928results about "Lasting" patented technology

This invention relates generally to footwear and methods for making the same, more particularly to a seamless upper for footwear and methods for making a seamless upper. In one aspect of the invention, the upper is seamless and/or is of unitary construction that defines an interior void for comfortably receiving a foot.

According to an embodiment, a component for attachment to an article includes an upper component that is made of a thermoplastic material having a first melting temperature and a flange member that is molded onto the upper component and made of a thermoplastic elastomer material having a second melting temperature that is lower than the first melting temperature of the upper component. The flange member extends laterally from a bottom end of the upper component so that a bottom surface of the flange member is flush with or positioned axially below a bottom surface of the upper component. The melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer material enables the flange member to be directly coupled to the article via heat welding and the like without substantially affecting the upper component.

A method for manufacturing a shoe, the method including the steps of: attaching a sock-shaped base member 1 forming a portion of an upper to a last portion 52 of a core 50, the core 50 including a core print 51 and the last portion 52; attaching the core 50 to an outer mold 61, 62; supplying a molten resin 71, 72 to be a reinforcement member 2 and/or a sole member 3, 4 into between the outer mold 61, 62 and the base member 1; and allowing the molten resin 71, 72 to cure, thereby forming the reinforcement member 2 and/or the sole member 3, 4 integral with the base member 1.

Articles of footwear having both interior and exterior midsole components may include: (a) an upper that at least in part defines an interior chamber; (b) an interior midsole component within the interior chamber, wherein, at a forefoot region, the interior midsole component includes a longitudinal flexion line and a plurality of transverse flexion lines; and (c) an exterior sole structure engaged with the upper. This exterior sole structure may include: (a) an exterior midsole component in a heel region of the article of footwear that does not extend under the forefoot region of the article of footwear and (b) an outsole component that extends under the forefoot region. If desired, the outsole component may extend under the exterior midsole component in the rearfoot region. The interior midsole component may include a plurality of pod elements separated from one another by the flexion lines.

The present invention is an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system, method and computer program product for creating a three-dimensionally reconfigurable cavity. The system can include a container that is configurable to create a three dimensional cavity. The system can be operative to form a footwear last in the cavity. The last can be formed from a plastic-like material. The system can include a blow molding apparatus having at least one directional deflector. The container can be capsule, hemispherical, cylindrical, or spherical-shaped. The system can include a container having holes to receive rods. The system can include an array of rods. The rods can be movable through the container. The system can further include rods that are threaded; gear-driven; coupled to a belt; coupled to a partial belt; or belt-driven. The cavity can be formed by an inner end of the rods. If more than one rod occupies a single point of the cavity, then only one rod participates in forming the cavity and other rods will not participate. Participating rods can be selected according to an optimizing module. The software module can determine an intersection of a rod with a digitized cluster of points representing a 3 dimensional surface. A method of forming a footwear last from a collapsible and expandable last is described.

Described are methods for the manufacture of a shoe, an apparatus to perform such method, as well as a shoe manufactured by such method. According to certain examples, the method for the manufacture of a shoe includes providing a three-dimensionally pre-shaped first shoe component and processing the three-dimensionally pre-shaped first shoe component, wherein the processing includes an individually controllable succession of processing steps.

A method for manufacturing footwear including injection molding a polymeric material on a sheet of material in preselected locations and/or in a preselected pattern so that the polymeric material bonds to the sheet and forms a structural exoskeleton of an upper of the footwear. The upper can be joined with a sole. The polymeric material can be injection molded on the sheet while the sheet is in a planar or flat configuration, and subsequently, the sheet and bonded exoskeleton can be conformed to a three-dimensional configuration of an upper. Additional polymeric materials can be injected on the exoskeleton to reinforce certain areas of the same. The exoskeleton can define one or more holes through which the sheet is visible to form one or more aesthetic regions on the upper. An article of footwear constructed with the method is also provided.

According to one embodiment, a removable tightening device is described. The tensioning mechanism is removably coupleable with an article without damaging the article so that upon removal, the coupling of the tensioning mechanism with the article is unrecognizable or not readily detectable. The tensioning mechanism is operable with a tension member to maintain a tension of the tension member and thereby maintain a tightness of the article. The tension member is guided along a path about the article, via one or more guide members, and is tensionable, via the tensioning mechanism, to tighten the article.

An insole can include: an upper conductive ground plane layer; an upper compressible insulating layer physically coupled to the upper conductive ground plane layer; a conductive sensor layer physically coupled to the upper compressible insulating layer, the conductive sensor layer comprising one or more sensors are configured to a force applied to the insole by the foot; a lower compressible insulating layer physically coupled to conductive sensor layer; a lower conductive ground plane layer physically coupled to the lower compressible insulating layer and electrically coupled to the upper conductive ground plane layer; and at least one computational unit communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors. The upper conductive ground plane layer and the lower conductive ground plane layer are configured to substantially electrically shield the upper compressible insulating layer, the conductive sensor layer, and the lower compressible insulating layer from the shoe and the foot. Other embodiments are disclosed.

The invention is a method for joining two components of a fluid system. The method involves forming a first flange on a first fluid component and placing the first flange in an abutting relationship with a second flange that is formed on a second fluid component. The abutting relationship may be such that conduit portions of the fluid components are axially aligned. The flanges may then be bonded together such that the bond encircles the conduits and prevents fluid from entering or exiting the system from the bond. A bond of this type also places the first and second components in fluid communication. The fluid system may be incorporated into a sole structure of an article of footwear.

Described are methods for the manufacture of a plurality of shoes, an apparatus to perform such method, as well as shoes manufactured by such method. According to certain examples, the method for the manufacture of a plurality of shoes includes providing a plurality of first shoe components for the manufacture of the plurality of shoes, and moving the plurality of first shoe components with a transport means which is at least partially comprised of the plurality of first shoe components.

The present invention relates to a shoe and the manufacture thereof that includes an inner shoe with an upper side and a lower side and a stitch-free shell. The stitch-free shell encompasses the upper side of the inner shoe. The shell may be produced in two or more pieces and subsequently joined. The shoe can also include a sole attached to the lower side of the inner shoe.

An apparatus, method and associated fiber-laser architectures for high-power pulsed operation and pumping wavelength-conversion devices. Some embodiments generate blue laser light by frequency quadrupling infrared (IR) light from Tm-doped gain fiber using non-linear wavelength conversion. Some embodiments use a fiber MOPA configuration to amplify a seed signal from a semiconductor laser or ring fiber laser. Some embodiments use the frequency-quadrupled blue light for underwater communications, imaging, and/or object and anomaly detection. Some embodiments amplitude modulate the IR seed signal to encode communication data sent to or from a submarine once the modulated light has its wavelength quartered. Other embodiments transmit blue-light pulses in a scanned pattern and detect scattered light to measure distances to objects in a raster-scanned underwater volume, which in turn are used to generate a data structure representing a three-dimensional rendition of the underwater scene being imaged for viewing by a person or for other software analysis.

A breathable shoe, including: an upper assembly (10;310;410) having a breathable upper (11;311;411); a membrane (14;314;414) made of a material which is waterproof and breathable, and a sole (16;116;216;316;416) made of perforated elastomer, which are all mutually attached such that the membrane is arranged between the upper assembly and the sole, and the sole is sealed perimetrically to the membrane, in a manner to prevent moisture to enter into the upper assembly from the sole through the membrane, and to permit moisture to leave the inside of the upper assembly through the membrane and through the sole. In one preferred embodiment, the membrane is first attached to the upper assembly so that the upper assembly is a unitary upper assembly including the membrane, and such unitary upper assembly is subsequently attached to the sole.

Disclosed are shoes of an automated process production and a shoemaking method thereof. Each of the shoes of an automated process production comprises a shoe-upper material, a shoe sole and a plastic material. The shoe-upper material is one piece and includes a shoe-upper and a footrest underside coupled with each other. The plastic material is coated onto the shoe-upper and the footrest underside and filled between the footrest underside and the shoe sole, and the plastic material forms at least one support member attached to the shoe-upper and the footrest underside. The shoe sole is coupled to the footrest underside by plastic material.