Shoe components and methods of manufacture
First Claim
1. A closed-cell foam comprising:
- a. from about 0.25 pph to about 20 pph of polymeric microspheres, each polymeric microsphere having a diameter less than 100 microns; and
b. a polymeric matrix resin including a polymer selected from the group consisting of a thermoset polymer and a thermoplastic polymer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to the field of shoes in general, and more specifically to the application of microspheres in shoe material formulations to yield desired shoe properties. Even more specifically, the invention relates to a shoe component prepared from a closed cell foam incorporating microspheres to yield controlled cell size, cell size distribution and expansion characteristics. In another embodiment, the invention also relates to an inner sole for a shoe prepared from the reaction product of a polymer matrix component and a curing agent where the curing agent is incorporated in microspheres to yield a material conformable to the user'"'"'s foot shape.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A closed-cell foam comprising:
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a. from about 0.25 pph to about 20 pph of polymeric microspheres, each polymeric microsphere having a diameter less than 100 microns; and
b. a polymeric matrix resin including a polymer selected from the group consisting of a thermoset polymer and a thermoplastic polymer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11)
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5. A closed-cell foam comprising:
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a. from about 0.25 pph to about 20 pph of polymeric microspheres, each of the polymeric microspheres including a polymeric outer shell and an encapsulated chemical agent within the polymeric outer shell; and
b. a polymeric matrix resin including a polymer selected from the group consisting of a thermoset polymer and a thermoplastic polymer;
c. wherein the encapsulated chemical agent is present in an amount to cause expansion of the polymeric microspheres in volume by at least 10% after the polymeric microspheres are subjected to foaming conditions. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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12. A shoe comprising an inner sole, the inner sole including the reaction product of:
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a. polymeric microspheres, each polymeric microsphere having a diameter less than 1000 microns, the polymeric microspheres including a polymeric outer shell and an encapsulated curing agent within the polymeric outer shell; and
b. a polymeric matrix including a polymer having substituents on the polymer chain selected from the group consisting of alcohols including diols and polyols, isocyanates, amines, and any and all mixtures thereof. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A shoe comprising an inner sole, the inner sole including the reaction product of:
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a. polymeric microspheres, each of the polymeric microspheres having a diameter less than 1000 microns, the polymeric microspheres including a polymeric outer shell and an encapsulated catalyst within the polymeric outer shell; and
b. a polymeric matrix including a silicone material. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A shoe comprising an inner sole, the inner sole including the reaction product of:
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a. polymeric microspheres, each of the polymeric microspheres having a diameter less than 1000 microns, the polymeric microspheres including a polymeric outer shell and an encapsulated crosslinking agent within the polymeric outer shell; and
b. a polymeric matrix including a silicone material;
- View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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- 26. A shoe comprising an inner sole, the inner sole including a responsive polymer network that reversibly changes mechanical properties when subject to a change in a parameter selected from the group consisting of temperature, moisture, ionic strength, pH, and solvent composition.
- 28. A shoe comprising an inner sole, the inner sole including a responsive polymer network that reversibly changes mechanical properties when subjected to irradiation.
Specification