A forced-air footwear is presented and comprises a foot supporting portion including a sole with cavities therein covered with a foot-contacting layer, and a channel communicating between the cavities and the interior of the footwear to allow air flow between the cavities and the interior of the footwear; a foot covering portion, the foot covering portion including a valve allowing air passage therethrough in a single direction, the cavities including a compressed configuration, when supporting a weight of a wearer, and an expanded configuration when not supporting the weight of a wearer, the passage between the compressed configuration and the expanded configuration forcing an air movement of the air contained in the cavities, the valve blocking the air movement in one direction, wherein the compression of the cavities and the blocking action of the air by the valve is forcing air through the footwear.

A ventilation apparatus including a pump, a switching unit, and a fluid diffuser is provided. The pump attached to the footwear pumps fluid into and exhausts fluid from a cavity of the footwear. The switching unit in communication with the pump selectively changes modes of operation of the pump. The fluid diffuser connected to the pump within the cavity of the footwear includes a feed pipe for transferring the fluid pumped from the pump to the cavity of the footwear during a pump mode of operation and to transfer the fluid in the cavity of the footwear to an ambient environment external to the footwear during an exhaust mode of operation, for ventilating the footwear. In one or more embodiments, the fluid diffuser includes a diffusing member with one or more openings and/or a fluid distribution channel member for transferring the fluid to and from the cavity of the footwear.

A cycling shoe, including a sole as well as an upper that rises from the sole; the surface of the upper includes a plurality of recesses adapted to reduce the form drag of the upper hit by the air during the execution of the pedalling motion.

A system for measuring and controlling foot temperature. The system comprises a heating or cooling device including one or more sealed fluidic pathways having a cooling or heating fluid therein and disposed in or on an article of footwear or a sock. A pumping device coupled to the heating or cooling device is configured to circulate the fluid in the one or more sealed fluidic pathways. A heat exchanger coupled to the heating or cooling device is configured to remove or add heat from or to the fluid in the one or more sealed fluidic pathways. A controller coupled to the pumping device and the heat exchanger is configured to control the pumping device and the heat exchanger to cool or heat a foot located inside the article of footwear or the sock.

A footwear cooling system includes a main airflow tube and first and second secondary air flow tubes positioned in respective air inlets in the front of a shoe. The first and second secondary air flow tubes join the main air flow tube at respective acute angles at a junction positioned a selected distance behind the main air inlet. The portion of the main airflow tube in front of the junction and the first and second secondary air flow tubes each have a plurality of air ducts formed on their side surfaces. The main air flow tube is connected to a fan which pulls air in from the main and secondary air inlets and exhausts air out of the rear of the shoe.

A shoe component includes a base structure which is substantially shaped so as to reproduce at least partially the sole of a foot of a user, the base structure having an upper surface which is designed to be directed toward the foot and a lower surface which is opposite the upper surface, the component comprising one or more through holes and one or more blind holes provided in the base structure. The one or more through holes are in communication with one or more of the one or more blind holes through one or more channels provided in the base structure.

There is provided a ventilation shoe that allows for downsizing and enables a shoe interior to be sufficiently ventilated. The ventilation shoe comprises an upper (31), a sole (32) formed by layering a plurality of sole plates, and a ventilation device configured to take the air into a shoe interior (34) and release the air out of the shoe interior (34). The ventilation device comprises an air intake passage (L1) configured to take in the air, an air release passage (L2) configured to release the air, and a pump chamber (P) configured to feed the air taken in through the air intake passage (L1) to the air release passage (L2). The sole (32) is formed by layering a plurality of sole plates. The pump chamber (P) is formed in a flat shape between the sole plates. Valve mounting apertures (152, 157) are formed in a middle sole plate that is placed vertically between other sole plates. Each check valve (V1, V2) integrated via a support member is mounted to the valve mounting aperture (152, 157).

The ventilative sole structure includes a sole, a first one-way valve, and a second one-way valve. The sole's heel portion includes a hollow chamber inside and a bottom piece beneath the chamber. The first one-way valve is configured on a circumferential wall of the chamber. The second one-way valve is configured between a tread portion of the sole and the chamber. When a user wears a shoe with the ventilative sole structure, air enters the chamber through the first one-way valve when the user raises his/her feet, and air is released from the chamber through the second one-way valve towards the tread portion when the user treads on the ground and compresses the chamber, thereby enhancing ventilation and removing odor of the shoe.

A ventilation sole for footwear, the sole including: a communicating vent-hole through which the inside and outside of footwear communicate with each other to allow air to flow; and a valve selectively opening and closing the communicating vent-hole, wherein the valve includes: a housing module configured to have opposite ends being open such that a channel is provided therein to communicate with the communicating vent-hole; an open-close module configured with a first closing surface and a first through-hole; and a rotation module configured with a second closing surface and a second through-hole, and rotating to move a position of the second through-hole. Accordingly, a wearer can easily open and close the valve by rotating the rotation module according to the intention of the wearer, whereby air inside and outside the footwear can be circulated selectively and optimal foot conditions can be improved.

Disclosed are systems, methods, procedures and devices incorporating a variety of impact absorbing structures (IAS) and/or buckling structure arrays into shoes, sneakers and/or other footwear, which can greatly enhance wearer comfort, improve shoe durability, improve athletic performance, reduce cost of manufacture and/or minimize impact forces to the foot, legs and/or lower body. Included herein are various types of footwear, foot coverings, lower extremity garments and related orthopedic sleeves and/or orthotics.