Footwear with illuminating sole

Abstract

Footwear includes a translucent outsole that can be illuminated out the bottom and sides of the outsole. The illumination may be controlled by a selector switch with modes selected by the user.

1 . Footwear, comprising:
 a vamp;   a translucent outsole attached to the vamp;   a power source attached to either the vamp or outsole; and   a light source in the outsole powered by the power source, wherein the light source is disposed to illuminate out a bottom and out a perimeter of the outsole.   
     
     
         2 . The footwear of  claim 1  wherein the light source comprises an array of light sources positioned from under a heel section and under a ball section of the outsole. 
     
     
         3 . The footwear of  claim 2  wherein the light source includes light emitting diodes (LEDs). 
     
     
         4 . The footwear of  claim 1  wherein the entire bottom of the outsole is translucent. 
     
     
         5 . The footwear of  claim 4  wherein the light source is disposed to illuminate out a translucent sidewall along the perimeter of the outsole. 
     
     
         6 . Footwear, comprising:
 a vamp;   an outsole attached to the vamp, the outsole including translucent portions;   a power source attached to either the vamp or outsole;   a selector switch coupled to the power source; and   a light source in the outsole, the light source connected to the selector switch and power source, wherein the light source is disposed to illuminate around the periphery of the outsole and wherein the selector switch is adapted to control illumination of the light source.   
     
     
         7 . The footwear of  claim 6  wherein the selector switch is configured to switch between “on”, “off”, and “pressure sense” modes to power the light source. 
     
     
         8 . The footwear of  claim 7  wherein the light source includes an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed to illuminate from under a heel section and under a ball section of the outsole. 
     
     
         9 . The footwear of  claim 8  wherein the LEDs are disposed to also illuminate out a sidewall along the perimeter of the outsole. 
     
     
         10 . The footwear of  claim 9  wherein the entire outsole is translucent and wherein the LEDs are disposed to illuminate the entire outsole.