Article of footwear incorporating foam-filled elements and methods for manufacturing the foam-filled elements
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsKlaas P. Hazenberg, Eric S. Schindler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An article of footwear may have an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper. The sole structure has a plurality of support elements, and each of the support elements include a shell and a core. The shell defines an interior void and is formed from a polymer material that extends around substantially all of the void. The core has a shape of the void and is located within the void, with at least a portion of the core being a polymer foam material. The polymer foam material of at least two of the support elements may have different densities.
Claims7
A method of manufacturing a sole structure for an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- forming a shell including a first support element defining a first void and a second support element defining a second void, wherein forming the shell includes forming a lower portion of the shell of a first barrier layer defining the first void and the second void;
- dispensing a first volume of a foam material in the first void;
- dispensing a second volume of the foam material in the second void, the second volume greater than the first volume;
- forming a first cavity in the first volume of the foam material;
- forming a second cavity in the second volume of the foam material;
- and
- sealing the first cavity and the second cavity, wherein sealing the first cavity and the second cavity includes joining a second barrier layer to the first barrier layer to seal the first support element and the second support element, the first cavity and the second cavity being entirely filled with gas after sealing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.