Patent ID: 8789295
Filing Date: 2014-07-29
Classification: A43B,B29D

Abstract:
1. A method of manufacturing footwear comprising: providing a substantially flat sheet of material having an upper surface and a lower surface; placing the flat sheet within a mold; injecting a first polymeric material, at a molding pressure, into the mold, on the flat sheet, already placed in the mold, with the flat sheet being in a planar configuration, so that the first polymeric material bonds to and at least partially embeds within the upper surface of sheet already placed in the mold, the first polymeric material thereby forming an exoskeleton that extends above the upper surface for a predetermined thickness, the exoskeleton defining a plurality of holes through which the upper surface of the sheet is visible so that the upper surface forms a plurality of aesthetic regions, at least one of the aesthetic regions having an area that is at least 1 square centimeter in size; conforming the flat sheet and exoskeleton from a two-dimensional flat form to a three-dimensional contour of a last to form a three-dimensional upper, the exoskeleton and the flat sheet forming substantially all of the three-dimensional upper; and