Shoe comprising sensors

Abstract

 The present invention pertains to a safety shoe (1) comprising an upper (10), a sole (11) and known protective and/or safety elements, one or more sensors (20) capable of detecting parameters and physical values considered indicative and representative of a work accident suffered by a worker who is wearing said safety shoe and a calculation unit (21) capable of reading and interpreting said parameters and physical values.
Said at least one or more sensors (20) and said control unit (21) are placed in a special housing in the said sole (11) of said safety shoe (1).

Description

[0001] This invention pertains to a shoe, preferably a safety shoe, comprising means capable of monitoring the state of health and safety of workers when engaged in their specific work.

[0002] More specifically, the present invention pertains to a shoe fitted with an electronic device that is able to detect and signal anomalous situations in a worker's work that indicate that a worker has had an accident or has been taken ill.

[0003] The invention is therefore related to the classic sectors of footwear manufacturing and specifically, those of safety footwear which is part of the wider category of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

[0004] Hereinafter, the term "safety shoe" is used to define "personal protective equipment capable of protecting feet from external dangers and contact with the ground by using one or more specific technological solutions such as the use of a toe cap made of steel or similar/equivalent material and/or an anti-perforation midsole, special treaded soles, water proofing, heat resistant materials and the use of ankle bone padding and a quick release system, etc.

[0005] In particular, the wide range of safety footwear includes different types of footwear known as "safety", "protective" and "work" shoes and boots (whose characteristics, properties and uses are of common knowledge to experts in the field and, for this reason, will not be discussed in detail herein) which, although they have different characteristics and functions, are made using standard manufacturing procedures generally consisting of the sewing and preparation of a upper-midsole part, the application of a sole that is glued or directly injected onto this part and the fastening, using time frames and methods that are common knowledge to experts in the field, of protective and safety elements such as toe caps and/or anti-perforation midsoles, etc.

[0006] As is known, many work accidents and injuries are caused by careless and incorrect behaviour by workers due to frequent and repetitive movements, underestimating the risk involved, distraction, malfunctioning of the operating equipment, incorrect use of tools or adverse environmental conditions, for example; safety devices that are built into safety shoe therefore have the sole task of reducing the physical consequences and injuries (fractures, injuries and bums, attacks from chemical agents and/or flames or excessive heat, etc.) caused by this incorrect behaviour or adverse causes.

[0007] They can do nothing in terms of preventing said incorrect behaviour and the employer and/or workers' safety representative (or workers in the vicinity) can only take note of the injury and its entity (with all the subsequent known consequences) and promptly activate the most suitable rescue operations.

[0008] From here on, for descriptive simplicity, a person who suffers a work accident shall be called a "worker" whereas the people who are responsible for reporting this accident and acting to minimise the consequences shall be generally called "rescue personnel".

[0009] The object of this invention is to offer a solution to at least a part of the problems identified above by providing a safety shoe comprising an electronic system capable of detecting and promptly signalling special conditions that can be interpreted as the result of a work accident or injury to the "rescue personnel" or "worker".

[0010] These and other objects and advantages that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved with a safety shoe as described in the enclosed claims.

[0011] The characteristics of the present invention are more clearly explained in the following description of preferred embodiments according to the present invention and illustrated, purely for explanatory and by no means limitative reasons, in the enclosed drawings, wherein:

• Figure 1 is a side view of a safety shoe comprising an electronic system that detects and signals a work accident according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a block diagram of the electronic system that detects and signals a potential work accident according to the invention as graphically shown in Fig. 1;
• Figure 3 is a detailed diagram of the electronic system in Fig. 1 and 2 and the interfacing between the various parts comprising it;
• Figures 4a and 4b show a schematic view of two preferred components of the electronic system that detects and signals a potential work accident according to the invention;

[0012] A description of the characteristics of the invention using the numerical references in the enclosed figures follows. All the parts of the safety shoe according to the invention common to those well known in the art will not be listed except for those mentioned as necessary. The various safety devices including but not limited to toe caps, anti-perforation midsoles, etc. are therefore not shown in the enclosed figures since they are conventional.

[0013] Fig. 1 of the safety shoe shows lining 10 and sole 11 comprising, as is known, tread 12 and insole 13.

[0014] The number 2, on the other hand, graphically indicates the "electronic work accident detection system" which, according to the invention, is built into the safety shoe 1 and is placed inside sole 11 preferably near the area where the heel presses down and substantially coincides with heel 14.

[0015] As illustrated in the block diagram of Fig. 2, the electronic system 2 comprises at least means of detection 20 of physical values considered indicative of a work accident (hereinafter referred to as "representative parameters"), a calculation and control unit 21 for said detected representative parameters and communication devices 22 with an external drive which is able to receive or send data to/from said "electronic work accident detection system" which can promptly alert the rescue and/or safety personnel and the worker who has suffered the work accident.

[0016] The electronic system 2 in the invention further comprises at least one power source 23 in its electronic components and if this is "rechargeable", a recharging system 24.

[0017] The characteristics and operation of the various parts generally listed above in detail are now described.

[0018] Studies and research performed in the field of safety in the workplace have shown that it is advantageous to consider parameters linked to the movements and/or position of the worker who wears a safety shoe 1 with the aforementioned electronic system 2 as physical values that indicate that a work accident or injury has occurred. It has been seen that a person who suffers a work accident or injury tends to remain immobile (for example, in less serious cases, because of pain or fainting) in a substantially lying position.

[0019] Sudden, unexpected changes in acceleration of the worker's body caused, for example, by impact with machinery and moving vehicles or "free falling" (from scaffolding, machinery, etc., for example) can also be considered parameters that indicate that a work accident has occurred.

[0020] For these reasons, the said means of detection 20 of parameters representing a work accident may beneficially consist of kinematic sensors 20 that can instantly detect critical situations linked to the movement and/or position of the worker.

[0021] More specifically, these kinematic sensors 20 built into the safety shoe 1 may be of a type that can detect and provide the three components of the acceleration vector in relation to their reference axes x-y-z and/or angular velocity (see figures 4a-4b), which, as will be seen, can be transferred and stored on special volatile memories. In a possible form of the invention, these measured values will be compared with predefined thresholds that indicate a "condition of normality". Hereinafter, a "condition of normality" is understood to be the values of acceleration and/or angular velocity associated with movements normally performed by a worker in his normal work.

[0022] As an example which is illustrative but not exhaustive, detection along one or more "x-y-z" axes of the sensor reference system of acceleration or angular velocity that is abnormal compared with the pre-established reference thresholds should be considered indicative of a work accident or injury since it can be attributed, as previously mentioned, to accidental impacts or knocks caused by machinery, tools or other workers or specific angular stresses.

[0023] Obviously, there is nothing to prevent the data measured by the sensors being used in an absolute sense. If this is the case, the following can already be considered sufficiently indicative of a work accident:

• an absolute zero value for gravitational acceleration measured by said sensors which can be attributed to the "free falling" (for example, from scaffolding) of a worker;
• in static conditions, a vector consisting of the three components of gravitational acceleration along the "x-y-z" axes of the reference system in a direction that is not at right angles to the ground and/or in the opposite direction; this situation indicates a position assumed by the worker that is not an upright position, for example, a lying down position with the plane of position of sole 11 of the shoe 1 with built-in sensor 20 different from that of the ground and normally at right angles to it.

[0024] Obviously, these detected anomalies must continue for a sufficiently long pre-established period of time in order to be considered anomalies; in this way, zero gravitational acceleration or an extended position will not be attributed, respectively, to a simple jump (when getting off machinery, for example) or a fall from a low height or a position assumed by the worker in order to perform a task, for example.

[0025] Said sensors 20 must therefore be able to repeat the same measurement for a period of time that is considered appropriate at least; a work accident or injury condition is therefore obtained when the parameters measured during said period of time remain at values that are considered abnormal.

[0026] Also for this reason, said sensors 20 will preferably be MEMS sensors (which do not require further explanation since of common knowledge to technicians in the field) capable of producing the data referring to the measured parameter in digital form, i.e. capable of providing digital samples of the measured parameter at a predefined, configurable sampling frequency.

[0027] More specifically, said MEMS sensors may consist of an accelerometer with MEMS technology that can measure acceleration and a gyroscope with MEMS technology that measures angular velocity. There is nothing to prevent said MEMS sensors 20 being incorporated in a single solution known as an "Inertial Measurement Unit" (IMU).

[0028] When a digital sample of the parameter measured by the sensors is available, the sensors 20 inform said calculation unit 21, and the microcontroller in particular (of a known type consisting of a CPU, a non-volatile memory, a volatile memory and channels that interface with external peripherals), that the sample is available by generating a special "interrupt" signal.

[0029] The data measured and transmitted by said sensors 20 is temporarily stored, as mentioned, in a special volatile memory on the microcontroller.

[0030] The microcontroller's main task is, therefore, to read the data for significant parameters of a work accident detected by said sensors 20 each time an interrupt signal is emitted and process it according to the application code (firmware) that is implemented and the programming (for example, according to the defined thresholds) stored in the microcontroller's permanent memory.

[0031] One of more interrupt lines therefore connect said sensors 20 and microcontroller.

[0032] At least one of said interrupt lines (hereinafter referred to as "dedicated interrupt line") may be used to signal certain measured parameter values (acceleration and/or angular velocity) which require an immediate response from the microcontroller since they indicate that a serious work accident or injury has occurred and must be reported immediately so that the rescue personnel can promptly intervene.

[0033] The data received from the sensors 20 are read by the microcontroller by way of known interface buses including but not limited to "3 signal" (called, as is known, SPI) or "2 signal" (called I2C) type buses.

[0034] Another of the microcontroller's tasks is to configure and update, each time the electronic system of the invention is started up (for example, after purchasing the safety shoe 1 that it is built into), the internal registers of the sensors 20 so that they start to operate according to their described intended use.

[0035] The microcontroller also controls, by way of a special signal, activation of the sensors that can therefore remain on stand-by until they are required (for example, until the shoes 1 are worn by the worker), with clear advantages for the duration of the power system 23

[0036] Ultimately, if the data read by the microcontroller differs from the typical values of a "condition of normality" for a set duration, the microcontroller may generate an alarm signal warning the worker and/or rescue personnel and facilitating rescue operations.

[0037] For this purpose, especially in more serious situations, according to the invention, the "electronic work accident detection system" 2 on the safety shoe 1 may also interface with an external drive so that the data detected by the sensors and processed by the microcontroller can also be beneficially stored remotely and handled by suitable control software to generate, for example, when particularly serious operating conditions that indicate a potentially serious accident occur, a general alarm signal that is not only directed towards the worker who is wearing the safety shoe 1 (in order to speed up the rescue operations or evacuation of the place where the accident occurred) or to signal any malfunctioning detected by the electronic system 2 of the invention.

[0038] Equally, the remote drive may query each electronic system 2 built into the safety shoe 1 in order to check, for example, that the various components are working correctly and/or assess the charge state of its power source or to reprogram its operating parameters (stored, as already mentioned, in the non-volatile memory of the microcontroller).

[0039] It should be stressed that communication between said microcontroller and said remote drive is assigned to a radio transceiver unit also known as a "wireless transceiver" and a radiating element that forms an antenna, having minimal overall dimensions, that is compatible with the unit in the housing in the sole of the safety shoe 1 used for the electronic system 2 of the invention.

[0040] In a preferred form of the invention, said antenna is a "ceramic" type one but there is nothing to prevent it from being part of the "electronic work accident detection system" 2 Printed Circuit Board (PCB).

[0041] To complete the description, it should be noted that safety shoe 1 with said electronic system 2 also comprises at least one acoustic and/or optical signalling device 25 for the worker capable of being activated when one or more of the abnormal conditions detected by the sensors, listed above, occur.

[0042] Said signalling devices may also be activated if there is malfunctioning in one more components of the "electronic work accident detection system" 2 detected following autodiagnostic procedures or if the power source 23 has discharged.

[0043] Said power source 23 consists preferably of a rechargeable battery sized according to the size of the electronic system 2 of the invention and its consumption notwithstanding the fact that it must last for at least one working day (equal to approximately 8-10 hours).

[0044] In any case, said batteries may be recharged at the end of each working day using special recharging systems such as electromagnetic induction ones or a classic recharging system that uses a cable that connects the recharging module 24 of the electronic system 2 of the invention to the mains.

[0045] In the practical embodiment of the invention the various components described above may be replaced with elements that are technically equivalent and/or made with any materials and techniques suitable for the purposes for which they have been designed. In the same way, there is nothing to prevent future expansion of the "electronic work accident detection system" 2 with the addition of other sensors to monitor other parameters and physical values.

[0046] The objects of the invention are achieved with the safety shoe 1 with a built-in "electronic work accident detection system" 2 and in particular, the possibility of detecting and promptly signalling special conditions that can be interpreted as the result of a work accident or injury to the "rescue personnel" or to the "worker" thereby reducing the negative consequences (especially damage to health) deriving from said work accident or injury.

Claims

1. Safety shoe (1) comprising an upper lining (10), a sole (11) and known protective and/or safety elements
characterised in that it further comprises:

- one or more sensors (20) capable of detecting parameters and physical values considered indicative and representative of a work accident suffered by a worker who is wearing said safety shoe (1), said parameters and physical values identifying the position adopted by said worker and/or critical situations related to the worker's movement

- a calculation unit (21) capable of reading and interpreting said parameters and physical values detected by said one or more sensors (20), said calculation unit (21):

- comparing said parameters and physical values indicative and representative of a work accident or injury with threshold values that have been predefined and are indicative of a "condition of normality", said threshold values being stored in special memory devices, or

- processing said parameters and physical values in an absolute sense because they last for a set period of time and are already sufficiently indicative of a work accident or injury,
in both cases, said control unit (21) being able to activate an alarm signal

with said one or more sensors (20) and said control unit (21) being placed in a special housing in the said sole (11) of said safety shoe (1).

2. Safety shoe (1) according to the previous claim
characterised in that
said at least one or more sensors (20) consist of kinematic sensors.

3. Safety shoe (1) according to the previous claim
characterised in that
said at least one or more sensors (20) are of a type that can detect and
provide the three components of the acceleration vector in relation to their reference axes x-y-z and/or angular velocity.

4. Safety shoe (1) according to the previous claim
characterised in that
said at least one sensor (20) is an accelerometer.

5. Safety shoe (1) according to claim 3
characterised in that
said at least one sensor (20) is a gyroscope.

6. Safety shoe (1) according to claim 3
characterised in that
said at least one sensor (20) is a sensor incorporating an accelerometer and a gyroscope.

7. Safety shoe (1) according to any previous claim
characterised in that
said at least one sensor (20) is a MEMS sensor.

8. Safety shoe (1) according to any previous claim
characterised in that
said one or more sensors (20) are capable of detecting parameters and physical values representative of a work accident or injury consisting of:

- abnormal acceleration by said shoe (1) along one or more x-y-z axes of a spatial reference system, said abnormal acceleration being indicative of knocks or slipping by the worker who is wearing said safety shoe, and/or

- zero gravitational acceleration, said zero gravitational acceleration being indicative and representative of a "free falling" body, and/or

- a vector consisting of the three components of gravitational acceleration along the x-y-z axes of a spatial reference system which points in a different direction and/or is not at right angles to the ground on which the sole (11) of said shoe (1) rests, said situation being indicative of a position assumed by the worker that is not an upright position, for example, a lying down position with the plane of position of said sole (11) at right angles to said ground.

9. Safety shoe (1) according to any previous claim
characterised in that
said control unit (21) is a microcontroller, the reading by said microcontroller of said parameters and physical values detected by said one or more sensors (20) being performed by way of interface buses.

10. Safety shoe (1) according to any previous claim
characterised in that
one of more interrupt lines connect said one or more sensors (20) to said microcontroller.

11. Safety shoe (1) according to the previous claim
characterised in that
at least one of said one or more interrupt lines is a "dedicated interrupt line", said dedicated interrupt line" being dedicated to signalling specific values of measured parameters that require an immediately response from said microcontroller since they indicate that a serious work accident or injury has occurred.

12. Safety shoe (1) according to any previous claim
characterised in that
said microcontroller (3) is capable:

- of starting operation of said one or more sensors (20)

- of controlling the activation of said one or more sensors (20) with said one or more sensors (20) remaining on stand-by until they are needed

- of interfacing with a remote drive in which said parameters and physical values detected by said one or more sensors (20) are transmitted, stored and processed.

13. Safety shoe (1) according to the previous claim
characterised in that
communication between said microcontroller and said external drive is assigned to a radio transceiver unit, said radio transceiver unit comprising at least a "wireless transceiver " and an antenna.

14. Safety shoe (1) according to any previous claim
characterised in that a power source (23) for said one or more sensors(20) and/or said microcontroller is built into said sole (11), said power source (23) consisting of a rechargeable battery.

15. Safety shoe (1) according to any previous claim
characterised in that it further comprises one or more acoustic or optical signalling devices (25), said acoustic or optical signalling devices being activated:

- when parameters and physical values detected by said one or more sensors (20) have values that indicate that a work accident or injury has occurred

- when said one or more sensors (20) and/or said microcontroller are malfunctioning

- when the battery is discharged.

Drawing