Article of footwear with soil-shedding performance

• US 10,092,062 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2015
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nike Innovate C.V. (Nike, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Inventors: Wright, Zachary C., Dyer, Caleb W., Walker, Jeremy D., Maurer, Myron, Schiller, Denis, Baghdadi, Hossein A.
• Primary Examiner(s): HIGGINS, GERARD T
• Application Number:
  US14/814,195
• Publication Number:
  US 20160058116A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,167 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/02 characterised by the material
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/04 Plastics, rubber or vulcanised fibre
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/122 characterised by the outsole or external layer
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/16 Pieced soles with several layers of different material A43B13/12
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/22 Soles made slip-preventing or wear-resisting, e.g. by impregnation or spreading a wear-resisting layer
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/26 projecting beyond the sole surface
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/0036 characterised by a special shape or design
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 15/02 attached to the sole
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 15/16 Studs or cleats for football or like boots
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 35/142 Soles
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 3/075 Macromolecular gels
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 75/04 Polyurethanes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24802 Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond [e.g., artwork, printing, retouched photograph, etc.]

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 a ground-facing crosslinked polymeric material having a wet-state contact angle less than 80°. 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.

Claims

1. An outsole for an article of footwear, the outsole comprising:

an outsole backing member having

a ground-facing surface;

a film comprising a crosslinked polymeric material, on the ground-facing surface and defining an external surface of the outsole, wherein the film has a wet-state contact angle less than 80°

, as characterized by a Contact Angle Test with a Footwear Sampling Procedure; and

a plurality of traction elements on the ground-facing surface of the outsole backing member.

2. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the wet-state contact angle is less than 70°

.

3. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material comprises a thermoplastic hydrogel.

4. The outsole of claim 3, wherein the hydrogel comprises crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions.

5. The outsole of claim 4, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are bonded to the crystalline regions with carbamate linkages.

6. The outsole of claim 4, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20:

1 by weight relative to the crystalline regions.

7. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the film has a dry-state film thickness ranging from 0.1 millimeters to 1.5 millimeters.

8. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the film has a wet-state coefficient of friction less than 0.8, as characterized by a Coefficient Of Friction Test with the Footwear Sampling Procedure.

9. The outsole of claim 8, wherein the film has a dry-state coefficient of friction less than 1.5, as characterized by the Coefficient Of Friction Test with the Footwear Sampling Procedure.

10. The outsole of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of traction elements comprises a terminal edge, and wherein the film is not present on the terminal edges of any of the plurality of traction elements.

11. The outsole of claim 1, wherein one or more of the traction elements is selected from the group consisting of:

a cleat, a stud, a spike, and a lug.

12. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the traction elements are integrally formed with the outsole backing member.

13. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the traction elements are removable traction elements.

14. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material has one or more carbamate linkages.

15. An outsole for an article of footwear, the outsole comprising:

an outsole substrate having a ground-facing surface and a second surface opposite of the ground-facing surface, wherein the second surface is configured to be secured to an upper of the article of footwear;

a film comprising a crosslinked polymeric material on at least a portion of the ground-facing surface and defining an external surface of the outsole, and wherein the film has a dry-state contact angle and a wet-state contact angle, each as characterized by a Contact Angle Test with a Footwear Sampling Procedure, and wherein the dry-state contact angle is at least 10°

greater than the wet-state contact angle; and

a plurality of traction elements on the ground-facing surface of the outsole substrate.

16. The outsole of claim 15, wherein the wet-state contact angle is less than 80°

.

17. The outsole of claim 15, wherein the film has a dry-state coefficient of friction and a wet-state coefficient of friction, each as characterized by a Coefficient Of Friction Test with the Footwear Sampling Procedure, and wherein a difference between the dry-state coefficient of friction and the wet-state coefficient of friction is at least 0.3, the dry-state coefficient of friction being greater than the wet-state coefficient of friction.

18. The outsole of claim 17, wherein the wet-state coefficient of friction is less than 0.6.

19. The outsole of claim 15, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material comprises a thermoplastic hydrogel.

20. The outsole of claim 19, wherein the hydrogel comprises crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions.

21. The outsole of claim 20, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are bonded to the crystalline regions with carbamate linkages.

22. The outsole of claim 20, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20:

by weight relative to the crystalline regions.

23. The outsole of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of traction elements comprises a terminal edge, and wherein the film is not present on the terminal edges of any of the plurality of traction elements.

24. The outsole of claim 15, wherein one or more of the traction elements is selected from the group consisting of:

a cleat, a stud, a spike, and a lug.

25. The outsole of claim 15, wherein the traction elements are integrally formed with the outsole substrate.

26. The outsole of claim 15, wherein the traction elements are removable traction elements.

27. The outsole of claim 15, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material has one or more carbamate linkages.

28. An article of footwear comprising:

an outsole having a first side and a second side, wherein the second side is a ground-facing surface, a film comprising a crosslinked polymeric material on the ground-facing surface, wherein the film has a dry-state contact angle ranging from 60°

to 100° and

a wet-state contact angle, each as characterized by a Contact Angle Test with a Footwear Sampling Procedure, and wherein the dry-state contact angle is at least 10°

greater than the wet-state contact angle, of a plurality of traction elements on the ground-facing surface of the outsole; and

an upper operably secured to at least a portion of the first side of the outsole.

29. The article of footwear of claim 28, wherein the dry-state contact angle ranges from 70°

to 100°

.

30. The article of footwear of claim 28, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material comprises a thermoplastic hydrogel.

31. The outsole of claim 30, wherein the hydrogel comprises crystalline regions and amorphous hydrophilic regions, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are covalently bonded to the crystalline regions.

32. The outsole of claim 31, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are bonded to the crystalline regions with carbamate linkages.

33. The outsole of claim 31, wherein the amorphous hydrophilic regions are present in the hydrogel at a ratio of at least 20:

1 by weight relative to the crystalline regions.

34. The article of footwear of claim 28, wherein the film has a dry-state film thickness ranging from 0.1 millimeters to 1.5 millimeters.

35. The article of claim 28, wherein each of the plurality of traction elements comprises a terminal edge, and wherein the film is not present on the terminal edges of any of the plurality of traction elements.

36. The article of claim 28, wherein one or more of the traction elements is selected from the group consisting of:

a cleat, a stud, a spike, and a lug.

37. The article of claim 28, wherein the traction elements are integrally formed with the outsole.

38. The article of claim 28, wherein the traction elements are removable traction elements.

39. The outsole of claim 28, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material has one or more carbamate linkages.