Fiber reinforced plate for articles of footwear and methods of making

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11058172-B2
Application number	US-202016879041-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2020
Priority date	Dec 28, 2017
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

A method of forming a fiber reinforced plate for an article of footwear is described. The method includes embroidering a reinforcing strand to a substrate layer with a thread according to a strand configuration. One or more substrate layers with strand configurations are arranged relative to a base plate. The one or more substrate layers are bonded to the base plate to form the fiber reinforced plate. The reinforcing strands may be formed of a heat fusible material so that adjacent segments of the strands bond to one another and/or the substrate layer. Various strand configurations of reinforcing strands embroidered to substrate layers are described. Multiple substrate layers with different strand configurations can be bonded together with a base plate to form a fiber reinforced plate with reinforcement at selected locations based on the strand configurations.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of forming a reinforced plate for a sole structure of an article of footwear, the method comprising:
attaching a first reinforcing strand to a first substrate layer according to a first strand configuration;
attaching at least one second reinforcing strand to a second substrate layer according to a second strand configuration, wherein the second strand configuration is different than the first strand configuration;
attaching the first substrate layer having the first reinforcing strand to a base plate; and
attaching the second substrate layer having the at least one second reinforcing strand on top of the first substrate layer to form the reinforced plate;
wherein at least a portion of the first reinforcing strand overlaps at least a portion of the second reinforcing strand.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
attaching at least at least one third reinforcing strand to a third substrate layer according to a third strand configuration, wherein the third strand configuration is different than the first strand configuration and the second strand configuration; and
attaching the third substrate layer having the at least one third reinforcing strand on top of the second substrate layer.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one third reinforcing strand extends through at least a portion of a forefoot region and a portion of a heel region of the article of footwear; and
wherein the first reinforcing strand extends through each of the forefoot region, a midfoot region, and the heel region of the article of footwear.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one third reinforcing strand extends substantially laterally across the reinforced plate between a medial side and a lateral side; and
wherein the first reinforcing strand extends substantially longitudinally across the reinforced plate from the forefoot region to the heel region of the reinforced plate.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second strand configuration includes a plurality of separate ringed elements, each ringed element being formed by a reinforcing strand.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein each ringed element is formed by multiple concentric rings of reinforcing strand that are spaced apart from one another such that the rings do not intersect each other.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
attaching a plurality of cleats to the reinforced plate at locations corresponding to locations of the plurality of separate ringed elements.

8. A reinforced plate for a sole structure of an article of footwear, the reinforced plate comprising:
a base plate;
a first substrate layer disposed on the base plate, the first substrate layer including a first reinforcing strand embroidered onto the first substrate layer according to a first strand configuration; and
a second substrate layer disposed on one of the first substrate layer or the base plate, the second substrate layer including a second reinforcing strand embroidered onto the second substrate layer according to a second strand configuration, wherein the second strand configuration is different from the first strand configuration;
wherein at least a portion of the first reinforcing strand overlaps at least a portion of the second reinforcing strand.

9. The reinforced plate according to claim 8 , wherein at least one of the first strand configuration and the second strand configuration includes concentric rings formed by a reinforcing strand.

10. The reinforced plate according to claim 8 , wherein the first reinforcing strand is heat fused to the first substrate layer and wherein the second reinforcing strand is heat fused to the second substrate layer.

11. The reinforced plate according to claim 8 , further comprising a plurality of additional substrate layers, each additional substrate layer including a reinforcing strand embroidered into a strand configuration that is different from each of the other strand configurations of the other substrate layers of the reinforced plate.

12. The reinforced plate according to claim 8 , wherein the second strand configuration includes a plurality of separate ringed elements, each ringed element being formed by a reinforcing strand.

13. The reinforced plate according to claim 12 , wherein each ringed element is formed by multiple concentric rings of reinforcing strand that are spaced apart from one another such that the rings do not intersect each other.

14. A reinforced plate for a sole structure of an article of footwear, the reinforced plate comprising:
a base plate;
a first substrate layer disposed on the base plate, the first substrate layer including a first reinforcing strand embroidered onto the first substrate layer according to a first strand configuration;
a second substrate layer disposed on one of the first substrate layer or the base plate, the second substrate layer including a second reinforcing strand embroidered onto the second substrate layer according to a second strand configuration, wherein the second strand configuration is different from the first strand configuration; and
a third substrate layer disposed on one of the first substrate layer, the second substrate layer, or the base plate;
wherein the third substrate layer includes a third reinforcing strand embroidered onto the third substrate layer according to a third strand configuration, wherein the third strand configuration is different from both the second strand configuration and the first strand configuration.

15. The reinforced plate according to claim 14 , wherein the third reinforcing strand extends through at least a portion of a forefoot region and a portion of a heel region of the article of footwear; and
wherein the first reinforcing strand extends through each of the forefoot region, a midfoot region, and the heel region of the article of footwear.

16. The reinforced plate according to claim 14 , wherein the third reinforcing strand extends substantially laterally across the reinforced plate between a medial side and a lateral side; and
wherein the first reinforcing strand extends substantially longitudinally across the reinforced plate from the forefoot region to the heel region of the reinforced plate.

17. The reinforced plate according to claim 14 , wherein at least a portion of the first reinforcing strand overlaps at least a portion of the second reinforcing strand.

18. The reinforced plate according to claim 14 , wherein at least one of the first strand configuration and the second strand configuration includes concentric rings formed by a reinforcing strand.

19. The reinforced plate according to claim 14 , wherein the first reinforcing strand is heat fused to the first substrate layer and wherein the second reinforcing strand is heat fused to the second substrate layer.

20. The reinforced plate according to claim 14 , further comprising a plurality of additional substrate layers, each additional substrate layer including a reinforcing strand embroidered into a strand configuration that is different from each of the other strand configurations of the other substrate layers of the reinforced plate.

Assignees

• Under Armour Inc

Inventors

• Ghiotti Fabien Franco Angelo

Classifications

• A43B23/025

  assembled by stitching · CPC title

• A43B17/006

  multilayered · CPC title

• A43B23/0265

  having different properties in different directions · CPC title

• D05C7/00

  Special-purpose or automatic embroidering machines · CPC title

• A43B13/12 Primary

  Soles with several layers of different materials · CPC title