Method and system for an article of footwear with fused construction

Abstract

A fused article of footwear and method are provided. The method of forming the fused article of footwear includes fitting an untrimmed welt ring to a cassette configured to hold the untrimmed welt ring spaced away from an outsole midsole unit of the fused article of footwear, aligning the cassette to a sole holder, positioning an upper in contact with the untrimmed welt ring to form a cavity and injecting plastic into the cavity defined by the untrimmed welt ring, the outsole midsole unit, the upper and the cassette to form a slip sole and fuse the untrimmed welt ring, the outsole midsole unit and the upper together.

1 . A method of forming a fused article of footwear, comprising:
 fitting an untrimmed welt ring to a cassette, wherein the cassette is configured to circumferentially surround the fused article of footwear and includes a vertical portion and a ledge extending perpendicularly from the vertical portion towards an interior of the cassette, the ledge configured to hold the untrimmed welt ring spaced away from an outsole midsole unit of the fused article of footwear;   aligning the cassette to a sole holder, wherein the sole holder includes a holding ring circumferentially surrounding the outsole midsole unit;   positioning an upper in contact with the untrimmed welt ring to form a cavity; and   injecting polymer into the cavity defined by the untrimmed welt ring, the outsole midsole unit, the upper, and the ledge of the cassette to form a slip sole and fuse the untrimmed welt ring, the outsole midsole unit, and the upper together.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the untrimmed welt ring includes an outer flat portion and a radial width of the outer flat portion is longer than a distance that the ledge protrudes into the interior of the cassette. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein aligning the cassette to the sole holder includes placing an inner surface of the cassette in face sharing contact with an outer surface of the holding ring. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cassette is configured to flange the untrimmed welt ring up and in towards the upper. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein positioning the upper includes placing a lower edge of the upper in face sharing contact with a ridge portion of the untrimmed welt ring. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising scuffing a lower edge of the upper before positioning the upper in contact with the untrimmed welt ring. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising trimming the untrimmed welt ring to form a welt ring with edges flush to edges of the outsole midsole unit. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising trimming a midsole flashing to form a midsole of the outsole midsole unit with edges flush to edges of an outsole and slip sole. 
     
     
         9 . A fused article of footwear, comprising:
 an upper;   a welt ring circumferentially surrounding a lower edge of the upper;   an outsole midsole unit including a top portion formed of a midsole and a bottom portion formed of an outsole; and   a slip sole fixedly positioned between the upper and the midsole and fused to the midsole, the welt ring, and the upper.   
     
     
         10 . The fused article of footwear of  claim 9 , wherein the welt ring includes an outer flat portion and a ridge portion protruding from an inner edge of the outer flat portion, and wherein the lower edge of the upper is in face sharing contact with the ridge portion. 
     
     
         11 . The fused article of footwear of  claim 9 , wherein the midsole includes a shank and/or a horseshoe positioned between the slip sole and the midsole. 
     
     
         12 . The fused article of footwear of  claim 9 , wherein the welt ring is formed of thermoplastic polymer. 
     
     
         13 . The fused article of footwear of  claim 9 , wherein the slip sole is formed of polyurethane. 
     
     
         14 . The fused article of footwear of  claim 9 , wherein the welt ring includes stitching and wherein the stitching does not couple the welt ring to the upper or the outsole midsole unit. 
     
     
         15 . A system for forming a fused article of footwear, comprising:
 a sole holder including a holding ring configured to hold an outsole midsole unit of the fused article of footwear and an outer surface circumferentially surrounding the holding ring;   a cassette aligned with the sole holder, wherein a bottom edge of the cassette rests on the outer surface of the sole holder and the cassette holds an untrimmed welt ring spaced away from the outsole midsole unit; and   an upper positioned above the cassette, wherein a lower edge of the upper is in face sharing contact with the untrimmed welt ring, wherein the outsole midsole unit, the cassette, the untrimmed welt ring, and the upper define a cavity configured to receive a plastic to fuse the fused article of footwear and form a slip sole.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the sole holder is included in an injection molding machine. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the upper is positioned on a last configured to be positioned by an injection molding machine. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the cassette aligned with the sole holder circumferentially surrounds the sole holder. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein a ledge of the cassette is flush with an inner surface of the holding ring. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the cavity is configured to receive the plastic at a heel end of the fused article of footwear.