Article of Footwear Having an Upper With Connectors For Attaching to a Sole Structure
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorTodd A. Waatti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article of footwear includes an upper and a sole structure. The upper includes elongated members extending from a lower peripheral portion that mechanically connect the upper to a sole structure. The sole structure includes several recesses for engaging the elongated members. The upper and/or the elongated members can be printed using a three-dimensional printer.
Claims20
An article of footwear, comprising:
- an upper having a lower peripheral portion, wherein the upper includes an elongated member extending from the lower peripheral portion;
- a sole structure having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface, wherein the top surface is disposed closer to the upper than is the bottom surface;
- the sole structure including a recess disposed in the top surface;
- the top surface of the sole structure further including an interior portion, and also including an outer peripheral portion disposed outwardly of the interior portion;
- wherein the recess includes a first end portion associated with the outer peripheral portion of the top surface and wherein the recess includes a second end portion associated with the interior portion of the top surface;
- wherein the elongated member includes a first end portion and wherein the elongated member includes a second end portion;
- and
- wherein the first end portion of the elongated member engages the first end portion of the recess and wherein the second end portion of the elongated member engages the second end portion of the recess.
The article of footwear according to claim 10, wherein the elongated member is formed of a cured polymeric material suitable for dispensing from a three-dimensional printer when in an uncured state.
A method of making an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- associating an upper of the article of footwear with a printer, the upper having a lower peripheral portion;
- printing a first end portion of a mechanical connector so that the first end portion of the mechanical connector is coupled with the lower peripheral portion;
- printing a second end portion of the mechanical connector, wherein the second end portion extends away from the lower peripheral portion;
- wherein the second end portion is configured to engage a sole structure and fasten the upper to the sole structure.
A method of printing an upper and an elongated member with a printer, the method comprising:
- providing the printer capable of printing each of a first polymeric material and a second polymeric material, the first polymeric material having a density when cured that is less than a density of the second polymeric material when cured;
- printing the upper with the first polymeric material;
- printing the elongated member with the second polymeric material;
- and
- wherein the elongated member is configured to mechanically connect the upper to a sole structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.