Waterproof plasma treated footwear with liquid absorbing footbed

1. An item of footwear comprising a sole and an upper portion provided with a liquid-repelling and vapor-permeable polymeric coating, obtained by a plasma treatment process, wherein the coating covers the entire surface of the item of footwear, and wherein the item of footwear further is provided with a liquid-absorbing, foot-supporting footbed which does not have a liquid-repelling polymeric coating.

2. The item of claim 1 which is a sports shoe.

3. The item of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric coating is formed by exposing the item to a pulsed plasma for a sufficient period of time to allow a protective polymeric layer to form on the surface of the item, and wherein the pulsed plasma comprises a compound of formula (I)

where R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from hydrogen, alkyl, haloalkyl or aryl optionally substituted by halo and R 4 is X—R 5 where R 5 is an alkyl or haloalkyl group and X is a bond; —C(O)O—; —C(O)O(CH 2 ) n Y— where n is an integer from 1 to 10 and Y is a bond or a sulphonamide group; or —(O) p R 6 (O) q (CH 2 ) t — where R 6 is aryl optionally substituted by halo, p is 0 or 1, q is 0 or 1 and t is 0 or an integer from 1 to 10, provided that where q is 1, t is other than 0.

4. The item of claim 3 , wherein the item is exposed to pulsed plasma within a plasma deposition chamber.

5. The item of claim 4 , wherein the compound of formula (I) is a compound of formula (II)

CH 2 ═CH—R 5   (II)

where R 5 is an alkyl or haloalkyl group and X is a bond; —C(O)O—;

—C(O)O(CH 2 ) n Y— where n is an integer from 1 to 10 and Y is a bond or a sulphonamide group; or —(O) p R 6 (O) q (CH 2 ) t — where R 6 is aryl optionally substituted by halo, p is 0 or 1, q is 0 or 1 and t is 0 or an integer of from 1 to 10, provided that where q is 1, t is other than 0; or the compound of formula (I) is a compound of formula (III)

CH 2 ═CR 7 C(O)O(CH 2 ) n R 5   (III)

wherein n is an integer from 1 to 10; R 5 is an alkyl or haloalkyl group and X is a bond; —C(O)O—; —C(O)O(CH 2 ) n Y— where n is an integer from 1 to 10 and Y is a bond or a sulphonamide group; or —(O) p R 6 (O) q (CH 2 ) t — where R 6 is aryl optionally substituted by halo, p is 0 or 1, q is 0 or 1 and t is 0 or an integer of from 1 to 10, provided that where q is 1, t is other than 0; and R 7 is hydrogen, C 1-10 alkyl, or C 1-10 haloalkyl.

6. The item of claim 5 wherein the compound of formula (III) is a compound of formula (IV)

where R 7 is hydrogen, C 1-10 alkyl, or C 1-10 haloalkyl and x is an integer from 1 to 9.

7. The item of claim 6 wherein the compound of formula (IV) is 1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecylacrylate.

8. The item of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric coating is formed by exposing the item to plasma comprising a compound of formula (V)

where R 8 , R 9 , R 10 , R 11 , R 12 , and R 13 are independently selected from hydrogen, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl or aryl optionally substituted by halo; and Z is a bridging group.

9. The item of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric coating is formed by exposing the item to plasma comprising a compound of formula (VII)

where R 16 , R 17 , R 18 , R 19 and R 20 are independently selected from hydrogen, halogen, alkyl, haloalkyl or aryl optionally substituted by halo and R 21 is X—R 22 where R 22 is an alkyl or haloalkyl group and X is a bond; —C(O)O(CH 2 ) x Y— where x is an integer from 1 to 10 and Y is a bond or a sulphonamide group; or —(O) p R 23 (O) s (CH 2 ) t — where R 23 is aryl optionally substituted by halo, p is 0 or 1, s is 0 or 1 and t is 0 or an integer from 1 to 10, provided that where s is 1, t is other than 0.

10. The item of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric coating is formed by exposing the item to plasma comprising a compound of formula (VIII)

R 24 —C≡C—X 1 —R 25   (VIII)

where R 24 is hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, haloalkyl or aryl optionally substituted by halo; X 1 is a bond or a bridging group; and R 25 is an alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl group optionally substituted by halogen.

11. The item of claim 1 , wherein the liquid-absorbing foot supporting footbed is removable.

12. A method for preparing the item of footwear of claim 1 comprising treating the at least part of the surface of the item of footwear, or a material from which the item is constructed, to allow a liquid-repelling polymeric coating to be deposited thereon by a plasma deposition process, and providing a liquid-absorbing foot supporting footbed at a region on the inside of the treated item upon which a wearer's foot rests.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the polymeric coating is formed by exposing at least part of the surface of the item to a pulsed plasma for a sufficient period of time to allow a protective polymeric layer to form on the surface of the item, and wherein the pulsed plasma comprises a compound of formula (I)

where R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from hydrogen, alkyl, haloalkyl or aryl optionally substituted by halo and R 4 is X—R 5 where R 5 is an alkyl or haloalkyl group and X is a bond; —C(O)O—, —C(O)O(CH 2 ) n Y— where n is an integer from 1 to 10 and Y is a bond or a sulphonamide group; or —(O) p R 6 (O) q (CH 2 ) t — where R 6 is aryl optionally substituted by halo, p is 0 or 1, q is 0 or 1 and t is 0 or an integer from 1 to 10, provided that where q is 1, t is other than 0.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the item to be treated is placed within a plasma chamber together with one or more monomers, which are able to generate the target polymeric substance, in an essentially gaseous state, a glow discharge is ignited within the chamber and a suitable pulsed voltage is applied.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the pulsed voltage is applied in a sequence in which the ratio of time on to time off is in the range of from 1:500 to 1:1500.

16. A method of improving the comfort of an item of footwear comprising treating the item by the method of claim 12 .