Ventilated shoe outsole

Abstract

A shoe is provided and includes a ventilated outsole that includes a recessed portion formed along an upper face of the outsole and has one or more openings formed along a ground contacting bottom face of the outsole. The shoe includes a ventilation insert disposed within the recessed portion. The ventilation insert includes a base layer that has through holes formed therein and a membrane that is coupled to the base layer. The base layer represents a bottom layer of the ventilation insert, while the membrane represents a top layer of the ventilation insert that are exposed over and cover the through holes formed in the base layer. The openings formed within the outsole are in communication with the recessed portion such that the ventilation insert is visible through the openings formed in the outsole.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A shoe comprising:
 a ventilated outsole that includes a recessed portion formed along an upper face of the outsole and has one or more openings formed along a ground contacting bottom face of the outsole; and   a ventilation insert disposed within the recessed portion, wherein the ventilation insert includes a base layer that has through holes formed therein and a membrane that is coupled to the base layer, the base layer representing a bottom layer of the ventilation insert, while the membrane represents a top layer of the ventilation insert that are exposed over and cover the through holes formed in the base layer, wherein the openings formed within the outsole are in communication with the recessed portion such that the ventilation insert is visible through the openings formed in the outsole.   
     
     
         2 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the base layer comprises a flexible plastic part and the membrane comprises a flexible air permeable membrane. 
     
     
         3 . The shoe of  claim 2 , wherein the flexible air permeable membrane comprises a screen. 
     
     
         4 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein membrane comprises a layer of stretched polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). 
     
     
         5 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom face of the outsole includes a plurality of grooves and the one or more openings are formed within the plurality of grooves. 
     
     
         6 . The shoe of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more openings comprises pin holes formed in the grooves. 
     
     
         7 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the outsole includes a first recessed portion and a second recessed portion and the ventilation insert comprises a first ventilation insert that is disposed within the first recessed portion and a second ventilation insert that is disposed within the second recessed portion. 
     
     
         8 . The shoe of  claim 7 , wherein the first ventilation insert and the second ventilation insert are formed of different materials. 
     
     
         9 . The shoe of  claim 8 , wherein first ventilation insert has a first air permeability value and the second ventilation insert has a second air permeability value that is different than the first ventilation insert. 
     
     
         10 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the through holes are slits formed transversely across a width of the base layer. 
     
     
         11 . The shoe of  claim 11 , wherein the through holes are slits formed diagonally or longitudinally within the base layer. 
     
     
         12 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the through holes comprise slits formed within the base layer, each slit having internal divider walls that divide each slit into a plurality of open slit segments. 
     
     
         13 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the through holes comprises discrete openings formed in a pattern across the base layer. 
     
     
         14 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the discrete openings are square shaped. 
     
     
         15 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the base layer has a honeycomb shaped footprint and the through holes are hexagonal shaped cells. 
     
     
         16 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the through holes formed in the base layer includes a first set of through holes and a second set of through holes that have a different shape than the first set of through holes. 
     
     
         17 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the through holes formed in the base layer are formed in a first density within a first region of the base layer and a second density within a second region of the base layer. 
     
     
         18 . The shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the through holes formed in the base layer have a tapered construction in that the through hole is wider at a top end and is narrower at a bottom end.