Breathable Shoes

Abstract

Novel highly breathable shoe soles. Plurality layer of mesh fabric materials are bonded together either by simple stitching or by mechanical bonding. This formed bound of mesh fabrics is then used as shoe sole for either sandals, or other shoes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present application relates to shoes, and more particularly to slipper shoes that have soles made of breathable mesh fabrics.

2. Description of Related Art

Note that the points discussed below may reflect the hindsight gained from the disclosed inventions, and are not necessarily admitted to be prior art.

Shoes have the most variations in styles and types. Feet are notoriously for sweating and smell caused by tight containment in shoes. As more and more breathable materials are developed for the comfort of wearers, serious efforts have been made to make feet comfortable and more relaxed. The fact that sandals and flippers have been popular is a good indication of an on-going need for comfort, breathability, and support.

For example, US Patent Application 2010/0024,254 A1 describes shoes having shaped polymeric upper that contains air permeable rubber layer to accommodate the wear's foot.

US Patent Application 2010/0107452 A1 describes shoes made of a special made material of series of layers provided outside the inner liner, the material includes foam material layers, breathable membranes, a supportive mesh or a moldable foam, and an outer shell fabric, to increase breathability, especially for alpine, snowboard boots, cross country, hiking boots.

However, from time to time, even the most claimed breathable shoes are not comfortable and cool enough.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application discloses new approaches to increase the breathability of shoes or sandals by directly using mesh fabrics as shoe soles.

In one embodiment, several layers of nylon 1.5-6 mm hex-mesh fabrics are mechanically bonded together to be shoe sole.

In another embodiment, layers of 0.2-1.5 mm polyester mesh fabrics are mechanically bonded together or attached together by lamination to be shoe sole.

In another embodiment, vinyl coated mesh fabrics in combination of fiber glass mesh material, or rubber may be included for wear support.

In another embodiment vent channels can be located in the soles of the shoes or sandals to promote the evaporation of perspiration.

These low cost, highly breathable sandals or shoes provide disposability and high comfort to wearers. The heat resistance and high air permeability of the mesh fabrics allows the shoes to have better cooling effect for wearing in deserts.

The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows examples of mesh fabrics in accordance with this application;

FIG. 2 shows an example of layering and knotting layers of mesh fabrics into a shoe sole;

FIG. 3 shows an example sandal having a shoe sole made of layered mesh fabrics in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a three piece insole located on top of the sole of a sandal that includes vent channel;

FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of the insole-sole combination where the insole can be permanently or removably attached to the sole; and

FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of a hunting boot or a leisure shoe having an insole located on top of a sole having vent channels in accordance with the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to presently preferred embodiments (by way of example, and not of limitation). The present application describes several embodiments of the inventions, and none of the statements below should be taken as limiting the claims generally.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and description and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, some areas or elements may be expanded to help improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and the claims, if any, may be used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable. Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, such that a process, method, article, apparatus, or composition that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, apparatus, or composition.

It is contemplated and intended that the shoe soles disclosed in this application apply to all different kinds of shoes, including hunting shoes, leisure shoes, and walking shoes with solid upper sides. For clarity reasons, the examples are given based on sandals, but a person having ordinary skill in the art would know the variations to modify the application to other types and styles of shoes.

Prior efforts have been made to make a shoe sole more breathable by including a layer of breathable material. But none of the development has been bold enough to use meshed fabrics with good sized mesh alone. The inventor of this application discovered that layers of heavy duty mesh fabrics alone can be knotted together in forming a shoe sole. Such shoe soles have a high breathability due to the large holes left for air to pass through.

In reference to FIG. 1, the meshed fabrics may include different types of mesh fabrics and net-like textiles, for example, polyester hex-mesh 102 and 103, of mesh sizes ranging from 0.2-8 mm; metallic finish nylon ripstop mesh-like textile 104; vinyl mesh fabrics 106. Various mesh or screen sizes may be used depending on the style and use of the shoe. Vinyl meshes may include various outdoor or military pre-weaved meshes.

In reference to FIG. 2, 5-30 layers of mesh fabrics are simply stitched together or by mechanical pressure bonding, lamination or Foss Manufacturing to make sufficient thickness for support, strength and comfort. The edge of the layers of a shoe sole may be bond together by mechanically stitches 203, and the thickness of sole 201 is determined by the usage and style of the shoe. For sandals, sole 201 may be composed of less number of layers of mesh fabrics, for example 5-10 layers; for other styles, such as for a casual, relax walking shoe, the layers may vary between 10-20.

For durance and other purposes, other woven materials, such as fiber glass fabrics, rubber materials, woven plastics may be added to the sole.

After the shoe sole is made, a shoe or sandal may be made using such shoe sole. In reference to FIG. 3, a sandal 310 is made using this highly breathable shoe sole.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown an exploded view of a multi-ply insole located on top of the sole of a sandal that includes vent channel. The multi-ply insole can have three plies 410, 412 and 414 where each ply can have between 5 and 30 layers of mesh. The three plies are located on top of each other where ply 410 is the upper most ply, ply 412 is the center ply and ply 414 is the bottom most ply. The three plies can be stitched together or joined by mechanical pressure bonding, lamination or Foss Manufacturing to make sufficient thickness for support, strength and comfort.

The three plies of mesh may be provided as a stand alone insole product which can be purchased as a shoe insert by an individual for placing into his/her shoe, or it can be a product which is a part of a new shoe.

When the insole is a part of a new shoe, the insole may be removably located on top of the sole of the shoe to allow it to be removed and washed or it may be permanently attached to the shoe sole with stitching or the like.

The mesh material of the insole can be composed of a nonabsorbent material which may be impregnated with an antibacterial substance to help promote good foot health care.

The edge of the layers of a shoe sole may be bond together by mechanically stitches, and the thickness of sole is determined by the usage and style of the shoe.

The sole 416 of the shoe can have a number of vent channels 418 which are located immediately below the lower most ply 414 of the insole. The vent channels can extend fully across the width of the sole and partially along the length of the sole, and the ends of the vent channels are open to the air to allow for the evaporation of perspiration.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a side perspective view of the insole-sole combination, absent the shoe upper, where the multiply 410, 412, 414 insole can be permanently or removably attached to the sole 416 of a shoe.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a side perspective view of a shoe 610 which may be a hunting boot, a sandal, a walking shoe or a leisure shoe with an insole (not shown) located on top of the sole 416 having vent channels in accordance with the principles of the invention.

As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a tremendous range of applications, and accordingly the scope of patented subject matter is not limited by any of the specific exemplary teachings given. It is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.

Additional general background, which helps to show variations and implementations, may be found in the following publications, US Patent Applications 2010/0024254, and 2010/0107452, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein by reference for all purposes.

None of the description in the present application should be read as implying that any particular element, step, or function is an essential element which must be included in the claim scope: THE SCOPE OF PATENTED SUBJECT MATTER IS DEFINED ONLY BY THE ALLOWED CLAIMS. Moreover, none of these claims are intended to invoke paragraph six of 35 USC section 112 unless the exact words “means for” are followed by a participle.

The claims as filed are intended to be as comprehensive as possible, and NO subject matter is intentionally relinquished, dedicated, or abandoned.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.

Claims

1. A highly breathable shoe sole having a top surface layer and a bottom surface layer, comprising:

a plurality of layers of mesh fabrics, wherein the top surface layer and the bottom surface layer are made of mesh fabrics.

2. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is vinyl mesh fabrics.

3. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is polyester mesh fabrics.

4. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is nylon mesh fabrics.

5. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is fiber glass textile.

6. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is made of plastics.

7. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein said layer of mesh fabrics are mechanically stitched together to make sufficient thickness.

8. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein said layer of mesh fabrics are mechanically bonded together by mechanical bonding.

9. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein said layer of mesh fabrics are mechanically bonded together by lamination.

10. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is nonabsorbent.

11. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is impregnated with an antibacterial substance.

12. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 1, wherein at least one layer of said mesh fabrics is located on the top surface of the sole; and wherein at least one vent channel which extends partially through the sole communicate with the top surface of the sole.

13. The highly breathable shoe sole of claim 12, wherein the ends of the at least one vent channel are open to the air to promote evaporation of perspiration.