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US 12,070,920 B2Granted
Article of footwear with coffee grinds
AssigneeKeen, Inc.
InventorsNicholas Charles Ginns, Arkom Kaewprasit
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for fabrication of one or more components of an article of footwear is provided. In one example, the method includes fabricating a mixture of polyurethane (PU) precursors and coffee grounds of a first size using a two-step mixing, and then injection molding one or more components of the article of footwear using the mixture, the one or more components of the article of footwear formed of a coffee grounds-PU composite material.
Claims15
A method for forming an article of footwear, comprising:
- fabricating a mixture of polyurethane (PU) precursors and coffee grounds of a selected grind group using a two-step mixing, wherein using the two-step mixing includes a second step, executed after a first step, of further mixing the PU precursors with the coffee grounds in an agitation tank fitted with at least two impellers;
- transferring the mixture from the agitation tank to a direct soling instrument and mixing the mixture with other PU precursors to form a foam in a mixing chamber of the direct soling instrument;
- and
- injection molding one or more components of the article of footwear onto another component of the article of footwear using the mixture, the one or more components of the article of footwear formed of a coffee grounds-PU composite material.
1 more element
A method for forming a midsole of a footwear, comprising:
- drying coffee grounds;
- sorting the dried coffee grounds into size groups according to grind;
- mixing an amount of the dried coffee grounds of at least one of the size groups with chemical precursors of polyurethane (PU) using each of a mechanical mixer and an agitation tank, the agitation tank including at least two impellers;
- and
- injection molding the midsole of the footwear with a coffee grounds-PU composite formed from the dried coffee grounds and the chemical precursors of the PU via a direct soling instrument fitted with a valve having an aperture corresponding to a maximum size of the dried coffee grounds.
2 more elements
A method for forming an article of footwear, comprising:
- fabricating a mixture of polyurethane (PU) precursors and coffee grounds of a selected grind group using a two-step mixing;
- and
- injection molding one or more components of the article of footwear onto another component of the article of footwear using the mixture, the one or more components of the article of footwear formed of a coffee grounds-PU composite material, and wherein injection molding the one or more components of the article of footwear onto the another component of the article of footwear includes injection molding a midsole and a toe cap onto an upper part of the article of footwear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.