931results about "Lasting" patented technology

According to an embodiment, a component for attachment to an article includes an upper component that is made of a thermoplastic material having a first melting temperature and a flange member that is molded onto the upper component and made of a thermoplastic elastomer material having a second melting temperature that is lower than the first melting temperature of the upper component. The flange member extends laterally from a bottom end of the upper component so that a bottom surface of the flange member is flush with or positioned axially below a bottom surface of the upper component. The melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer material enables the flange member to be directly coupled to the article via heat welding and the like without substantially affecting the upper component.

The present invention relates to a sole (100; 200) for a shoe (300), in particular for a cycling shoe (300), comprising: (a.) a three-dimensionally shaped rim (110); and (b.) a plurality of first reinforcing struts (121-127; 221-222), wherein (c.) at least two (122-125; 221-222) of the plurality of first reinforcing struts (121-127; 221-222) extend from a heel region (112) of the rim (110) of the sole (100; 200) to a toe region (115) of the rim (110) of the sole (100; 200), and wherein (d.) the rim (110) of the sole (100; 200) and the plurality of first reinforcing struts (121-127; 221-222) are integrally manufactured as a single piece in an additive manufacturing process.

The invention relates to articles of footwear, and portions thereof, including convex and / or concave elements thereon, and related systems and methods for designing and manufacturing same. An example article of footwear including a midsole having a medial side, a lateral side, a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region, the midsole including a sidewall, wherein the sidewall includes a first wall portion having a plurality of convex structures extending out from the sidewall and a second wall portion having a plurality of concave structures extending into the sidewall.

Methods and systems relating to efficient shoe manufacturing that reduce the specialized human labor required to manufacture a pair of shoes while avoiding the high costs and special maintenance requirements often associated with highly automated manufacturing equipment are provided. Systems and methods in accordance with the present invention may be used to produce multiple models of custom shoes at a single shoe manufacturing facility using overlapping workflows, thereby reducing the physical footprint of the manufacturing facility. Additionally, embodiments of the invention may provide methods and systems for efficiently producing shoes to meet the demands of a particular geographic location, thereby eliminating the need to import shoes produced in other locations.

Disclosed herein is a plexus of filaments which is composed of groups of filaments, whose filament members are linked together, in a repetitious pattern, and whose filaments may be interlaced or linked to bisecting groups of filaments, creating a patterned plexus whose filament members generally follow spiraling paths, while linking with neighboring filaments, creating a group, or interlaced groups, of tension distributive filaments within a plexus of filaments; said plexus exhibiting greater conformal and constrictive qualities in comparison to the prior art. Also disclosed is a method of producing filament structures for a variety of uses including composite structures with tension displacement properties, and sporting goods requiring conformal load distribution with minimal weight; such as, running shoes.

Articles of footwear having both interior and exterior midsole components may include: (a) an upper that at least in part defines an interior chamber; (b) an interior midsole component within the interior chamber, wherein, at a forefoot region, the interior midsole component includes a longitudinal flexion line and a plurality of transverse flexion lines; and (c) an exterior sole structure engaged with the upper. This exterior sole structure may include: (a) an exterior midsole component in a heel region of the article of footwear that does not extend under the forefoot region of the article of footwear and (b) an outsole component that extends under the forefoot region. If desired, the outsole component may extend under the exterior midsole component in the rearfoot region. The interior midsole component may include a plurality of pod elements separated from one another by the flexion lines.

The present invention is an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system, method and computer program product for creating a three-dimensionally reconfigurable cavity. The system can include a container that is configurable to create a three dimensional cavity. The system can be operative to form a footwear last in the cavity. The last can be formed from a plastic-like material. The system can include a blow molding apparatus having at least one directional deflector. The container can be capsule, hemispherical, cylindrical, or spherical-shaped. The system can include a container having holes to receive rods. The system can include an array of rods. The rods can be movable through the container. The system can further include rods that are threaded; gear-driven; coupled to a belt; coupled to a partial belt; or belt-driven. The cavity can be formed by an inner end of the rods. If more than one rod occupies a single point of the cavity, then only one rod participates in forming the cavity and other rods will not participate. Participating rods can be selected according to an optimizing module. The software module can determine an intersection of a rod with a digitized cluster of points representing a 3 dimensional surface. A method of forming a footwear last from a collapsible and expandable last is described.

A pair of environment-friendly popcorn bridging shoes and a production process thereof are provided. The upper of each bridging shoe comprises an inner bootie, which is composed of a lining and an inner pad formed by single injection molding, and a vamp; the collar of the inner bootie is fixedly connected with that of the vamp, and the lower edge of the vamp wrapped by a PU bridging layer extends to the bottom surface of the inner pad fixedly connected with the same; the upper and a popcorn sole made of mixed PU and TPU popcorn particles are integrally connected by the PU bridging layer. The shoe making process is simpler, and firmer bonding and better shock absorbing performance of the shoes are achieved; the vamp and the sole can well wrap the foot; and the dissolution proportion of shoes is increased by increasing the consumption of the PU material.

A method for manufacturing footwear including injection molding a polymeric material on a sheet of material in preselected locations and / or in a preselected pattern so that the polymeric material bonds to the sheet and forms a structural exoskeleton of an upper of the footwear. The upper can be joined with a sole. The polymeric material can be injection molded on the sheet while the sheet is in a planar or flat configuration, and subsequently, the sheet and bonded exoskeleton can be conformed to a three-dimensional configuration of an upper. Additional polymeric materials can be injected on the exoskeleton to reinforce certain areas of the same. The exoskeleton can define one or more holes through which the sheet is visible to form one or more aesthetic regions on the upper. An article of footwear constructed with the method is also provided.

According to one embodiment, a removable tightening device is described. The tensioning mechanism is removably coupleable with an article without damaging the article so that upon removal, the coupling of the tensioning mechanism with the article is unrecognizable or not readily detectable. The tensioning mechanism is operable with a tension member to maintain a tension of the tension member and thereby maintain a tightness of the article. The tension member is guided along a path about the article, via one or more guide members, and is tensionable, via the tensioning mechanism, to tighten the article.

A system for custom fitting athletic shoes to an individual wearer includes a foot measurement device, an adjustable footform and an infrared activation chamber. Shoes of a single width for each length size have at least a portion of the upper made of heat malleable material to be custom fitted for width. Foot measurement data is used to calculate length size, width size and a number of custom adjustment factors. After the length size is calculated, the appropriately sized shoe and last are assembled together and subject to infrared radiation until the heat malleable material becomes plastic. Adjustments are then made to the last in accordance with the adjustment factors to provide custom width sizing. After further heat treatment to set the shoe upper and cooling, the shoe is complete. In this manner, if used in a retail setting, shoes are custom fitted to the wearer in a matter of minutes.

Among other things, the present invention provides apparatus and methods for manufacturing footwear pieces. In various cases, the apparatus include a footwear form that includes a location mark corresponding to a location of a strap rivet. The footwear form is an inner portion of a footwear mold, and the footwear mold is comprised of an upper portion and a lower portion that substantially encompass the footwear form.

An orthopedic walking boot promotes rapid healing of diabetic foot ulcerations by lowering the maximum peak pressure imposed upon the foot. The walker has a hard unyielding shell which is designed for walking. The shell closely and rigidly supports a mid-sole in a foot-shaped bed. The mid-sole has a foot-shaped cavity with rounded sides adapted to form resilient support for the heel, arch and sides of a foot in addition to the bottom of a foot. A conformable inner-sole is adapted to fit over the foot-shaped cavity in the mid-sole and be compressed in response to foot pressure between the sides and bottom of the foot and the sides and bottom of the foot-shaped cavity in the mid-sole thereby compensating for small differences between the shape of the foot and the shape of the cavity. Weight applied to the foot is transferred to the walking shell by contact between the sides of the foot, arch, and heel and the arch, heel and sides of the foot-shaped cavity as well as the bottom of the cavity thereby decreasing the peak or maximum unit pressure on the plantar surface of the foot. A breathable bootie which wraps the foot and lower leg in a protective “cocoon” is preferably secured to the upper surface of the insole thereby preventing foreign materials from entering the foot cavity.

An insole can include: an upper conductive ground plane layer; an upper compressible insulating layer physically coupled to the upper conductive ground plane layer; a conductive sensor layer physically coupled to the upper compressible insulating layer, the conductive sensor layer comprising one or more sensors are configured to a force applied to the insole by the foot; a lower compressible insulating layer physically coupled to conductive sensor layer; a lower conductive ground plane layer physically coupled to the lower compressible insulating layer and electrically coupled to the upper conductive ground plane layer; and at least one computational unit communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors. The upper conductive ground plane layer and the lower conductive ground plane layer are configured to substantially electrically shield the upper compressible insulating layer, the conductive sensor layer, and the lower compressible insulating layer from the shoe and the foot. Other embodiments are disclosed.

The invention is a method for joining two components of a fluid system. The method involves forming a first flange on a first fluid component and placing the first flange in an abutting relationship with a second flange that is formed on a second fluid component. The abutting relationship may be such that conduit portions of the fluid components are axially aligned. The flanges may then be bonded together such that the bond encircles the conduits and prevents fluid from entering or exiting the system from the bond. A bond of this type also places the first and second components in fluid communication. The fluid system may be incorporated into a sole structure of an article of footwear.

The invention relates to sole elements and methods for manufacturing sole elements for shoes, in particular for sport shoes, with a specific density distribution in a transverse and / or longitudinal direction. The methods include the steps of manufacturing a sole element preform from a polymer material with a thickness varying in the transverse and / or longitudinal direction depending on the desired density distribution and the press-forming of the sole element preform in a forming tool to form the finished sole element from the sole element preform.

The invention is directed to a inflatable shoe tree that is easy to inflate and that is highly suitable for use both at home and for travel. A version of the present invention provides an inflatable shoe tree comprising: a unitary body having, (a) an interior gas tight chamber, (b) a toe portion, (c) a heel portion, (d) a central portion between the toe portion and the heel portion, (e) a bottom portion, (f) a top portion, and (g) an inflation portion that allows for a volume of gas to enter and exit the gas tight chamber. The body is capable of being in an inflated position and a deflated position, and when in an inflated position it forms a preformed three-dimensional structure substantially in the shape of a human foot, and when the shoe tree is in a fully deflated position, it is substantially flat in shape. The inflatable shoe tree may also include a fragrance, a deodorant, or a combination thereof.

An apparatus, method and associated fiber-laser architectures for high-power pulsed operation and pumping wavelength-conversion devices. Some embodiments generate blue laser light by frequency quadrupling infrared (IR) light from Tm-doped gain fiber using non-linear wavelength conversion. Some embodiments use a fiber MOPA configuration to amplify a seed signal from a semiconductor laser or ring fiber laser. Some embodiments use the frequency-quadrupled blue light for underwater communications, imaging, and / or object and anomaly detection. Some embodiments amplitude modulate the IR seed signal to encode communication data sent to or from a submarine once the modulated light has its wavelength quartered. Other embodiments transmit blue-light pulses in a scanned pattern and detect scattered light to measure distances to objects in a raster-scanned underwater volume, which in turn are used to generate a data structure representing a three-dimensional rendition of the underwater scene being imaged for viewing by a person or for other software analysis.

A breathable shoe, including: an upper assembly (10;310;410) having a breathable upper (11;311;411); a membrane (14;314;414) made of a material which is waterproof and breathable, and a sole (16;116;216;316;416) made of perforated elastomer, which are all mutually attached such that the membrane is arranged between the upper assembly and the sole, and the sole is sealed perimetrically to the membrane, in a manner to prevent moisture to enter into the upper assembly from the sole through the membrane, and to permit moisture to leave the inside of the upper assembly through the membrane and through the sole. In one preferred embodiment, the membrane is first attached to the upper assembly so that the upper assembly is a unitary upper assembly including the membrane, and such unitary upper assembly is subsequently attached to the sole.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a shoe insert that can provide overall improved foot comfort to a user and can specifically provide beneficial localized pressure relief improving foot health and mitigating painful and / or damaging conditions. The shoe insert can comprise a pressure moderator sheet and one or more pressure pads removably and replaceably attached to the moderator sheet. The insert may further comprise a cushioning material or layer.

A skate having a skate boot with a non-lasted boot shell, the shell having a first non-lasted three-dimensional sub-shell and a second non-lasted three-dimensional sub-shell, the second sub-shell being interior to and adjoining the first sub-shell, the first sub-shell comprising a first material having a first density and the second sub-shell comprising a second material having a second density, the second density being less than the first density, the shell being shaped so as to have a heel portion, an ankle portion, a lateral portion, a medial portion, and a sole portion; and a ground-engaging assembly disposed on an underside of the skate. Additional sub-shells are possible. Methods of manufacturing the skate boot shell, including molding and build-up, are also disclosed.