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US 7,945,343 B2Granted
Method of making an article of footwear
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsDavid P. Jones, Bruce J. Kilgore, Elizabeth Langvin, James C. Meschter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of making an article of footwear is disclosed. The method includes the steps of designing an article of footwear via a website, converting a footwear representation into a set of two-dimensional portions, printing the two dimensional portions onto a sheet material, cutting and assembling the two dimensional portions into a finalized article of footwear. The method further includes a step of shipping the article of footwear to a pre-designated shipping address.
Claims96
A method of customizing an article of footwear, comprising:
- providing a graphical interface system for designing a three-dimensional footwear representation;
- receiving a design including a customized three-dimensional footwear representation, wherein the customized three-dimensional footwear representation includes a designated background color and a foreground design;
- converting the customized three-dimensional footwear representation into at least one two-dimensional portion;
- defining on a sheet material a cutout region corresponding to the at least one two-dimensional portion, wherein the sheet material has a color different from the designated background color;
- printing the designated background color onto the sheet material within the at least one two-dimensional portion and also beyond the cutout region;
- printing the foreground design within the at least one two-dimensional portion;
- cutting the cutout region out of the sheet material into at least one portion of the article of footwear;
- assembling the at least one portion into a finalized article of footwear;
- and
- shipping the finalized article of footwear to a pre-designated shipping address.
7 more elements
A method for producing a customized article of footwear, comprising:
- receiving a customized footwear representation from a customer, wherein the customized footwear representation includes a designated background color and a foreground graphical design;
- converting the customized footwear representation into at least one two-dimensional portion;
- defining on a sheet material a cutout region corresponding to the at least one two-dimensional portion, wherein the sheet material has a color different from the designated background color;
- printing the designated background color onto the sheet material within the two-dimensional portion and also beyond the cutout region;
- printing the foreground graphical design corresponding to the at least one two-dimensional portion onto the sheet material within the two-dimensional portion;
- cutting the cutout region out of the sheet material to form at least one portion of the article of footwear;
- and
- assembling the at least one portion into a finalized article of footwear.
5 more elements
A method for producing an article of footwear, comprising:
- receiving a design for an article of footwear, wherein the design includes a designated background color and a foreground design;
- converting the design for the article of footwear into at least one two-dimensional portion;
- defining on a sheet material a cutout region corresponding to the at least one two-dimensional portion, wherein the sheet material has a color different from the designated background color;
- printing the designated background color onto the sheet material within the at least one two-dimensional portion and also beyond the cutout region;
- printing the foreground design onto the sheet material within the at least one two-dimensional portion;
- applying a protective film to the sheet material;
- cutting the cutout region out of the sheet material to form at least one portion of the article of footwear;
- and
- assembling the at least one portion into a finalized article of footwear.
6 more elements
A method for producing an article of footwear, comprising:
- receiving a design for an article of footwear, wherein the design includes a designated background color and a foreground design;
- converting the design for the article of footwear into at least one two-dimensional portion, the at least one two-dimensional portion being associated with a first region of the article of footwear;
- defining on a sheet material a cutout region corresponding to the at least one two-dimensional portion, wherein the sheet material has a color different from the designated background color;
- printing the designated background color onto the sheet material within the at least one two-dimensional portion and also beyond the cutout region;
- printing onto the sheet material and a label associated with the first region;
- printing the foreground design onto the sheet material within the at least one two-dimensional portion;
- cutting the cutout region out of the sheet material to form at least one portion of the article of footwear;
- and
- assembling the at least one portion into a finalized article of footwear.
6 more elements
A method for producing a customized article of footwear, comprising:
- receiving a customized footwear representation from a customer, wherein the customized footwear representation includes a designated background color and a foreground design;
- converting the customized footwear representation into a set of two-dimensional portions, the set including a first two-dimensional portion;
- associating each two-dimensional portion with a portion of a sheet material;
- defining on the sheet material a cutout region corresponding to the first two-dimensional portion, wherein the sheet material has a color different from the designated background color;
- printing the entire area of the first two-dimensional portion, including printing the designated background color and the foreground design within the first two-dimensional portion and printing the designated background color beyond the cutout region of the first two-dimensional portion;
- cutting the cutout region corresponding to the first two-dimensional portion out of the sheet material;
- and
- assembling the first two-dimensional portion with a second two-dimensional portion.
5 more elements
A method for producing a customized article of footwear, comprising:
- receiving a customized footwear representation from a customer, wherein the customized footwear representation includes a designated background color and a foreground graphical design;
- converting the customized footwear representation into at least one two-dimensional portion;
- defining on a sheet material a cutout region corresponding to the at least one two-dimensional portion, wherein the sheet material has a color different from the designated background color;
- defining on a film a background portion that is a reverse of the cutout region;
- printing the designated background color onto the film within the background portion and also beyond the background portion;
- printing a reverse image of the foreground graphical design within the background portion of the film;
- attaching the film with a sheet material using a press;
- cutting the cutout region out of the sheet material to form at least one portion of the article of footwear;
- and
- assembling the at least one portion into a finalized article of footwear.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.