Soil-shedding article of footwear, and method of using the same
First Claim
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1. An article of footwear, the article comprising:
- an outsole having a ground-facing surface, an open-cell foam material secured to at least a portion of the ground-facing surface and a plurality of traction elements secured to the ground-facing surface, wherein the open-cell foam material has an average cell diameter ranging from 0.65 mm to 1.4 mm, wherein the open-cell foam material comprises an ethylene-alkyl acrylate copolymer component; and
an upper secured to the outsole;
wherein the article of footwear prevents or reduces soil accumulation on the outsole such that the article of footwear retains at least 10% less soil by weight as compared to a second article of footwear which is identical to the article of footwear except that the second article of footwear is free of the open-cell foam material.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are articles of footwear, and methods of manufacturing articles of footwear, having an open-cell foam present on at least a portion of the outsole. The open-cell foam is effective in reducing soil accumulation on the outsole when the footwear is worn on unpaved surfaces.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An article of footwear, the article comprising:
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an outsole having a ground-facing surface, an open-cell foam material secured to at least a portion of the ground-facing surface and a plurality of traction elements secured to the ground-facing surface, wherein the open-cell foam material has an average cell diameter ranging from 0.65 mm to 1.4 mm, wherein the open-cell foam material comprises an ethylene-alkyl acrylate copolymer component; and an upper secured to the outsole; wherein the article of footwear prevents or reduces soil accumulation on the outsole such that the article of footwear retains at least 10% less soil by weight as compared to a second article of footwear which is identical to the article of footwear except that the second article of footwear is free of the open-cell foam material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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18. A method of use of an article of footwear, the method comprising:
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providing an article of footwear comprising an outsole having a ground-facing surface, an open-cell foam material secured to at least a portion of the ground-facing surface and a plurality of traction elements secured to the ground-facing surface, wherein the open-cell foam material has an average cell diameter ranging from 0.65 mm to 1.4 mm, wherein the open-cell foam material comprises an ethylene-alkyl acrylate copolymer component; and wearing the article of footwear under conditions in which the outsole comes into direct contact with wet soil, wherein the article of footwear prevents or reduces accumulation of the soil on the outsole such that the article of footwear retains at least 20% less soil by weight as compared to a second article of footwear worn under identical conditions wherein the second article of footwear is identical to the article of footwear except that the second article of footwear is free of the open-cell foam material. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification