Shoe sole with an adjustable support pattern

• US 5,813,142 A
• Filed: 11/18/1997
• Issued: 09/29/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ronald S. Demon
• Original Assignee: Ronald S. Demon
• Inventors: Demon, Ronald S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sewell, Paul T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): STASHICK, ANTHONY D
• Application Number:
  US08/972,450
• Time in Patent Office: 315 Days
• Field of Search: 36/28, 36/29, 36/93, 36/132, 36/136, 73/172, 600/592
• US Class Current: 36/29
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/203 provided with a pump or valve
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/206 provided with tubes or pipes or tubular shaped cushioning members
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/34 with electrical or electronic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/44 with sensors, e.g. for detecting contact or position

Abstract

A shoe having a adjustable cushion sole with fluid bladders disposed therein. Each fluid bladders has an associated pressure sensing device which measures the pressure exerted by the user'"'"'s foot on the fluid bladder. As the pressure increases over a threshold, a control system partially opens a fluid valve to allow fluid to escape from the fluid bladder. The release of fluid from the fluid bladders reduces the impact of the user'"'"'s foot with the traveling surface.

Claims

1. A shoe to be worn by a user over a plurality of strides, each stride including an impact by the shoe with the traveling surface, the shoe having an adjustable cushioning sole, comprising:

a fluid bladder disposed in the sole having fluid therein;

a duct in communication with said fluid bladder and providing a pathway for fluid to exit the sole of the shoe;

a flow regulator regulating the flow of said fluid through said duct to adjust the pressure in said fluid bladder;

a sensor for sensing the pressure in said fluid bladder; and

a control system in communication with said sensor and said flow regulator, said control system being capable of automatically adjusting the pressure in said bladder based on the sensing of a predetermined pressure in said bladder resulting from impact of the shoe with the traveling surface.

2. The shoe of claim 1, further comprising a fluid reservoir in communication with said duct and disposed outside the sole of the shoe for receiving said fluid.

3. The shoe of claim 2, further comprising a cushioning adjustment control for adjusting the level of cushioning provided by the shoe.

4. The shoe of claim 1, wherein:

said control system is a microcomputer in electrical communication with said flow regulator and said sensor and wherein said microcomputer receives and stores pressure data from said sensor and computes said predetermined pressure.

17. The shoe of claim 1, wherein said control system is capable of adjusting said regulator to allow fluid to enter said fluid bladder between impacts of the shoe with the traveling surface.

20. The shoe of claim 4, wherein said microcomputer is programmed to adjust said flow regulator to allow fluid to exit said fluid bladder when said sensor detects a pressure greater than said predetermined pressure.

5. A shoe to be worn by a user over a plurality of strides, each stride including an impact by the shoe with the traveling surface, the shoe having an adjustable cushioning sole, comprising:

a fluid bladder disposed in the sole having air contained therein;

a duct in communication with said fluid bladder and ambient air;

means for automatically controlling the flow of air from said fluid bladder to ambient air in response to pressure exerted on said fluid bladder by the foot of the user during the impact of the shoe with the traveling surface; and

means for supplying air to said fluid bladder from ambient air between impacts of the shoe with the traveling surface.

6. The shoe of claim 5, wherein said means for controlling the flow of air including includes:

a flow regulator disposed in said duct;

a pressure sensor for sensing the pressure in said fluid bladder; and

a control system receiving electrical data signals from said pressure sensing device and providing electrical control signals to adjust the opening of said flow regulator and thereby control the flow of air through said duct.

7. The shoe of claim 6, further comprising:

a plurality of fluid bladders,

a flow regulator and pressure sensor associated with each of said fluid bladders; and

wherein

said control system is a programmable microcomputer in electrical communication with said flow regulators and said sensors and said microcomputer receives and stores pressure data from said sensors.

8. The shoe of claim 7, further comprising a cushioning adjustment control providing an input to said microcomputer for adjusting the level of cushioning provided by the shoe.

9. The shoe of claim 7, wherein said microcomputer is programmed to determine a threshold pressure for each fluid bladder and to adjust said flow regulator to allow air to exit said associated fluid bladder when said sensor detects a pressure greater than said threshold pressure.

10. The shoe of claim 6, wherein said control system includes a programmable microcomputer for calculating a threshold pressure.

11. The shoe of claim 5, wherein said means for automatically controlling the flow of air includes a pressure sensitive fluid regulator.

12. The shoe of claim 6, wherein said flow regulator comprises an adjustable restrictor.

13. The shoe of claim 6, wherein said flow regulator includes a solenoid fluid valve.

18. The shoe of claim 6, wherein said means for supplying air is the reformation of said fluid bladder to a substantially noncompressed size.

19. The shoe of claim 9, wherein said microcomputer is programmed to adjust said flow regulator to allow air to enter said fluid bladders between impacts of the shoe with the traveling surface.

14. A method for adjusting the cushioning of a sole of a shoe worn by a user over a plurality of strides, each stride including an impact of the shoe with the traveling surface, the shoe having a fluid bladder disposed in the sole and containing fluid, and a flow regulator controlling the flow of fluid to and from the fluid bladder, said method comprising the steps of:

a. determining a pressure threshold;

b. automatically adjusting the opening of the flow regulator to a first position;

c. monitoring the pressure in the fluid bladder exerted by the foot of the user wearing the shoe as the shoe impacts the traveling surface during a stride;

d. automatically adjusting the opening of the flow regulator to a second position, said second position allowing fluid to escape from the fluid bladder during impact of the shoe with the traveling surface to prevent said monitored pressure from exceeding said pressure threshold;

e. automatically adjusting the opening of the flow regulator to a third position to allow fluid to enter the fluid bladder when the shoe is not impacting the traveling surface; and

f. repeating steps b through e over the plurality of strides.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of determining a pressure threshold includes monitoring the peak pressure exerted on a fluid bladder during each stride over the plurality of strides.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein said first position, said second position, and said third position of said flow regulator are different positions.