Personalized footwear with integrated caging system

A footwear assembly, comprising:

• a plantar shell that at least partially defines an interior area of the footwear assembly, wherein the interior area is sized to receive a wearer's foot, and wherein the plantar shell includes—
• a plantar shell seed layer having (i) a plantar shell contour shaped to conform with a bottom surface contour of the wearer's foot and (ii) an upper perimeter portion forming an opening to the interior area configured to receive at least a portion of the wearer's foot therethrough, and
• a plurality of plantar shell ribs coupled to the plantar shell seed layer, wherein—
• at least a first subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs extend longitudinally along an underside of the plantar shell between heel and forefoot portions,
• at least a second subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs extend laterally between medial and lateral sides of the plantar shell and intersect with one or more of the first subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs to distribute loads in the plantar shell around the wearer's foot during use, and
• each of the plurality of plantar shell ribs include a reinforcement fiber material and a matrix material that structurally affixes the reinforcement fiber material to the plantar shell seed layer so that the reinforcement fiber material maintains the stiffness of the plantar shell;
• wherein individual ones of the plantar shell ribs define an alignment channel, and wherein the reinforcement fiber material and the matrix material are positioned within the alignment channel;
• and
• a dorsal shell including a dorsal shell contour shaped to conform with an upper surface contour of the wearer's foot, wherein—
• the dorsal shell is movable between (i) an open position in which the dorsal shell is positioned relative to the plantar shell to allow the wearer's foot to be inserted or removed from the interior area, and (ii) a closed position in which the dorsal shell is coupled to the plantar shell to at least partially enclose the wearer's foot in the interior area,
• the dorsal shell has an outer perimeter portion configured to abut the upper perimeter portion of the plantar shell to form a caging system that transfers loads between the dorsal and plantar shells when the dorsal shell is in the closed position and during use of the footwear by the wearer, and
• a vertical position of the dorsal shell relative to the plantar shell is adjustable to provide compressive force to an instep portion of the wearer's foot when the dorsal shell is in the closed position.

A footwear assembly, comprising:

• a plantar shell that at least partially defines an interior area of the footwear assembly, wherein the interior area is sized to receive a wearer's foot, and wherein the plantar shell includes—
• a plantar shell seed layer having (i) a plantar shell contour shaped to conform with a bottom surface contour of the wearer's foot and (ii) an upper perimeter portion forming an opening to the interior area configured to receive at least a portion of the wearer's foot therethrough, and
• a plurality of plantar shell ribs coupled to the plantar shell seed layer, wherein—
• at least a first subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs extend longitudinally along an underside of the plantar shell between heel and forefoot portions,
• at least a second subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs extend laterally between medial and lateral sides of the plantar shell and intersect with one or more of the first subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs to distribute loads in the plantar shell around the wearer's foot during use, and
• each of the plurality of plantar shell ribs include a reinforcement fiber material and a matrix material that structurally affixes the reinforcement fiber material to the plantar shell seed layer so that the reinforcement fiber material maintains the stiffness of the plantar shell;
• wherein the reinforcement fiber material includes carbon fiber and wherein the matrix material includes epoxy;
• and
• a dorsal shell including a dorsal shell contour shaped to conform with an upper surface contour of the wearer's foot, wherein—
• the dorsal shell is movable between (i) an open position which the dorsal shell is positioned relative to the plantar shell to allow the wearer's foot to be inserted or removed from the interior area, and (ii) a closed position in which the dorsal shell is coupled to the plantar shell to at least partially enclose the wearer's foot in the interior area,
• the dorsal shell has an outer perimeter portion configured to abut the upper perimeter portion of the plantar shell to form a caging system that transfers loads between the dorsal and plantar shells when the dorsal shell is in the closed position and during use of the footwear by the wearer, and
• a vertical position of the dorsal shell relative to the plantar shell is adjustable to provide compressive force to an instep portion of the wearer's foot when the dorsal shell is in the closed position.

A footwear assembly, comprising:

• a plantar shell that at least partially defines an interior area of the footwear assembly that is sized to receive a wearer's foot, wherein—
• the plantar shell includes a plurality of plantar shell ribs,
• at least a first subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs extend longitudinally along an underside of the plantar shell between heel and forefoot portions, and
• at least a second subset of the plurality of plantar ribs extend laterally between medial and lateral sides of the plantar shell and intersect with one or more of the first subset of the plurality of plantar shell ribs to distribute loads in the plantar shell around the wearer's foot during use;
• each of the plurality of plantar shell ribs include a reinforcement fiber material and a matrix material that structurally affixes the reinforcement fiber material to the plantar shell seed layer so that the reinforcement fiber material maintains the stiffness of the plantar shell, wherein the reinforcement fiber material includes carbon fiber and wherein the matrix material includes epoxy;
• wherein individual ones of the plantar shell ribs define an alignment channel, and wherein the reinforcement fiber material and the matrix material are positioned within the alignment channel;
• and
• a dorsal shell configured to be removably seated against the plantar shell to at least partially enclose the wearer's foot in the interior area to define a caging system that transfers loads between the dorsal and plantar shells during use of the footwear by the wearer, wherein the dorsal shell includes a plurality of dorsal shell ribs, and wherein at least a subset of the plurality of dorsal shell ribs extend longitudinally along an instep portion of the dorsal shell.