Nike, Inc.

Nike Innovate C.v.

Myron Maurer

Denis Schiller

Caleb W Dyer

Jeremy D Walker

Zachary C Wright

Hossein A Baghdadi

Eun Kyung Lee

Jay Constantinou

Richard L Watkins

John Hurd

Marc Adler

Michele Tosello

The disclosure relates to articles of footwear () and components thereof, including outsoles (), which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil on the outsoles (). In particular, the disclosure relates to articles of footwear () and components thereof including an outsole () with a material () including a polymeric network formed of a plurality of polymer chains, where the material () defines external ground-facing surface or side of the outsole (). The outsoles () can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil on the footwear () during wear on unpaved surfaces such as sporting fields.

Article of footwear with soil-shedding performance

The disclosure relates to articles and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil. In particular, the articles have substrate body, a tie layer secured to the substrate body, and a material including a hydrogel secured to the tie layer. The material can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil during use. The presence of the tie layer can minimize or prevent delamination of the hydrogel containing material during normal use.

Hydrogel tie layer

An article of footwear (), apparel (), and/or sporting equipment (), and methods of manufacturing thereof, having a hydrogel present on at least a portion of an externally-facing side of the article. The hydrogel is effective in reducing soil accumulation on the article, and/or for reducing soil adhesion to the article.

Articles of footwear, apparel, and sports equipment with soil-shedding properties

The disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil on the outsoles. In particular, the disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof including an outsole having a dispersion present on a ground facing surface of the outsole. The dispersion compositionally includes a polymeric continuous phase and a hydrophilic dispersant, and exhibits a water uptake rate greater than 20 grams/(meter-minutes). The outsoles can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil on the footwear during wear on unpaved surfaces such as sporting fields. When the outsoles are wetted with water, the outsoles can become more compliant and/or can rapidly uptake and/or expel water, which can prevent soil from adhering to the outsole and/or can assist in shedding soil present on the outsole.

The disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil on the outsoles. In particular, the disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof including an outsole with an external hydrogel film having a water uptake capacity at 24 hours greater than 40% by weight. The outsoles can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil on the footwear during wear on unpaved surfaces such as sporting fields. When the outsoles are wetted with water, the outsoles can become more compliant and/or can rapidly uptake and/or expel water, which can prevent soil from adhering to the outsole and/or can assist in shedding soil present on the outsole.

An article of manufacture has an external surface at least partly defined by a material compositionally comprising a polymeric hydrogel that takes up water when wetted. The hydrogel-containing material is effective in reducing soil accumulation on, and/or for reducing soil adhesion to, an article designed for a variety of uses, such as transportation, vehicle safety, storage, recreation, leisure, waste disposal, construction, gardening, or traffic control.

Articles with soil-shedding performance

The disclosure relates to articles and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil. In particular, the articles have a substrate body, a material including a hydrogel secured to the substrate body, and a mesh component present on and/or adjacent to a second side of the hydrogel-containing material opposing the first side. The articles can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil during use.

Hydrogel with mesh for soil deflection

The disclosure relates to articles and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil. In particular, the disclosure relates to articles and components thereof with a material including a hydrogel, where the hydrogel-containing material defines an external surface or side of an article. The hydrogel-containing material can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil during use. A portion of the hydrogel-containing material is embedded into a substrate body, or a portion of the hydrogel-containing material is disposed on the outer side surface of the substrate body in a junction. The substrate body can have a lip extending from a shaft such that the shaft and the lip form the junction. Embedding the material in the substrate body, or disposing it in the junction, can minimize or prevent delamination of the hydrogel containing material during normal use.

Hydrogel connection

Disclosed herein are articles of manufacture, methods of manufacturing articles, and methods of using articles of manufacture, having an open-cell foam material and a mesh component present on at least parts of an external surface of the article. The open-cell foam material and the mesh component can cooperate to effectively reduce soil accumulation on the external surface of the article when the external surface of the article comes into direct contact with wet soil.

Soil-shedding article of footwear, and method of using the same

The disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil on the outsoles. In particular, the disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof including an outsole with a ground-facing crosslinked polymeric network film having a swell thickness increase at 1 hour greater than 20%. The outsoles can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil on the footwear during wear on unpaved surfaces such as sporting fields. When the outsoles are wetted with water, the outsoles can become more compliant and/or can rapidly uptake and/or expel water, which can prevent soil from adhering to the outsole and/or can assist in shedding soil present on the outsole.

The disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil on the outsoles. In particular, the disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof including an outsole with a ground-facing crosslinked polymeric material having a wet-state contact angle less than 80&#xb0;. The outsoles can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil on the footwear during wear on unpaved surfaces such as sporting fields. When the outsoles are wetted with water, the outsoles can become more compliant and/or can rapidly uptake and/or expel water, which can prevent soil from adhering to the outsole and/or can assist in shedding soil present on the outsole.

Growing community of inventors

West Linn, OR, United States of America

Myron Maurer