Dual-intake air capsule
A dual-intake air capsule includes a hollow main body having a resilient top, an opposite bottom and a side wall connecting the top and the bottom. Two intake valves and two discharge valves are mounted to the side wall. A resilient pillar is arranged inside the main body with a lower end fixed to the bottom and an upper physically engaging and thus supporting the top. All the valves are one-way valves whereby when the top of the main body is depressed by an external load, air inside the main body is pumped out through the discharge valves. When the loaded is removed, the resiliency of the top of the main body and the resilient pillar return the top of the main body to the original position, which forces surrounding air into the main body through the intake valves. Thus air can be continuously pumped by the air capsule.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to an air capsule, and more particularly to a dual-intake air capsule.
2. The Prior Arts
It is a common sense that at least an outnumbered people suffer discomfort from wearing shoes all days, which causes the feet sweaty and moldy due to lack of proper ventilation. This is even more severe in sultry summer days.
For improvements, an air-capsule pump is arranged in shoes such that air can be cyclically forced in and out of the shoes when the pump undergoes compression and expansion phases alternately. However, in some examples, the air-capsule pump is placed outside a heel base, which does not provide smooth air exchange. In Taiwan Patent Application No. 91201848, which was filed by the present inventor, an air capsule for shoes is disclosed, which comprises a single air intake. Practice shows that a single air intake is not sufficient for the air capsule to perform sufficient air exchange to get satisfactory result in removing heat and humidity from the shoes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA primary object of the present invention is to provide a dual-intake air capsule, which provides an enhanced effect of air ventilation for shoes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dual-intake capsule supported by an inside resilient pillar, which has a prolonged lifetime.
In order to realize the above objects, a dual-intake air capsule made in accordance with the present invention comprises a main body, two intake valves, two discharge valves, and a resilient pillar. The main body comprises a hollow casing having a top face. The main body is elastically deformable when subject to forcible depression and is allowed to return to its original shape when the depression is removed. Four apertures are perforated in a lateral wall of the main body and respectively in communication with the intake valves and the discharge valves. An opening is formed in a bottom of the main body for receiving and vertically supporting the resilient pillar. An end of the resilient pillar forms an annular groove, which receives an inner circumference of the opening of the main body, while an opposite end of the pillar physically engages and thus resiliently support a top of the capsule.
Since the resilient pillar helps sharing a portion of a wearer's weight, the load that is actually taken by the top of the main body is reduced. Thus, the life span of the dual-intake air capsule of the present invention can be prolonged significantly.
For more detailed information regarding advantages and features of the present invention, at least one example of preferred embodiment will be described below with reference to the annexed drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe related drawings in connection with the detailed description of the present invention to be made later are described briefly as follows, in which:
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
The main body 11 is an integrally formed hollow casing, which in the embodiment illustrated, comprises a flat bottom and a slightly convex top 114 (see
The intake and discharge valves 111, 112 can be mounted to the main body 11 in any known manner. For example and as shown in the embodiment illustrated, four apertures (not labeled) are perforated in the side wall of the main body 11 and the intake and discharge valves 111, 112 are connected to the apertures. Preferably, the intake valves 111 are arranged in two opposite sides of the main body 11, while the discharge valves 112 are provided to a single side of the main body 11 other than those two mentioned sides having the intake valves 111.
An opening 113 is formed in the bottom of the main body 11 to receive and retain a resilient pillar 12. The pillar 12 has a lower end around which an annular groove 121 is defined and an opposite upper end. The lower end of the pillar 12 is fit into the bottom opening 113 of the main body 11 with the groove 121 receiving an inner circumference of the opening 113 thereby securely fixing the pillar 12 in position. It is noted that lower end of the pillar 12 has an outside diameter that is greater than an inner diameter of the opening 131 in order to ensure proper engagement between the inner circumference of the bottom opening 131 and the groove 121 of the pillar 12. This also ensures airtight sealing between the pillar 12 and the bottom opening 113 of the main body 11.
The pillar 12 is made of a resilient material, such as flexible polymeric material. An example is polyurethane (PU).
The pillar 12 is sized to have the upper end physically engaging and thus support the top of the main body 11 whereby when a load, such as the weight of a person wearing a shoe in which the air capsule 1 is embedded, is applied to the top of the air capsule 1, the pillar 12 helps sharing the load that is taken by the top of the air capsule 1.
Also referring to
Also referring to
In the above described, at least one preferred embodiment has been described in detail with reference to the drawings annexed, and it is apparent that numerous changes or modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof, as set forth in the claims below.
Claims
1. A dual-intake air capsule, comprising a main body having a resilient top and a bottom, two intake valves and two outlet valves mounted to the main body, a resilient pillar being mounted to the bottom of the main body and having an upper end physically engaging and thus supporting the top of the main body.
2. The dual-intake air capsule as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pillar is made of a polymeric material.
3. The dual-intake air capsule as claimed in claim 2, wherein the polymeric material comprises polyurethane.
4. The dual-intake air capsule as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom of the main body defines an opening, the pillar having a lower end around which an annular groove is defined to receive an inner circumference of the opening therein to securely fix the pillar inside the main body and form an airtight sealing between the pillar and the opening.
Type: Application
Filed: May 13, 2004
Publication Date: Nov 17, 2005
Inventor: Chien-I Wu (Chung-Li City)
Application Number: 10/846,177