AIR PUMP ASSEMBLY FOR VENTILATIVE FOOTWEAR

ENSEMBLE DE POMPE A AIR DESTINE A UNE CHAUSSURE A VENTILATION

English Abstract

Disclosed is an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, in which the air
pump assembly is mounted onto a heel portion of an outsole, so that external
air is forcibly introduced into an interior of a shoe when walking, thereby
cleaning the interior of the shoe and providing a pedestrian with a cushion
function. If the air pump assembly is compressed by the compression force, the
bending portion is smoothly bent along the resilient ring, while if the
compression force is released, the rigid plate the bending portion is
naturally restored. Accordingly, the fatigue of the bending portion due to the
repeated retraction is reduced, thereby preventing the rupture of the assembly
and thus extending its life.

French Abstract

L'invention concerne un ensemble de pompe à air destiné à une chaussure à ventilation dans laquelle ledit ensemble est monté sur une partie du talon de la semelle extérieure, de manière que l'air externe soit introduit par force dans l'intérieur de la chaussure pendant que l'utilisateur marche, nettoyant ainsi l'intérieur de la chaussure et conférant une fonction de coussin à l'utilisateur. Si l'ensemble de pompe à air est comprimé par une force de compression, la partie de flexion est légèrement fléchie le long de l'anneau élastique, alors que si la force de compression est relâchée, la plaque rigide de cette partie reprend naturellement sa position. Par conséquent, cet ensemble de pompe à air permet de réduire l'usure de la partie de flexion engendrée par la rétraction répétée, empêchant ainsi une cassure de l'ensemble et prolongeant la durée de vie de celui-ci.

Claims

Claims
1. An air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, the air pump assembly
comprising:
a base plate 14 with check valves for regulating air flow 22a and 22b
mounted on both sides;
an upper rigid plate 16;
a compression spring 18 interposed between the base plate 14 and the upper
rigid plate 16;
an elastic cover 12 covering the upper rigid plate 16, with a border thereof
being airtightly hot-melted onto the base plate 14; and
a resilient ring 20 interposed between the base plate 14 and the rigid plate
16,
so that a middle portion of the elastic cover is pulled toward a center axis
of the
resilient ring to form a concave bending portion 13.
2. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resilient ring 20
is
closely contacted with an outer edge of the middle portion of the elastic
cover 12.
3. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the resilient
ring
20 is a coil spring 20a.
4. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the resilient
ring
20 is a hollow pipe 20b.
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Description

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AIR PUMP ASSEMBLY FOR VENTILATIVE FOOTWEAR
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an air pump assembly for ventilative
footwear, and particularly, to an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear,
in
which the air pump assembly is mounted onto a heel portion of an outsole, so
that
external air is forcibly introduced into an interior of a shoe when walking,
thereby
cleaning the interior of the shoe and providing a pedestrian with a cushion
function.
Background Art
Since the construction of conventional footwear is difficult to ventilate the
air
within an interior of a shoe, perspiration and moisture generated from a foot
are not
discharged outwardly. Therefore, the interior of the shoe is always dampish,
and
has an offensive odor, thereby causing dermatophytosis.
In order to prevent the above problem, although footwear having various
designs to ventilate the interior has been proposed, the footwear has some
disadvantages of unacceptable function and effect. To solve the disadvantages,
the
applicant proposed Korean Utility Model Application No. 1997-000167, entitled
"air pump assembly for ventilative footwear", the disclosure of which are
hereby
incorporated by reference.
With the construction of the prior air pump assembly, repeated application of
the weight of a pedestrian to the air pump assembly ,causes an elastic cover
to be
contracted. At that time, a middle portion of the elastic cover is outwardly
extended. Accordingly, it is expected that a hollow portion of an outsole is
damaged by the friction of inner surfaces of the hollow portion. In addition,
the a
degree of fatigue of the hollow portion is increased by repeated compression
and
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restoration, thereby causing a repeatedly folded portion to be ruptured.
Disclosure of the Invention
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems
involved in the prior art and to provide an air pump assembly for ventilative
footwear, in which a resilient ring is provided in a center portion of an
elastic cover
to form a concave portion, and upon pumping of the air pump assembly the
elastic
cover is inwardly retracted and then restored to increase a pumping and
damping
efficiency.
In order to accomplish the above mentioned object, according to one aspect
of the present invention, there is provided an air pump assembly for
ventilative
footwear, the air pump assembly comprising: a base plate with check valves for
regulating air flow mounted on both sides; an upper rigid plate; a compression
.
spring interposed between the base plate and the upper rigid plate; an elastic
cover
covering the upper rigid plate, with a border thereof being airtightly hot-
melted onto
the base plate; and a resilient ring interposed between the base plate and the
rigid
plate, so that a middle portion of the elastic cover is pulled toward a center
axis of
the resilient ring to form a concave bending portion.
2o Brief Description of the Drawings
The above objects, other features and advantages of the present invention will
become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an air pump assembly for ventilative
footwear according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along a line A-A in Fig. 1.
Figs. 3a and 3b are perspective views illustrating alternative embodiments of
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a resilient ring according to present invention.
Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view illustrating the operation of an air pump
assembly for ventilative footwear according to the present invention.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
Now, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in
detail with reference to accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals
designate corresponding parts throughout several views. In addition, the
detained
description on the function or construction of the known parts will be omitted
for
clarity.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an air pump assembly for ventilative
footwear according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, and
Fig. 2
is a cross sectional view taken along a line A-A in Fig. 1. Referring to Figs.
1 and
2, the air pump assembly comprises a base plate 14 with a pair of rear and
front
check valves for regulating air flow 22a and 22b mounted on both sides, an
upper
rigid plate 16, a truncated cone-type compression spring 18 interposed between
the
base plate 14 and the upper rigid plate 16, and an elastic cover 12 made of a
resin
having a superior elastic force and covering the upper rigid plate 16, with a
border
thereof being airtightly hot-melted onto the base plate 14. A resilient ring
20 is
interposed between the base plate 14 and the rigid plate 16, so that a middle
portion
of the elastic cover 12 is pulled toward a center axis of the resilient ring
to form a
concave bending portion 13.
The rear check valve 22a is connected to an intake tube 24 communicating
with the atmosphere, while the front check valve 22b is connected to a supply
tube
26 communicating with the interior of the shoe. The resilient ring 20 is
closely
contacted with an outer edge of the middle portion of the elastic cover 12,
and
applies a certain level of elastic force to the middle portion. Preferably,
the
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resilient ring 20 is made of a rubber or synthetic resin having a superior
elastic force,
and has a circular shape when seen from a top. Each of the base plate 14 and
rigid
plate 16 has a fixing portion 19 for rigidly fixing the compression spring 18,
the
fixing portion 19 protruded from an inner surface of the base plate and rigid
plate in
a shape of ring. With the above construction, when the compression spring 18
is
compressed, a noise is significantly reduced.
Figs. 3a and 3b are perspective views illustrating alternative embodiments of
a resilient ring according to present invention. The resilient ring 20 shown
in the
above embodiment may be replaced with a coil spring 20a having an excellent
elastic force as shown in Fig: 3a, or a hollow pipe 20b made of same material
as that
of the coil spring 20a as shown in Fig. 3b.
The air pump assembly for ventilative footwear according to the present
invention functions as follows:
Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view illustrating the operation of an air pump
assembly for ventilative footwear according to the present invention. If the
pressure is applied to the air pump assembly 10 upon walking, the rigid plate
16 is
lowered, and thus the compression spring 18 is compressed, as shown in Fig. 4.
The elastic cover 12 is retracted to discharge the air from the air pump
assembly 10
to the interior of the shoe via the check valve 22b and the supply tube 26.
Alternatively, the air flow may be adversely converted by installing the check
valves
22a and 22b to discharge the moisture and air from the shoe to the external.
At that
time, the compression of the elastic cover 12 causes the resilient ring 20 to
pull the
bending portion 13 inwardly. The bending portion 13 is smoothly bent along the
resilient ring 20. If the compression force is released, the rigid plate 16 is
raised by
the compression spring 18, and the elastic cover 12 is naturally restored, so
that the
air pump assembly 10 is filled with the external air through the intake tube
24 and
the check valve 22a. The inwardly retraction of the elastic cover 12 increases
a
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discharging amount of the air from the air pump assembly.
As the result that a piston repeatedly applies an acting force of 20 to 80
kilograms to the air pump assembly constructed as described above, the prior
assembly is ruptured at about 80,000 times, while the present assembly is
ruptured at
about 8,000,000 times.
Industrial Applicability
As apparent from the above description, if the air pump assembly is
l0 compressed by the compression force, the bending portion is smoothly bent
along
the resilient ring, while if the compression force is released, the rigid
plate the
bending portion is naturally restored. Accordingly, the fatigue of the bending
portion due to the repeated retraction is reduced, thereby preventing the
rupture of
the assembly and thus extending its life.
In addition, since the elastic cover is inwardly compressed when the air pump
assembly is compressed, the discharging amount of the internal air is
increased.
And, when the elastic cover is restored, the external air is sucked by the
elastic cover.
Accordingly, the flow rate of the air is maximized, and a fresh air is
sufficiently
supplied to the interior of the shoe by the air pump assembly, thereby
preventing the
offensive odor and the dermatophytosis.
Furthermore, since the air pump assembly increases the sucking and
supplying efficiency of the air, there is a damping effect of reducing a
shocking
force and thus fatigue of the pedestrian.
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Representative Drawing