Footwear sole and method for forming the same

Abstract

A footwear sole include a rubber inner sole and a textile outer sole. The textile outer sole is at least partially impregnated into at least one surface of the inner sole. A method of forming a footwear sole includes the steps of forming at least one inner sole and at least partially impregnating a textile material into at least a portion of at least one surface of the inner sole.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A sole for footwear, comprising: 
 an inner sole; and    an outer sole formed of a textile material and at least partially impregnated into at least a portion of at least one surface of the inner sole.    
     
     
         2 . The sole according to  claim 1 , wherein the inner sole is formed of a rubber material.  
     
     
         3 . The sole according to  claim 1 , wherein the inner sole is formed of a thermoplastic rubber material.  
     
     
         4 . The sole according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer sole is formed of woven natural fibers.  
     
     
         5 . The sole according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer sole is formed of a blend of woven fibers.  
     
     
         6 . The sole according to  claim 5 , wherein the blend of woven fibers includes natural fibers.  
     
     
         7 . The sole according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer sole is at least partially impregnated into the entire at least one surface of the inner sole.  
     
     
         8 . A footwear article, comprising: 
 an inner sole; and    an outer sole formed of a textile material and at least partially impregnated into at least a portion of at least one surface of the inner sole.    
     
     
         9 . The footwear article according to  claim 8 , wherein the inner sole is formed of a rubber material.  
     
     
         10 . The footwear article according to  claim 8 , wherein the inner sole is formed of a thermoplastic rubber material.  
     
     
         11 . The footwear article according to  claim 8 , wherein the outer sole is formed of woven natural fibers.  
     
     
         12 . The footwear article according to  claim 8 , wherein the outer sole is formed of a blend of woven fibers.  
     
     
         13 . The footwear article according to  claim 12 , wherein the blend of woven fibers includes natural fibers.  
     
     
         14 . The footwear article according to  claim 8 , wherein the outer sole is at least partially impregnated into the entire at least one surface of the inner sole.  
     
     
         15 . A method of forming a sole for footwear, comprising the steps of: 
 forming at least one inner sole; and    at least partially impregnating a textile material into at least a portion of at least one surface of the at least one inner sole to form an outer sole thereof.    
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the at least one inner sole is formed of a rubber material.  
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the at least one inner sole is formed of a thermoplastic material.  
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the impregnating step includes the substep of applying at least one of heat and pressure to at least partially melt the at least one surface of the at least one inner sole to at least partially impregnate the textile material therein.  
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 15 , further comprising a step of conforming a shape of the textile material to a shape of the at least one inner sole.  
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 15 , further comprising a step of removing excess textile material after the impregnating step.  
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the inner sole forming step includes a substep of delivering a material into a mold.  
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the method includes a step of providing the textile material in the mold before the delivering step.  
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the method includes a step of providing the textile material in the mold after the delivering step.