Warner Norcross & Judd LLP
Footwear outsole and method of manufacture
An outsole construction having an integral display layer. The outsole includes a main body and a plurality of lugs extending from the main body to define a plurality of ground engaging elements. The display layer is disposed at the surface of the main body such that it is visible in the main body of the outsole and is spaced away from the surface of the lugs such that it is not visible on the surface of the lugs. The display layer may include a printed pattern, such as a camouflage pattern. The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing an outsole including the general steps of(a) providing a mold defining a main body and a plurality of lugs extending from the main body,(b) placing a permeable display layer in the mold and(c) injecting sole material into the mold. In this method, the permeability of the display layer and/or the viscosity of the sole material may be selected so that the display layer lies along the surface of the main body of the sole but not the surface of the lugs.
Wolverine World Wide, Inc.
A A B A A
A43B A43B B29D A43B A43B
inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional
Wen-Jong Mark M.
Liu Morgan