A shoe includes an assembly inner-sole and outsole with openings formed therethrough and one or more unidirectional air transfer sets disposed between the openings in the outsole and the openings in the inner-sole. The unidirectional air transfer set includes tissues separated by a breathable, waterproof membrane which permits the passage of humid or moist air in one direction only from the interior of the shoe to the exterior of the shoe to improve comfort for the user. The membrane is preferably formed of a hydrophilic polyurethane polymer.

A footwear includes a sole having a rear socket, a middle transverse ventilation channel, and a plurality of front longitudinal ventilation channels fluidically communicated with a wearer's toe portions, an elastic pad having a plurality of longitudinal holes or elastic tubes formed in the rear socket of the sole, an upper cover covering the sole having a filter formed on a front toe portion of the upper cover, and an inner sole having a plurality of perforations in the front toe portion, so that the elastic pad may serve as a pump for sucking air from the wearer's toe portions, through the perforations of inner sole, the filter of upper cover and the longitudinal channels in the sole and for discharging the air through the transverse channel towards an environment, and the elastic pad may also serve as a shock absorber during sporting or jogging uses.

A suction-ventilated shoe system, which has air-exit ports located on the outer surface of said shoe, preferably in the midsole region, is provided. Said suction-ventilated shoe system contains a novel, multivented, suction-operated insole that enables the entire surface of said insole to be uniformly ventilated. Each air vent of said multivented, suction-operated insole contains its own independent, foot-operated, air-suction pump means, whose exhaust air is directed to exit the shoe via special air ducts that are connected between said insole's air-suction pump means and said shoe's air-exit ports. Each air-suction pump in said suction-operated insole has its own associated, one-way, air-valve means. A multiplicity of air vents may now be located anywhere over the entire surface of said insole and still maintain equal, air-suction, operating efficiency for each and every air vent. Said equal, air-suction, operating efficiency for each air vent is unaffected by which part of said insole is compressed first during each downstep, be it the heel part, the toe part or the entire insole at once. Also, said equal, air-suction, operating efficiency for each air vent is unaffected by whether or not said insole's air vents are only partially occluded by the sole of the foot during each downstep.

A self-ventilating device for a shoe insole, which includes a heel chamber body having a spring disposed therein, an inlet valve having a plurality of sole aperture for communicating with a plurality of channels in the sole portion of the shoe insole, and a pair of outlet valves disposed in both side walls thereof for communicating to the atmosphere, whereby when each step is taken by the shoe user, a moisture and odor waste quantity of air is forced from the channels in the sole portion through the inlet valve to the heel chamber body when the pair of outlet valves are closed and expelled through the pair of outlet valves to the atmosphere automatically when the inlet valve is closed.

This patent application concerns a molded plastic sole with pliable pumping cushion which, as the person wearing the same walks, forces air into the shoe and through an evacuation chamber with which the sole is fitted and which is connected to the exterior by one or more breather holes.