Personalized footwear assembly with alignment panels

Abstract

A footwear assembly, such as a cycling show, includes a plantar shell, a dorsal shell, and a closure mechanism. The plantar shell that at least partially defines an interior area sized to receive a wearer's foot and is shaped to conform to a bottom surface contour of the wearer's foot. The dorsal shell shaped to conform to an upper surface contour of the wearer's foot and includes a region positioned to apply a compressive force to a portion of the wearer's foot. The closure mechanism configured to couple the dorsal shell to the plantar shell to apply the compressive force to the portion of the wearer's foot to at least partially prevent movement of the wearer's foot relative to the plantar shell.

1 .- 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . A method of manufacturing a cycling shoe, the method comprising:
 receiving data about a size and/or a shape of a wearer's foot;   forming, based at least partially on the data, a plantar shell of the cycling shoe, wherein the plantar shell at least partially defines an interior area sized to receive a wearer's foot and wherein forming the plantar shell includes—
 forming a plantar shell edge portion that extends at least partially around an opening to the interior area, and 
 forming a plantar shell wall portion that defines a side portion of a heel area of the interior area; 
   forming, based at least partially on the data, a dorsal shell of the cycling shoe, wherein forming the dorsal shell includes—
 forming a dorsal shell edge portion configured to abut the plantar shell edge portion, and 
 forming an engagement panel that projects rearwardly away from the dorsal shell edge portion and is configured to overlap the plantar shell wall portion at a side of the wearer's foot below the wearer's ankle and adjacent to the heel area and a malleolus portion of the wearer's foot; and 
   coupling the dorsal shell to the plantar shell via a closure mechanism, wherein coupling the dorsal shell to the plantar shell includes positioning the engagement panel between the closure mechanism and the plantar shell wall portion, such that the closure mechanism is positioned to fixedly hold the engagement panel against the plantar shell wall portion and retain the dorsal shell edge portion against the plantar shell edge portion.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein receiving the data includes receiving scan data from a 3-D scan of the wearer's foot. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the received data is based at least partially on a mold or impression of the wearer's foot. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25  wherein forming the plantar shell includes 3-D printing the plantar shell, and/or wherein forming the dorsal shell includes 3-D printing the dorsal shell. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25  wherein:
 receiving the data includes receiving data about a first contour of a top surface of the wearer's foot, and wherein forming the dorsal shell includes forming the dorsal shell to conform to the first contour; and/or 
 receiving the data includes receiving data about a second contour of a bottom surface of the wearer's foot, and wherein forming the plantar shell includes forming the plantar shell to conform to the second contour. 
 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising positioning a dorsiflexion pad to contact an anterior malleolus portion of the wearer's foot when the wearer's foot is in the cycling shoe, wherein coupling the dorsal shell to the plantar shell includes positioning the closure mechanism to hold the dorsiflexion pad in contact with the anterior malleolus portion through a range of dorsiflexive motion of the wearer's foot. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein positioning the dorsiflexion pad includes coupling the dorsiflexion pad to the dorsal shell. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the dorsiflexion pad is a first dorsiflexion pad positioned to contact an anterior lateral malleolus portion of the wearer's foot on a lateral side of the wearer's foot when the wearer's foot is in the cycling shoe, and wherein the method further comprises positioning a second dorsiflexion pad to contact a medial lateral malleolus portion of the wearer's foot on a medial side of the wearer's foot when the wearer's foot is in the cycling shoe. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the plantar shell includes a heel portion, and wherein the closure mechanism includes a strap configured to wrap at least partially around the heel portion and the dorsal shell. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the plantar shell further includes a heel portion, and wherein coupling the dorsal shell to the plantar shell includes positioning the closure mechanism to hold the heel portion in contact with the wearer's foot during a range of dorsiflexive motion of the wearer's foot when the wearer's foot is in the cycling shoe. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the closure mechanism is configured to apply a compressive force to the wearer's foot via the heel portion and the dorsal shell. 
     
     
         36 . A method of manufacturing a footwear assembly, the method comprising:
 receiving biometric data about a wearer's foot;   forming, based at least partially on the biometric data, a plantar shell of the footwear assembly that at least partially defines an interior area sized to receive a wearer's foot, wherein the plantar shell is shaped to conform to a lower portion of the wearer's foot and includes a heel portion having medial and lateral plantar shell walls;   forming, based at least partially on the biometric data, a dorsal shell of the footwear assembly shaped to conform to an upper portion of the wearer's foot, wherein forming the dorsal shell includes forming—
 a first dorsal shell portion configured to overlap the medial plantar shell wall and engage a medial side region of the wearer's foot below the wearer's ankle and adjacent to a medial malleolus portion of the medial side region of the wearer's foot, and 
 a second dorsal shell portion configured to overlap the lateral plantar shell wall and engage a lateral side region of the wearer's foot below the wearer's ankle and adjacent to a lateral malleolus portion of the lateral side region of the wearer's foot; and 
   providing a closure mechanism configured to couple the dorsal shell to the plantar shell, with the first and second dorsal shell portions captured between the closure mechanism and the medial and lateral plantar shell walls, respectively, to (i) inhibit first movement of the wearer's foot, and (ii) inhibit second movement of the wearer's foot.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36  wherein receiving the biometric data includes receiving scan data from a 3-D scan of the wearer's foot. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 36  wherein forming the plantar shell includes 3-D printing the plantar shell, and/or wherein forming the dorsal shell includes 3-D printing the dorsal shell. 
     
     
         39 . The footwear assembly of  claim 36  wherein the first movement includes supination and/or pronation of the wearer's foot, and wherein the second movement includes dorsiflexion of the wearer's foot. 
     
     
         40 . The footwear assembly of  claim 36  wherein forming the plantar shell further includes forming includes a perimeter engagement plantar shell portion, and wherein forming the dorsal shell further includes forming a perimeter edge dorsal shell portion configured to abut the perimeter engagement plantar shell portion when the dorsal shell is coupled to the plantar shell. 
     
     
         41 . A method of manufacturing a caging system for a footwear assembly to facilitate a wearer's performance in highly dynamic activities, the method comprising:
 receiving scan data from a 3-D scan of a wearer's foot;   forming, based at least partially on the scan data, a plantar shell shaped to conform to a bottom portion of the wearer's foot, the plantar shell having (i) a medial wall portion, (ii) a lateral wall portion opposite the medial wall portion, (iii) an ankle portion between the medial wall portion and the lateral wall portion, the medial wall portion, the lateral wall portion, and the ankle portion at least partially defining an interior area sized to receive the wearer's foot, and (iv) a plantar shell edge portion extending at least partially around an opening to the interior area; and   forming, based at least partially on the scan data, a dorsal shell shaped to conform to an upper portion of the wearer's foot, and configured to matingly engage with the plantar shell, the dorsal shell having (i) a medial engagement flange positioned to overlap with the medial wall portion at a medial malleolus portion of the wearer's foot, (ii) a lateral engagement flange opposite the medial engagement flange and positioned to overlap with the lateral wall portion at a lateral malleolus portion of the wearer's foot, (iii) an intermediate engagement portion between the medial engagement flange and the lateral engagement flange and positioned to align with an anterior malleolus portion of the wearer's foot, and (iv) a dorsal shell edge portion configured to abut the plantar shell edge portion,   wherein the dorsal shell is configured to be coupled to the plantar shell to position (i) the medial engagement flange relative to the medial wall portion, (ii) the lateral engagement flange relative to the lateral wall portion, and (iii) the dorsal shell edge portion relative to the plantar shell edge portion.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein forming the plantar shell includes using additive manufacturing to form the plantar shell, and/or wherein forming the dorsal shell includes using additive manufacturing to form the dorsal shell. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41 , further comprising coupling the dorsal shell to the plantar shell via a closure mechanism, wherein the medial engagement flange and the medial wall portion are configured to overlap one another beneath the closure mechanism, and wherein the lateral engagement flange and the lateral wall portion are configured to overlap one another beneath the closure mechanism. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the medial engagement flange or the lateral engagement flange are positioned within the interior area of the plantar shell such that at least part of the dorsal shell overlaps at least part of the plantar shell when the dorsal shell is coupled to the plantar shell. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the medial engagement flange and the lateral engagement flange are configured to inhibit a range of pronation or supination of the wearer's foot, wherein the intermediate engagement portion is configured to inhibit a range of dorsiflexive motion of the wearer's foot, and wherein the ankle portion is configured to inhibit a range of plantarflexive motion of the wearer's foot.