FOLDED ARTICLES OF FOOTWEAR AND METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
A method of manufacturing an article of footwear includes providing a first portion of the article of footwear and providing a vamp; the first portion includes an ethylene vinyl acetate layer; folding the first portion to define walls of an upper of the article of footwear and an insole of the article of footwear; and coupling the vamp to the walls of the upper to define a foot-receiving opening of the article of footwear.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/857,123, filed on Jul. 22, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates to articles of footwear and methods of manufacturing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to folded articles of footwear and methods of manufacturing the same.
BACKGROUNDSome types of articles of footwear, such as loafers and the like, include one or more leather components due to the material's relatively high durability and relatively low weight, and/or for aesthetic purposes. However, many types of leather can be relatively expensive, and a relatively high number of manufacturing processes are typically needed to couple leather components to adjacent components (for example, coupling a leather upper to adjacent sole components).
SUMMARYA method of manufacturing an article of footwear according to an embodiment of the present invention includes providing a first portion of the article of footwear and providing a vamp; the first portion includes an ethylene vinyl acetate layer; folding the first portion to define walls of an upper of the article of footwear and an insole of the article of footwear; and coupling the vamp to the walls of the upper to define a foot-receiving opening of the article of footwear.
An article of footwear according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first portion that includes an ethylene vinyl acetate layer and is formed as a unitary component. The first portion includes walls of an upper and an insole integrally coupled to the walls of the upper at a fold. A vamp is coupled to the walls of the upper. The vamp and the walls of the upper define a foot-receiving opening of the article of footwear.
While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
The article of footwear 100 includes an upper 102 (see
The first portion 106 includes walls 108 of the upper 102. The first portion 106 also includes an insole 110 that is integrally coupled to the upper walls 108. Stated another way, the first portion 106 is folded at the interface between the upper walls 108 and the insole 110. As such, in some embodiments, the article of footwear 100 lacks stitching for coupling the insole 110 to the upper walls 108. Stated another way, in some embodiments, the article of footwear 100 lacks stitching below the foot of the wearer. In some embodiments, the insole 110 is adapted to engage the foot of the wearer. That is, in some embodiments, the article of footwear 100 lacks a footbed. In some embodiments, the first portion 106 further includes a heel flap 112 that is integrally coupled to the insole 110. The heel flap 112 may be coupled to the upper walls 108, for example, via stitching.
The first portion 106 may include various materials. For example and as described in further detail below, the first portion 106 may include a relatively durable and relatively soft structure. Such a structure may include a copolymer resin foam layer, particularly an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) layer, that is coupled to a textile layer, particularly a microfiber layer. In some embodiments, the copolymer resin foam layer defines interior surfaces of the first portion 106, and the textile layer defines external surfaces of the first portion 106.
The upper 102 also includes a second portion 114, for example, a vamp. The vamp 114 may include various materials. For example and as described in further detail below, the vamp 114 may include a relatively durable and relatively soft structure. Such a structure may include a copolymer resin foam layer, particularly an EVA layer, that is coupled to a textile layer, particularly a microfiber layer. The vamp 114 is coupled to the first portion 106 by stitching 116. The vamp 114 may support various decorative features, such tassels 118.
Together, the first portion 106 and the second portion 114 of the upper 102 define a foot-receiving opening 120 of the article of footwear 100. In some embodiments, the upper walls 108 support an opening edge 122 adjacent the foot-receiving opening 120.
Articles of footwear according to embodiments of the present invention may take various other forms. For example, in some embodiments according to the present invention a folded article of footwear is a slipper or the like.
At block 1004, the first portion 1106 is folded to define walls 1208 of the upper and an insole 1210 (see
At block 1010, the vamp 1114 is coupled to the upper walls 1208 to define a foot-receiving opening 1320 and a toe of the article of footwear (see
At block 1012, the first portion 1106 of the article of footwear and the vamp 1114 are shaped to a last 1430 (see
At block 1014, in some embodiments, additional components are coupled to the first portion 1106 of the article of footwear and the vamp 1114. Such components may include, for example, an opening edge 1522 (see
In some embodiments, the method described above may include additional actions, fewer actions, and/or include different temporal orders than those described above. For example and referring to
Shrinkage has been compared between a split EVA sheet having a 2.5 mm thickness and a standard EVA sheet having a 4 mm thickness. 3.5 mm is the normal thickness of an upper of a typical article of footwear. As a result, the shrinkage for split EVA is lower than that of standard EVA uppers.
Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the above described features.
Claims
1. A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, comprising:
- providing a first portion of the article of footwear, the first portion comprising an ethylene vinyl acetate layer;
- providing a vamp;
- folding the first portion to define walls of an upper of the article of footwear and an insole of the article of footwear; and
- coupling the vamp to the walls of the upper to define a foot-receiving opening of the article of footwear.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portion further comprises a microfiber layer coupled to the ethylene vinyl acetate layer.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the first portion comprises cutting the first portion from a flexible sheet.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the vamp comprises an ethylene vinyl acetate layer, and providing the vamp comprises cutting the vamp from the flexible sheet.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the flexible sheet has a thickness of 2.1 mm to 2.3 mm.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the flexible sheet is a first flexible sheet, and further comprising:
- forming an original flexible sheet in an injection molding process;
- splitting the original flexible sheet to form the first flexible sheet and a second flexible sheet.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein the first portion further comprises a microfiber layer coupled to the ethylene vinyl acetate layer, and providing the first portion comprises adhering the microfiber layer to the ethylene vinyl acetate layer before cutting the first portion from the flexible sheet.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the flexible sheet has a thickness of 2.1 mm to 2.3 mm.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein coupling the vamp to the walls of the upper includes stitching the vamp to the walls of the upper.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portion includes a first heel edge and a second heel edge, and further comprising coupling the first heel edge to the second heel edge to define a heel of the walls of the upper.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the article of footwear lacks stitching below a foot of a wearer.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the insole is adapted to engage a foot of a wearer.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising coupling an outsole to a lower surface of the insole.
14. An article of footwear, comprising:
- a first portion comprising an ethylene vinyl acetate layer and formed as a unitary component, the first portion further comprising: walls of an upper; an insole integrally coupled to the walls of the upper at a fold;
- a vamp coupled to the walls of the upper, the vamp and the walls of the upper defining a foot-receiving opening of the article of footwear.
15. The article of footwear of claim 14, wherein the vamp is stitched to the walls of the upper.
16. The article of footwear of claim 14, wherein the insole is adapted to engage a foot of a wearer.
17. The article of footwear of claim 14, wherein the article of footwear lacks stitching below a foot of a wearer.
18. The article of footwear of claim 14, wherein the first portion is formed from a flexible sheet that comprises:
- the ethylene vinyl acetate layer; and
- a microfiber layer coupled to the ethylene vinyl acetate layer.
19. The article of footwear of claim 18, wherein the ethylene vinyl acetate layer defines an internal surface of the article of footwear, and the microfiber layer defines an external surface of the article of footwear.
20. The article of footwear of claim 18, wherein the flexible sheet has a thickness of 2.1 mm to 2.3 mm.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 22, 2014
Publication Date: Jan 22, 2015
Inventors: Luca FAGGIN (Padova), Stefano FERNIANI (Padova)
Application Number: 14/338,121
International Classification: A43B 23/02 (20060101); A43B 1/14 (20060101);