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  • Injection molding systems and methods for forming materials used in footwear and materials manufactured by said systems and methods
    Patent number: 9708456
    Abstract: The invention relates to systems and methods for creating a foamed part. An example method includes providing a polymer processing system, providing a mold having at least one expandable mold cavity in fluid communication with the polymer processing system, mixing polymeric material and blowing agent within the polymer processing system to produce a unfoamed mixture, injecting a volume of the mixture of polymeric material and blowing agent from the polymer processing system and into the expandable mold cavity, and expanding the mold cavity to expand the unfoamed mixture within the mold cavity and form the foamed part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Patrick Y. Choe, Sean B. Murphy, Levi A. Kishbaugh
  • Systems and methods for monitoring athletic and physiological performance
    Patent number: 10363453
    Abstract: The invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring one or more athletic performance characteristic and physiological characteristic of a user. An exemplary system includes a first sensing unit adapted to monitor at least one performance characteristic of a user, a second sensing unit adapted to monitor at least one physiological characteristic of the user, and a transmitter for transmitting the at least one performance characteristic and at least one physiological characteristic to a remote receiver that is adapted to identify a relationship between the at least one performance characteristic and the at least one physiological characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael William On Fitzgerald, Bryan Decker Gothie, Anne Gutmann, Sean B. Murphy, Katherine Elizabeth Petrecca, Pedro Rodrigues, Trampas Tenbroek, Christopher James Wawrousek
  • Method of providing decorative designs and structural features on an article of footwear
    Patent number: 11633019
    Abstract: The invention relates to footwear and portions thereof having structural features and decorative designs thereon, and related systems and methods for manufacturing same. An exemplary method for providing a feature on a surface of an object includes positioning a laser proximate the surface of the object, directing a laser beam from the laser to the surface of the object to mark or engrave at least a portion of the surface of the object, and moving at least one of the laser and the object to create a pattern on the surface of the object, the pattern providing at least one of an aesthetic and a structural feature on the surface of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Tim Downing, Troy Schubert, Drew Spieth, Thomas Ceurvels, Adan Wang, Kingsly Rao
  • Foamed parts having a fabric component, and systems and methods for manufacturing same
    Patent number: 9867424
    Abstract: The invention relates to parts having a foamed polymeric material attached to a fabric, and systems and methods for forming same. An example method of attaching foamed polymeric material to a fabric layer includes providing a mold having at least one cavity and at least one material injection channel in fluid communication with the cavity, disposing a fabric over the at least one cavity, closing the mold, injecting unfoamed polymeric material into the at least one cavity through the material injection channel, wherein the unfoamed polymeric material penetrates at least a portion of the fabric proximate the at least one cavity to attach the polymeric material to the fabric layer, and foaming the unfoamed polymeric material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher J. Wawrousek, Sean B. Murphy, Matthew Dunbar, Patrick Y. Choe
  • Article of footwear incorporating wound element, and related methods of manufacture
    Patent number: 10980317
    Abstract: The invention relates to systems and methods for creating wound material portions for incorporation into an article of footwear. More particularly, one method of manufacturing at least a portion of an upper for an article of footwear, in accordance with the invention, includes the steps of providing a support structure, providing a fiber delivery system, tacking a first end of a first fiber onto the support structure, moving the support structure with respect to the fiber delivery system to wind the first fiber around the support structure, cutting a second end of the first fiber upon positioning of the first fiber onto the support structure, and treating at least a portion of the first fiber to fixedly hold it in a wound arrangement and form a fabric layer for incorporation into an article of footwear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Gabriel La O′, Connor James Hutchinson
  • Systems and methods for monitoring athletic performance
    Patent number: 9642415
    Abstract: The invention relates to devices and methods for monitoring one or more athletic performance characteristic of a user. An example apparatus includes a sensing unit adapted to be attachable to a shoe of a user, the sensing unit including a first sensor adapted to monitor an movement of a foot of the user while the user is in motion, the first sensor comprising a gyroscopic sensor, processing means for determining a first performance characteristic of the user based upon an output from the first sensor, the first performance characteristic comprising a foot strike location of a foot of the user upon striking a ground surface, and transmitting means for transmitting a data package representative of the performance characteristic to a remote receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Ethan Pease, Klaus Renner, Gordon Row, Kim B. Blair, Christopher J. Wawrousek, Sean B. Murphy, Jean-Francois Fullum, Katherine Petrecca, Trampas Tenbroek
  • Footwear with traction elements
    Patent number: 11612209
    Abstract: The invention relates to articles of footwear having traction elements, and systems and methods for manufacturing same. An example shoe includes an upper and a sole plate, the sole plate including a lower surface adapted for ground contact having a first sole portion including first traction elements, the first traction elements having a distal end and a side wall with extensions extending from a central core, and a second sole portion including second traction elements, the second traction elements having at least one geometrical feature differing in one or more aspects from a corresponding geometrical feature of the first traction elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Lee Ashcroft, Lee Blackwell, Matt Bullock, Bryan Decker Gothie, Timothy Kelvin Robinson, Stephen Bradford Shepard, Michael Nelson White, John Robert Whiteman
  • Footwear with traction elements
    Patent number: 10279581
    Abstract: The invention relates to articles of footwear having traction elements, and systems and methods for manufacturing same. An example shoe includes an upper and a sole plate, the sole plate including a lower surface adapted for ground contact having a first sole portion including first traction elements, the first traction elements having a distal end and a side wall with extensions extending from a central core, and a second sole portion including second traction elements, the second traction elements having at least one geometrical feature differing in one or more aspects from a corresponding geometrical feature of the first traction elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert L. Ashcroft, Lee Blackwell, Matt Bullock, Bryan D. Gothie, Timothy K. Robinson, Stephen B. Shepard, Michael N. White, John R. Whiteman
  • Injection molding systems and methods for forming materials used in footwear and materials manufactured by said systems and methods
    Patent number: 9956732
    Abstract: The invention relates to systems and methods for creating a foamed part. An example method includes providing a polymer processing system, providing a mold having at least one expandable mold cavity in fluid communication with the polymer processing system, mixing polymeric material and blowing agent within the polymer processing system to produce a unfoamed mixture, injecting a volume of the mixture of polymeric material and blowing agent from the polymer processing system and into the expandable mold cavity, and expanding the mold cavity to expand the unfoamed mixture within the mold cavity and form a foamed preform. Thereafter, the foamed preform may be inserted into a compression mold to press-form the foamed preform into a finished part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: New Balance Athletics, Inc.
    Inventors: Sean B. Murphy, Brian Steven Best, Sam Fisher
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