Article of footwear with soil-shedding performance
First Claim
1. An outsole for an article of footwear, the outsole comprising:
- an outsole substrate; and
a hydrogel secured to the outsole substrate and defining an external surface of the outsole, wherein the hydrogel comprises crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, and wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions with carbamate linkages, and the amorphous hydrophilic regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20;
1 by weight relative to the crystalline regions, wherein at least a portion of the amorphous hydrophilic regions each comprise a backbone chain segment and one or more pendant polyether groups grafted to the backbone chain segment.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof, including outsoles, which can be used in conditions normally conducive to the accumulation of soil on the outsoles. In particular, the disclosure relates to articles of footwear and components thereof including an outsole with an external hydrogel film that compositionally includes crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, where the amorphous regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions with carbamate linkages and/or polyamide linkages. The amorphous regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20:1, by weight, relative to the crystalline regions. The outsoles can prevent or reduce the accumulation of soil on the footwear during wear on unpaved surfaces such as sporting fields. When the outsoles are wetted with water, the outsoles can become more compliant and/or can rapidly uptake and/or expel water, which can prevent soil from adhering to the outsole and/or can assist in shedding soil present on the outsole.
-
Citations
48 Claims
-
1. An outsole for an article of footwear, the outsole comprising:
-
an outsole substrate; and a hydrogel secured to the outsole substrate and defining an external surface of the outsole, wherein the hydrogel comprises crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, and wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions with carbamate linkages, and the amorphous hydrophilic regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20;
1 by weight relative to the crystalline regions, wherein at least a portion of the amorphous hydrophilic regions each comprise a backbone chain segment and one or more pendant polyether groups grafted to the backbone chain segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. An outsole for an article of footwear, the outsole comprising:
-
an outsole substrate; and a hydrogel secured to the outsole substrate and defining an external surface of the outsole, wherein the hydrogel comprises crystalline polyamide regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, and wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline polyamide regions, and are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20;
1 by weight relative to the crystalline polyamide regions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. An article of footwear, the article comprising:
-
an outsole backing member; a plurality of traction elements operably secured to the outsole backing member; an upper secured to the outsole backing member; and
,a film secured to the outsole backing member and defining an external surface of the outsole, wherein the film comprises a hydrogel having crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, and wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions, and the amorphous hydrophilic regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20;
1 by weight relative to the crystalline regions. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. An outsole for an article of footwear, the outsole comprising:
-
an outsole substrate comprising a plurality of traction elements operably secured to the outsole substrate; and a hydrogel secured to the outsole substrate and defining an external surface of the outsole, wherein the hydrogel comprises crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, and wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions with carbamate linkages, and the amorphous hydrophilic regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20;
1 by weight relative to the crystalline regions. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
-
Specification