Sole structures including polyolefin plates and articles of footwear formed therefrom
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsIsaac Farr, Devon Frazier, Jeremy D. Walker, Zachary C. Wright
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Sole structures including a plate including a first polyolefin resin, and an edge portion comprising a second resin are disclosed herein. The edge portion is more flexible or less rigid than the plate. Articles of footwear formed from the sole structures are also provided. Methods of making the polyolefin resin compositions, plates, edge portions, sole structures, and articles of footwear are also provided. In some aspects, the first polyolefin resin composition includes an effective amount of a polymeric resin modifier.
Claims20
A sole structure for an article of footwear, the sole structure comprising:
- a plate comprising a first polyolefin resin, the plate having a first side and a second side and a perimeter, wherein the first side is configured to be ground-facing when the plate is a component of an article of footwear;
- and
- an edge portion comprising a second polyolefin resin that is different from the first polyolefin resin, the edge portion disposed only on at least a portion of the perimeter in a plan view;
- wherein the first polyolefin resin comprises a polymeric component comprising:
- a polypropylene copolymer;
- and
- an effective amount of a polymeric resin modifier;
- and
- wherein the second polyolefin resin comprises a polymeric component that is substantially similar to the polymeric component of the first polyolefin resin, except the polymeric component of the second polyolefin resin comprises a greater concentration of the polymeric resin modifier than the polymeric component of the first polyolefin resin, such that a flexural modulus of the edge portion is at least 10 percent lower than a flexural modulus of the plate.
An article of footwear comprising:
- an upper operably coupled with a sole structure, the sole structure comprising:
- a plate comprising a first polyolefin resin, the plate having a first ground-facing side, a second side, and a perimeter;
- and
- an edge portion comprising a second polyolefin resin that is different from the first polyolefin resin, the edge portion disposed only on at least a portion of the perimeter in a plan view;
- wherein the first polyolefin resin comprises a polymeric component comprising:
- a polypropylene copolymer;
- and
- an effective amount of a polymeric resin modifier;
- and
- wherein the second polyolefin resin comprises a polymeric component that is substantially similar to the polymeric component of the first polyolefin resin, except the polymeric component of the second polyolefin resin comprises a greater concentration of the polymeric resin modifier than the polymeric component of the first polyolefin resin, such that a flexural modulus of the edge portion is at least 10 percent lower than a flexural modulus of the plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.