Articles of footwear with engineered wood

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11944153-B2
Application number	US-202117459021-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 27, 2021
Priority date	Aug 31, 2020
Publication date	Apr 2, 2024
Grant date	Apr 2, 2024

Abstract

An article of footwear includes an upper and a sole structure that defines a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region. The sole structure comprises densified wood and includes an upper midsole cushioning member, a lower midsole cushioning member, an outsole coupled with a bottom surface of the lower midsole cushioning member, and a plate positioned between the upper midsole cushioning member and the lower midsole cushioning member.

First claim

We claim:

1. An article of footwear, comprising:
an upper; and
a sole structure coupled with the upper, the sole structure defining a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region, the sole structure comprising
a midsole cushioning member having a top surface and a bottom surface;
an aperture in the midsole cushioning member extending from the top surface to the bottom surface;
at least one plate comprised of densified wood,
wherein the plate comprises an arched segment, a rear segment, and a toe segment,
wherein the toe segment bifurcates into a first toe segment portion and a second toe segment portion; and
wherein the arched segment proximate to the rear segment extends through the aperture in the midsole cushioning member.

2. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the sole structure comprises:
an upper midsole cushioning member;
a lower midsole cushioning member;
an outsole coupled with a bottom surface of the lower midsole cushioning member; and
the plate comprising densified wood positioned between the upper midsole cushioning member and the lower midsole cushioning member.

3. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the plate includes a flat portion and a curved portion including an anterior curved portion that extends through at least the forefoot region of the article of footwear and a posterior curved portion that extends through the midfoot region of the article of footwear and at least a portion of the heel region of the article of footwear.

4. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the sole structure further includes a heel support structure in the heel region of the article of footwear.

5. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the upper midsole cushioning member and the lower midsole cushioning member are a foam material.

6. The article of footwear of claim 3 , wherein a minimum width of the anterior curved portion is larger than a minimum width of the posterior curved portion, and wherein a minimum width of the flat portion is larger than a minimum width of the posterior curved portion.

7. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the plate is comprised of a densified wood panel having a density between about 1.4 g/cc and about 1.6 g/cc.

8. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the plate is comprised of a delignified densified wood panel and at least 30% of the lignin has been removed relative to the lignin content of natural wood prior to delignification.

9. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the densified wood is made by a process comprising:
contacting natural wood comprising lignin and cellulose with a sodium based chemical solution for a time and under conditions sufficient to form delignified wood; and
compressing the delignified wood until the thickness is reduced by at least 40%.

10. The article of footwear of claim 9 , wherein the sodium based chemical solution comprises NaOH, NaOH/Na 2 S, NaHSO 3 +SO 2 +H 2 O, NaHSCb, NaHSO 3 +Na 2 SO3, NaOH+Na 2 SO 3 , Na 2 SO 3 , NaOH+AQ, NaOH/Na 2 S+AQ, NaHSO 3 ±SO 2 +H 2 O+AQ, NaOH+Na 2 SO 3 +AQ, NaHSO 3 +AQ, NaHSO 3 +Na 2 SO 3 +AQ, Na 2 SO 3 +AQ, NaOH+Na 2 S+Na 2 S n , Na 2 SO 3 +NaOH+CH 3 OH+AQ, C 2 H 5 OH+NaOH, NaClO, NaClO 2 +acetic acid, or combinations thereof where n is an integer and AQ is Anthraquinone.

11. The article of footwear of claim 9 , wherein the delignified wood is compressed at a pressure between 0.5 MPa and 10 MPa.

12. The article of footwear of claim 9 , wherein the delignified wood is compressed at a temperature between about 100° F. and about 250° F.

13. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the densified wood is made by viscoelastic thermal compression of natural wood.

14. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the plate is comprised of a densified wood panel which has been treated with a chemical to increase hydrophobicity, weatherability, corrosion resistance, or flame resistance.

15. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the sole structure comprises:
the plate including one or more protruding portions.

16. The article of footwear of claim 15 , wherein a stud is attached to each of the one or more protruding portions.

17. The article of footwear of claim 16 , wherein the stud is formed from metal, rubber, or a thermoplastic material.

18. An article of footwear, comprising:
an upper; and
a sole structure coupled with the upper, the sole structure defining a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region, and the sole structure comprising:
a midsole cushioning member having a top surface and a bottom surface;
an aperture in the midsole cushioning member extending from the top surface to the bottom surface;
an outsole coupled with a bottom surface of the midsole cushioning member; and
a plate,
wherein the plate is formed from densified wood and includes a toe portion, an arched portion, and a rear segment;
wherein the toe portion bifurcates into a first toe segment portion and a second toe segment portion;
wherein the toe portion and the arched portion are positioned between the midsole cushioning member and the outsole, and the rear segment is positioned above the midsole cushioning member; and
wherein the arched portion proximate to the rear segment extends through the aperture in the midsole cushioning member.

19. The article of footwear of claim 18 , wherein the upper comprises densified wood.

Assignees

• Puma SE

Inventors

• Girard Romain
• Hartmann Matthias

Classifications

• A43B13/186

  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

• A43B13/143

  provided with wedged, concave or convex end portions, e.g. for improving roll-off of the foot · CPC title

• A43B13/125

  characterised by the midsole or middle layer · CPC title

• A43B13/122

  characterised by the outsole or external layer · CPC title

• A43B13/08 Primary

  Wood · CPC title