Direct bottomed article of footwear with a film mold

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024090617-A1
Application number	US-202318520141-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 27, 2023
Priority date	Feb 8, 2018
Publication date	Mar 21, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

An article of footwear has an upper that is direct attached with the sole in a article of footwear mold. 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.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method of manufacturing a plurality of different articles of footwear with a common mold, the method comprising:
positioning a first 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 first polymeric film composition over the mold cavity to enclose the mold cavity; drawing a vacuum through the mold cavity enclosed by first polymeric film composition until at least a portion of the first polymeric film composition contacts the first molding surface and the second molding surface as the first polymeric film composition forms a first liner for at least a portion of the mold cavity; positioning a first footwear upper at the mold cavity, wherein the first footwear upper is positioned such that an injected polymeric foam composition mechanically engages with the first footwear upper to form a first article of footwear comprised of the first polymeric film composition, the polymeric foam composition, and the first upper; removing the first article of footwear from the mold cavity; positioning a second polymeric film composition over the mold cavity, wherein the second polymeric film composition has a different visual characteristic than the first polymeric film composition; securing the second polymeric film composition over the mold cavity to enclose the mold cavity; drawing a vacuum through the mold cavity enclosed by second polymeric film composition until at least a portion of the second polymeric film composition contacts the first molding surface and the second molding surface as the second polymeric film composition forms a second liner for at least a portion of the mold cavity; positioning a second footwear upper at the mold cavity, wherein the second footwear upper is positioned such that an injected polymeric foam composition mechanically engages with the second footwear upper to form a second article of footwear comprised of the second polymeric film edger, the polymeric foam composition, and the second footwear upper; and removing the second article of footwear from the mold cavity.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising, after removing the first article of footwear from the mold cavity, trimming the first polymeric film composition from at least the sidewall, wherein the first polymeric film composition extends up to a film edge on the sidewall that is at least 1 mm from the first upper.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric foam composition comprises a polyurethane composition and the first polymeric film composition comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane composition

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positioning of the first polymeric film composition comprises a robotic arm securing the first polymeric film composition, moving the first polymeric film position, and depositing the first polymeric film composition over the mold cavity.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein securing the first polymeric film composition comprises: positioning a ring over the first polymeric film composition; and compressing the first polymeric film composition between mold and the ring.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein securing the first polymeric film composition comprises securing an aperture extending through the first polymeric film composition with a portion of the mold.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the portion of the mold to which the polymeric film aperture is secured is selected from a pin or a hook.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein securing the first polymeric film composition comprises applying a vacuum pressure to the first polymeric film composition outside of the mold cavity to secure the first polymeric film composition to the mold.

9 . The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to positioning the first 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

• A43B9/18 Primary

  moulded · CPC title

• A43B13/18 Primary

  Resilient soles {(skating boots provided with resilient means A43B5/1658)} · CPC title

• A43B13/02

  characterised by the material · CPC title

• A43B13/12

  Soles with several layers of different materials · CPC title

• A43B13/122

  characterised by the outsole or external layer · CPC title