Universal Sole

Abstract

Universal sole designed to help a user adapt his walking or running gait to the surface over which he is moving or to the peculiarities of his individual leg/foot System by individually adjusting the hardness and thickness of several areas of the sole. Each area consists of one or more layers of a flat coil of elastic extensible airtight and optionally reinforced rubber tube which may be flattened or inflated beyond its nominal diameter as a function of the pressure introduced by the action, as the user walks, of a small pump located inside the sole underneath the user's heel and adjustments and isolations performed manually with a System of valves built into the thickness of the sole. The coils, the valve System and the pumping System are either located and bonded between layers of foam containing the impression of the coils and filling the spaces between laces or placed in a mould or in a sole in the shape of a boat, a filling material then being introduced to fill the empty spaces. The resulting soles or sole elements can be used on ail kinds of shoes.

1 . universal sole for shoes designed to help a wearer adapt his walking or his running to the type of ground encountered or to the particularities of his leg/foot system characterized in that the sole is made of flat serpentine coils ( 3 ,  3 . 1 ,  3 . 2 ,  3 . 3 ,  3 . 4 ) made of elastic tubes, extendable and air-tight and each one limiting a zone defined by its location in front or back, and right or left sides of the foot, each coil with a plugged extremity, being filled independently with its quantity and pressure of air by transfers from the outside toward the coil, from the coil toward the outside and from one coil to another, according to multiple combinations controlled by a valves system ( 5 ,  5 . 2   a - d,    5 . 21 ,  5 . 22 ), connection pipes ( 3 . 6  and  3 . 7 ), a manifold ( 5 . 1 ), a vent ( 5 . 2   e ) and a pumping system ( 4 ), the whole system being controlled manually. 
     
     
         2 . universal sole for shoes according to claim no  1  characterized in that each zone can include several layers ( 3 . 1   a,    3 . 1   b,    3 . 2   a,    3 . 2   b ) of the same continuous flat coil. 
     
     
         3 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the elastic tube of the coils ( 3 . 1   a ) is made of a rubber compound and is reinforced with extendable elastic fibers ( 3 . 11 ) stiffer than the main pipe material and in the form of a diamond mesh elongated in the tube direction. 
     
     
         4 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the coils tubes ( 3 ) are filled with foam. 
     
     
         5 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the parallel loops of the coil tubes are maintained by bandages with the help of a large mesh canvas ( 2 . 6 ) and that a large mesh canvas ( 2 . 6 ) is deployed between each layer of the coils. 
     
     
         6 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the pumping system is made of a connecting nozzle linked to the manifold via a valve fitted in the thickness of the sole, this nozzle being temporarily connected to the flexible hose of an outside air pump for the pumping operation. 
     
     
         7 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims no  1  to  5  characterized in that the pumping system is made of a mini-pump ( 4 ) integrated into the sole and equipped with a non-return valve ( 8 . 2 ) and a safety valve ( 8 . 3 ) on its discharge toward the manifold, and on the suction side, a connection to the air filter ( 7 ) via an isolation valve ( 5 . 2   f  or  5 . 23 ) and a non-return valve ( 8 . 1 ), the outside contact surface area ( 4 . 1 ) of the pump being bigger than the section of the compression chamber ( 4 . 3 ) and being maintained at the level of the lower surface of the sole due to its location and its support under the lower surface of the tubes of the lower layer of the coils in the heel zone. 
     
     
         8 . universal sole for shoes according to claim no  7  characterized in that the pumping system is equipped with a safety valve at its discharge ( 8 . 3 ). 
     
     
         9 . universal sole for shoes according to claim no  7  characterized in that the pumping system is equipped with a plunger pump whose suction spring system ( 4 . 2 ) maintains the pump in its compressed position when the suction valve is dosed. 
     
     
         10 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the transfer system includes a set of two positions valves ( 5 . 2   a - f ), open and closed, controlled with knobs ( 5 . 3   a - f ) located on the side in the sole's thickness, these organs being maneuvered by the wearer to set the required configuration, each valve isolating or connecting on the one hand, and independently, the different zones of the sole ( 3 . 1 ,  3 . 2 ,  3 . 3 ,  3 . 4 ) with the manifold ( 5 . 1 ), and on the other hand, the manifold ( 5 . 1 ) with the vent through the vent valve ( 5 . 2   e ), or isolating or opening the pumping system ( 4 ) suction valve ( 5 . 2   f ) 
     
     
         11 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims no  1  to  9  characterized in that the transfer system ( 5 ) includes the set of several four positions valves ( 5 . 21 ,  5 . 22 ,  5 . 23 ) with multiple ways controlled by knobs ( 5 . 211 ,  5 . 221 ,  5 . 231 ) located on the side in the thickness of the shoe's sole, these knobs being rotated by the wearer to set the required configuration, the first valve ( 5 . 23 ) isolating or connecting the manifold ( 5 . 1 ), the vent, the suction and the pump discharge ( 4 ), the other valves ( 5 . 21  and  5 . 22 ) isolating or connecting independently groups of the sole zones ( 3 . 1 ,  3 . 2  and  3 . 3 ,  3 . 4 ), each valve being composed of an inside rotating cylinder ( 5 . 23  for valve  5 . 23 ) bored with radial coplanar holes ( 5 . 234  and  5 . 235 ) at a 90° angle and having their intersection on the axis of the inside cylinder, the corresponding block of valve ( 5 . 1   a  and  5 . 2   b ) being bored in the same plane by four holes distributed at 90° angles, the first valve ( 5 . 23 ) having their bores ( 5 . 234  and  5 . 235 ) and block holes placed in two separate parallel planes. 
     
     
         12 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the manifold is equipped with a pressure gauge (not represented). 
     
     
         13 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the standard number of zones ( 3 ) for each sole is between 1 and 8. 
     
     
         14 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the most standard number of zones for each sole is four, right front ( 3 . 4  for left shoe), left front ( 3 . 3 ), right heel ( 3 . 2 ), left heel ( 3 . 1 ). 
     
     
         15 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the elements of the coils ( 3 ), valves block ( 5 ), pumping system ( 4 ), are inserted between foam layers ( 2 ,  2 . 1 ,  2 . 2 ,  2 . 3 ), ridged and pre-imprinted with the coil path, the foam layers are pre-glued, the set forming after assembly a pre-manufactured element of a shoe sole. 
     
     
         16 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims no  1  to  14  characterized in that the elements, coils ( 3 ), valves block ( 5 ), pumping system ( 4 ), bandages and possible canvas ( 2 . 6 ) are put in a mould and empty spaces are filled by a poured material that will get desired characteristics after maturation, the whole set forming a pre-manufactured element of a shoe sole. 
     
     
         17 . universal sole for shoes according to one of the previous claims no  1  to  14  characterized in that the elements, coils ( 3 ), block of valves ( 5 ), pumping system ( 4 ), bandages and possible canvas ( 2 . 6 ) are put in a outsole with upward curved edges ( 6 ), the empty spaces being filled by a poured filler that will get desired characteristics after maturing, the whole set forming a pre-manufactured completed sole.