Methods and systems are provided for forming an article of footwear. In one example, forming the article of footwear includes using a perforated last during molding of a midsole of the article of footwear. The midsole may be attached to a seam of the upper of the article footwear to secure the midsole to the upper.

A method and a system for manufacturing a footwear. The footwear includes a footwear upper and a sole. The footwear upper has a lower end. The sole has an upper facing surface, a ground facing surface, and a side surface. The sole side surface includes a lateral side surface and medial side surface. The footwear upper lower end is attached to the side surface of the sole at least partly by a direct injection process of the sole. The direct injection process of the sole is being provided via a mold including at least two side mold parts. method and a system for manufacturing the footwear.

Physical foaming a footwear component with a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid is provided. The method include temperature conditioning a mold and then engaging the mold with a robot that conveys the mold to a press. At the press a gas counter pressure is applied to a cavity of the mold before injecting a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid into the cavity of the mold. The process continues with releasing the gas counter pressure from the cavity of the mold and then removing the footwear component from the cavity of the mold. The parameters of the method are configured for the formation of the footwear component in an automated manner.

A footwear injection mold includes a secondary injection mold defining at least part of an injection chamber. The injection chamber includes a proximal surface defining a part of a distal surface of a footwear part. The secondary injection mold includes a protrusion having an upper contacting surface, a proximal end, a primary surface faced away from the injection chamber, and a secondary surface facing the injection chamber. A normal of the upper contacting surface intersects a center point of the upper contacting surface. A protrusion plane is defined by the normal of the upper contacting surface along a width of the protrusion, and defines a boundary between a primary half and a secondary half of the protrusion, the primary half arranged between the protrusion plane and the primary surface, and the secondary half arranged between the protrusion plane and the secondary surface. A height of the proximal end of the protrusion is larger than the height of the upper contacting surface of the protrusion, relative to the normal of the upper contacting surface.

An example article includes a baffle to be inserted into a mold cavity of a mold for a midsole of an article of footwear. The baffle is to divide the mold cavity into a first sub-cavity and a second sub-cavity. The baffle is to isolate a first material injected into the first sub-cavity from a second material injected into the second sub-cavity. The second material has a differing material property to the first material.

A method for manufacturing a footwear apparatus includes placing footwear upper material onto a bottom portion of a midsole mold. The upper material includes a first portion residing within a cavity in the bottom portion of the midsole mold and a second portion extending beyond boundaries of the cavity in the bottom portion of the midsole mold. The method further includes closing a second portion of the midsole mold onto the bottom portion of the midsole mold, injecting midsole mold material into the closed first and second portions of the midsole mold, where the midsole material is fused with the first portion of the upper material, and forming the second portion of the upper material into at least a portion of an upper of the footwear apparatus. The midsole material is attached to the first portion of the upper material without stitching or gluing.

A production process of an insole, the steps of: cleaning an insole mold; spraying an oily release agent into a cavity of an upper mold and a cavity of a lower mold of the mold; uniformly fixing cloth in the cavity of the upper mold; injecting shoe material into the cavity of the lower mold of the mold, covering the upper mold of the mold to lock the upper mold and the lower mold after finishing injecting shoe material, and then placing the mold in an oven for baking, opening the upper mold of the mold after finishing baking, and taking out the insole. The production process of an insole is simple in process and high in yield rate, and uses the characteristics that the cloth and the raw material have good adhesion to directly put the cloth into the mold to take shape, thereby eliminating a glue adhesion process.

A method of forming an upper for an article of footwear includes providing a first material layer over a shoe last, providing a second material layer over the first material layer such that the first and second material layers adhere to each other at an interface between the first and second material layers, where one or both of the first material layer and second material layer is provided by spray forming a polymer material onto the last. The material layers are removed from the last and turned inside out such that the first material layer includes an exposed surface that forms an exterior surface of the upper.

Methods for preparing a footwear article are disclosed herein. An example method may comprise disposing resin adjacent a mold, disposing a lattice structure in at least a portion of the resin disposed adjacent the mold, closing the mold using a lasted upper, injecting foam into the closed mold such that the foam operates to couple the lasted upper and the lattice structure together.

Embodiments are directed to manufacturing footwear. A first outer mold shell and a second outer mold shell may be provided. A first inner mold body and a second inner mold body may be manufactured. The first and second inner mold bodies may have respective first and second inner mold surfaces. The second inner mold surface, together with the first inner mold surface, may define an internal mold volume. The first and second inner mold bodies may be removably coupled to the respective first and second outer mold shells to form first and second hybrid side rings. The first hybrid side ring and the second hybrid side ring may be installed in an automated injection molding machine. The installed first hybrid side ring may be moved toward the installed second hybrid side ring to provide the internal mold volume. One or more liquids may be injected into the internal mold volume.