Waterproof footwear construction
First Claim
1. A footwear upper liner adapted to be incorporated into a footwear structure, the footwear upper liner comprising:
- at least one waterproof, air permeable and moisture vapor transmissive first portion; and
at least one waterproof, air impermeable and moisture vapor impermeable second portion.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A footwear construction that includes an improved footwear upper liner is provided. The liquid impermeable footwear upper liner is constructed of air permeable, waterproof and moisture vapor transmissive materials as well as air impermeable, waterproof and moisture vapor impermeable materials. A process for constructing a footwear component utilizing the improved footwear upper liner is also provided. The process comprises providing a sole; providing an upper that together with the sole define a volume for receiving and protecting a wearer'"'"'s foot against external elements and securing the improved liquid impermeable footwear upper liner within the footwear so that the footwear upper liner is located underneath the upper. In an alternative embodiment, the improved footwear upper liner is attached to a sole to form a bootie for use in footwear construction.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A footwear upper liner adapted to be incorporated into a footwear structure, the footwear upper liner comprising:
-
at least one waterproof, air permeable and moisture vapor transmissive first portion; and
at least one waterproof, air impermeable and moisture vapor impermeable second portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A footwear upper liner adapted to be incorporated into a footwear structure, the footwear upper liner comprising:
-
at least one first portion that is air permeable, moisture vapor transmissive and liquid impermeable and includes a microporous membrane; and
at least one second portion that is air impermeable, moisture vapor impermeable and liquid impermeable, the at least one second portion being selected from the group consisting of inelastic, thermoplastic material, fiber reinforced polymeric material and nonthermoplastic material.
-
-
17. A footwear upper liner adapted to be incorporated into a footwear structure, which comprises:
-
at least one first portion that is air permeable, moisture vapor transmissive and liquid impermeable and the footwear upper liner allows for air flow of at least 0.03 cubic centimeter per minute per square centimeter at a pressure of a 1.27 centimeter water column (0.05 cubic feet per minute per square foot at a pressure of a 0.5 inch water column) and the footwear upper liner allows for moisture vapor transmission of at least 500 grams per square meter (14.85 ounces per square yard) or more of water (H2O) vapor in a twenty-four (24) hour period and includes a microporous membrane; and
at least one second portion that is inelastic, air impermeable, moisture vapor impermeable and liquid impermeable and the sole liner allows for air flow of less than 0.03 cubic centimeter per minute per square centimeter at a pressure of a 1.27 centimeter water column (0.05 cubic feet per minute per square foot at a pressure of a 0.5 inch water column) and the sole liner allows for moisture vapor transmission of less than 500 grams per square meter (14.85 ounces per square yard) of water (H2O) vapor in a twenty-four (24) hour period and the sole liner is selected from the group consisting of inelastic, thermoplastic material, fiber reinforced polymeric material and nonthermoplastic material.
-
-
18. A bootie adapted to be incorporated into a footwear structure, which comprises:
-
an upper liner comprising at least one air permeable and moisture vapor transmissive first portion and at least one air impermeable and moisture vapor impermeable second portion; and
a sole liner that is air impermeable, moisture vapor impermeable and liquid impermeable, wherein the footwear upper liner is attached to the sole liner. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A footwear upper liner adapted to be incorporated into a footwear structure, the footwear upper liner comprising:
-
at least one first portion that is air permeable, moisture vapor transmissive and liquid impermeable and includes a microporous membrane; and
at least one second portion that is air impermeable, moisture vapor impermeable and liquid impermeable, wherein the at least one second portion has a higher Martindale abrasion resistance value than the at least one first portion.
-
-
24. The footwear upper liner according to claim 24, wherein the at least one second portion has a Martindale abrasion resistance value that is at least 1.5 times a Martindale abrasion resistance value of the at least one first portion
-
25. A process for producing a footwear component comprising:
-
providing a sole;
providing an upper that together with the sole define a volume for receiving and protecting a wearer'"'"'s foot against external elements; and
securing a liquid impermeable footwear upper liner, having at least one air permeable and moisture vapor transmissive first portion and at least one air impermeable and moisture vapor impermeable second portion within the footwear so that the footwear upper liner is located underneath the upper. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A process for producing a footwear component comprising:
-
providing a sole;
providing an upper that together with the sole define a volume for receiving and protecting a wearer'"'"'s foot against external elements; and
securing a liquid impermeable bootie, having a footwear upper liner comprised of at least one air permeable and moisture vapor transmissive first portion and at least one air impermeable and moisture vapor impermeable second portion, the footwear upper liner being attached to a sole liner, within the footwear so that the footwear upper liner that is adapted to be located within the upper and the sole liner is located adjacent to the sole, wherein the sole liner is air impermeable, moisture vapor impermeable and liquid impermeable.
-
Specification