Article of footwear comprising a sole member with apertures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10786039-B2
Application number	US-201715840175-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2017
Priority date	May 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 29, 2020
Grant date	Sep 29, 2020

Abstract

An article of footwear includes an upper and a sole structure with a sole member. The sole member can be manufactured using a cushioning sole system that provides different cushioning characteristics to a sole member using varying patterns of apertures. A user's foot morphology and/or preferences may be used to design the sole member. The sole member can include a set of apertures that are formed along various surfaces of the sole member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for making a customized sole member for an article of footwear, comprising:
obtaining information related to a wearer's foot including at least: (a) three-dimensional information corresponding to size and geometry of the wearer's foot and (b) information regarding plantar pressure applied to a surface by the wearer's foot;
producing a pattern of apertures to be cut into a polymer foam sole member by a laser, wherein the pattern of apertures is produced based on the information relating to the wearer's foot and includes an arrangement of apertures to be formed in the polymer foam sole member at locations with respect to the wearer's foot to provide a desired set of cushioning characteristics, wherein the pattern of apertures includes: (a) a first set of apertures extending from a top surface or a bottom surface of the polymer foam sole member and into an interior of the polymer foam sole member and (b) a sidewall set of apertures including a plurality of blind-hole apertures extending from a sidewall surface of the polymer foam sole member and into the interior of the polymer foam sole member;
generating instructions to form the pattern of apertures in the polymer foam sole member; and
executing the instructions to form the polymer foam sole member to include the pattern of apertures and thereby produce the customized sole member for the wearer's foot, wherein the step of executing the instructions includes laser cutting the pattern of apertures in the polymer foam sole member.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining information about preferences of the wearer related to cushioning of the article of footwear, and wherein the pattern of apertures is determined based in part on the information obtained about the preferences.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each aperture in the pattern of apertures has a length, and wherein each length is determined based on the information obtained related to the wearer's foot.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first plurality of apertures of the sidewall set of apertures extend along a lateral axis of the polymer foam sole member and a second plurality of apertures of the sidewall set of apertures extend along a longitudinal axis of the polymer foam sole member.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of apertures includes apertures extending from the bottom surface of the polymer foam sole member and into the interior of the polymer foam sole member, and wherein the pattern of apertures further includes a top surface set of apertures extending from the top surface of the polymer foam sole member into the interior of the polymer foam sole member.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of producing the pattern of apertures includes determining position, size, length, number, and orientation of apertures in the pattern of apertures to be cut in the polymer foam sole member to produce the desired set of cushioning characteristics.

7. A method for making a customized sole member for an article of footwear, comprising:
obtaining information relating to a user's foot including at least: (a) three-dimensional information corresponding to size and geometry of the user's foot and (b) information regarding plantar pressure applied to a surface by the user's foot;
producing a pattern of apertures to be cut into a foam material of a sole member by a laser based on the information obtained relating to the user's foot, wherein the pattern of apertures produced includes an arrangement of apertures to be formed in the sole member made from the foam material at locations with respect to the user's foot to provide a desired set of cushioning characteristics, wherein the pattern of apertures includes: (a) a first set of apertures having between 40 and 70 blind-hole apertures extending from a lower surface of the sole member and terminating in an interior of the sole member and (b) a sidewall set of apertures including a plurality of blind-hole apertures extending from a sidewall surface of the sole member and into the interior of the sole member;
generating instructions to form the pattern of apertures in the foam material of the sole member; and
executing the instructions to form the foam material of the sole member to include the pattern of apertures and thereby produce the customized sole member for the user's foot, wherein the step of executing the instructions includes laser cutting the pattern of apertures in the foam material of the sole member.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the pattern of apertures further includes a second set of apertures having more than 100 blind-hole apertures extending from an upper surface of the sole member into and terminating in the interior of the sole member.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein a first plurality of apertures of the sidewall set of apertures extend along a lateral axis of the sole member and a second plurality of apertures of the sidewall set of apertures extend along a longitudinal axis of the sole member.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of producing the pattern of apertures includes determining position, size, length, number, and orientation of apertures in the pattern of apertures to be cut in the foam material to produce the desired set of cushioning characteristics.

11. A method for making a customized sole member for an article of footwear, comprising:
obtaining information relating to a user's foot including at least: (a) three-dimensional information corresponding to size and geometry of the user's foot and (b) information regarding plantar pressure applied to a surface by the user's foot;
producing a pattern of apertures to be cut into a foam material of a sole member by a laser based on the information obtained relating to the user's foot, wherein the pattern of apertures produced includes an arrangement of apertures to be formed in the sole member made from the foam material at locations with respect to the user's foot to provide a desired set of cushioning characteristics, wherein the pattern of apertures includes: (a) a first set of apertures having more than 100 blind-hole apertures extending from one of an upper surface or a lower surface of the sole member and terminating in an interior of the sole member and (b) a sidewall set of apertures including a plurality of blind-hole apertures extending from a sidewall surface of the sole member and into the interior of the sole member;
generating instructions to form the pattern of apertures in the foam material of the sole member; and
executing the instructions to form the foam material of the sole member to include the pattern of apertures and thereby produce the customized sole member for the user's foot, wherein the step of executing the instructions includes laser cutting the pattern of apertures in the foam material of the sole member.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first set of apertures extend from the lower surface into the interior of the sole member.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first set of apertures extend from the upper surface into the interior of the sole member.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first set of apertures extend from the upper surface into the interior of the sole member, and wherein the pattern of apertures further includes a second set of apertures having from 40 to 70 apertures extending from the lower surface of the sole member into the interior of the sole member.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first set of apertures extend from the lower surface into the interior of the sole member, and wherein the pattern of apertures further includes a sec

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Kohatsu Shane S
• Cook Christopher S
• Schoolmeester Bret

Classifications

• A43B13/181

  Resiliency achieved by the structure of the sole · CPC title

• A43D119/00

  Driving or controlling mechanisms of shoe machines; Frames for shoe machines · CPC title

• A43B13/14

  characterised by the constructive form · CPC title

• A43B13/186 Primary

  Differential cushioning region, e.g. cushioning located under the ball of the foot (resilient heel not included in the sole A43B21/26; resilient supports for the heel of the foot A43B21/32) · CPC title

• A43B13/141

  with a part of the sole being flexible, e.g. permitting articulation or torsion · CPC title