Shoe sole and method
AssigneeBrown Shoe Company, Inc.
InventorsDuane Shelton, Brian D. O'Connor, Daniel M. Doerer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shoe outsole and method of manufacture wherein the outsole, or various components thereof such as various inserts and/or additional layers associated with a particular outsole, are formed using various scrap materials generated during the shoe manufacturing process such as leather, leather dust, jute, and other fibrous material, the scrap materials being used as a filler material and being mixed with various elastomeric materials to form the shoe outsole and various components thereof. The outsole can be formed as a substantially one-piece unit, or it can be formed as a base sole layer having one or more additional layers associated therewith including inserts associated with the forefoot and heel regions of the outsole.
Claims24
A method of making a shoe outsole comprising the steps of:
- providing naturally occurring fibrous material, said fibrous material being at least one of leather and jute;
- adding the fibrous material to an elastomer to form a filled elastomer;
- and
- forming the thus filled elastomer into an outsole.
A molded shoe outsole comprising:
- an elastomer;
- and
- a fibrous filler material mixed in the elastomer in the range of between about 25% and 75% by weight of elastomer and filler, said filler including at least one of leather and jute.
A method of forming a shoe outsole, comprising the steps of:
- forming a first outsole layer;
- and
- applying a second outsole layer containing scrap materials recycled from the shoe making process to the first layer wherein the first and second layers are bonded together, said scrap materials including at least one of leather and jute, said second layer when applied being shaped to provide an outer surface.
A shoe outsole comprising:
- a first layer formed of a synthetic material with first and second main surfaces;
- and
- a second layer including scrap materials recycled from the shoe making process bonded to the first surface of the first layer, said scrap materials including at least one of leather and jute, said second layer being shaped to provide an outer surface for a shoe.
A shoe comprising:
- an upper;
- an outsole, said outsole being secured to the upper and having a bottom
- surface portion with a heel region and a forefoot region;
- and
- an insert secured to the outsole in at least one of the heel region and the
- forefoot region, said insert including at least one of a thermoset and a thermoplastic material and being of a molded construction, said insert also including scrap materials recycled from the shoe making process as a filler within the range of between about 25% and about 75% by total weight of the insert, said scrap materials including at least one of leather and jute.
A method of making a shoe comprising the steps of:
- forming a shoe upper;
- forming an outsole, said outsole having a forefoot portion and a heel portion;
- forming an insert by molding at least one of a thermoset and a thermoplastic material with scrap materials recycled from the shoe making process as filler with at least one surface portion having the filler exposed thereon, said scrap materials including at least one of leather and jute;
- attaching the insert to the outsole to form a ground engaging portion;
- and
- attaching the outsole to the upper so as to expose said at least one surface portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.