Footwear with embedded tracking device and method of manufacture
First Claim
1. Footwear comprising:
- a sole having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said sole having a cavity formed in said top surface of said sole;
a location determining device removably disposed at least partially within said cavity;
a wireless communication device electronically coupled to said location determining device and removably disposed at least partially within said cavity;
a battery disposed in said cavity;
a charging connector electrically coupled to charge said battery and accessible from outside said footwear; and
whereinsaid charging connector is disposed in an opening in said sidewall of said sole; and
said charging connector is coupled to said battery via a flexible circuit substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Footwear with an embedded tracking device includes a sole and an upper. The tracking device is disposed in a cavity formed in the top surface of the sole. A wireless communication antenna and/or a location signal antenna is disposed on the upper. The antenna(s) is/are connected to the tracking device via a flexible circuit substrate. In a particular embodiment, the location signal antenna is a passive, directional GPS antenna supported in an upwardly facing position in the heel portion of the upper. A method for manufacturing footwear with an embedded tracking device is also disclosed. The method includes providing a footwear upper, incorporating an antenna in the footwear upper, providing a footwear sole, fixing the footwear upper to the footwear sole, incorporating a tracking device into the footwear sole, and connecting the tracking device to the antenna.
70 Citations
121 Claims
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1. Footwear comprising:
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a sole having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said sole having a cavity formed in said top surface of said sole; a location determining device removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; a wireless communication device electronically coupled to said location determining device and removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; a battery disposed in said cavity; a charging connector electrically coupled to charge said battery and accessible from outside said footwear; and
whereinsaid charging connector is disposed in an opening in said sidewall of said sole; and said charging connector is coupled to said battery via a flexible circuit substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for manufacturing footwear, said method comprising:
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providing a sole including a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said top surface defining a cavity; providing an upper; fixing said upper to said sole; incorporating a tracking device in said cavity in said top surface of said sole; incorporating an antenna in said upper; and connecting said antenna to said tracking device via a flexible circuit substrate. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. Footwear comprising:
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a sole having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said sole having a cavity formed in said top surface of said sole; a location determining device removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; a wireless communication device electronically coupled to said location determining device and removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; an upper including an inner layer and an outer layer; and a communication antenna electrically coupled to said wireless communication device and disposed on a flexible circuit substrate between said inner layer and said outer layer of said upper. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. Footwear comprising:
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a sole having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said sole having a cavity formed in said top surface of said sole; a location determining device removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; a wireless communication device electronically coupled to said location determining device and removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; an upper including a heel portion; and a location signal antenna disposed in said heel portion of said upper and electronically coupled to said location determining device; and
whereinsaid location signal antenna is a directional antenna; and said heel portion of said upper defines a support structure for maintaining said directional antenna in an upwardly directed position. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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66. Footwear comprising:
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a sole having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said sole having a cavity formed in said top surface of said sole; a location determining device removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; a wireless communication device electronically coupled to said location determining device and removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; an upper including a heel portion; and a location signal antenna disposed in said heel portion of said upper and electronically coupled to said location determining device; and
whereinsaid location signal antenna is coupled to said location determining device via a flexible circuit substrate. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. Footwear comprising:
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a sole having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said sole having a cavity formed in said top surface of said sole; a location determining device removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; a wireless communication device electronically coupled to said location determining device and removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; an upper fixed to said sole; an antenna fixed to said upper; and a flexible circuit substrate electronically coupling said antenna to one of said wireless communication device and said location determining device. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98)
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99. Footwear comprising:
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a sole having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said sole having a cavity formed in said top surface of said sole; a location determining device removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; a wireless communication device electronically coupled to said location determining device and removably disposed at least partially within said cavity; an upper including a heel portion and a toe portion; a location signal antenna disposed in said toe portion of said upper and electronically coupled to said location determining device; and a communication antenna disposed in said heel portion of said upper and electronically coupled to said wireless communication device. - View Dependent Claims (100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111)
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112. A method for manufacturing footwear, said method comprising:
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providing a sole including a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said top surface defining a cavity; providing an upper; fixing said upper to said sole; incorporating a tracking device in said cavity in said top surface of said sole; incorporating an antenna in a heel portion of said upper; and connecting said antenna to said tracking device; and
whereinsaid antenna is a directional antenna; and said step of incorporating said antenna in said heel portion of said upper includes providing a support structure in said upper to maintain said antenna in an upwardly facing position. - View Dependent Claims (113, 114, 115, 116, 117)
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118. A method for manufacturing footwear, said method comprising:
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providing a sole including a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, said top surface defining a cavity; providing an upper; fixing said upper to said sole; incorporating a tracking device in said cavity in said top surface of said sole; incorporating an antenna in said upper; connecting said antenna to said tracking device; mounting a charging adapter in said sole; and electrically coupling said charging adapter to said tracking device via a flexible circuit substrate. - View Dependent Claims (119, 120, 121)
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Specification