JP2001321202A - Footwear - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide footwear which can determine the present position of a wearer from the place far away. SOLUTION: An information transmission means for confirming the position is built in the footwear to give the information on the position of the wearer to a base station. The information transmission means for confirming the position comprises a GPS receiver, a transmitter to transmit the information on the position detected by the GPS receiver to the base station and batteries to supply electric power to the above-mentioned devices. The power distribution from the batteries to the GPS receiver and the transmitter is turned on only when the pressure is applied on the sole of the footwear by wear.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to footwear suitable for use by persons requiring protection or care, such as children, the elderly, and the sick.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a child, the elderly, the sick, or the like goes out, there is often no means of communication, and a guardian or caregiver often waits for a return while worrying about an accident. So far, there has been nothing to solve.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide footwear that can detect a wearer from the current location.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The footwear according to the present invention comprises a footwear main body and a position confirmation information transmitting means incorporated in the footwear main body and providing position information of a wearer to a base station. is there.

The information transmission means for position confirmation has, for example, a small transmitter for transmitting a radio wave of a specific frequency, and this transmitter is tracked by using an artificial satellite, a mobile phone antenna, or the like. , The location of footwear can be detected by a remote base station. The obtained position is preferably displayed on a map on a display installed at a base station (home, school, hospital, or other facility of the footwear wearer).

According to the footwear of the present invention, it is possible to detect the current location of the footwear wearer from a location remote from the current location. Don't worry, sometimes. In addition, footwear is always worn when going out, and since the footwear incorporates position confirmation information transmission means, it is possible to go out without having the position confirmation information transmission means necessary for detecting the position. It doesn't happen.

[0007] The position confirmation information transmitting means also includes both a transmitter and a receiver, and the receiver is provided with a GPS (= Gl).
obal Positioning System) Receiver.
The GPS receiver detects the position by receiving radio waves from a plurality of satellites. In this case, in order to reduce the error of the position information, the error of the position information is corrected by a signal from the base station. Differential GPS
Is preferably adopted.

[0008] The position confirmation information transmitting means may also include a direction sensor indicating the direction in which the tip of the footwear body is facing and / or a step counter for counting the number of pressure increases accompanying the landing.

The azimuth sensor can confirm the current traveling direction of the footwear wearer, and can confirm the approximate distance from the departure point of the footwear wearer by multiplying the number of steps of the step counter by the average step length of the wearer. it can. When the position confirmation information transmission means includes both the direction sensor and the step counter, it is preferable to include a calculator for adding the number of steps in consideration of the direction indicated by the direction sensor. According to this arithmetic unit, the walking distance of the footwear wearer can be added in a vector manner, and the current position of the footwear wearer can be obtained. The direction sensor and / or the step counter may be provided instead of the GPS receiver.
You may use together with S receiver. By using both the current position calculation by adding the walking distance of the footwear wearer in a vector manner and the position detection by the GPS, the coarseness of the accuracy of the GPS detection is compensated, and the position detection with higher accuracy can be performed. The arithmetic unit may be provided on the base station side instead of the footwear side.

The position confirming information transmitting means requires a battery for supplying power to the transmitter, the receiver, the step counter, the direction sensor, and the like. The power supply to this battery may be always on. Further, it may be turned on only when the footwear is worn, for example, only when a slight pressure is applied to the bottom of the footwear body. When the footwear is turned on only when pressure is applied to the bottom of the footwear main body, power is supplied only when the shoe is worn, so that the battery is less consumed and the information transmission function can be maintained for a long time.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, footwear (1)
The footwear body (2) with a hollow part (3a) in the heel (3)
And a position confirmation information transmitting means (4) incorporated in the hollow portion (3a) of the heel (3) and capable of detecting the position from a remote place.

As shown in FIG. 2, the position confirmation information transmitting means (4) is a terminal (5) having both reception and transmission functions.
And a battery (6) for supplying power to the terminal (5), and a battery (6)
Positive wire (7) connecting the anode (lower surface) to the terminal (5)
And a piezoelectric element superimposed on the cathode (top) of the battery (6)
(8), and a negative conductor (9) for connecting the piezoelectric element (8) and the terminal (5).

The piezoelectric element (8) enables electricity to flow from the battery (6) to the terminal (5) by the pressure applied to the heel (3) when the footwear (1) is worn. When the footwear is not worn, the power supply from the battery (6) to the terminal (5) is turned off.

The terminal (5) has a built-in GPS receiver (5a) and a transmitter (5b). As shown in FIG. 3, signals from a plurality of satellites (10) are transmitted to the GPS receiver (5a). ), The position of the wearer is detected, and the position information detected by the GPS receiver (5a) is transmitted to the base station (11) by the transmitter (5b). Transmission from the transmitter (5b) to the base station (11) is performed via another artificial satellite or by a method using an antenna for a mobile phone. The obtained location data (including the route that traveled) is displayed on a map on a display such as a personal computer (12) installed at a base station (home, school, hospital, or other facility of the footwear wearer) (11). Is displayed. The base station (11) receives a signal from the satellite (10) and performs more accurate position calculation.

In the above, the terminal (5)
Although it has both functions of transmitting, the terminal consists of only a small transmitter that transmits radio waves of a specific frequency and can detect its position from a distant place using artificial satellites etc. May be. In this case, a signal is transmitted from the terminal to the artificial satellite, and this data is transmitted to the base station.

Further, instead of or in addition to the GPS receiver (5a), a position detection chip (20) shown in FIG. 4 may be incorporated in the hollow portion (3a) of the heel (3). Good.

That is, the information transmission means for position confirmation (4)
Is the position detection chip (20) and the transmitter connected to it
(5b), and a GPS receiver (5a) added as necessary.The position detection chip (20) includes a direction sensor (21), a step counter (22) for counting steps, and a direction A computing unit (23) for adding the number of steps in consideration of the direction indicated by the sensor (21).

The direction sensor (21) is a magnet (geomagnetic sensor)
The direction in which the tip of the footwear body (2) is facing, that is, the traveling direction of the footwear wearer can be obtained. The step counter (22) has a built-in pressure sensor, and obtains the number of steps based on the number of pressure increases accompanying landing. By multiplying the number of steps of the step counter (22) by the average step length of the footwear wearer, the walking distance can be obtained, and the approximate distance from the starting point can be obtained. The arithmetic unit (23) is used by footwear wearers three steps north and two east.
If the user has walked one step to the north, one step to the north, and two steps to the east, a trajectory indicated by an arrow is displayed on the screen, and it is required that the user is located several meters northeast as a whole. The walking distance of the footwear wearer can be added in a vector manner, and the current position of the footwear wearer can be accurately obtained. The computing unit (23) is preferably provided on the personal computer (12) side of the base station (11) because the equipment provided on the footwear side is preferably small.

Although the illustrated footwear body (2) is a shoe without a string, the footwear body may be another shoe, boots, or sandals. Further, the hollow portion for storing the position confirmation information transmitting means (4) may be provided not on the heel (3) but on the toe side. Furthermore, the piezoelectric element (8) for turning on only when worn is omitted,
At the time of non-wearing, there may be a gap between any one of the conductive wires and the battery, and the conductive wire may contact the battery only at the time of wearing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing footwear according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a system for detecting a position of a wearer of footwear according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of footwear according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (1) Footwear (2) Footwear body (4) Information transmission means for position confirmation (5) Terminal (5a) GPS receiver (5b) Transmitter (6) Battery (11) Base station (20) Position detection chip ( 21) Orientation sensor (22) Step counter (23) Computing unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] An article of footwear comprising: a footwear body (2); and a position confirmation information transmitting means (4) incorporated in the footwear body (2) and providing position information of a wearer to a base station (11). 2. The information transmission means for position confirmation (4) is a GPS
2. Footwear according to claim 1, comprising a receiver (5a) and a transmitter (5b) for transmitting position information detected by the GPS receiver (5a) to the base station (11). 3. Footwear according to claim 1, wherein the position confirming information transmitting means (4) is provided with a direction sensor (21) indicating the direction in which the tip of the footwear body (2) is facing. 4. The footwear according to claim 1, wherein the position confirming information transmitting means (4) is provided with a step counter (22) for counting the number of pressure increases accompanying the landing. 5. An azimuth sensor (21) for indicating a direction in which a tip of a footwear body (2) is facing, wherein a position confirmation information transmitting means (4) is provided.
And a step counter that counts the number of pressure increases associated with landing
3. The footwear according to claim 1, further comprising: (22) an arithmetic unit (23) for adding the number of steps in consideration of a direction indicated by the direction sensor (21). 6. The position confirming information transmitting means (4) includes a battery (6), and when the battery (6) is energized, a pressure is applied to the bottom of the footwear body (2) by wearing. 6. Footwear according to claims 1 to 5, wherein the footwear is only turned on.