| US 7,497,037 B2 | ||
| Lighted footwear | ||
| Douglas M. Vick, Boston, Ga. (US); and Patrick F. Woolley, II, Rockford, Mich. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Boston Ideas, LLC, Thomasvile, Ga. (US) | ||
| Filed on Apr. 15, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/107,123. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0230641 A1, Oct. 19, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. A43B 23/00 (2006.01); F21V 21/08 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 36—137 [36/132; 362/103] | 24 Claims |
| 1. Footwear comprising:
a sole having a front and a back;
a light source disposed in the front of the sole;
a foot sensor disposed in the sole that upon detecting the presence of a foot in the footwear operates a switch to cause a
control circuitry to activate and to receive a foot present signal;
a light sensor disposed in the sole and adapted to detect, upon activation of the control circuitry, the amount of ambient
light adjacent the footwear; and
said control circuitry that is responsive first to the foot present signal and second to the light sensor maintains the light
source in the ON state while the foot sensor detects the presence of a foot in the footwear and while the light sensor detects
ambient light below a threshold light level, and that maintains the light source in the ON state for a predetermined period
of time after a foot is removed from the footwear and before the control circuitry ceases operation.
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