Article of footwear comprising dandelion foam latex materials

1. An article of footwear comprising:

a sole; and

an upper on the sole;

the sole having a sole heel end and a sole toe end, the sole extending longitudinally from the sole heel end to the sole toe end, the sole having a lateral side extending longitudinally from the sole heel end to the sole toe end and a medial side extending longitudinally from the sole heel end to the sole toe end, the sole extending transversely from the lateral side to the medial side, the sole including a sole heel region, a sole midfoot region, a sole forefoot region, and a sole toe region, the sole heel region extending longitudinally from the sole heel end to the sole midfoot region, the sole midfoot region extending longitudinally from the sole heel region to the sole forefoot region, the sole forefoot region extending longitudinally from the sole midfoot region to the sole toe region, the sole toe region extending longitudinally from the sole forefoot region to the sole toe end;

the sole comprising a dandelion latex foam material, the dandelion latex foam material comprising dandelion latex and at least one other natural or synthetic polymer.

2. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein at least 20% of the dandelion latex foam material is a thermoplastic elastomer.

3. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the dandelion latex comprises at least 20% of the dandelion latex foam material.

4. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein at least 50% of the dandelion latex foam material is a thermoplastic elastomer.

5. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the sole further comprises a midsole and an outsole, the midsole being between the outsole and the upper, the midsole comprising the dandelion latex foam material.

6. The article of footwear of claim 5 , wherein the outsole comprises a dandelion latex non-foam material.

7. The article of footwear of claim 6 , wherein the outsole further comprises a dandelion latex foam material.

8. The article of footwear of claim 1 wherein the sole further comprises a midsole and an outsole, the midsole comprising a first dandelion latex foam material, the outsole comprising a second dandelion latex foam material, the first dandelion latex foam material being different from the second dandelion latex foam material.

9. The article of footwear of claim 8 wherein the second dandelion latex foam material is harder than the first dandelion latex foam material.

10. The article of footwear of claim 9 wherein the first dandelion latex foam material has a specific gravity of 0.08 to 0.30 and a hardness of 25 to 90 asker C, and wherein the second dandelion latex foam material has a specific gravity of 0.20 to 0.50 and a hardness of 30 asker C to 75 shore A.

11. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the sole comprises an insole, a midsole, and an outsole, the midsole being between the outsole and the insole, the insole comprising the dandelion latex foam material, wherein the dandelion latex foam material constitutes a third dandelion latex foam material, the midsole comprising a first dandelion latex foam material, the outsole comprising a second dandelion latex foam material, the third dandelion latex foam material being different from the first dandelion latex foam material.

12. The article of footwear of claim 11 wherein the second dandelion latex foam material is harder than the first dandelion latex foam material, and the first dandelion latex foam material is harder than the third dandelion latex foam material.

13. The article of footwear of claim 12 wherein the third dandelion latex foam material has a specific gravity of 0.08 to 0.20 and a hardness of 10 to 90 asker C, the first dandelion latex foam material has a specific gravity of 0.10 to 0.30 and a hardness of 30 to 90 asker C, and the second dandelion latex foam material has a specific gravity of 0.20 to 0.50 and a hardness of 35 asker C to 75 shore A.

14. The article of footwear of claim 1 wherein the upper comprises a dandelion latex foam material.

15. The article of footwear of claim 1 wherein the upper comprises a dandelion latex non-foam material.

16. An article of footwear comprising:

a sole; and

an upper on the sole;

the sole comprising a midsole and an outsole, the midsole being between the outsole and the upper, the midsole comprising a dandelion latex foam material, wherein the dandelion latex foam material comprises dandelion latex and at least one other natural or synthetic polymer, at least 20% of the dandelion latex foam material being a thermoplastic elastomer.

17. The article of footwear of claim 16 , wherein the outsole comprises a dandelion latex non-foam material.

18. The article of footwear of claim 17 , wherein the outsole further comprises a dandelion latex foam material.

19. The article of footwear of claim 16 , wherein the dandelion latex comprises at least 20% of the dandelion latex foam material.

20. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the dandelion latex comprises at least 50% of the dandelion latex foam material.

21. An article of footwear comprising:

a sole comprising an insole, a midsole, and an outsole; and

an upper on the sole;

at least one of the upper, insole, midsole, or outsole comprising a dandelion latex foam material, the dandelion latex foam material comprising dandelion latex and at least one other natural or synthetic polymer.

22. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein the sole is of one-piece unitary construction.

23. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein the dandelion latex comprises at least 30% of the dandelion latex foam material.

24. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein the dandelion latex comprises at least 50% of the dandelion latex foam material.

25. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein the dandelion latex comprises at least 70% of the dandelion latex foam material.

26. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein at least 10% of the dandelion latex foam material is a thermoplastic elastomer.

27. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein at least 20% of the dandelion latex foam material is a thermoplastic elastomer.

28. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein at least 30% of the dandelion latex foam material is a thermoplastic elastomer.

29. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein the dandelion latex foam material is a cross-linked elastomer.

30. The article of footwear of claim 21 , wherein the dandelion latex foam material is a non-cross-linked elastomer.