One-Piece Knit Footwear Sole System with Integrated Tensile Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional articles of footwear require multiple components with different properties, leading to complex assembly, potential delamination, premature failure, and increased waste and recycling challenges.
Innovation Solution
A sole system for articles of footwear featuring a one-piece knit outsole with a tensile element and a protruding ground-engaging cleat member, integrated into a knitted component that also forms the upper, eliminating the need for separate components and simplifying assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple components with different properties are used in conventional footwear, then the necessary functional properties and characteristics are achieved, but the assembly process becomes complex and the reliability decreases due to potential delamination and premature failure at joints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the upper and outsole into a single integrated knitted component, eliminating the need for separate components and their associated joints. This integration resolves the contradiction by removing delamination risks and joint failures while reducing assembly complexity to a single-knit process.
Solution Approach 2:
The single knitted component performs multiple functions simultaneously: it forms the upper structure, provides the outsole, and incorporates the midsole through integrated foam layers. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components while maintaining all necessary functional properties.
2Productivity
If multiple components are assembled together, then the necessary functional properties are achieved, but the manufacturing process becomes time-consuming and waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
By combining multiple components into a single knitted structure, the patent eliminates sequential assembly steps. The upper, outsole, and midsole are formed in one continuous knitting process, reducing assembly time to essentially zero while minimizing material waste from cutting and joining operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If dissimilar materials are joined together, then the necessary properties for different footwear regions are achieved, but wear occurs at joints causing premature failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves local quality variation through selective yarn placement during knitting. Different yarn types (e.g., rubber, foam, textile) are strategically positioned in specific regions of the single knitted component to provide localized functional properties without creating joints between dissimilar materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated knitted component uses composite construction by incorporating multiple material types (rubber, foam, textile) within a single continuous structure. This allows dissimilar materials to work together without joints, as they are bonded at the yarn level during knitting, eliminating wear at material interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
An article of footwear including a sole system, including an upper and the sole system. The sole system includes a knitted component incorporating a one-piece knit outsole. The knit outsole has a ground-facing side, a top side, an inlaid tensile element, and a ground-engaging cleat member protruding from the ground-facing side of the knit outsole. The tensile element may be adjacent a cleat member. The upper is connected at its bottom to the top side of the knit outsole.