Load cell module inserted in shoes and weight management service system using the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes and a weight management service system using the same. The load cell module comprises: a main case (10) including a load cell accommodating space (11) projected upwardly at one side thereof and a circuit and battery accommodating space (12), which are formed therein; a load cell (20) accommodated in the load cell accommodating space (11); a main PCB (30) including a tilt sensor (31) and a transmission and reception unit (32), the main PCB being accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12; and a battery (40) accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12, whereby the load cell module is detachably mounted to a heel part (H) of a midsole (M) of a shoe.

Claims

1. A load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes, comprising: a main case (10) including a load cell accommodating space (11) projected upwardly at one side thereof and a circuit and battery accommodating space (12), which are formed therein; a load cell (20) accommodated in the load cell accommodating space (11); a main PCB (30) including a tilt sensor (31) and a transmission and reception unit (32) disposed thereon, the main PCB being accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12; and a battery (40) accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12, whereby the load cell module is detachably mounted to a heel part (H) of a midsole (M) of a shoe.

2. The load cell module according to claim 1, wherein the main PCB (30) comprises a charging terminal (33) and a functional button (34), which are disposed thereon so as to be exposed to a side of the main case (10).

3. The load cell module according to claim 1, further comprising a weight transfer unit (13) having a surface hardness of 10 to 60 Shore C, which is disposed on a top of the main case (10) so as to cover an upper portion of the load cell accommodating space (11).

4. The load cell module according to claim 1, wherein the main case (10) comprises an opening formed at an upper portion thereof so as to fluidically communicate with the upper portion of the load cell accommodating space (11) so that a weight measurement plate (21) is disposed above the load cell (20) in such a manner as to be protruded upwardly from the upper portion of the main case (10) through the opening.

5. The load cell module according to claim 1, wherein the main case (10) comprises at least two fixed projections (14) formed on an underside thereof so as to be coupled to a concaved recess formed on the heel part (H) of the shoe.

6. A weight management service system using a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes, wherein the load cell module comprises: a main case (10) including a load cell accommodating space (11) projected upwardly at one side thereof and a circuit and battery accommodating space (12), which are formed therein; a load cell (20) accommodated in the load cell accommodating space (11); a main PCB (30) including a tilt sensor (31) and a transmission and reception unit (32), the main PCB being accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12; and a battery (40) accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12, whereby the load cell module is detachably mounted to a heel part (H) of a midsole (M) of a shoe, the weight management service system being characterized in that when a wearer is in a state where his or her feet are level with the ground surface, the wearer's state is detected by the tilt sensor (31) and at this time, values measured by the load cell (20) is transmitted to a mobile terminal of the wearer in a continuous or intermittent manner through the transmission and reception unit (32), and variations in the measured values are outputted as graphs and figures on the mobile terminal.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIGS. 1A and 1B are a top perspective view and a top plan view illustrating a conventional weight measurement device configured to be insertedly disposed in a shoe insole to enable the measurement of a body weight using a portable terminal according to the prior art;

(3) FIG. 2 is a top plan view illustrating a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and

(6) FIGS. 5A and 5B are, respectively, a perspective view illustrating a heel part of a midsole of a shoe to which a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to the present invention is coupled.

EXPLANATION ON SYMBOLS

(7) TABLE-US-00001 H: heel part M: midsole 10: main case 11: load cell accommodating space 12: circuit and battery accommodating space 13: weight transfer unit 14: fixing protrusion 20: load cell 21: weight measurement plate 30: main PCB 31: tilt sensor 32: transmission and reception unit 33: charging terminal 34: functional button 40: battery

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(8) Hereinafter the detailed configuration of a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes and a weight management service system using the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(9) FIG. 2 is a top plan view illustrating a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

(10) Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes includes: a main case 10 including a load cell accommodating space 11 projected upwardly at one side thereof and a circuit and battery accommodating space 12, which are formed therein; a load cell 20 accommodated in the load cell accommodating space 11; a main PCB 30 including a tilt sensor 31 and a transmission and reception unit 32 disposed thereon, the main PCB being accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12; and a battery 40 accommodated in the circuit and battery accommodating space 12, whereby the load cell module is detachably mounted to a heel part (H) of a midsole (M) of a shoe.

(11) In this case, the load cell 20 has a size of about 50 mm and a height of about 20 mm into compactness so that the load cell can easily be built in shoes.

(12) In addition, the main PCB 30 includes a charging terminal 33 and a functional button 34, which are disposed thereon so as to be exposed to a side of the main case 10.

(13) The charging terminal 33 is connected to a USB cable to allow the battery 40 to be electrically charged, and the functional button 34 can allow for either the change of a user or the deletion of existing measured data when a shoe worn by the user is replaced with a new one.

(14) Further, a weight transfer unit 13 having a surface hardness of 10 to 60 Shore C is disposed on a top of the main case 10 so as to cover an upper portion of the load cell accommodating space 11. In this case, the surface hardness means a Shore hardness. More specifically, the surface hardness is a value measured by a Shore hardness tester for measuring the surface hardness of a plastic material and an elastomer having an intermediate hardness using a flat cone-shaped indenter having a gradient of 35° and an elastic force of 4536 g.

(15) Accordingly, a pressure applied by a wearer's heel can be easily delivered to the weight transfer unit 13 and the load cell 20.

(16) More specifically, the main case 10 adopts a synthetic resin material having a relatively high hardness in order to protect the battery 40 and the main PCB 30, which are accommodated in the main case, and the weight transfer unit 13 preferably adopts a synthetic resin or rubber material having a low hardness so that a pressure can be transferred to the load cell 20. The main case 10 and the weight transfer unit 13 may be manufactured into a single piece using double injection molding, or may be manufactured separately.

(17) FIGS. 5A and 5B are, respectively, a perspective view illustrating a heel part of a midsole of a shoe to which a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to the present invention is coupled.

(18) Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the main case (10) includes at least two fixed projections 14 formed at an underside thereof so as to be coupled to a concaved recess formed on the heel part (H) of the shoe. In the case where the load cell according to the present invention is coupled to the heel part (H), cylindrical concaved recesses may be formed on the heel part (H) of the shoe as shown in FIG. 5A, or square concaved recesses may be formed on the heel part (H) of the shoe as shown in FIG. 5B in order to ensure rigid fixation so that the load cell module can be fittingly inserted into the cylindrical or square concaved recesses. This configuration can prevent the load cell module according to the present invention from being tiltingly fixed to the heel part of the shoe.

(19) In this case, when the surface hardness of the heel part (H) is set to be 80 Shore C or more, the load cell module can be fixed to the heel part of the shoe more rigidly.

(20) In addition, it should be noted, of course, that the load cell module according to the present invention may include a metal or plastic case having an opening formed at an upper portion thereof to improve durability of the load cell module so that the load cell module can be inserted in the case. Moreover, the heel part (H) may be made of a metal or synthetic resin material so that damage of the load cell module can be minimized.

(21) A method of utilizing the weight management service system using the load cell module as constructed above will be described hereinafter.

(22) When a wearer is in a state where his or her feet are level with the ground surface, the wearer's state is detected by the tilt sensor 31 and at this time, values measured by the load cell 20 is transmitted to a mobile terminal of the wearer in a continuous or intermittent manner through the transmission and reception unit 32, and variations in the measured values are outputted as graphs and figures on the mobile terminal. When various events such as eating, exercising, walking and the like occur during the wearer's daily wearing of shoes, an accurate variation in his or her body weight can be monitored through the mobile terminal of the wearer.

(23) Therefore, in the case where an event is performed for a brief time, variations in the body weight can be grasped in detail, and thus the weight management service system of the present invention provides effective data enabling the establishment of various plans for dietary management or body weight management including an increase or decrease in momentum.

(24) In addition, acquaintances can share the variations in their weights through a known existing application that shares various items of exercise information together, and can give encouragement to one another, which is further effective in the weight management. Besides, acquaintances do not share the absolute values of their weights, but share the variations in their weights so that a burden on opening of their body weights to the public can be significantly reduced.

(25) FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a load cell module configured to be insertedly disposed in shoes according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

(26) Referring to FIG. 4, the main case 10 includes an opening formed at an upper portion thereof so as to fluidically communicate with the upper portion of the load cell accommodating space 11 so that a weight measurement plate 21 as a substitute for the weight transfer unit 13 is disposed above the load cell 20 in such a manner as to be protruded upwardly from the upper portion of the main case 10 through the opening.

(27) While the load cell module and the weight management service system using the same according to the present invention have been described and illustrated in connection with specific exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and various modifications and changes can be made thereto within the spirit and scope of the present invention, set forth in the claims.