Security footwear
An article of security footwear includes electronic devices that protect the wearer and those about him by sounding an alarm, emitting an electronic signal, or activating a light source in the event the shoe contains an unauthorized or dangerous article. The shoe is of use when passing through a security pass point. The security shoe can also be provided with electronic communicating and or electronic locator devices with their attendant accessories i.e. power, activating devices, transmitter, antenna, etc. which can be activated by the user or a remote third party.
This application is a Continuation in Part of patent application Ser. No. 11/082,511, filed on Mar. 17, 2005, entitled Security Footwear.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis application pertains in general to the field of an article of footwear and in particular an article of footwear adapted for purposes of security to the wearer and those around the wearer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe events of Sep. 11, 2001 have made security an extremely high priority in the United States and else were around the world. Accordingly, there has been an increase in the level of security at many airports, federal and ordinary commercial buildings and other locales which are open to the public. Law enforcement agencies have increased their awareness of possible terrorists attacks, and even the public themselves are now more aware of possible danger
Most airports now require passengers to remove their shoes before the passenger passes through a metal detector as some types of footwear contain metal. And even if the metal detector does not alarm, many types of footwear will require additional x-ray screening such as boots, platform shoes, thick soled shoes, including but not limited to athletic footwear, construction shoes, and the like where dangerous devices can be hidden therein. Accordingly, it is desire able to have footwear that is easily removable, comfortable, and that will speed the process of screening at airports and other locations that are accessible to the public that may comprise possible terrorist's targets.
Further, it is known that terrorist groups will kidnap or abduct influential or rich travelers or pedestrians for purposes of ransom to further support their terrorist's activities, or to attempt to coerce a country to discontinue certain activities, or simply to kill the abductees. Accordingly, it is desirable to have footwear that identifies and provides the location of such persons whether traveling or not. Such footwear is also advantageous to monitor the whereabouts of children who are unfortunately readily available to child molesters.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to a substantially transparent and or a substantially opaque article of footwear. This article of footwear comprises a resilient sole including a gripping surface and a shoe upper integrally dependent from the resilient sole. The upper can include means for aeration of a foot of a user, an insole disposed within the shoe upper, and closure means. The closure means can include means for stabilizing an ankle and in-step area of the foot of the user within the article of footwear. Said shoe includes a heel portion formed of a flexible material and a forward portion of integrally dependent from said heel portion. Said forward portion of the upper can comprise a mesh fabric for aeration of the foot of the user. One edge of said stabilizing means can further comprise means for elastic engagement of said ankle and in-step area of said foot. Preferably imbedded within the sole of the shoe are electronics that can comprise a power source, light source, an alarm, a radio frequency identification microprocessor, a location microprocessor, radio frequency oral communication means, an antennae, and switch means to activate, pause, and deactivate the electronics. Alternatively, all or part of said electronics can be packaged in one or more containers that can be attached to the shoe.
It is an object of the invention to provide an article of footwear that will allow travelers to pass through security detectors at a quicker pace.
It is another object to provide a comfortable and easily removable article of footwear that may also be used when traveling or in every day use.
It is a further object to provide an article of footwear than can be used as a normal shoe in every day use and provide personal security and safety to the user by providing for transmitting of the user's location, for singling the user and for allowing oral communication between the user and another party.
The above and yet other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the hereinafter set forth Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description of the Invention, and Claims appended herewith.
The instant invention relates to an article of footwear 10, as shown in
Said shoe upper 30 and sole 20 are preferably made of a thermoplastic such as a polyvinyl. Said shoe upper 30 and sole 20 may also be made of other moldable polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene, or even leather appropriately bonded to the sole 20. It is noted that the article of footwear 10 can be formed of one or more substantially transparent materials or one or more substantially opaque materials such as an elastomeric polymer, but can be made of alternative materials if they are substantially transparent and resilient, or substantially opaque and resilient. However, it may be preferable to manufacture some parts of the article of footwear with non-transparent materials and some parts with substantially transparent materials. For example, the security teachings of the present invention can even be applied to ordinary non-molded leather or plastic shoes. When the footwear 10 is substantially transparent, the same enables security officers in various locations, including airports to visually inspect the entire shoe and foot of a user to see that no part of the article of footwear 10 includes metal or moving parts, besides those minimal components which are part of the article footwear, for enhanced security purposes discussed below. A security officer is able to accomplish this rapidly so that there will be little need for a traveler to have to remove one's shoes to have them especially scanned.
Said forward portion 62 of shoe upper 30 of said footwear 10 can, but not necessarily, define a mesh material or other breathable material 64, as shown in
To assist the user placing the article of footwear on one's foot and preventing of slipping up or down the ankle of the user, one edge of said aeration means 32 may comprise means for elastic engagement 70 of the ankle and instep area of the foot. Said engagement means may be integrally dependent from the shoe upper 30, as shown in
As shown in
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For further security purposes, the article of footwear 10 may include a radio frequency identification device 27 in one or both shoes, or RFID, a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a serial number that identifies a person or object, and perhaps other information, on a microchip 28 that is attached to an antenna 29 and a power source (the chip and antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna 29 enables the chip 28 to transmit the identification material to a reader via satellite or land based transmitters and ultimately to a reader such as used with wireless cell phones, or land telephone lines, or Wi-Fi, Blue Tooth, or other digital wireless network, or any commonly known combination of the same. A reader having for example, the capability to convert the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digitally transponded information that can then be passed on to remote computers that can analyze it. The chip 28 and antenna 29 may be embedded in the sole 20 or other part of the shoe to allow transmission of the identification information. The imbedded electronics can further include GPS technology to transmit the location of the user to a remote microprocessor receiving the GPS radio signals. Indeed, the imbedded electronics can further include cell phone apparatus and technology such that the user can receive and transmit oral and or electronic communications. On, off, and pause switching apparatus for each of the imbedded electronic devices can be manually operated by the user by push button switches that are located on a side of the sole 20 and covered by an appropriate protective layer of flexible material. Or, the switches can be completely imbedded within the sole 20 and remotely activated by a hand held transmitter as such are known in the art. As noted above, the invention is not limited to having the electronics imbedded within the shoe sole. For, example, an alternative arrangement can have part of the electronics in the sole and a part of the electronics attached to the outer parts of the shoe. The invention further contemplates that a package of electronics be encased in a container and connected to an appropriate electric connector that is located on the outside or inside of the shoe. In this manner, the package of electronics can be primarily adapted to a particular use such as but not limited to GPS location, oral or electronic communications, or personnel identification.
The visible light sources, audible alarm and RFID chip, as well as any other incorporated electronic components of the article may be battery operated and recharged by piezoelectricity resulting from the application of mechanical pressure on a dielectric crystal. The components may also be recharged by photovoltaic means, electro-mechanical generators using motion or vibrations, or charged through an AC adapter. Alternatively, the batteries may simply be replaced at the end of their useful life.
When in use, the user places the article of footwear on one's foot at any time prior to passing through security at an airport or other location with secured entrances. Because of the gripping surface 22 on the sole 20 the article of footwear can be worn outdoors as well as indoors. The user may prefer to place the article of footwear 10 on one's feet just prior to entering an airport or building. Of course, the opaque security footwear can be used at times other than passing through a security gate such as in every day use. In this manner, the security footwear can be used to thwart abductions, or to alert a child to go home, or for any of the above described security purposes.
The article of footwear may be manufactured and/or sold with a companion, substantially transparent tote bag for the user to place their civilian shoes in while wearing the inventive security article of footwear. The companion substantially transparent tote bag may be manufactured with a Ziploc®, or a hook and-loop type of closure, e.g. Velcro®. The companion substantially transparent tote bag may also include a strap closure so that a person cannot add or subtract anything from the totebag upon reaching security, e.g. a non releasable plastic tie. Further, the shoe 10 can be provided with tamper poof electronic devices such that the initial codes and settings within the electronics can never be changed by electronic means and would therefore always be readable by an independent external system. And, any attempted changes to the initial settings and codes and information would be made known by the external system.
While the invention has been shown and describe in certain preferred embodiments, it is to be appreciated that the invention the invention is not to be limited thereby and may be otherwise embodied otherwise than is herein specifically shown and described and that within said embodiments, certain changes may be made in the form without departing from the scope, the underlying ideas and principles of this invention as set forth in the claims appended herewith.
Claims
1. An article of footwear adapted for purposes of security comprising
- a substantially not transparent sole,
- a substantially non transparent shoe upper,
- one or more light sources mounted to said footwear that can be seen exteriorly of said footwear,
- an antenna mounted to said footwear,
- to a power source mounted to said foot wear,
- a microprocessor mounted to said footwear,
- whereby said one or more light sources are activated by a security scanning device when said security scanning device detects a metal object.
2. An article of footwear adapted to be worn by a wearer for purposes of security comprising:
- a substantially not transparent sole,
- a substantially non transparent shoe upper,
- one or more light sources mounted to said footwear that can be seen exteriorly of said footwear,
- an antenna mounted to said footwear,
- a power source mounted to said foot wear,
- a microprocessor mounted to said footwear,
- whereby said one or more light sources are activated by a remote radio frequency device to signal the wearer.
3. An article of footwear adapted to be worn by a wearer for purposes of security comprising:
- a substantially not transparent sole,
- a substantially non transparent shoe upper,
- an audible alarm mounted to said footwear that can be heard exteriorly of said footwear,
- an antenna mounted to said footwear,
- a power source mounted to said foot wear,
- a microprocessor mounted to said footwear,
- whereby said audible alarm is activated by a remote radio frequency device.
4. An article of footwear adapted to be worn by a wearer for purposes of security comprising:
- a substantially not transparent sole,
- a substantially non transparent shoe upper,
- a location identification means mounted to said footwear that can be received by a remote microprocessor,
- an antenna mounted to said footwear,
- a power source mounted to said foot wear,
- a microprocessor mounted to said footwear,
- whereby said location identification means is activated by a remote radio frequency device.
5. An article of footwear adapted to be worn by a wearer for purposes of security comprising:
- a substantially not transparent sole,
- a substantially non transparent shoe upper,
- a communication means mounted to said footwear that can be received by a remote microprocessor,
- an antenna mounted to said footwear,
- to a power source mounted to said foot wear,
- a microprocessor mounted to said footwear,
- whereby said communication means is activated by a remote radio frequency device.
6. The security footwear of claim 5 including a microphone electronically connected to said communication means, said microphone being adapted to transmit a communication to a remote location by radio frequency means.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 30, 2007
Publication Date: Apr 28, 2011
Inventor: Alfred Dana, III (Fort Lauderale, FL)
Application Number: 11/897,505
International Classification: A43B 23/00 (20060101);