Article of footwear having a sole structure with monolithic component of stacked layers
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsKassio Figur, Matthew D. Nordstrom, Denis Schiller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An article of footwear includes a sole structure. The sole structure has layers stacked on one another. Adjacent ones of the layers are secured to one another by thermal bonds and without adhesive such that the layers define a monolithic component having a proximal side and a distal side. The layers are stacked in a direction from the proximal side to the distal side. At least two of the layers are exposed at the distal side, and have at least one different property. A method of manufacturing an article of footwear may include stacking the multiple layers without adhesive between adjacent ones of the multiple layers.
Claims20
An article of footwear comprising:
- a sole structure including:
- rubber layers stacked on one another;
- wherein adjacent ones of the rubber layers are secured to one another with cross-linking and without adhesive such that the rubber layers define a monolithic component having a proximal side and a distal side, the rubber layers being stacked in a direction from the proximal side to the distal side;
- and
- wherein at least two of the rubber layers are exposed at the distal side, and have at least one different property.
A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- stacking multiple uncured rubber layers without adhesive between adjacent ones of the multiple uncured rubber layers;
- after the stacking, curing the multiple uncured rubber layers as a monolithic component of a sole structure of the article of footwear such that adjacent ones of the rubber layers are secured to one another by cross-linking;
- wherein the monolithic component has a distal side and a proximal side, the rubber layers being stacked in a direction from the proximal side to the distal side;
- and
- wherein at least two of the rubber layers are exposed at the distal side and have at least one different property.
A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- stacking multiple uncured rubber layers without adhesive between adjacent ones of the multiple uncured rubber layers and such that through holes of at least some of the stacked multiple uncured layers are at least partially aligned with one another;
- and
- curing the stacked multiple uncured rubber layers as a monolithic component such that adjacent ones of the rubber layers are secured to one another by cross-linking.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.