JP2022046216A - Foot part environment improvement appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a foot part environment improvement appliance capable of improving an environment on a foot part when a wearer wears a footwear, without affection with respect to the footwear.SOLUTION: A foot part environment improvement appliance 11 comprises: an attachment part 13 attached to at least a part on a lower extremity; and a blowing part 21 being provided on the attachment part 13 and blowing air to the foot part 18.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a foot environment improving device for improving the environment of the foot when, for example, wearing footwear.

Conventionally, as this kind of foot environment improving device, for example, a footwear blower shown in Patent Document 1 is known. This footwear blower is a device that blows air into the footwear from between the footwear and the foot in a state of being attached to the footwear, and includes a main body. The main body includes an accommodating portion and a nozzle portion extending from the uppermost portion of the accommodating portion.

The accommodating portion accommodates a motor, a battery that supplies electric power to the motor, an impeller that is rotationally driven by the motor, and the like. Then, in the footwear blower, the motor is driven by the electric power of the battery in a state where the nozzle part is hooked on the footwear so as to be inserted between the footwear and the foot, and the impeller is rotationally driven from the nozzle part. Blow into the footwear. This dehumidifies, dries, and cools the inside of the footwear to improve the comfort of the foot while wearing the footwear.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-35974

By the way, the above-mentioned footwear blower is used by inserting the side wall of the footwear into the gap between the nozzle portion and the accommodating portion so that the nozzle portion is hooked on the side wall of the footwear and attached to the footwear. Therefore, when the above-mentioned footwear blower is attached to the footwear, the flexibility of the footwear is impaired, the function is deteriorated, and the appearance of the footwear is affected. I will.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above problems and their actions and effects will be described.
The gist of the foot environment improving device for solving the above problems is that it includes a mounting portion mounted on at least a part of the lower limbs and a blowing portion provided on the mounting portion to blow air to the foot.

According to this configuration, the air can be blown to the foot by the air blower provided on the wearing part attached to at least a part of the lower limbs instead of the footwear, so that the footwear is suppressed from stuffiness and sweat is vaporized when the footwear is put on. Can be cooled by. Therefore, it is possible to improve the environment of the foot when the footwear is worn without affecting the footwear.

In the foot environment improving device, the mounting portion includes a first mounting portion mounted on the lower leg portion of the lower limbs and a second mounting portion mounted on the foot portion, and the ventilation portion is the above-mentioned blower portion. It is preferable that the first mounting portion is provided.

According to this configuration, the mounting portion can be stably mounted on the lower limbs, and when footwear that covers the second mounting portion and does not cover the first mounting portion is worn, the outside air is provided by the blower portion. Can be supplied in the footwear.

It is preferable that the foot environment improving device includes a guide member having a flow path for guiding the air sent from the blower portion to the foot portion.
According to this configuration, the air sent from the blower portion can be more reliably guided to the foot portion by the guide member.

The foot environment improving device preferably includes a heating unit.
According to this configuration, when the air blown by the blower portion is low temperature or the circumference of the footwear is low temperature, the heating portion can warm the air in the foot portion and the footwear. Therefore, it is possible to suppress feeling chilly on the feet.

The foot environment improving device is based on the detection results of at least one of a temperature sensor for detecting temperature and a humidity sensor for detecting humidity, and the detection result of at least one of the temperature sensor and the humidity sensor. It is preferable to include a control unit that controls at least one of the heating units.

According to this configuration, at least one of the blower and the heating part is controlled so that the environment of the foot becomes comfortable based on the detection result of at least one of the temperature sensor and the humidity sensor when the footwear is put on. By doing so, the environment of the foot when wearing footwear can be appropriately improved.

In the foot environment improving device, it is preferable that the control unit includes a communication unit capable of communicating with an external communication device.
According to this configuration, the foot environment improving device can be remotely controlled by an external communication device.

The foot environment improving device preferably includes a secondary battery as a power source.
According to this configuration, the foot environment improving device can be used even in a place where there is no outlet.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the environment of the foot when the footwear is worn without affecting the footwear.

The side schematic diagram which shows the use state of the foot environment improvement equipment of one Embodiment. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2. A block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the foot environment improving device. A side schematic diagram showing the usage state of the foot environment improvement device of the modified example.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the foot environment improving device will be described with reference to the drawings.
Generally, in the human body, the lower limbs indicate the part below the hip joint. The lower limbs are composed of the thighs, lower legs, and feet. The thigh is the area above the knee (thigh). The lower leg is the area from the knee to the ankle. The foot is the area below the ankle.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the foot environment improving device 11 includes a mounting portion 13 mounted on a part of the lower limbs 12 of the user, and a main body 14 detachably provided on the mounting portion 13. There is. The mounting portion 13 is composed of a thread knitting cloth such as socks, a woven fabric made by double-weaving ordinary threads and rubber threads, and a material having elasticity (elasticity) such as chloroprene rubber. There is.

The mounting portion 13 is wound around the band-shaped first mounting portion 17 and the foot portion 18 which are detachably mounted in a state of being wound around the ankle 16 which is a part of the lower leg portion 15 in an annular state. It has a band-shaped second mounting portion 19 that is detachably mounted in an annular state in this way, and a strip-shaped connecting portion 20 that connects the first mounting portion 17 and the second mounting portion 19. That is, as an example, the mounting portion 13 is in the form of a supporter that is closely attached to the portion from the ankle 16 to the foot portion 18 and is supported.

Both the first mounting portion 17 and the second mounting portion 19 have hook-and-loop fasteners (not shown) at both ends as an example, and the size of the ring formed according to the size of the ankle 16 and the foot portion 18 is determined. Adjust and install. As an example, the second mounting portion 19 is wound around a part of the foot portion 18 so as to pass through the instep and the arch of the foot. The connecting portion 20 is curved and extends along the inner portion of the foot portion 18. It is preferable that the contact portion with the ankle 16 on the surface of the first mounting portion 17 is provided with a non-slip material such as a rubber material in order to suppress the displacement of the first mounting portion 17 due to vibration or the like.

The main body 14 includes a blower unit 21 that blows air to the foot portion 18, a control unit 22, and a secondary battery 23 as a power source, and is housed in, for example, a synthetic resin case 24 in the first mounting portion 17. On the other hand, it is detachably attached. In this case, for example, a pocket with a lid (not shown) for accommodating the case 24 may be formed in the first mounting portion 17, and the case 24 may be accommodated in the pocket. The secondary battery 23 may be fixed in the case 24 or may be detachably attached to the case 24.

The blower unit 21 is arranged in the case 24 at a position below the control unit 22 and the secondary battery 23. The blower unit 21 is composed of, for example, a multi-blade fan or an axial flow fan having a motor for driving rotation (not shown). In order to make the width of the blower portion 21 smaller, it is preferable to configure the blower portion 21 with a multi-blade fan having a structure in which the direction of sucking air and the direction of blowing air are orthogonal to each other.

A suction port 32 for the blower portion 21 to suck in the outside air is formed at a position corresponding to the blower portion 21 in the case 24. At the lower end of the case 24, a nozzle 25 for blowing out an air flow generated by driving the blower portion 21 is formed so as to project downward. A flat cylindrical guide member 26 that guides the air blown from the nozzle 25 to the foot portion 18 is detachably attached to the nozzle 25. In this case, the guide member 26 has a flow path inside and may be integrally formed with the nozzle 25.

The guide member 26 is curved and extends along the connecting portion 20. The guide member 26 is preferably made of a material that does not easily hinder the movement of the foot portion 18 when the user wears the footwear 27 and that the internal flow path is not easily crushed. Examples of the material constituting the guide member 26 include an elastomer such as a rubber sponge. Further, the thickness of the guide member 26 in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the ankle 16 (horizontal direction) is preferably set to 10 mm or less in consideration of the gap between the footwear 27 and the foot portion 18. That is, the thinner the guide member 26, the more preferable it is.

A heating portion 28 for heating the foot portion 18 is provided at a position corresponding to the instep of the foot portion 18 in the second mounting portion 19. The heating unit 28 is composed of, for example, a string-shaped electric heating heater, a planar electric heating cloth heater, a film electric heating heater, a silicon rubber heater, and the like. The heating portion 28 is detachably attached to the second mounting portion 19.

In this case, for example, a pocket (not shown) for accommodating the heating portion 28 may be formed in the second mounting portion 19, and the heating portion 28 may be accommodated in the pocket. At a position adjacent to the heating unit 28 in the second mounting unit 19, a temperature sensor for detecting temperature and a temperature / humidity sensor 29 constituting a humidity sensor for detecting humidity are detachably attached.

Next, the electrical configuration of the foot environment improving device 11 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 22 comprehensively controls the entire foot environment improving device 11. The control unit 22 is composed of a microcomputer or the like, and includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The ROM stores various control programs including a program for making the environment of the foot 18 comfortable when the footwear 27 is worn. Further, in the ROM, the temperature and humidity conditions for the comfortable environment of the foot portion 18 when the footwear 27 is worn, the condition for adjusting the strength of the air blown by the blower unit 21, and the heating unit 28 are operated and stopped. Various condition data such as conditions are stored.

The temperature and humidity conditions for the foot 18 to be comfortable when the footwear 27 is worn, the conditions under which the foot 18 feels chilly, and the like are set based on experiments and simulations conducted in advance. Various data such as calculation results and processing results by the CPU are temporarily stored in the RAM.

The control unit 22 includes a communication unit 31 capable of communicating with an external communication device 30 such as a smartphone. The control unit 22 is electrically connected to the secondary battery 23, the temperature / humidity sensor 29, the heating unit 28, and the blower unit 21 by electric wires (not shown). The control unit 22 controls the blower unit 21 and the heating unit 28 based on the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 29. The electric power of the secondary battery 23 is supplied to the temperature / humidity sensor 29, the heating unit 28, and the blower unit 21 via the control unit 22, respectively.

Next, the operation of the foot environment improving device 11 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the user wears footwear 27 such as sneakers that does not cover the ankle 16 with the foot environment improving device 11 attached, the user's foot 18 is covered by the footwear 27. Will be. At this time, the first mounting portion 17 and the blowing portion 21 are located outside the footwear 27, and the second mounting portion 19 is housed in the footwear 27 together with the foot portion 18. Further, at this time, the guide member 26 is inserted between the inner side wall of the footwear 27 and the inner portion of the foot portion 18 in a state of being in close contact with the foot portion 18 via the connecting portion 20. The foot environment improving device 11 may be worn from above bare feet or from above socks.

The environment around the foot 18 in the footwear 27 is always grasped by the control unit 22 by detecting the temperature and humidity by the temperature / humidity sensor 29. When exercising or walking for a long time while wearing the footwear 27, the temperature and humidity inside the footwear 27 rise. Therefore, in the footwear 27, the foot portion 18 sweats and becomes a hot and humid environment.

Then, the control unit 22 compares the temperature and humidity conditions for the comfortable environment of the foot portion 18 when wearing the footwear 27 stored in the ROM with the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 29. If it is determined that the environment around the foot portion 18 in the footwear 27 is not comfortable, the blower portion 21 is driven.

Since the blower portion 21 is located outside the footwear 27, when driven, the blower portion 21 enters the footwear 27 from the blower portion 21 toward the toe side of the foot portion 18 in the footwear 27 via the nozzle 25 and the guide member 26. The air outside the footwear 27, which has a lower temperature and absolute humidity than the air in the footwear 27, is blown. Therefore, since the air flow outside the footwear 27 is formed around the foot portion 18 inside the footwear 27, the temperature inside the footwear 27 decreases with the evaporative cooling of sweat.

Further, the humidity in the footwear 27 is lowered by continuously taking in the low humidity air into the footwear 27. The control unit 22 is inside the footwear 27 based on the temperature and humidity conditions for the environment of the foot 18 to be comfortable when the footwear 27 stored in the ROM is worn and the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 29. In order to make the environment around the foot portion 18 comfortable, the operation and stop of the blower portion 21 and the optimization control of the output air volume are performed.

That is, the control unit 22 compares the temperature and humidity conditions for the comfortable environment of the foot portion 18 when wearing the footwear 27 stored in the ROM with the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 29. The drive of the blower portion 21 is feedback-controlled so that the environment around the foot portion 18 in the footwear 27 is always comfortable. As a result, the environment around the foot 18 in the footwear 27 is always maintained in a comfortable state.

Further, even if the humidity inside the footwear 27 can be maintained in the optimum state only by blowing air into the footwear 27 by driving the blower unit 21, cooling by the conditions of the outside air taken into the footwear 27 and the vaporization of moisture such as sweat. Depending on the condition, the temperature inside the footwear 27 may drop too much and the foot 18 may feel chilly. In addition, the foot 18 may feel chilly even when the temperature of the air around the footwear 27 is low, such as in winter.

Therefore, the control unit 22 controls the energization of the heating unit 28 based on the condition that the foot portion 18 stored in the ROM feels chilly and the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 29, and surrounds the foot portion 18. Heat the air moderately. As a result, the chill felt on the foot 18 is improved.

In this way, the foot environment improving device 11 blows the foot 18 in the footwear 27 appropriately by the blower 21 and heats the foot 18 appropriately around the foot 18 in the footwear 27. The environment can be suitably improved. Since the foot environment improving device 11 is worn from the user's ankle 16 to the foot 18 instead of the footwear 27, the foot environment improving device 11 when the footwear 27 is worn even if the footwear 27 is replaced with another footwear. It is possible to exert the same function as the function of.

According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects are exhibited.
(1) The foot environment improving device 11 includes a mounting portion 13 mounted on a part of the lower limbs 12 and a blowing portion 21 provided on the mounting portion 13 to blow air to the foot portion 18. According to this configuration, since the air can be blown to the foot 18 by the air blower 21 provided on the mounting portion 13 mounted on a part of the lower limbs 12 instead of the footwear 27, the foot 18 is stuffy when the footwear 27 is worn. It can be cooled by suppressing the sweat and vaporizing the sweat. Therefore, it is possible to improve the environment of the foot portion 18 when the footwear 27 is worn without affecting the footwear 27.

(2) In the foot environment improving device 11, the mounting portion 13 includes a first mounting portion 17 mounted on the ankle 16 and a second mounting portion 19 mounted on the foot 18, and the ventilation portion 21 is provided with a second mounting portion 19. It is provided in the first mounting portion 17. According to this configuration, the mounting portion 13 can be stably mounted on the lower limbs 12, and when the footwear 27 that covers the second mounting portion 19 and does not cover the first mounting portion 17 is worn. , The outside air can be supplied to the footwear 27 by the blower portion 21.

(3) In the foot environment improving device 11, the second mounting portion 19 is provided with a heating portion 28. According to this configuration, since the foot portion 18 can be heated by the heating portion 28, it is possible to suppress the feeling of chill in the foot portion 18.

(4) The foot environment improving device 11 includes a guide member 26 having a flow path for guiding the air sent from the air blower 21 to the foot 18. According to this configuration, the air sent from the blower portion 21 can be more reliably guided to the foot portion 18 by the guide member 26.

(5) The foot environment improving device 11 includes a temperature / humidity sensor 29 that detects temperature and humidity, and a control unit 22 that controls a blower unit 21 and a heating unit 28 based on the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 29. There is. According to this configuration, the footwear 27 is controlled by controlling the blower portion 21 and the heating portion 28 so that the environment of the foot portion 18 becomes comfortable based on the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 29 when the footwear 27 is worn. The temperature and humidity environment of the foot 18 when worn can be appropriately improved.

(6) The foot environment improving device 11 includes a communication unit 31 capable of communicating with an external communication device 30. According to this configuration, for example, an external communication device 30 such as a smartphone can easily perform remote control and various settings of the foot environment improving device 11 while checking detailed information on the display of the communication device 30. ..

(7) The foot environment improving device 11 includes a secondary battery 23 as a power source. According to this configuration, the foot environment improving device 11 can be used even in a place where there is no external power source such as an outlet for connecting the power source by wire.

(8) In the foot environment improving device 11, the main body 14 is detachably attached to the first mounting portion 17 in a form housed in the case 24, and the heating portion 28 and the temperature / humidity sensor 29 are attached to the second mounting portion 19. It is detachably attached to the sensor. Therefore, the mounting portion 13 can be easily washed by removing the case 24, the heating portion 28, and the temperature / humidity sensor 29 from the mounting portion 13.

(9) In the foot environment improving device 11, the mounting portion 13 is made of a stretchable material, and the first mounting portion 17 mounted on the ankle 16 and the second mounting portion 19 mounted on the foot 18. And have. Therefore, the foot environment improving device 11 can follow the change (movement) of the ankle 16 and the foot 18 due to the elasticity of the mounting portion 13, so that the foot environment improving device 11 is stable with respect to the ankle 16 and the foot 18. Can be attached. Therefore, the foot environment improving device 11 can maintain the worn state even when various external forces such as strong vibration are applied by performing an exercise such as walking or running while the foot environment improving device 11 is worn. That is, the foot environment improving device 11 is unlikely to deviate from or deviate from the mounting position even when the above-mentioned external force is applied.

(Change example)
The above embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. Further, the above-described embodiment and the following modified examples can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.

-As shown in FIG. 4, when the footwear 27 is of a type that covers up to the ankle 16 such as short boots, the first mounting portion 17 is mounted above the ankle 16 in the lower leg portion 15. The length of the connecting portion 20 and the length of the guide member 26 may be lengthened according to the distance from the first mounting portion 17 to the second mounting portion 19 and the distance from the nozzle 25 to the foot portion 18, respectively.

The foot environment improving device 11 may be configured such that the secondary battery 23 is omitted and power is supplied from an external DC power supply device such as an adapter connected to an outlet as a power source by a power cord.

-The foot environment improving device 11 may omit the secondary battery 23 and adopt a small mobile battery as a power source. In this case, the mobile battery may be housed in a trouser pocket or the like to supply power to the main body 14 by, for example, a USB cable.

-The communication unit 31 may be omitted.
The second mounting unit 19 is provided with either a temperature sensor for detecting temperature or a humidity sensor for detecting humidity, and the control unit 22 is provided with either a temperature sensor detection result or a humidity sensor detection result. It may be configured to control either the blower unit 21 or the heating unit 28 based on the above.

-The heating unit 28 may be omitted.
The mounting portion 13 may be composed of only the first mounting portion 17 mounted on the ankle 16 that covers the minimum lower leg portion 15, or the sock that covers the entire foot portion 18 and the ankle portion 16. It may be formed in the shape of a bag.

-The mounting portion 13 may be in the form of stockings for baseball, for example.
-The foot environment improving device 11 may be entirely covered with footwear 27.
-The guide member 26 may be omitted. In this case, the guide member 26 is preferably included in the nozzle 25. That is, the nozzle 25 may be made to have the same length as the guide member 26, and the air sent from the blower portion 21 may be guided to the foot portion 18 by the nozzle 25.

An outside air temperature sensor for detecting the outside air temperature may be provided in the main body 14, and at least one of the blower unit 21 and the heating unit 28 may be controlled by the control unit 22 by using the detection result of the outside air temperature sensor.

-The temperature / humidity sensor 29 may be omitted. In this case, it is preferable that the user can manually operate and stop the blower unit 21 and the heating unit 28 and adjust the strength.

A heating unit 28 may be provided on at least one of the inner surface and the outer surface of the guide member 26, or the heating unit 28 may be embedded in the guide member 26. By doing so, the air flowing through the flow path inside the guide member 26 can be warmed by the heating unit 28.

-The guide member 26 may be configured by a heating element.
The guide member 26 may be arranged between the foot portion 18 and the connecting portion 20 so as to be in contact with the foot portion 18.

A temperature / humidity sensor 29 may be provided on at least one of the inner and outer surfaces of the guide member 26, or the temperature / humidity sensor 29 may be embedded in the guide member 26.
The case 24 may be fixed to the first mounting portion 17.

The heating unit 28 may be fixed to the second mounting unit 19.
The temperature / humidity sensor 29 may be fixed to the second mounting portion 19.
-A spacer having breathability may be provided at a portion of the surface of the mounting portion 13 that easily comes into close contact with the inner surface of the footwear 27. In this case, the spacer is preferably made of, for example, a mesh-like material or a sponge-like material having a structure in which air easily flows. By doing so, it is possible to facilitate the flow of air in the footwear 27.

-The footwear 27 may be of a type that covers up to below the knee, such as long boots. In this case, the first mounting portion 17 is preferably mounted on the thigh.
-The mounting portion 13 may be in the form of, for example, stockings that cover the entire lower limbs 12.

11 ... Foot environment improvement equipment 12 ... Lower limbs 13 ... Mounting part 14 ... Main body 15 ... Lower leg 16 ... Ankle 17 ... First mounting part 18 ... Foot 19 ... Second mounting part 20 ... Connecting part 21 ... Blower part 22 … Control unit 23… Secondary battery 24… Case 25… Nozzle 26… Guide member 27… Footwear 28… Heating unit 29… Temperature / humidity sensor 30… Communication equipment 31… Communication unit 32… Suction port

Claims (7)

A mounting part that is attached to at least a part of the lower limbs,
A blower portion provided in the mounting portion to blow air to the foot portion, and a blower portion.
A foot environment improvement device characterized by being equipped with. The mounting portion includes a first mounting portion mounted on the lower leg portion of the lower limb and a second mounting portion mounted on the foot portion.
The foot environment improving device according to claim 1, wherein the blower portion is provided in the first mounting portion. The foot environment improving device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a guide member having a flow path for guiding air sent from the blower portion to the foot portion. The foot environment improving device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the foot environment improving device is provided with a heating unit. At least one of the air blower and the heating unit based on the detection results of at least one of the temperature sensor for detecting the temperature and the humidity sensor for detecting the humidity and the detection result of at least one of the temperature sensor and the humidity sensor. The foot environment improving device according to claim 4, further comprising a control unit for controlling the temperature. The foot environment improving device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit includes a communication unit capable of communicating with an external communication device. The foot environment improving device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a secondary battery is provided as a power source.

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