Casting Footwear
Casting or “Molding is a common method used to manufacture a large variety of items. In many cases, a mold includes several pieces which must fit together in order to define the mold volume (i.e., the space to be filled with plastic or other material being molded into a manufactured part). In some cases, a single mold may actually include elements used to mold several parts. One example is a mold used to form outsoles for a pair of shoes. Such a mold is used to simultaneously mold the upper and lower surfaces of two outsoles--a right shoe outsole and a left shoe outsole. Conventional outsole molds can include two mold halves. The first mold half is used to mold the upper surfaces of a pair of outsoles. The second mold half mates with the first half, and is used to mold the lower surfaces of the outsole pair. Each mold half has traditionally been cast as a single piece of steel or other metal, and can be quite heavy.” [Guerrero, US Patent 7,861,765 (1/4/2011)
Recent US Patents
11/1/2011
8,047,261
Method of making a multi-element mold assembly for, E.G., footwear components
Guerrero of Nike, Oregon, developed a mold assembly for casting footwear components as a collection of attached mold elements. Handles may also be formed into one or more mold elements as part of the casting process. Outsole negatives are juxtaposed with templates for attachment tabs and/or handles and used to form ceramic casting molds. The ceramic casting molds can then be used to cast individual mold elements. (RDC 11/1/2011)
1/4/2011
7,861,765
Method of making a multi-element mold assembly for, e.g., footwear components
Guerrero of Nikke, Oregon, developed a casting mold for footwear components consisting of a collection of attached mold elements. The resulting parts can be joined by welding. (RDC 7/11/2011)