Foamed sole components and method for making a sole with foamed sole components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12588736-B2
Application number	US-202519334858-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2025
Priority date	Sep 7, 2018
Publication date	Mar 31, 2026
Grant date	Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

A sole for footwear and a method of manufacturing them comprising at least one polymeric foam expanded through supercritical fluid (SCF). The polymeric foam may have a plurality of holes or cavities introduced into the first surface of the polymer material prior to supercritical fluid expansion, wherein a relative proportion of the plurality of holes or cavities increases with a thickness of the polymer material. A portion of the polymeric foam having at least one hole or cavity may be translucent.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A sole for footwear comprising:
a. a foam comprising a polymer material expanded by a supercritical fluid (SCF); b. the foam comprising a first surface and a second surface wherein the first surface is opposite of the second surface; and c. the foam having a plurality of holes or cavities introduced into the first surface of the polymer material prior to supercritical fluid expansion, wherein a relative proportion of the plurality of holes or cavities increases with a thickness of the polymer material.

2 . The sole of claim 1 wherein the plurality of holes or cavities are in a first portion of the polymer material having a greater thickness between the first surface and the second surface than a second portion of the polymer material, and the second portion is devoid of holes or cavities introduced into the first surface.

3 . The sole of claim 2 wherein the plurality of holes or cavities partially extend between the first surface and the second surface.

4 . The sole of claim 2 wherein the plurality of holes or cavities have openings with an area between 3 mm 2 to 7 mm 2 .

5 . The sole of claim 1 wherein the foam comprises average cell diameters ranging from between 600 to 1400 microns.

6 . The sole of claim 1 , wherein the polymer material comprises EVA content ranging from 40 to 60 parts per hundred (phr) of the polymer material.

7 . The sole of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one skeleton matrix composed of support walls within the foam.

8 . The sole of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one fluid-filled bladder within the foam.

9 . The sole of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of holes or cavities comprise cylindrical upper portions and hexagonal prism lower portions.

10 . A sole for footwear comprising:
a. a foam comprising a polymer material expanded by a supercritical fluid (SCF) to form the foam; b. the foam comprising a first surface and a second surface wherein the first surface is opposite of the second surface; c. the foam comprising a plurality of holes or cavities introduced into the first surface prior to the expansion by the SCF, wherein a relative proportion of the plurality of holes or cavities increases with a thickness of the polymer material; and d. the foam having density range of 0.14 to 0.16 g/cm 3 and resiliency range of 60-66% (ASTM D-2632).

11 . The sole of claim 10 wherein the foam comprises average cell size diameters ranges from at least 600 to 1400 microns.

12 . The sole of claim 10 wherein at least a portion of the foam having the plurality of holes or cavities is translucent.

13 . The sole of claim 10 wherein the sole comprises a composite structure with the foam being an SCF-expanded polymer material and another portion of the sole comprising an opaque material.

14 . The sole of claim 13 wherein the opaque material is visualized through the SCF-expanded polymer material.

15 . The sole of claim 14 wherein the opaque material comprises a carbon fiber material.

16 . A sole for footwear comprising:
a. a foam comprising polymer material expanded by supercritical fluid (SCF) to form the foam; b. the foam comprising a first surface and a second surface wherein the first surface is opposite of the second surface; c. the foam having a plurality of holes or cavities introduced into the first surface of the polymer material prior to supercritical fluid expansion, wherein a relative proportion of the plurality of holes or cavities increases with a thickness of the polymer material; d. wherein the plurality of holes or cavities have an opening with an area between 3 mm 2 to 7 mm 2 ; and e. wherein at least a portion of the foam having the plurality of holes or cavities is translucent.

17 . The sole of claim 16 wherein the polymer material comprises ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA).

18 . The sole of claim 17 wherein the foam comprises average cell size diameters ranges from at least 600 to 1400 microns.

19 . The sole of claim 16 wherein the sole comprises a composite structure with the foam being an SCF-expanded polymer material and another portion of the sole comprising an opaque material.

20 . The sole of claim 19 wherein the opaque material is visualized through the SCF-expanded polymer material.

21 . The sole of claim 19 wherein the opaque material comprises a carbon fiber material.

22 . The sole of claim 21 wherein the carbon fiber material is visualized through portions of an SCF-expanded polymer material comprising EVA.

23 . The sole of claim 16 wherein the polymer material comprises EVA, the foam has a plurality of holes or cavities, each hole or cavity is spaced away from another hole or cavity by at least 3 mm prior to supercritical fluid expansion, each hole or cavity has an opening with an area between 3 mm 2 to 7 mm 2 , the foam has average cell size diameters ranging from at least 600 to 1400 microns, and the polymer material has a density range of 0.14 to 0.16 g/cm 3 and a resiliency range of 60-66%.

Assignees

• Skechers Usa Inc Ii

Inventors

• Stockbridge Kurt
• Hsu Chih Hsiang
• Dean Anthony

Classifications

• B29C44/02

  for articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles · CPC title

• B29C43/02

  of articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles {(B29C35/0227 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• C08J2331/04

  Homopolymers or copolymers of vinyl acetate · CPC title

• C08J2323/08

  Copolymers of ethene (C08J2323/16 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29D35/142

  Soles · CPC title