Methods of forming an article of footwear with a multipart strobel structure and articles formed by the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11910873-B2
Application number	US-202016857113-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2020
Priority date	Apr 26, 2019
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

Methods of forming an article of footwear using a multipart strobel structure and a resulting article of footwear comprising an upper with a transition strip are described. The transition strip that has an outer perimeter edge, an inner perimeter edge, and a width between the outer perimeter edge and the inner perimeter edge, with the inner perimeter edge defining an internal opening of the transition strip, and the inner strobel that has an outer perimeter edge. The inner strobel is positioned in an overlapping relationship with the transition strip and temporarily attached.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method of forming of an article of footwear, comprising:
providing a closed transition strip that has an outer perimeter edge, an inner perimeter edge, and a width between the outer perimeter edge and the inner perimeter edge, the inner perimeter edge defining an internal opening of the closed transition strip;
providing an inner strobel that has an outer perimeter edge;
positioning the inner strobel in an overlapping relationship with the closed transition strip to provide an overlapping region between the outer perimeter edge of the inner strobel and the inner perimeter edge of the closed transition strip, and a non-overlapping region that extends from an outside boundary of the overlapping region to the outer perimeter edge of the closed transition strip;
temporarily attaching the inner strobel to the closed transition strip at the overlapping region;
positioning the closed transition strip so that both the closed transition strip and the inner strobel extend along a bottom portion of an upper from a forefoot region of the upper to a heel region of the upper;
securing the closed transition strip to the bottom portion of the upper, the closed transition strip being attached to the upper at the non-overlapping region and with the inner strobel facing an inner portion of the upper;
fixedly attaching the closed transition strip and bottom portion of the upper to a sole structure; and then
separating the inner strobel from the closed transition strip and removing it from the inner portion of the upper.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the closed transition strip has a first width at a first location along its length and the overlapping region has a second width at the first location, and a ratio of the second width to the first width is between 0.25 and 0.85.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the closed transition strip has a first width at a first location along its length and the overlapping region has a second width at the first location, and a ratio of the second width to the first width is between 0.30 and 0.50.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the width of the closed transition strip is substantially constant along a length of the closed transition strip.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the width of the closed transition strip varies along a length of the closed transition strip.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the width of the closed transition strip is between 6 mm and 15 mm.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the width of the closed transition strip is between 8 and 13 mm.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the width of the closed transition strip is between 10.5 and 12 mm.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inner strobel is temporarily attached to the closed transition strip with one or more threads using a removable stitch.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the removable stitch is a chain stitch.

11. The method of either of claim 9 , wherein separating the inner strobel from the closed transition strip comprises removing the one or more threads from the inner strobel.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inner strobel and the closed transition strip are formed of a generally non-stretchable material.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the closed transition strip is secured to the bottom portion of the upper by stitching the bottom portion of the upper to an area adjacent the outer perimeter edge of the closed transition strip.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein fixedly attaching the closed transition strip and bottom portion of the upper to the sole structure comprises:
applying a bonding material at an attachment area, the attachment area including a location where the closed transition strip is secured to a bottom portion of an upper; and
contacting the bonding material with an upper surface of the sole structure to secure the upper and the closed transition strip to the sole structure,
wherein the attachment area does not include an area of the overlapping region where the inner strobel is temporarily attached the closed transition strip.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the closed transition strip has a first thickness and a portion of the upper immediately adjacent to the closed transition strip has a second thickness, and a ratio of the first thickness to the second thickness is equal or less than 0.7.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the closed transition strip has a first thickness and a portion of the upper immediately adjacent to the closed transition strip has a second thickness, and a ratio of the first thickness to the second thickness is between 0.3 and 0.6.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the upper from a last before separating the inner strobel from the closed transition strip and removing it from the inner portion of the upper, wherein the act of removing the upper from the last exposes a top surface of the inner strobel.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Blanchard Philippe
• Lee Dongwoo
• Miller Anthony S
• Lee Sunho
• Song Yoochang
• Yeo Ilgwan

Classifications

• A43B23/222 Primary

  characterised by the attachment to the sole · CPC title

• A43D25/047

  Devices for lasting with adhesives or for gluing together insoles and uppers (A43D25/18, A43D25/20 take precedence) · CPC title

• A43B3/244

  characterised by the attachment between upper and sole · CPC title

• A43B15/00

  Welts for footwear · CPC title

• A43B17/18

  Arrangements for attaching removable insoles to footwear · CPC title