Direct bottomed article of footwear with a film

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019239596-A1
Application number	US-201916270388-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 7, 2019
Priority date	Feb 8, 2018
Publication date	Aug 8, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

An article of footwear has an upper that is direct attached with the sole. The sole has a film extending up sidewalls of the sole to a film edge that is prior to the sidewall and the upper joining. Method of manufacture of the article of footwear includes steps of positioning a film over a mold cavity and then securing the film to the mold. The film is heated and then drawn into the mold cavity under a vacuum. The film forms a liner of the mold cavity. A foam composition is injected into the lined mold cavity. As the foam composition expands, the foam composition interacts with and mechanically engages with the upper that is poisoned at the mold cavity to allow for the mechanical engagement that results in the direct attach of the sole to the upper. The film is then trimmed from the sole sidewalls.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . An article of footwear comprising:
an upper comprising:
(1) a medial side, a lateral side, a toe end, a heel end, and a plantar region extending between the medial side, the lateral side, the toe end, and the heel end; and
a sole having a medial side, a lateral side, a toe end, a heel end, an upper-facing surface extending between the medial side, the lateral side, the toe end, and the heel end, a ground-facing surface opposite the upper-facing surface, a medial sidewall extending between the ground-facing surface and the upper facing surface along the medial side, and a lateral sidewall extending between the ground-facing surface and the upper-facing surface along the lateral side, the sole comprising:
(1) a polymeric foam composition forming at least a portion of the upper-facing surface and mechanically engaged with the upper plantar region; and
(2) a polymeric film composition forming at least a portion of the medial side wall from the ground-facing surface toward the upper at a medial film edge and also forming at least a portion of the lateral side wall from the ground-facing surface toward the upper at a lateral film edge, wherein there is at least 1 mm between the upper-facing surface at the medial sidewall and the medial film edge and there is at least 1 mm between the upper-facing surface at the lateral sidewall and the lateral film edge.

2 . The article of footwear of claim 1 further comprising an outsole, the outsole coupled with the ground-facing surface.

3 . The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the outsole is coupled with the film composition on the ground-facing surface of the sole.

4 . The article of footwear of claim 3 , wherein an adhesive couples the outsole and the film composition.

5 . The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the outsole is comprised of an aperture extending through the outsole to the film composition on the ground-facing surface.

6 . The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the sole further comprises an insert, the insert at least partially encased by the polymeric foam composition and the polymeric film composition.

7 . The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the medial sidewall angles toward the lateral sidewall as the medial sidewall extends from the ground-facing surface toward the upper-facing surface between the toe end and the heel end.

8 . The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein a first distance between the medial sidewall and the lateral sidewall at the ground-facing surface is greater than a second distance between the medial sidewall and the lateral sidewall at the upper-facing surface.

9 . The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric foam composition comprises a polyurethane composition and the polymeric film composition comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane composition.

10 . The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric film composition extends between the medial sidewall and the lateral sidewall on the ground-facing surface.

11 . The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric foam composition forms the medial side wall between the medial film edge and the upper-facing surface and the polymeric foam composition forms the lateral side wall between the lateral film edge and the upper-facing surface.

12 . The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric film composition has a different visual characteristic than the polymeric foam composition on at least the medial sidewall.

13 . A method of making an article of footwear, the method comprising:
positioning a polymeric film composition over a mold cavity of a mold having a first molding surface forming a ground-facing surface of a footwear sole, and a second molding surface forming a sidewall of the footwear sole; securing the polymeric film composition over the mold cavity to enclose the mold cavity; applying thermal energy to the polymeric film composition; drawing a vacuum through the mold cavity enclosed by polymeric film composition until at least a portion of the polymeric film composition contacts the first molding surface and the second molding surface as the polymeric film composition forms a liner for at least a portion of the mold cavity; injecting a material composition that will foam as a polymeric foam composition into the mold cavity with the polymeric film composition as the liner of at least a portion of the mold cavity; positioning a footwear upper at the mold cavity, wherein the footwear upper is positioned such that the polymeric foam composition mechanically engages with the footwear upper to form the article of footwear; removing the article of footwear from the mold cavity; and trimming the polymeric film composition from at least the sidewall, wherein the polymeric film composition extends up to a film edge on the sidewall that is at least 1 mm from the upper.

14 . The method of manufacturing an article of footwear of claim 13 , wherein the polymeric foam composition comprises a polyurethane composition and the polymeric film composition comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane composition

15 . The method of manufacturing an article of footwear of claim 13 , wherein the positioning of the polymeric film composition comprises a robotic arm securing the polymeric film composition, moving the polymeric film position, and depositing the polymeric film composition over the mold cavity.

16 . The method of manufacturing an article of footwear of claim 13 , wherein securing the polymeric film composition comprises:
positioning a ring over the polymeric film composition; and compressing the polymeric film composition between mold and the ring.

17 . The method of manufacturing an article of footwear of claim 13 , wherein securing the polymeric film composition comprises securing an aperture extending through the polymeric film composition with a portion of the mold.

18 . The method of manufacturing an article of footwear of claim 17 , wherein the portion of the mold to which the polymeric film aperture is secured is selected from a pin or a hook.

19 . The method of manufacturing an article of footwear of claim 13 , wherein securing the polymeric film composition comprises applying a vacuum pressure to the polymeric film composition outside of the mold cavity to secure the polymeric film composition to the mold.

20 . The method of manufacturing an article of footwear of claim 13 further comprising, prior to positioning the polymeric film composition, inserting a removable molding element into the sidewall of the mold cavity.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Ploem Steven Edmund Jan Cornelis

Classifications

• B29D35/061

  by injection moulding · CPC title

• B29C33/18

  using vacuum · CPC title

• A43B13/12

  Soles with several layers of different materials · CPC title

• A43B13/122

  characterised by the outsole or external layer · CPC title

• A43B23/042

  Uppers made of one piece (one piece slippers A43B3/106; one piece sandals A43B3/124) · CPC title