Footwear with built-in scale

Abstract

A shoe is described, which has a means for the wearer to determine and monitor his or her body weight by way of a specially designed built-in scale. The measurement of the wearer's weight will be registered by standing still for a set period of time (usually a few seconds) with both feet parallel to one another, approximately shoulder width apart, actuating sensors placed within the weight bearing areas of the soles of the footwear.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATED-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

This invention is directed to footwear of all types, having built in scales to measure the weight of persons wearing such footwear.

Obesity in the human race has reached the scale of a global epidemic, with the concomitant adverse health effects now constituting an immediate health crisis. Health problems stemming from inactivity, poor nutritional choices, and other deleterious habits such as smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, are taking an ever increasing toll on the population, with the health care expenses involved, and the cost of lost productivity being on a scale so large that it is more than likely immeasurable by any accurate means.

The Medical Profession, and all of the Allied Health Sciences associated with it worldwide agree that a balance of physical exercise, sound nutrition and weight management are the keys to good health, especially as it relates to cardiovascular health, and the avoidance of, or the control of diabetic conditions.

Walking is the easiest activity that anyone can participate in. Sports of any kind are certainly a physical activity that it most all cases will involve the participation of a person's feet.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, there is a need for footwear with a built-in scale to provide a novel and entertaining method of motivating people to at least walk and monitor their weight in an effort to manage it. The reminders and motivational messages that are a feature of the wireless technology of this invention further serve to support and reinforce the wearer's choice of making and adhering to healthy life style decisions with regard to diet, exercise and weight management.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide footwear that enables the user to simply determine his or her body weight by wearing the footwear, and standing still with feet parallel to one another, roughly shoulder width apart.

(2) Description of Related Art

Applicant is aware of no prior art directly relevant to the present invention. However, the following patents are referred to herein; U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,309; U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,302; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,067.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, footwear having a sole and inner lining is provided with weight detecting sensors, battery source and hardwire or wireless technology to register, transmit and display the weight onto a digital display that is located in an area of the footwear that makes it practical for the wearer to read. A scale is therefore an integral part of the sole, inner lining, or a combination of the two, where the scale is configured to determine the weight of the individual wearing the footwear. The scale is configured to communicate the determined measured weight from the scale to a display mounted either on the surface of the footwear, designed into the material of the footwear, or designed as an ornament or buckle of any shape or design that can be made to accommodate a digital display, whether or not that display is actually physically attached to the footwear or carried separately from it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an upper side view perspective of a shoe embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of said shoe.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the sole of said shoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the embodiment of the invention, which is one half of a pair of footwear otherwise referred to as a shoe. The shoe, regardless of its design or style will have one or several of the following features as part of its construction; a sole, inner lining, heel, tongue, upper, last, laces, buckles, zippers, straps, etc. The footwear may include but not be limited to the sports of running, walking, jogging, basketball, football, soccer, golf, tennis, baseball, softball, cricket, boxing, wrestling, bicycling, skateboarding, boating, fishing, hiking, mountain climbing, rugby, racquetball, hunting, skiing, surfing, dog walking, as well as casual footwear including, but not limited to, loafers, penny loafers, sandals, flip flops, oxfords, slippers as well as occupationally related footwear including, but not limited to work boots, motorcycle boots, driving shoes, military footwear, law enforcement footwear, as well as dress footwear, including, but not limited to wingtips, laced footwear, slip-ons, high heels, pumps with all of the aforementioned items including sizes, designs and styles for men, women and children. The shoe design illustrated is that of a moccasin, or deck shoe, commonly referred to as “Top-Sider”. By no means is the use of this particular design of shoe, (used here for illustrative purposes) only, intended to imply that the invention of footwear with built-in scale is limited to any particular design or style of shoe whatsoever.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the footwear as having a sole 1, along with an inner lining 2. The components comprising the hard-wire and or wireless technologies that are referred to in this invention may be configured into the sole 1, the inner lining 2, or a combination of the two. The present invention may utilize sensing devices such as transducer load cell assemblies or piezoelectric sensors for measuring weight, an analog to digital converter for converting the sensed signal into digital format, and a microchip for receiving the analog display such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) an example of such a device is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,309, U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,032. The weight detecting sensors 3 are configured and located within the sole, inner lining or both to correspond to the weight bearing areas of the sole of the human foot. The sensors 3 are connected to a battery source 4 by hard-wire 5. The digital display 6 may be affixed, or be an integral part of the materials used to construct the particular design of footwear, preferably located in an area such as the upper 7 that is practical for viewing the displayed data. For the present invention, the sensors communicate the determined measured weight to the digital display via hard-wire technology.

The present invention may utilize the wireless technology described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,067, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Wireless means for communicating the determined measured weight from the sensors to the display, includes, but is not limited to radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) signals. These signals can be programmed to correlate and correspond to determined measured weight fluctuations over a desired programmable interval of elapsed time, i.e., minutes, hours, days, weeks, months to allow the wearer who is wearing the footwear with a built-in scale as part of a weight management endeavor. The use of the wireless technology will allow the wearer to program the various desired functions and desired intervals of time using a wireless key fob device 9 which is used for illustrative purposes, but is by no means meant to imply that the wireless technology be limited as to its design or style, and may be fabricated in the form of a charm, novelty, writing instrument, business card case, key chain, pill box, lunch box, cup, cell phone case, ring, or any type of jewelry and or adornment or accessory that can be worn and or otherwise carried on the body or kept elsewhere for the purposes of programming various functions into the sensory and or the digital readout displays to communicate a message in the form of text and or audio that will convey words and or phrases of encouragement, reinforcement or warning based on fluctuations of weight, either up or down, or lack of fluctuations of weight, over a desired period of time to a wireless device such as a cell phone, pager, Blackberry, or similar device in order to remind the wearer of the importance of initiating and adhering to good habits that encourage weight management and a healthy lifestyle balance for increased longevity and quality of life.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the sole (1) or inner lining (2) or a combination of the two contain sensors (3) located in the weight bearing areas of the foot. While there are nine sensors used here for illustrative purposes, the number is by no means limited to any particular number of sensors, nor is the actual configuration of the sensors limited to a particular design, i.e., discs, plates, contacts, etc. The sensors are powered by a battery source (4) to power and to convey the registered weight to a LCD type display (6) that is located on the upper of the shoe (not visible from this vantage point) in such a manner as to make reading the display practical to the wearer. The sensors (3), however many in number or particular design, are hardwired to the battery source (4), the LCD display (6) as well as to a wireless transmitter (8), that will have the ability to relay information to a remote device such as a keyfob, cell phone, pager or other communications device to keep the wearer motivated to monitor their weight and alter their lifestyle choices accordingly. It is intended that the sole (1) of the footwear, or inner lining (2) or a combination of the two can contain any or all of the necessary componentry of this invention, as well as the inner lining (2) of the shoe being completely self-contained with all necessary componentry so as to be used interchangeably among different shoes as desired by the wearer.

It is intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, which are intended to define the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. Footwear having a built-in scale to measure the weight of its wearer.

2. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the scale is a weight detecting sensor embodied in the sole of said footwear.

3. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the scale is a weight detecting sensor embodied in the inner lining of said footwear.

4. The footwear of claim 1, wherein the built-in scale communicates with a digital readout display.

5. The footwear of claim 4, wherein the built-in scale communicates with a digital readout display using a hard-wire technology.

6. The footwear of claim 4, wherein the built-in scale communicates with a digital readout display using a wireless technology.

7. The footwear of claim 4, wherein the readout display is incorporated into the upper portion of said footwear.

8. The footwear of claim 4, wherein the readout display is incorporated into a separate remote device.

9. The footwear of claim 8, wherein said remote is a cell phone.

10. The footwear of claim 8, wherein said remote device is a key fob.