An inner sole board having varying regions of flexibility is provided for use in an article of footwear. The inner sole board may include different materials along its length at different locations that vary its flexibility. An inner sole board is manufactured in an injection molding process requiring only one mold. The process includes a first step of providing a mold, a second step of providing an injection molding assembly, a third step of preparing an injection molding assembly and mold, a fourth step of injecting material into the mold, and a fifth step of establishing the dimensions of a first portion. During the injection molding process, the flow rate of at least one material may be controlled by a nozzle gate to control the shape and size of the flex zone it creates. In this manner, the inner sole board may be customized for a specific sport or individual.

A method of manufacturing an article that includes providing an element formed of an elastomeric material or composite; placing the surface of the element in contact with a substrate; and affixing the element to the substrate. The element includes an uncured, partially cured, or fully cured UV radiation curable elastomeric material and optionally one or more regions of an adhesive material. The element is affixed to the substrate while the surface of the element is in contact with a surface of the substrate by increasing a temperature of at least a portion of the element, applying pressure to at least a portion of the element, or exposing the uncured or partially cured UV radiation curable material to UV radiation in an amount and for a duration of time that is sufficient to partially cure the uncured material or to fully cure the partially cured material.

A method of manufacturing an article of footwear includes cutting a plurality of sipes into an outer surface of a pre-formed, foamed thermoplastic sole structure that has both an inner surface and an opposite outer surface. An adhesive is then applied to the inner surface of the pre-formed sole structure and the sole structure is heated to permit forming. The heated sole structure is positioned adjacent to a ground-facing surface of a lasted upper, and then is thermoformed against the lasted upper to draw the adhesive into contact with the ground-facing surface of the upper, and such that at least a portion of the pre-formed sole structure bends into contact with a sidewall of the upper.

A footwear moulding system for direct injection production of footwear, said footwear moulding system comprising a supporting mould (21), a last (30), an in-mould (22), and an injection channel (40),
wherein the supporting mould (21) comprises at least an in-mould support.

The in-mould (22) is elastomeric and the in-mould (22) comprises an in-mould outer surface (76) configured to be supported by said in-mould support.

The in-mould support comprises at least one support side mould (26, 28) and a support bottom mould (24).

Further, the invention relates to a direct injection footwear production method for footwear by use of such a moulding system.

Articles of wear having one or more textiles that include a low processing temperature polymeric composition and a high processing temperature polymeric composition, and methods of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The low processing temperature polymeric composition and the high processing temperature polymeric composition can be selectively incorporated into a textile to provide one or more structural properties and/or other advantageous properties to the article. The textile can be thermoformed to impart such structural and/or other advantageous properties to the article of wear. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

Articles of wear having one or more textiles that include a low processing temperature polymeric composition and a high processing temperature polymeric composition, and methods of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The low processing temperature polymeric composition and the high processing temperature polymeric composition can be selectively incorporated into a textile to provide one or more structural properties and/or other advantageous properties to the article. The textile can be thermoformed to impart such structural and/or other advantageous properties to the article of wear. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

A system of manufacturing equipment including molds for a direct injection production of footwear. The system includes a design facility that provides a design. A mold manufacturing facility manufactures a mold for the design for molding a sole of the footwear. A last manufacturing facility manufactures a last of the design. A footwear manufacturing facility manufactures footwear according to the design. The last corresponds to the footwear design and the mold corresponds to the footwear design. The mold is a basic direct injection mold and at least partly channels injection material to a mold cavity and further accommodates direct injection mold inserts. Mold descriptive data of the mold inserts is communicated to the footwear manufacturing facility to manufacture the mold inserts, or the mold inserts are manufactured at the mold manufacturing facility based on the mold descriptive data and transported to the footwear manufacturing facility.

Footwear articles are disclosed herein. Footwear articles may be formed using a method comprising disposing uncured resin adjacent a mold, disposing a lattice structure in at least a portion of the uncured resin disposed adjacent the mold, closing the mold using a lasted upper, and injecting foam into the closed mold such that the foam operates to couple the lasted upper and the lattice structure together.

Footwear articles are disclosed herein. Footwear articles may be formed using a method comprising disposing uncured resin adjacent a mold, disposing a lattice structure in at least a portion of the uncured resin disposed adjacent the mold, closing the mold using a lasted upper, and injecting foam into the closed mold such that the foam operates to couple the lasted upper and the lattice structure together.

An injected footwear with internal complex graphic is a footwear apparatus that also is an easily manufacturable product. The footwear apparatus includes a sole, an upper, at least one complex graphic, and a sock liner. The sole is below the wearer's foot, while the upper covers the rest of the wearer's foot. The complex graphic integrates an aesthetically pleasing element for the footwear apparatus. The sock liner is used as an intermediate between the wearer's foot and the rest of the footwear apparatus. The complex graphic is internalized in between the sock liner and the upper. The upper and the sole are specifically made of the injectable molding material. A proximal portion of the sock liner is attached to the complex graphic, while the injectable molding material is bonded to a surrounding portion of the sock liner.