Abstract: An article of textile-soled footwear and method of making employ a simple fabrication process and apparatus that allows fabrication of the footwear outer shell via a single injection-molding step. The article of footwear has a textile layer at the ground-contacting surface of the outsole, the textile layer being moldably and integrally attached, in a common mold, to the molded outsole as it is being created during the injection process. Fasteners are set along the side of the sole plate of the injection mold to secure the textile layer across the sole plate and prevent it from being moved during injection of the moldable compound to form the outsole. The sole plate and the sidewalls of the injection mold are assembled in place for the injection process. The shoe upper is fitted onto the shoe last and set in place in the mold, the mold is closed, and the moldable compound is injected into the mold.

Abstract: An article of textile-soled footwear and method of making employ a simple fabrication process and apparatus that allows fabrication of the footwear outer shell via a single injection-molding step. The article of footwear has a textile layer at the ground-contacting surface of the outsole, the textile layer being moldably and integrally attached, in a common mold, to the molded outsole as it is being created during the injection process. Fasteners are set along the side of the sole plate of the injection mold to secure the textile layer across the sole plate and prevent it from being moved during injection of the moldable compound to form the outsole. The sole plate and the sidewalls of the injection mold are assembled in place for the injection process. The shoe upper is fitted onto the shoe last and set in place in the mold, the mold is closed, and the moldable compound is injected into the mold.

Abstract: An article of footwear has a moldably attached upper and an outsole having a textile layer integrally embedded in an outsole layer at the ground-contacting surface. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the entire outer shell of the footwear article is simultaneously assembled during a single injection molding process. In a preferred embodiment, the outsole layer is molded from thermoplastic resin. The textile employed for the ground-contacting textile layer can be any natural or man-made textile. In one embodiment, the outsole extends around the side of the shoe, moldably attaching to the upper across a large width. Integral formation of the textile-covered outsole provides one of the significant advantages of the invention, prevention of tearing of the ground-contacting textile outsole layer and/or separation of the textile outsole layer from the outsole. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the outsole layer has treads to which the textile outsole layer is moldably conformed.