Heated insoles and heated shoes

Abstract

The present invention provides heated insoles and heated shoes that can securely hold a large-capacity battery in the shoe. [Solution] A heated insole 10 comprising an insole body 11, a heating element 12 embedded in the insole body 11, and a power supply unit 20 connected to the heating element 12 by a connecting wire 13, and a heated shoe in which the heated insole 10 is housed in a shoe. The power supply unit 20 comprises a flat, rechargeable battery, a control unit equipped with an operation switch for turning the heating element ON and OFF, and a case made of polymer material that houses the battery and the control unit. The case is roughly rectangular in plan view and has flat, flexible tongues that protrude outward from near the four corners at the bottom, with holes formed in the tongues for passing shoelaces through.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a thermal insole for shoes and a thermal shoe equipped with such a thermal insole.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an insole with a heater in which a heating element (heater) with an electric wire wired in a zigzag pattern is sandwiched from above and below by an insulating sheet or a cushion sheet, and electricity is supplied to the heating element by a rechargeable battery. Further, it is disclosed that a battery case is arranged on the upper part of the shoe upper, and the battery and the battery case are fixed to the shoe by passing a shoelace through two strip pieces provided on the bottom surface of the battery case. The strip pieces are arranged vertically at two positions in the vertical direction so as to pass a horizontal shoelace. It is also disclosed that a battery is arranged at a position corresponding to the ball of the foot.

[0003] Patent Document 2 discloses an insole of a shoe in which a flat battery case is attached to the upper side of the shoe by a shoe fixing clip, and the battery housed in the battery case and the heater of the insole are connected by an electric connection wire. [[ID=1

[17] ]

[0004] Patent Document 3 discloses a heat-generable shoe using a heat-generating rubber in which conductive carbon black and short fibers made of organic fibers are mixed and dispersed in rubber as a heating element, and embedded in an insole together with a battery.

[0005] Patent Document 4 discloses an electric heating element using graphene or a carbon material produced from a plant-based raw material, although it is different from shoes or insoles.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

[0007] The battery case described in Figure 1 of Patent Document 1, etc., is prismatic in shape, so it is tall and narrow. Therefore, it is not stable when placed on the instep of a shoe, as shown in Figure 3. Furthermore, the straps for threading the shoelaces are arranged in two places in the vertical direction, and each extends vertically to thread the horizontal shoelaces through, making it difficult to firmly hold the battery case even when secured with shoelaces. Also, when placed on the sole of the shoe, as shown in Figure 5, it is difficult to increase the charging capacity.

[0008] As described in Patent Document 2, when a battery case containing a battery and fuse is elastically attached to the outside of the shoe's side wall with a clip, there is a risk of it coming off the shoe. The heat-generating rubber disclosed in Patent Document 3 is elastic, so the heating element itself is less likely to break. However, since the heating element placed at the tip of the insole and the battery embedded in the center of the insole are connected by lead wires, there is a risk of the lead wires breaking. Patent Document 4 discloses the use of graphene as a heating element, but there is no description of the battery.

[0009] The objective of this invention is to provide a heated insole and shoes that can securely hold a battery in the shoe, even when using a battery with a large capacity. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The heated insole 10 of this invention comprises an insole body 11, a heating element 12 embedded in the insole body 11, and a power supply unit 20 connected to the heating element 12 by a connecting wire 13. The power supply unit 20 comprises a flat, rechargeable battery 22, a control unit 23 equipped with an operation switch 28 for turning the heating element 12 ON and OFF, and a case 21 made of polymer material that houses the battery 22 and the control unit 23. The case 21 is characterized by being substantially rectangular in plan view and having flat, flexible tongue pieces 21d that protrude outward from near the four corners at the bottom, with holes 21e formed in the tongue pieces 21d for passing shoelaces 51 through.

[0011] In such a heated insole 10, it is preferable that the tongue piece 21d and the hole 21e are concentric semi-circular discs in a plan view. Furthermore, it is preferable that the case 21 has a shallow box-shaped case body 21a that opens at the bottom and a sheet-like lid 21b that tightly closes the opening of the case body 21a, with a flange 21c extending outward on the periphery of the opening of the case body 21a, and the flange 21c and the lid 21b being tightly joined around each other, and the tongue piece 21d being formed by the joined portion of the flange 21c and the lid 21b.

[0012] Furthermore, it is preferable that the top wall 21a5 of the case body 21a is flexible, and that the top wall 21a5 is provided with a push part (annular transparent part 25) for pressing and operating the operation switch 28, and a display part (transparent parts 25, 26) for displaying the operating status, and that connectors are provided on the rising walls (front wall 21a1, rear wall 21a2, side walls 21a3, 21a4) of the case body 21a. In addition, a bonding sheet may be interposed between the case body 21a and the lid to tightly bond the two. Furthermore, the heating element 12 may have a layered or linear form in which graphene is pressed onto a metal foil.

[0013] The heated shoe 30 of this invention comprises a shoe 50 having shoelaces 51 and one of the aforementioned heated insoles 10, wherein the insole body 11 of the heated insole 10 is housed in the insole of the shoe 50, the power supply unit 20 is placed on the front of the upper 52 of the shoe 50, and the tongue piece 21d of the case 21 of the power supply unit 20 is fastened to the shoe 50 by the shoelaces 51. The shoelaces 51 are preferably elastic. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] The heated insole of this invention can be attached to the inside of the shoe, and the power supply unit can be fastened to the top of the shoe with shoelaces. By operating the switch on the power supply unit, the feet can be warmed by the heat generated by the heating element. The power supply unit can be securely attached to the shoe by placing the four tongue-shaped pieces, through which the shoelaces are threaded, onto the top of the shoe and tying the shoelaces. Furthermore, because the battery is flat and the tongue-shaped pieces protrude outward, the power supply unit does not protrude significantly from the shoe. Therefore, the user will not be particularly bothered by the bulge of the power supply unit.

[0015] If the tongue and hole are semi-circular in shape and concentric in plan view, using a flat shoelace further enhances the integration between the power supply unit and the upper of the shoe. Furthermore, if the case has a shallow, box-shaped case body that opens at the bottom and a sheet-like lid that tightly closes the opening of the case body, and a flange extending outward is provided around the opening of the case body, and the flange and the lid are tightly joined, and the tongue is formed by the joined portion of the flange and the lid, then the battery can be held securely.

[0016] If the top wall of the case body is flexible, and the top wall is provided with a push section for pressing an operation switch and a display section for displaying the operating status, and a connector is provided on the rising wall of the case body, then the power supply unit can be easily operated and the power supply unit can be easily charged.

[0017] When a bonding sheet for closely bonding the case body and the lid is interposed between the case body and the lid, they can be closely bonded even when the materials of the case body and the lid are different. When the heating element has a layered or linear form in which graphene is pressure-bonded to a metal foil, the temperature of the heating element rises rapidly.

[0018] The thermal shoe of the present invention can firmly attach the power supply unit to the shoe, and the power supply unit does not protrude significantly from the surface of the shoe. When the shoelace has elasticity, the power supply unit can be stably attached to the shoe even when the power supply unit is on the shoelace.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] [Figure 1] It is a plan view showing an embodiment of the thermal insole of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing the main part of the thermal insole of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line IIb-IIb of FIG. 2A. [Figure 3] FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D are a perspective view, a plan view, a cross-sectional view, and a front view of the power supply unit, respectively. [Figure 4] It is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the thermal shoe of the present invention.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] Next, embodiments of the thermal insole and shoe of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The thermal insole 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes an insole body 11, a heating element 12 embedded in the insole body 11, a power supply unit 20 that supplies electricity to the heating element 12 via a connection wire 13, and a charging cable set 40 used when charging the power supply unit 20. The insole body 11 and the power supply unit 20 are actually a pair for insertion into the left and right shoes, but only the right shoe is shown in FIG. 1.

[0021] The insole body 11 is formed by cutting a laminated sheet into the shape of a shoe and molding it into a predetermined three-dimensional shape. In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 2A and 2B, it has a sloping portion 11a with the peripheral edge rising diagonally from the center in the front-to-back direction to the rear end. The laminated sheet comprises a base portion 11b of a predetermined thickness made of foamed resin and a surface layer 11c laminated on the upper surface of the base portion 11b. A sheet-like heating element 12 is embedded between the base portion 11b and the surface layer 11c. A connection wire 13 for supplying electricity is connected to the heating element 12, and a connector (male) 14 is connected to the end of the connection wire 13.

[0022] The heating element 12 is primarily positioned on the toe side of the insole body 11. This is because the toe area of ​​the foot tends to get cold easily and is highly sensitive to temperature changes. However, it may also be placed across the entire insole body 11, including the heel side.

[0023] The base 11b of the laminated sheet is made of a thermoplastic foam sheet having cushioning properties, which is made by foaming thermoplastic polymer materials, particularly thermoplastic resins such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, and polypropylene, or thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) or thermoplastic rubber (TPR) such as polystyrene, polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, and polyurethane. For the surface layer 11c, synthetic resin sheets such as polyethylene and polystyrene or woven fabrics such as cotton fabrics are used. The base 11b and the surface layer 11c are joined together by heat pressing or other means.

[0024] The heating element 12 is formed from a wire 12a having electrical resistance, which is mainly made of graphene and mixed with other conductive materials, such as graphite, and insulating sheets 12b that sandwich the wire 12a from above and below. The graphene used in the heating element 12 is opaque, and the wire 12a is manufactured by pressing layers of graphene onto metal foil (especially copper foil). The heating element 12 is formed by bending a flat wire 12a containing graphene back and forth into a zigzag linear shape (see Figure 2A), sandwiching it from above and below with insulating sheets 12b made of an insulating synthetic resin sheet such as polyimide, and then heating and integrally molding it. This results in a heating element 12 with high water resistance. In addition to being linear, graphene can also be formed in layers to create a planar heating element.

[0025] The connecting cable 13 is preferably a USB cable, especially a small USB cable, and the connector (male) 14 is preferably a USB cable connector (male).

[0026] As shown in Figures 3A to 3C, the power supply unit 20 consists of a flat rectangular case 21, a rechargeable battery 22 housed liquid-tightly within the case 21, and a control unit 23.

[0027] The case 21 consists of a shallow, box-shaped case body 21a that opens at the bottom, and a lid 21b that tightly closes the opening on the bottom surface of the case body 21a. The lower end of the case body 21a is provided with an outwardly expanding flange 21c, and the lid 21b is formed to be the same size and shape as the flange 21c, with the flange 21c and the peripheral edge 21b1 of the lid 21b being tightly joined by heat fusion or the like. Both the case body 21a and the lid 21b are molded from a polymer material such as rubber or thermoplastic elastomer and are elastic.

[0028] Between the flange 21c and the peripheral edge 21b1 of the lid 21b, a bonding sheet 21f is interposed to bond both the case body 21a and the lid 21b in a liquid-tight and high-strength manner, resulting in a total of three layers. The case body 21a has a roughly rectangular shape in plan view, and a flat, flexible tongue 21d, formed by the area where the flange 21c of the case body 21a and the peripheral edge 21b1 of the lid 21b are joined, is formed to protrude outward from four locations near the four corners of the lower part of the case body 21a. In this embodiment, the case body 21a is rectangular in plan view, and the tongue 21d protrudes from the ends of the long sides. The tongue 21d has a roughly semicircular shape in plan view, and a semicircular hole 21e is formed in the center for passing a shoelace or other string used to secure the power supply unit to a shoe.

[0029] In this embodiment, the case body 21a includes a front wall 21a1, a rear wall 21a2, and left and right side walls 21a3 and 21a4, respectively, which rise perpendicularly from the bottom surface. The upper edges of the front wall 21a1 and the rear wall 21a2 are connected by a top wall 21a5, and the side edges of the top wall 21a5 and the upper ends of the side walls 21a3 and 21a4 are connected by inclined surfaces 21a6 and 21a7. By providing these inclined surfaces 21a6 and 21a7, the feeling of protrusion is reduced when the case is attached to a shoe. Also, as shown in Figure 3C, the top wall 21a5 slopes gently downward from the front wall 21a1 to the rear wall 21a2. This is because a member for holding the connector 24 is provided along the front wall 21a1. However, it may also be horizontal.

[0030] As described above, the front wall 21a1 and the rear wall 21a2 are shaped like modified hexagons, with the upper corners of the rectangles cut diagonally (see Figure 3D). A USB cable connector (female) 24, which connects to the USB cable connector (male) 14, is located at the top center of the left and right sides of the front wall 21a1. The connector (female) 24 may also be provided on the rear wall 21a2 or the side walls 21a3 and 21a4, in addition to the front wall 21a1. The top wall 21a5 is flexible, and an annular transparent section 25 is provided in its center to indicate the position to be pressed (pressing section) and to display the current operating status. In addition, linear transparent sections 26 are provided along the boundaries with the inclined surfaces 21a6 and 21a7 at the left and right ends of the top wall 21a5. These transparent sections 25 and 26 constitute the display section.

[0031] As shown in Figure 3C, a control unit 23 is provided on the lid 21b of the case 21, and a battery 22 is fixed on the control board 27 of the control unit 23. The battery 22 is preferably a battery with a large charging capacity and small volume, such as a thin lithium-ion battery used in smartphones and the like.

[0032] The control unit 23 consists of a control board 27, an operation switch 28 mounted on the control board 27 for turning the heating element 12 ON and OFF, a light-emitting unit 29 consisting of a light-emitting element such as a light-emitting diode, and a control circuit formed on the control board 27. The operation switch 28 is preferably a push-button switch that can be operated by pressing the center of the top wall 21a5 of the case 21 and causing elastic deformation. The center of the top wall 21a5 is the pressing part and does not have to be transparent. The control circuit controls the power supplied to the heating element 12 so that the heating element 12 switches in the order of high temperature, medium temperature, low temperature, and OFF each time the operation switch 28 is pressed.

[0033] The light-emitting unit 29 is equipped with light-emitting diodes that emit light in three colors: red, green, and cyan. The control circuit controls the operation switch 28 so that each time it is pressed, for example, it emits light in red at high temperatures, cyan at medium temperatures, and green at low temperatures, and turns OFF when pressed again, causing the light-emitting unit 29 to turn off. It is preferable that the light-emitting unit 29 emits three colors with a single unit, but three single-color light-emitting elements may also be used. A light-transmitting member made of a transparent synthetic resin plate or the like may be interposed between the light-emitting unit 29 and the transparent parts 25 and 26 of the top wall 21a5 of the case 21. In this embodiment, the annular transparent part 25 and the linear transparent part 26 are made to emit light in the same color. However, they may be made to emit light in different colors.

[0034] The charging cable set 40 in Figure 1 consists of a power connector 41 such as a USB-A that can be connected to a commercial power source such as 100V and an AC / DC converter / pressure reducer, and a pair of USB cable connectors (male) 43 connected to the power connector 41 by a bifurcated cord 42. The connectors 43 are in a pair to allow simultaneous charging of the two power units 20 that are attached to the left and right shoes.

[0035] As shown in Figure 4, the heated insole 10 is used by housing the insole body 11 in the insole of the shoe 50 and securing the power supply unit 20 to the shoe 50 with shoelaces 51. The shoe 50 to which the heated insole 10 is attached is a heated shoe 30. The shoe 50 may be made of leather or cloth, but it is preferable that the inside of the shoe 50 is covered with a napped lining or other material that provides high heat retention. The power supply unit 20 is mounted so that the front wall 21a1 is at the top. This prevents the connector 14 of the connecting wire 13 from coming into contact with water and facilitates the cooling of the heat generated by the battery 22. A cover may be provided to cover the connector 14 of the connecting wire 13 if necessary. A cover may be provided to cover the entire power supply unit 20, but it is not preferable to cover the entire unit as it will make it difficult for the battery 22 to dissipate heat.

[0036] The shoelace 51 is threaded through a loop-shaped lacing hole 53 attached to the upper 52 of the shoe 50, for example, and the left and right sections are laced upwards in sequence. Along the way, it is threaded through the hole 21e of the tongue 21d of the case 21 of the power supply unit 20, and the left and right upper ends of the shoelace 51 are tied together. As a result, the power supply unit 20 is securely attached to the shoe 50 because its four tongues 21d are supported by the front part (including the tongue 54) of the upper 52 of the shoe 50. The shoelace 51 may be elastic. In that case, there is no need to tie or untie the shoelace 51. The shoelace 51 can also be a flat lace, in which case it is easier to align with the edge of the semicircular hole 21e of the tongue.

[0037] After installation in this manner, connect the female connector 24 of the power supply unit 20 to the male power connector 41 of the charging cable set 40 and charge the battery 22. The power supply unit 20 charges two batteries simultaneously for the left and right shoes. After sufficient charging, disconnect the power connector 41 and connect the male connectors 14 of the respective connection wires 13. Figure 4 shows this state. In this state, operate the control switch 28 via the top wall 21a5 of the case 21 to supply electricity to the heating element 12 and heat it. The user operates the control switch 28 several times to select an appropriate temperature. This heats the heating element 12, and the user's feet, especially their toes, are warmed to a comfortable temperature. If overheating becomes unacceptable, turn the control switch 28 to the OFF position. Note that charging the power supply unit 20 may be done before attaching the power supply unit 20 to the shoes 50.

[0038] Although preferred embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and can be modified in various ways. For example, the tongue 21d of the case 21 of the power supply unit 20 may be rectangular or have other shapes, and the hole 21e of the tongue 21d may be rectangular, circular or have other shapes. In the above embodiments, the case body 21a is provided with inclined surfaces 21a6 and 21a7, but the case body 21a may be a flattened rectangular parallelepiped. Also, although a lithium-ion battery is given as the battery 22, other rechargeable batteries such as nickel-metal hydride batteries may be used. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0039] 10 Heated Insoles 11 Insole 11a Slope 11b base 11c surface layer 12 Heating element 12a wire rod 12b Insulating sheet 13 connecting wires 14. Connector for connecting wires (male) 20 Power supply section 21 cases 21a Case body 21a1 Front wall 21a2 Back wall 21a3, 21a4 side wall 21a5 Ceiling wall 21a6, 21a7 Slope 21b Lid body 21b1 Peripheral area 21c flange 21d tongue piece 21e Hole of the tongue 21f bonding sheet 22 Batteries 23 Control Unit 24 Connectors (Female) 25 Annular transparent part 26. Linear transparent section 27 Control board 28 Operating switches 29 Light-emitting part 30 Heated Shoes 40 Charging Cable Set 41 Power connector 42. A split cord 43 USB cable connector (male) 50 shoes 51 Shoelaces 52 Upper 53 Threading the laces 54 Tan

Claims

1. The insole itself, The heating element embedded within the insole body, It consists of a heating element and a power supply unit connected by connecting wires, The power supply unit comprises a flat, rechargeable battery, a control unit equipped with an operating switch for turning the heating element ON and OFF, and a case made of polymer material that houses the battery and the control unit. The case is roughly rectangular in plan view, and has flat, flexible tongue-shaped pieces that protrude outward from near the four corners at the bottom. The tongues of these shoes have holes for threading shoelaces through. Heated insoles.

2. The thermal insole according to claim 1, wherein the tongue piece and the hole are concentric semi-circular in shape when viewed from above.

3. The case comprises a shallow, box-shaped case body that opens at the bottom, and a sheet-like lid that tightly closes the opening of the case body. A flange extending outward is provided around the opening of the case body, and the flange and the periphery of the lid are tightly joined. The thermal insole according to claim 1, wherein the tongue is formed by the portion where the flange and the cover are joined.

4. The top wall of the case body is flexible, and the top wall is provided with a push section for pressing an operation switch and a display section for displaying the operating status. The thermal insole according to claim 3, wherein a connector is provided on the rising wall of the case body.

5. The thermal insole according to claim 3, wherein a bonding sheet is interposed between the case body and the lid to tightly bond the two together.

6. The thermal insole according to claim 1, wherein the heating element has a layered or linear form in which graphene is pressed onto a metal foil.

7. A heated shoe comprising a shoe with shoelaces and a heated insole according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the insole body of the heated insole is housed in the insole of the shoe, the power supply unit is placed on the front of the shoe's upper, and the tongue of the power supply unit's case is fastened to the shoe by the shoelaces.

8. The heated shoe according to claim 7, wherein the shoelaces are elastic.

Images