Baseplate for a shoe

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12089699-B2
Application number	US-202117468781-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 8, 2021
Priority date	Jan 15, 2015
Publication date	Sep 17, 2024
Grant date	Sep 17, 2024

Abstract

Baseplates for shoes, wherein the baseplate is removably insertable into a shoe upper, and wherein the baseplate includes a substantially planar body, which is configured to provide stability to the shoe upper, and a plurality of tread elements, which are configured to protrude through a respective opening of a plurality of openings in a bottom portion of the shoe upper when the baseplate is removably inserted into the shoe upper, wherein the plurality of tread elements are unitarily formed with the body.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a shoe comprising a baseplate, the method comprising:
forming a substantially planar body of the baseplate;
unitarily forming a plurality of tread elements in one piece with the body, so that the plurality of tread elements extend from a lowermost surface of the body; and
removably inserting the baseplate into a shoe upper to provide stability to the shoe upper;
wherein the shoe upper comprises a bottom portion comprising a plurality of openings and at least one first region and at least one second region;
wherein the at least one first region surrounds at least one of the plurality of openings and the at least one second region defines a bottommost surface of the shoe upper and at least partially surrounds the at least one first region; and
wherein the at least one first region is more elastic than the at least one second region;

inserting the plurality of tread elements to protrude through a respective opening of the plurality of openings; and
engaging each of the plurality of tread elements with an edge of the respective opening of the plurality of openings to fix the plurality of tread elements relative to the shoe upper.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseplate is manufactured in a 3D-printing process or an injection molding process.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein, during the process of unitarily forming the plurality of tread elements in one piece with the body, the plurality of tread elements and the body are injection molded to one another.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseplate is manufactured in an injection molding process and during the injection molding process at least one spacing element is removably inserted between the body and at least one of the plurality of tread elements to create an undercut for receiving at least a section of the edge of the respective opening of the plurality of openings.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one spacing element comprises a ring disk.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseplate extends from a heel region of the shoe upper to a toe region of the shoe upper.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of tread elements is configured to correspond to the respective opening of the plurality of openings in the bottom portion of the shoe upper, such that there is configured to be a one-to-one correspondence between the tread elements and the openings.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first region comprises a textile material.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseplate comprises a first baseplate, the method further comprising interchanging the first baseplate with a second baseplate, wherein the second baseplate comprises an arrangement or design of tread elements that is different from an arrangement or design of the plurality of tread elements of the first baseplate.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseplate is configured to cover substantially all of the bottom portion of the shoe upper.

11. A method for manufacturing a baseplate for a shoe, the method comprising:
forming a substantially planar body, which provides stability to a shoe upper of the shoe when the baseplate is removably inserted into the shoe upper;
unitarily forming a plurality of tread elements in one piece with the body, so that the plurality of tread elements extend from a lowermost surface of the body;
forming at least one undercut on an outer surface of at least one of the plurality of tread elements that abuts the lowermost surface of the body; and
forming at least one groove on the outer surface of the at least one of the plurality of tread elements that intersects the at least one undercut, wherein the at least one groove has a longitudinal direction that extends along a substantially vertical direction of the at least one of the plurality of tread elements, wherein the at least one groove extends a first distance along the longitudinal direction, and wherein the first distance is less than a height of the at least one of the plurality of tread elements.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the baseplate is manufactured in a 3D-printing process or an injection molding process.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein, during the process of unitarily forming the plurality of tread elements in one piece with the body, the plurality of tread elements and the body are injection molded to one another.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the baseplate is manufactured in an injection molding process and during the injection molding process at least one spacing element is removably inserted between the body and at least one of the plurality of tread elements to create the at least one undercut.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the at least one spacing element comprises a ring disk.

16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the plurality of tread elements protrude through a respective opening of a plurality of openings in a bottom portion of the shoe upper when the baseplate is removably inserted into the shoe upper, wherein the bottom portion comprises at least one first region and at least one second region, wherein the at least one first region surrounds at least one of the plurality of openings and the at least one second region defines a bottommost surface of the shoe upper and at least partially surrounds the at least one first region, and wherein the at least one first region is more elastic than the at least one second region.

17. The method according to claim 11 , wherein a first subset of the plurality of tread elements comprises studs with a first height extending from a first adjacent portion of the lowermost surface of the body and a second subset of the plurality of tread elements comprises plugs with a second height extending from a second adjacent portion of the lowermost surface of the body, wherein the first height is greater than the second height.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein a third subset of the plurality of tread elements comprises studs with a third height extending from a third adjacent portion of the lowermost surface of the body, wherein the third height is (i) less than the first height and (ii) greater than the second height.

19. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the studs protrude through a respective opening of a plurality of openings in a bottom portion of the shoe upper when the baseplate is removably inserted into the shoe upper and are configured to close the respective opening of the plurality of openings in the bottom portion of the shoe upper when the baseplate is inserted in the shoe upper.

Assignees

• Adidas Ag

Inventors

• Weidl Jürgen
• Zea Jr Antonio Jamie
• Wiederer Wilfried Ernst

Classifications

• A43C15/162

  characterised by the shape · CPC title

• A43B13/30

  by screws · CPC title

• A43B13/223

  Profiled soles · CPC title

• A43B3/246 Primary

  characterised by the sole · CPC title

• A43B13/26

  projecting beyond the sole surface · CPC title