Patent Application
20240335001
None.
The present invention relates generally to the field of sports footwear, and more particularly to manufacturing and construction of performance footwear.
The present embodiments are generally directed to sports footwear, and more particularly to manufacturing and construction of performance footwear, such as ice skate boots.
The right performance footwear, especially as it applies to sports such as hockey, can give an athlete a competitive edge. In that regard, there are a number of factors considered in the production of performance footwear including weight, foot support, performance durability and of course manufacturing. It is to innovations related to improving hard-shell sports footwear that the subject matter disclosed herein is generally directed.
The present embodiments are generally directed to hard shell sports footwear, and more particularly to manufacturing and construction of performance footwear, such as ice skate boots.
In that light, certain embodiments of the present invention contemplate an athletic boot comprising an additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form that includes a sole form and foot form. The athletic boot further comprises a composite overlay that essentially covers a majority of an outer surface of the sole form and a majority of an outer surface of the foot form. A majority meaning around 75%-80%. Certain embodiments envision the overlay covering the integrated sole and foot form up to an overlay border that runs along the top of the integrated sole and foot form. If the athletic boot is an ice skate boot, the overlay leaves open the mounting holes in the overlay sole portion of the ice skate. Some embodiments envision at least one type of compressible insulation layer fitted against essentially all of an inner surface of the sole and the foot form, the athletic boot is configured to be worn on a human foot. The compressible insulation is intended to add comfort from an otherwise stiff additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form.
Yet another embodiment contemplates athletic footwear comprising an additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form that includes a sole form and foot form in addition to a composite overlay that essentially covers between 50%-90% of an outer surface of the sole form and between 50%-90% of an outer surface of the foot form. The athletic footwear is configured to be worn on a human foot.
An embodiment for a method of manufacturing an athletic boot can comprise 3-D printing an additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form that includes a sole form and foot form. Next, apply a composite overlay to the additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form in a manner that essentially covers at least 50% of an outer surface of the sole form and at least 50% of an outer surface of the foot form. In certain embodiments, at least one type of compressible insulation layer can be fitted against essentially all of an inner surface of the sole and the foot form. The athletic boot is configured to be worn on a person's foot.
Initially, this disclosure is by way of example only, not by limitation. Thus, although the instrumentalities described herein are for the convenience of explanation, shown and described with respect to exemplary embodiments, it will be appreciated that the principles herein may be applied equally in other similar configurations involving the subject matter directed to the field of the invention. The phrases “in one embodiment”, “according to one embodiment”, and the like, generally mean the particular feature, structure, or characteristic following the phrase, is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention and may be included in more than one embodiment of the present invention. Importantly, such phases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. If the specification states a component or feature “may”, “can”, “could”, or “might” be included or have a characteristic, that particular component or feature is not required to be included or have the characteristic. As used herein, the terms “having”, “have”, “including” and “include” are considered open language and are synonymous with the term “comprising”. Furthermore, as used herein, the term “essentially” is meant to stress that a characteristic of something is to be interpreted within acceptable tolerance margins known to those skilled in the art in keeping with typical normal world tolerance, which is analogous with “more or less.” For example, essentially flat, essentially straight, essentially on time, etc. all indicate that these characteristics are not capable of being perfect within the sense of their limits. Accordingly, if there is no specific +/− value assigned to “essentially”, then assume essentially means to be within +/−2.5% of exact. The term “connected to” as used herein is to be interpreted as a first element physically linked or attached to a second element and not as a “means for attaching” as in a “means plus function”. In fact, unless a term expressly uses “means for” followed by the gerund form of a verb, that term shall not be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f). In what follows, similar or identical structures may be identified using identical callouts.
With respect to the drawings, it is noted that the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and are diagrammatic in nature to illustrate features of interest. Descriptive terminology such as, for example, upper/lower, top/bottom, horizontal/vertical, left/right and the like, may be adopted with respect to the various views or conventions provided in the figures as generally understood by an onlooker for purposes of enhancing the reader's understanding and is in no way intended to be limiting. All embodiments described herein are submitted to be operational irrespective of any overall physical orientation unless specifically described otherwise, such as elements that rely on gravity to operate, for example.
The present embodiments are directed to an athletic boot comprising an additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form that includes a sole form and foot form. The additive manufactured boot is referred to herein as a form because it is 3-D printed. More specifically, 3-D printed elements are synonymous with additive manufactured elements. The athletic boot further comprises a composite overlay that essentially covers between 50-90% of an outer surface of the sole form and between 50-90% of an outer surface of the foot form. Certain embodiments envision the overlay covering the integrated sole and foot form up to an overlay border that runs along the top of the integrated sole and foot form. In an embodiment where the athletic boot is an ice skate boot; the overlay leaves open the mounting holes in the overlay sole portion of the ice skate. Some embodiments envision at least one type of compressible insulation layer fitted against essentially all an inner surface of the sole and the foot form, the athletic boot is configured to be worn on a human foot. The compressible insulation is intended to add comfort from an otherwise stiff additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form.
The two main portions of the sole and foot form 102 are a form sole portion 104 and a form foot portion 106. The inside of the form sole portion 104A is shown here and the outside of the form sole portion 104B is facing downward (when generically referring to the form sole portion 104, the callout is simply 104). The form foot portion 106 is defined by a pair of opposing foot sides 108 (left and right), a toe box 110 and a heel portion 112. In the present embodiment, the form foot portion 106 does not include a tongue 160, which is shown in
The overlay 120 is a shell that encapsulates and conforms to most of the sole and foot form 102 up to the overlay border 118. In certain embodiments, the overlay top edge 122 butts up against the overlay border 118. Other embodiments envision the overlay top edge 122 tucked at least partially inside of the overlay border gap 119 such that the overlay top edge 122 is not exposed. Certain embodiments envision the overlay 120 being a composite carbon fiber shell, fiberglass shell, Kevlar, some combination, etc. The overlay top edge 122 may be rough, sharp or otherwise tactilely unpleasant to a person touching it, hence having the overlay top edge 122 tucked inside of the overlay border gap 119 prevents a person from being able to touch the overlay top edge 122, thus avoiding any suboptimal tactile experience (like fingers getting pricked or cut). As depicted here, the overlay 120 encapsulates the outside 105 of the sole and foot form 102. Certain embodiments envision the overlay 120 being a composite carbon fiber shell that is manually wrapped over the outer form 105 of the sole and foot form 102. The inner surface of the overlay sole portion 124 mates with or otherwise conforms to the outer portion of the form sole portion 104B. Also shown are the front mounting platform 126 and mounting hole/aperture 130.
With reference to the overlay 120, certain embodiments envision a fiber mesh soaked in a liquid resin being wrapped over the sole and foot form outside surface 105 up to the overlay boarder 118 and then cured and hardened into a composite wrap. Accordingly, the shape of the overlay 120 matches the shape of the sole and foot form 102. Hence, as shown at the outer overlay sole portion 124B, the overlay front mounting platform 136 conforms to the form's front mounting platform 126 and the overlay rear mounting platform 138 conforms to the form's rear mounting platform 128. As mentioned earlier, the overlay top edge 122 can be tucked into the overlay border gap 119. For reference, the overlay heel portion 132 conforms to the form heel portion 112, the overlay toe region 140 conforms to a portion of the form toe box 110, and the overlay foot sides 148 conform to the form foot sides 108.
With the present description in mind, below are some examples of certain embodiments illustratively complementing some of the methods and apparatus embodiments to aid the reader. The elements called out below are examples provided to assist in the understanding of the present invention and should not be considered limiting.
In that light, certain embodiments of the present invention contemplate an athletic boot 100 as shown in
The athletic boot embodiment 100 can further comprise a sole cavity 152 between an inner sole form surface 104A and an outer sole form surface 104B that comprises a void port 146 that extends through either the inner sole form surface 104A or the outer sole form surface 104B. The sole cavity 152 can be essentially filled (that is defined as filed within 80% of the void) with an expandable foam via the void port 146. Optionally, the sole cavity 152 can include support ribs interposed between the inner sole form surface 104A and the outer sole form surface 104B.
Another embodiment of the athletic boot 100 envisions the additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102 including a material from a set comprising: nylon, PVC, carbon filled nylon, composite polymer, and poly carbonate, as well as other polymers known to those skilled in the art or being developed at or after the filing date of this document.
The athletic boot embodiment 100 can further envision the additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102 including shoelace eyelets 116.
The athletic boot embodiment 100 can further envision the additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102 being a 3-dimensionally printed polymer.
The athletic boot embodiment 100 further imagines the composite overlay 120 being at least a 1-layer of carbon mesh essentially encapsulated in resin. Optionally, the composite overlay 120 is constructed via a wet layup process (where a fiber mesh is soaked in a resin and applied to the sole and foot form 102 where the resin also adheres to the sole and foot form 102) or a prepreg process (where a fiber mesh, which is pre-impregnated with a resin, is applied to the sole and foot form 102.
Another embodiment of the athletic boot 100 can further comprise a fabric (such as a vinyl, leather, woven fabric, for example) that covers the composite overlay 120 and a portion of the additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102.
The athletic boot embodiment 100 can further envision the composite overlay 120 being a multi-layered laminate (such as carbon fiber, Kevlar fiber, Fiberglass, or other composite layup material), wherein one embodiment contemplates the multi-layered laminate comprising at least two types of polymer.
The athletic boot embodiment 100 can further contemplate the one type of compressible insulation layer including foam.
The athletic boot embodiment 100 can be wherein the additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102 includes a toe box 110.
Another embodiment of the athletic boot 100 can further comprise a tongue 160 and a tendon guard 164.
Another embodiment of the athletic boot 100 can further comprise voids interposed between an inner surface 109 and the outer surface 105 of foot sides 108 of the foot form 106. This can help with impact resistance, such as from a hockey puck, for example.
Yet another embodiment contemplates a hard-shell athletic footwear 100 comprising an additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102 that includes a sole form 104 and foot form 106 in addition to a composite overlay 120 that essentially covers between 50-90% of an outer surface 105 of the sole form 104 and between 50-90% of an outer surface of the foot form 106. The hard-shell athletic footwear 100 is configured to be worn on a human foot.
An embodiment for a method of manufacturing an athletic boot 100 can comprise 3-D printing an additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102 that includes a sole form 104 and foot form 106. Next, apply a composite overlay 120 to the additive manufactured integrated sole and foot form 102 in a manner that essentially covers at least 50% of an outer surface 105 of the sole form 104 and at least 50% of an outer surface of the foot form 106. In certain embodiments, at least one type of compressible insulation layer can be fitted against essentially all of an inner surface 109 of the sole and the foot form 102. The athletic boot 100 is configured to be worn on a human foot.
The above sample embodiments should not be considered limiting to the scope of the invention whatsoever because many more embodiments and variations of embodiments are easily conceived within the teachings, scope and spirit of the instant specification.
It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with the details of the structure and function of various embodiments of the invention, this disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms used herein. For example, though embodiments of the present invention describe an ice skate boot, other embodiments envision the construction of different kinds of boots, whether sportswear or otherwise, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. It should also be appreciated that there may be mechanical components that are not discussed in detail in the present disclosure, which must be implemented in accordance known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, such detail is considered non-additive to the scope and spirit of the present invention as understood by those skilled in the art and should be appreciated is not evidence of lack of disclosure. The specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative and exemplary rather than restrictive. For example, the word “preferably,” and the phrase “preferably but not necessarily,” are used synonymously herein to consistently include the meaning of “not necessarily” or optionally. “Comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are intended to be open-ended terms.
It will be clear that the claimed invention is well adapted to attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes may be made which readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are encompassed in the spirit of the claimed invention disclosed and as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, it is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of various aspects have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function, this disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of structure and arrangement to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the embodiments are expressed.
