NIKE, Inc.
Footwear upper components having contoured foam regions and methods of forming such components

Abstract:

An upper shell panel may be placed between first and second sections of a mold. The first section may include one or more expansion cavities and the second section may include one or more pour cavities. A foam-producing chemical mixture may be delivered into the one or more pour cavities and the mold may be closed. The delivered foam-producing chemical mixture may be allowed to expand within the closed mold and to force regions of the upper shell panel into the one or more expansion cavities. The upper shell panel may then be removed from the mold subsequent to the expansion of the delivered mixture.