Sole assembly for article of footwear

Abstract

An article of footwear and a method of designing an article of footwear for manufacture. The article of footwear may include a plurality of shapes formed from a common shape family, with at least one of the plurality of shapes being based on distorting or morphing of key shapes within the common shape family. The plurality of shapes may be arranged within a morphing zone, optionally according to a shape path within the morphing zone. The shapes, in one embodiment, may be lugs or traction features of a sole assembly.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
         1 . A method of designing an article of footwear, the article of footwear including an upper and a sole assembly secured to the upper, said method comprising:
 providing a sole model representative of the sole assembly of the article of footwear, the sole model defining a ground contacting surface of the sole assembly;   defining, for the sole model, a morphing zone with a first shape based on a common shape family, wherein the common shape family includes at least two key shapes that share a common set of vertices of a grid, wherein the at least two key shapes are shaped differently such that a position of a first common vertex for one key shape is different from the position of the first common vertex for another key shape;   arranging the first shape based on the common shape family in the morphing zone; and   determining a position for each vertex of the common set of vertices for the first shape by interpolating between corresponding vertices of the at least two key shapes of the common shape family, wherein the first shape is a distorted version of the at least two key shapes.   
     
     
         2 . A product according to the method of  claim 1  comprising manufacturing the sole assembly according to the sole model with the at least one shape. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first shape is a lug that defines a ground contacting surface and that projects from a base surface of the sole model. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 arranging a shape path in the morphing zone, the shape path beginning with a start shape and ending with an end shape with one or more intermediary shapes disposed along the shape path between the start shape and the end shape, wherein the start shape, the end shape, and the one or more intermediary shapes are defined by a common set of vertices based on the common shape family; and 
 determining a position for each vertex of the common set of vertices for the one or more intermediary shapes based on interpolation of positions between corresponding vertices in the common set for the start shape and the end shape. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  comprising determining a number of the one or more intermediary shapes based on a distance along the shape path between the start lug and the end lug, a size of the start lug, and a size of the end lug. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said arranging the shape path includes defining a non-linear path between the start shape and the end shape. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the morphing zone is a first morphing zone, and comprising defining a second morphing zone based on a second common shape family different from the common shape family of the first morphing zone. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  comprising arranging a second shape in the second morphing zone based on the second common shape family, wherein the second shape is a distorted version of at least two key shapes of the second common shape family. 
     
     
         9 . An article of footwear comprising:
 an upper configured to receive a foot;   a sole assembly secured to said upper, said sole assembly including an outsole configured to provide traction with respect to a ground surface, said sole assembly positioned between the foot and the ground surface;   said outsole including a lug zone that provides traction for at least a part of said outsole, said lug zone including a plurality of lugs that project from a base surface of said outsole to provide a ground contacting surface, said plurality of lugs in said lug zone being formed from a lug family defined by a common set of vertices;   said lug family including at least two key lugs that share said common set of vertices, wherein said common set of vertices includes a first common vertex, wherein a shape of each of said at least two key lugs is different such that a position of said first common vertex for one key lug is different from said position of said first common vertex for another key lug; and   wherein said plurality of lugs projecting from said base surface of said outsole include a deformed lug that is a deformed version of said at least two key lugs, wherein deformation of said at least two key lugs is defined by interpolation of positions between corresponding vertices in said common set of vertices for said at least two key lugs.   
     
     
         10 . The article of footwear of  claim 9  wherein each of said plurality of lugs of said lug zone is defined as one of said at least two key lugs or by deformation of said at least two key lugs. 
     
     
         11 . The article of footwear of  claim 9  wherein:
 said lug zone includes a lug path with a start lug and an end lug with one or more intermediary lugs disposed along said lug path between said start lug and said end lug, wherein said start lug and said end lug are from said lug family defined by said common set of vertices; and 
 a shape of said one or more intermediary lugs is based on interpolation of positions between corresponding vertices in said common set for said start lug and said end lug. 
 
     
     
         12 . The article of footwear of  claim 11  wherein a number of said one or more intermediary lugs is user defined. 
     
     
         13 . The article of footwear of  claim 11  wherein a number of said one or more intermediary lugs is automatically determined based on a distance along said lug path between said start lug and said end lug, a size of said start lug, and a size of said end lug. 
     
     
         14 . The article of footwear of  claim 9  wherein said outsole includes a plurality of said lug zones, wherein said plurality of lugs from each of said lug zones are based on different lug families. 
     
     
         15 . A system for producing an article of footwear, said system comprising:
 a sole design interface for generating a sole model for the article of footwear, said sole design interface including:
 a layout module configured to facilitate, based on user input, defining a shape path for a plurality of shapes from a common shape family, said shape path having a start and an end, said common shape family defining a common vertex set for each shape based on said common shape family; 
 a morphing module configured to determine a surface contour of at least one shape of said plurality of shapes disposed on said shape path, said morphing module configured to determine said surface contour based on interpolation of said common vertex set for at least two key shapes from said common shape family, wherein said shape is a distorted version of said at least two key shapes; and 
 a manufacturing system configured to generate a sole assembly based on said sole model with said plurality of shapes disposed on said shape path. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  wherein said plurality of shapes are footwear lugs that define a ground contacting surface and that project from a base surface of said sole model. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15  wherein said shape path is defined along a ground facing surface of said sole model. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15  wherein said shape path is defined along a lateral side surface or medial side surface of said sole model. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  wherein said shape path is disposed along a mid-sole of said sole model. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15  wherein said manufacturing system is an additive manufacturing system.