3D printed footwear with improved cosmetics, comfort and ventilation
View Patent ↗The present invention is directed towards customized 3D printed footwear articles and methods for designing and manufacturing 3D printed footwear having improved cosmetics, comfort and ventilation. The improved footwear articles and methods provide greater integration and/or customization of different components. The method used to manufacture the 3D printed footwear can be conceptualized, prototyped, designed both physically and digitally and then finally designed with specific additive manufacturing processes in mind. Upon completion of printing, the components are cleaned and then in any combination, the components are bonded and coated, or coated and bonded to each other.
1. A method for producing a 3D printed shoe, comprising:
creating a 3D printed shoe last model in a CAD system connected to a 3D printer;
printing the 3D printed shoe last model for construction of a conceptual model shoe last;
documenting shapes and pieces of the conceptual model shoe last using at least one of hand measurements and 3D scanning;
initializing a first additive manufacturing design tool for construction of a 3D printed shoe in the CAD system by creating a first solid upper and a first solid lower from the conceptual model shoe last;
subtracting the 3D printed shoe last model from a combination of the first solid upper and the first solid lower resulting in a void foot space between the combination of the first solid upper and the first solid lower;
introducing a positive draft to interior walls of the first solid upper and exterior walls of the first solid lower to enable stacking onto each other on a build platform of the 3D printer;
generating an assembly aid with specific dimensions between the first solid upper and first solid lower of the 3D printed shoe with the first solid lower positioned adjacent interior walls of the assembly aid and the first solid upper positioned adjacent exterior walls of the assembly aid;
designing cosmetic features of the 3D printed shoe on top of the conceptual model shoe for the first solid upper or the first solid lower without merging;
adding anchor points for at least one shoelace into the first solid upper without merging;
initializing a second additive manufacturing design tool wherein walls in a second solid upper comprise hollowed-out walls in the second solid upper;
adding a plurality of perforations having different shapes and sizes to an interior wall of the second solid upper;
preventing an exterior wall of the second solid upper from being perforated, thereby preventing liquid or solid matter from entering the 3D printed shoe;
generating a first organic lattice between the second solid upper and a second solid lower;
hollowing, perforating, and a thickening the second solid upper and the first organic lattice to fill any internal voids;
lightly perforating a second solid lower perforated portion positioned below a sole of the foot;
hollowing a second solid lower hollowed portion;
introducing a second organic lattice into the second solid lower hollowed portion with a specific cell size and thickness;
merging the second solid upper to the second solid lower perforated portion;
texturing the second solid upper outer walls of the second solid upper lower walls to reflect the cosmetic features of the conceptual model shoe;
mixing and sorting different 3D printed shoe sizes in order of decreasing size for maximum packing density stacking of a 3D printed shoes build;
printing the 3D printed shoes build using a build material;
extracting, separating and cleaning the 3D printed shoes build;
painting the cosmetic features of the 3D printed shoe;
coating the second solid upper and second solid lower with a protective coating;
bonding the second solid upper and second solid lower to each other;
coating the cosmetic features with a protective coating; and
bonding the cosmetic features to the second solid upper and second solid lower to generate a ventilated 3D printed shoe.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first additive manufacturing design tool comprises parametric modeling software.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second additive manufacturing design tool comprises implicit modeling software.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the build material comprises a powder with a polyurethane base.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the build material is converted to the 3D printed shoe using powder bed fusion.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second solid upper walls are hollowed-out in the range of 0.01 mm to 10 mm.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second solid lower perforated portion comprises a thickness in the range of 0.01 mm to 10 mm.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second solid lower hollowed portion is hollowed in the range of 0.01 mm to 10 mm.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second organic lattice comprises a Voronoi type structure.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second organic lattice cell size is in the range of 0.125 mm 3 to 8,000 mm 3 , and the cell lattice thickness is in a range 0.01 mm to 10 mm.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a random point spacing for the first and second organic lattice is in the range of 0.001 points/cm 3 to 20 points/cm 3 .
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cosmetic features are disposed onto an exterior wall of the 3D printed shoe.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cosmetic features are disposed into a recessed portion of an exterior wall of the 3D printed shoe.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising pressurizing ambient air in the second organic lattice using a moving membrane, thereby evacuating the ambient air along a predetermined path towards an exit nozzle.