Process for making a shoe outsole

Abstract

A shoe including an upper, a lower (insole) attached to the upper, and an outsole attached to the lower is presented. In one embodiment, the outsole has a ground contacting surface which includes a first section and a second section, with the first section being formed of a first material and the second section having an outer later formed of a material other than leather, rubber or plastic. The first section can be formed of any number of materials, such as rubber, leather, etc. The first and second sections of the outsole are formed in an injection molding processes that uses one or more molds.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for manufacturing a shoe, the method comprising: 
 providing a shoe upper;    forming an outsole having a ground contacting surface by: 
 inserting a piece of a first material into a mold, the first material being non-injectable;  
 injecting an injection-moldable material into the mold and operating the first mold to form the outsole by moldably bonding the piece of first material to the injection moldable material,  
 wherein a ground contacting surface of the outsole includes the piece of first material and a section formed by the injection moldable material; and  
   attaching the outsole to the shoe upper.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first material is selected from the group consisting essentially of a nonwoven fabric, a woven fabric, woven natural fibers, braided natural fibers and metal.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first material comprises cork.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the injection-moldable material comprises a material selected from a thermoplastic rubber, polyurethane, and rubber.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first material is a material other than leather, plastic, and rubber.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first material occupies greater than 50% of the ground contacting surface.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising the additional steps of: forming one or more recessed sections in the mold for receiving the piece of first material and injecting the injection-moldable material so as to cover an exposed face of the first material.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising the additional steps of operating the mold in one of a hot state in which mold dies are heated prior to injecting the injection-moldable material and a cold state in which the mold dies are free of any heating prior to injecting the injection-moldable material.  
     
     
         9 . A method for manufacturing a shoe, the method comprising: 
 providing a shoe upper;    forming an outsole having a ground contacting surface by: 
 inserting a piece of a first material into a mold, the first material being non-injectable;  
 injecting a first injection-moldable material into the mold and operating the mold so that the first injection-moldable material meltingly bonds to an exposed surface of the piece of first material;  
 permitting the injection-moldable material to cool in the mold sufficient to form an insert that has an outer layer defined by the piece of first material and a shaped backing layer that is formed of the first injection-moldable material;  
 injecting a second injection-moldable material over an exposed section of the backing layer to form a remaining structure of the outsole in which a fused bond is created between the second injection moldable material and the exposed section of the backing layer;  
 wherein a ground contacting surface of the outsole includes the piece of first material and a section formed by the second injection moldable material; and  
   attaching the outsole to the shoe upper.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first material is selected from the group consisting essentially of a nonwoven fabric, a woven fabric, woven natural fibers, braided natural fibers and metal.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first material comprises cork.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein each of the first and second injection-moldable materials comprises a material selected from the group consisting essentially of a thermoplastic rubber, polyurethane, and natural rubber.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first and second injection moldable materials are the same material.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first and second injection moldable materials are different materials.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , comprising the additional steps of forming the insert in a first mold and then transferring the formed insert to a second mold where the second injection-moldable material is injected over an exposed section of the backing layer.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein forming the fused bond comprises forming a fused layer that is formed of a portion of the exposed backing layer and a portion of the second injection moldable material.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the insert is positioned with the mold such that only the backing layer is exposed, thereby preventing the second injection-moldable material from overlying the piece of first material.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the second injection-moldable material comprises a thermoplastic rubber (TPR) and the step of injecting the second injection-moldable material includes the step of introducing air into the injected second injection-moldable material so as to create a blown form of TPR.  
     
     
         19 . A method for manufacturing a shoe outsole, the method comprising: 
 inserting a piece of a first material into a mold, the first material being non-injectable;    injecting a first injection-moldable material into the mold and operating the mold so that the first injection-moldable material bonds to an exposed surface of the piece of first material and whereupon cooling, an insert is formed that has a ground contacting outer layer defined by the piece of first material and a shaped backing layer that is formed of the injection-moldable material;    injecting a second injection-moldable material over an exposed section of the backing layer to form a remaining structure of the outsole in which a fused bond is created between the second injection moldable material and the exposed section of the backing layer; and    wherein a ground contacting surface of the outsole includes the piece of first material and a section formed by the second injection moldable material.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the first material is selected from the group consisting essentially of a nonwoven fabric, a woven fabric, woven natural fibers, braided natural fibers and metal.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the first material comprises cork.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein each of the first and second injection-moldable materials comprises a thermoplastic rubber.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the first and second injection moldable materials are the same material.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the first and second injection moldable materials are different materials.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the step of injecting the second injection-moldable material is conducted in a separate mold than the mold used to form the shaped insert.  
     
     
         26 . A shoe formed in accordance with the method of claim  9 .