ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR WITH SOIL-SHEDDING PERFORMANCE

• US 20160058116A1
• Filed: 07/30/2015
• Published: 03/03/2016
• 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.
• Granted Patent: US 10,092,062 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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; and

a ground-facing surface present on the outsole backing member, wherein the ground-facing surface comprises a crosslinked polymeric material, and

wherein the ground-facing surface has a wet-state contact angle less than 80°

, as characterized by the Contact Angle Test with the Footwear Sampling Procedure.

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 1, wherein the ground-facing surface is present on the outsole backing member as a film comprising the crosslinked polymeric material, and wherein the film is secured to the outsole backing member.

5. The outsole of claim 4, wherein the film has a dry-state film thickness ranging from 0.1 millimeters to 1.5 millimeters.

6. The outsole of claim 1, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material comprises a plurality of physically-crosslinked copolymer chains, and wherein at least a portion of the physically-crosslinked copolymer chains comprise polyether chain segments.

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

8. The outsole of claim 7, wherein the ground-facing surface has a dry-state coefficient of friction less than 1.5, as characterized by the Coefficient Of Friction Test with the Footwear Sampling Procedure.

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

a ground-facing surface;

a second surface opposite of the ground-facing surface and configured to be secured to an upper of the article of footwear;

a composition present in at least a portion of the outsole at the ground-facing surface, wherein the composition comprises a crosslinked polymeric material, and wherein the ground-facing surface has a dry-state contact angle and a wet-state contact angle, each as characterized by the Contact Angle Test with the Footwear Sampling Procedure, and wherein the dry-state contact angle is at least 10°

greater than the wet-state contact angle.

10. The outsole of claim 9, wherein the wet-state contact angle is less than 80°

.

11. The outsole of claim 9, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material comprises a polymeric network having a plurality of physically-crosslinked copolymer chains.

12. The outsole of claim 11, wherein the physically-crosslinked copolymer chains comprise a polyurethane segment, a polyamide-polyether block copolymer segment, or combinations thereof.

13. The outsole of claim 9, wherein the ground-facing surface has a dry-state coefficient of friction and a wet-state coefficient of friction, each as characterized by the 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.

14. The outsole of claim 13, wherein the wet-state coefficient of friction is less than 0.6.

15. The outsole of claim 9, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material comprises a thermoplastic hydrogel.

16. An article of footwear comprising:

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

to 100° and

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

greater than the wet-state contact angle; and

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

17. The article of footwear of claim 16, wherein the dry-state contact angle ranges from 70°

to 100°

.

18. The article of footwear of claim 16, wherein the crosslinked polymeric material comprises a thermoplastic hydrogel.

19. The article of footwear of claim 16, wherein the ground-facing surface is present on the outsole as a film comprising the crosslinked polymeric material.

20. The article of footwear of claim 19, wherein the film has a dry-state film thickness ranging from 0.1 millimeters to 1.5 millimeters.