a perfect and full waterproof, since any opening towards the outside, particularly when situated in proximity of the sole, can in fact allow water to penetrate into the footwear.
• a purpose of the present invention is to provide a footwear wherein a complete waterproofing can be obtained through the use of natural materials, such as hides, and ensuring at the same time that any possible moisture absorption is solely limited to the outer layer of the upper, so as to prevent the risk of mould, fungi and bacteria in general forming and growing in the footwear.
• Yet another purpose of the present invention is to provide a footwear having a layer containing air and communicating with the outside, so as to allow the sweat generated by the foot of the wearer to transpire and evaporate in a natural manner.
• a further purpose of the present invention is to provide a footwear, in which the compression and expansion movements of the insole, as they are normally brought about during walking, give rise to a forced ventilation effect inside the footwear.
• Yet a further purpose of the present invention is to provide a waterproofed footwear provided with a transpiration and ventilation arrangement capable of being manufactured at competitive costs using generally and readily available tools and machinery.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective see-through view of a waterproofed footwear provided with a transpiration and ventilation arrangement according to the present invention
• FIG. 1 is an exploded view of some component parts of the footwear transpiration arrangement
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the footwear, as viewed at the lateral upper portion thereof wrapping up the lower portion of the leg;
• the footwear 1 according to the present invention comprises a conventional upper 2 formed by several parts made of both synthetic material and any of a variety of hide-based or leather materials, and a sole 20.
• the upper 2 is subjected to a waterproofing treatment involving the application - to all or part of the inner surface of the upper 2 - of a layer of waterproofing material 3 by means of any of a number of processes largely known in the art, such as a hot- transfer process.
• a film of waterproofing material in the liquid state is applied on to the inner surface of all component parts and elements applied after the waterproofing treatment, as well as along all sewing seams made to stitch said component parts and elements together; such a waterproofing film - upon solidifying - creates a further impermeable layer ensuring full and reliable waterproof to the whole inner surface of the upper 2, including stitches and sewing seams.
• the footwear 1 further comprises a mounting insole 4, which is made of a rigid or semi-rigid material, whereon the upper 2 is mounted by gluing onto the lower surface thereof.
• Such an insole 4 is provided with at least one recess 5, preferably two recesses 5 located one at each side of the same insole, whose function and purpose shall be explained in greater detail further on.
• a layer of reticular material 6 adapted to enable air to circulate thereinside even when full compression and squeezing is reached.
• This layer of reticular material 6 is advantageously composed of a three-dimensional net-like structure of synthetic material that, when appropriately woven, produces a layer of variable thickness and density, wherein the three- dimensional texture allows air to circulate therethrough and therewithin.
• a padding 10 applied internally to the upper 2, wherein such padding comprises at least a first element made of a reticular material 7 adapted to allow air to circulate thereinside; advantageously, even this first element of a reticular material
• Such first element 7 and/ or second element 8 of reticular material may of course be provided with a thickness and a density differing from the thickness and density of the afore-cited layer 6.
• the first element 7 and, possibly, the second element 8 of reticular material are provided in the upper 2 in such a manner as to be fluid- dynamically in contact with the layer 6 of the same reticular material applied on to the insole 4.
• Such fluid-dynamic contact of the layer 6 with the elements 7, 8 is brought about by having the lower terminal portion of said elements 7, 8 attached to the insole 4 at the site where the aforementioned recesses 5 lie, so that at least a portion of the layer 6 is in contact with the elements 7, 8.
• the first element 7 and, possibly, the second element 8 extend then vertically along the footwear starting from the upper portion lying close to the sole 20 up to the top edge of the same upper 2.
• a lining 9 made of a transpiring material so as to allow air to pass and circulate between the inner volume of the footwear and the elements of reticular material 7, 8.
• openings 11, 12 are provided in the upper 2 so as to enable the elements 7 and 8 to be in communication with the ambient outside the footwear 1.
• openings 11, 12 may be advantageously guarded by a membrane 13 made of a material that is impermeable in the direction towards the interior of the footwear and, at the same time, transpiring towards the outside of the footwear, in such a manner as to allow water vapour to exhale outside, while preventing water from seeping in.
• openings 11, 12 may be provided with suitable valve, shutter or chocking means adapted to prevent water from seeping in and allow vapour to exhale or breathe out.
• the first element 7 and, if possibly provided, the second element 8 essentially constitute preferential conduits for expelling water vapour and breathing in fresh air, since the whole footwear is waterproofed by the treatment as described hereinabove, and the sole way of communication with the outside ambient is constituted by the openings 1 1 , 12, which are anyway located far above the sole 20 and, as a result, the ground.
• the arrangement comprising the layer 6, the first element 7 and, possibly, the second element 8 fluid-dynamically in contact with each other and communicating with the outside ambient via the openings 1 1 , 12, achieves both a natural transpiration, evaporation and ejection to the outside of the water vapour and sweat generated by the wearer's foot in the footwear when walking, and a forced ventilation to the interior of the footwear brought about by the alternating compression and expansion movement imparted by the wearer when walking in the normal manner.
• inventive footwear as described above may of course be the subject of a number of modifications and may be embodied in a number of different manners without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Epidemiology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=38293103

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (2)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2006
  • 2006-05-10 IT IT000035A patent/ITPN20060035A1/it unknown
• 2007
  • 2007-04-20 AT AT07728360T patent/ATE438314T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-04-20 EP EP07728360A patent/EP2015649B1/de active Active
  • 2007-04-20 DE DE602007001887T patent/DE602007001887D1/de active Active
  • 2007-04-20 WO PCT/EP2007/053902 patent/WO2007128671A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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