Post production laser modification of an article of footwear
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsDervin A. James, Eric S. Schindler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sole assembly for an article of footwear includes a midsole that is formed from at least a bladder and foam midsole component. The midsole has a ground facing surface and a sidewall, and the bladder meets the foam midsole at a component boundary on the sidewall. An etching extends into both the foam midsole and the bladder. The etched channel has a depth into the sidewall of between about 2 μm and about 1000 μm and continuously extends across the component boundary.
Claims17
A sole assembly for an article of footwear comprising:
- a midsole comprising a bladder and a directly abutting foam midsole component, wherein the bladder defines a fluid-filled chamber, the midsole having a ground facing surface and a sidewall, the foam midsole component forms a first visible portion of the sidewall and wherein the bladder forms a second visible portion of the sidewall, and wherein the bladder meets the foam midsole component on the sidewall to define a component boundary;
- an etched channel extending into both the foam midsole component and the bladder, the etched channel having a depth into the sidewall of between about 2 μm and about 1000 μm, and wherein the etched channel continuously extends across the component boundary.
An article of footwear having a forefoot portion, a midfoot portion, and a heel portion, the article of footwear comprising:
- an upper defining an internal cavity operative to receive a foot of the wearer;
- a sole structure coupled to the upper, the sole structure comprising:
- a ground contacting surface opposite the upper;
- a midsole formed from a thermoplastic polymeric foam;
- a fluid-filled bladder;
- and
- wherein the midsole has a foam sidewall that defines a first portion of an outer perimeter of the sole structure, the foam sidewall extending upward at an angle relative to the ground contacting surface;
- wherein the fluid-filled bladder has a bladder sidewall that defines a second portion of the outer perimeter of the sole structure, the bladder sidewall directly abutting the foam sidewall at a component boundary;
- and
- an etching extending into the foam sidewall and the directly abutting bladder sidewall such that the etching is continuous across the component boundary.
An article of footwear having a forefoot portion, a midfoot portion, and a heel portion, the article of footwear comprising:
- an upper defining an internal cavity operative to receive a foot of the wearer;
- a sole structure coupled to the upper, the sole structure comprising:
- a ground contacting surface opposite the upper;
- a midsole formed from a thermoplastic polymeric foam, the midsole having a foam sidewall that defines at least a portion of an outer perimeter of the sole structure, the foam sidewall extending upward at an angle relative to the ground contacting surface
- a heel counter having a heel counter sidewall that defines a portion of the outer perimeter of the article of footwear, the heel counter sidewall directly abutting the foam sidewall;
- and
- an etching extending continuously across both a portion of the foam sidewall and a portion of the heel counter sidewall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.