Wolverine Outdoors, Inc.

Wolverine World Wide, Inc.

John H Burch

Clark A Matis

Shaun Michael Bohnsack

Lee Martin Smith

Christopher J Loveder

Martin William Frederick Dean

Gary J Banik

Footwear is provided including a protective toe element in the form of a rigid protective toe guard nested in a recess defined by a sole component so that the toe guard is of a low profile and has an at least partially closed bottom which cleanly transitions to an upper surface of the sole component. The footwear and its components provide impact and crushing force resistance, yet the footwear is low profiled and flexible enough to provide enhanced mobility and comfort to a wearer.

Footwear with protective toe guard and related method

A method is provided for making footwear utilizing a spray-on material. The method can include spraying a spray-on fabric onto surfaces of a three dimensional last. The last can be produced using additive manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing, based on data corresponding to dimensions and contours of a consumer's foot, and/or preselected aesthetic footwear designs. The spray-on fabric is sprayed onto the surfaces of the last and allowed to cure to form a flexible, non-woven fabric upper. The upper can be removed from the last and turned inside out. With the upper turned inside out, a sole can be joined to the fabric upper to form the footwear.

Method of manufacturing spray-on footwear

A method for making a footwear upper assembly, including knitting a tube to form first and second sock portions integrally joined at an intermediate portion; defining a first sock void and a first opening in the first sock portion; turning the second sock portion inside out, folding relative to the intermediate portion, and moving the second sock portion into the first sock void; inserting a footbed through the first opening into a footbed void formed between first and second lower panels of respective first and second sock portions; and closing the first opening to trap the footbed between the first and second lower panels. Alternatively, the method includes placing the knit tube on a last, placing a footbed adjacent the first lower panel, turning the second sock portion right-side out and moving it around an exterior of the first sock portion, and trapping the footbed within the footbed void.

Method of making knit footwear having an integral footbed

A footwear construction including a support cage that wraps an upper to provide an adaptive fit to accommodate a variety of foot shapes and to adapt to changes in foot shape during a gait cycle, while providing exceptional stability and support. The footwear can include an upper, a support cage and a sole assembly. The upper can be joined with the sole assembly and can include an exterior. The sole assembly can define a recess extending across a width of the sole assembly from a medial side to a lateral side. The support cage can be constructed from a semi-rigid but flexible polymeric material, disposed over the exterior of the upper and free floating relative to the exterior of the upper. The support cage can include a sole bridge that extends transverse to a longitudinal axis of the footwear, through the recess defined by the sole assembly.

Footwear including a support cage

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.

Growing community of inventors

Belmont, MI, United States of America

John H Burch