Oh, patents! Nike ColorDry

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

It takes about 30 liters of water to dye a single tee-shirt using traditional water-intensive dyeing methods.  In response, Nike is pioneering the use of ColorDry a waterless dyeing process that relies on the use of Supercritical CO­2. Thus, for the estimated 30 million tons of polyester that Nike dyes yearly, the process is now waterless, with better and more consistent coloring of garments! [NIKE 1]

Various Supercritical CO2-based industrial processes, using less water and energy, are disclosed in the European patent application EP2876203A1 titled Supercritical CO2. EP2876203A1 discloses that SuperCritical CO2 is a fluid solvent technology widely used since 2011 by Nike, Adidas, and Ikea for coloring textiles [0002].  EP2876203A1 further recites that Supercritical CO2 is also a process widely used since the 1980s for decaffeination of tea leaves and coffee beans, and for extracting natural products in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries [0002]!

So, what is Supercritical CO2?  

EP2876203A1 specifies that when a gas is sufficiently compressed, it becomes a liquid and that there is a critical temperature (Tc) and critical vapor pressure (Pc), when the gas is heated, beyond which the hot gas can never be compressed into a liquid. The substance just beyond Tc and Pc is a Supercritical fluid (SCF), that is, a substance that is neither a gas nor a liquid but that takes on many of the varying properties of both gas and liquid when the temperature and pressure are manipulated [0003]. The SCF CO2 then becomes  solvent used for extraction or purification, or in the case of Nike garments, as a waterless dying process.   

 Wait a minute!... How can the use of Supercritical Fluid CO2 (SCF CO2) be beneficial to the environment if precisely the point is to reduce all the CO2 emissions that create the Greenhouse Gas effects (GHG)?

The process of dyeing garments using SCF CO2 actually recycles the SCF CO2 remaining in the dyeing vessel, as a gas, which is then liquefied anew and re-used.  The following diagram shows the waterless SCF CO2 dyeing process, where the fabric is first rolled onto a perforated dyeing beam, which is inserted into a dyeing vessel. Inside the vessel, the SCF CO2 will be released, mixed with the dye, and forced through the fabric to color it. Then, the dye will be separated from the SCF CO2, and pressure lowered so that the SCF CO2 leaves as a gas, which is then compressed and liquefied for storage and re-used as SCF CO2. [NIKE 2]

Copyright © Nike, Inc. 

Going back to the patent application EP2876203A1 [0005], it is further suggested that the sources of SCF CO2 could potentially be already sequestered liquefied CO2, so that SCF CO2 then becomes Carbon Capture and Use (CCU) technology rather than a controversial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) solution – at least until carbon capture still has to occur -- in the absence of a complete conversion to energy sources that no longer produce GHG emissions and CO2 in particular.

 References

[NIKE 1] – Nike ColorDry

http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/nike-colordry

[NIKE 2] – Nike ColoDry  process

http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/report/content/chapter/targets-and-performance#infographic458

Oh, patents! A few Nike Flyknit models

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Just in case you are wondering what Nike climate flyknits look like, here are a few models in all of their vibrant colors!

Nike Air Max Flyknit  

Nike Race Flyknit

Nike Free Flyknit

Nike Kobe IX Elite Flyknit (basketball)

Nike Obra Magistra Flyknit (soccer cleats)

Oh, patents! Nike’s FlyKnit climate tech

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Flyknit is Nike’s climate shoe tech! After Nike’s many revolutions in cushioning soles, Nike's Flyknit uppers are a revolution in sustainable manufacturing processes in a bid to reduce the company's overall emissions of CO2 by 20% per unit [ Nike (1)]

 FlyKnit is micro-engineered knitting, where the types of yarn and the knit or stitches can be changed and adapted for each type of shoe and sport. Thus, for example, you will find Nike flyknit  running shoes, soccer cleats, and basketball hi- and lo- tops. Each upper is knitted separately as a single seamless piece with exactly the right amount of yarn, which means  no leftovers from any materials that are otherwise templated and cut-out of a sheet. 

Indeed, since 2012, when Flyknit became available for the general public, Nike production claims to have reduced its waste by an estimated 2 million pounds (i.e.; the weight equal to three 600-passenger-seat jets!) [Nike (2)]. Nike FLyknit Lunar 1 running shoes are also claimed to have reduced waste by 80% compared to other Nike running shoes [Nike (3)], all of which epitomizes the company's general reduce waste targets [Nike (4)]. 

In addition to transforming shoe manufacturing into greener, more sustainable, maker-oriented  and customizable processes, Flyknit also offers all the athletic-based performance advantages of being unbelievably light (the Nike Flyknit Racer shoe upper weighs 1.2 ounces or 34 grams) breathable, form-fitting (sock-like) and supportive in all the right places as it is engineered -- at no extra weight -- with Nike’s flywire technology too! [Kinitting Industry]

Nike’s Flyknit climate technology is also a highly patented technology at the intersection of programming, engineering, and design.There are an estimated 500 Nike patents disclosing flyknit climate technology, whether it is, for example:

•  the industrial processes invoked in producing a seamless knitted “bootie” (US20150342284,  US20150342285, US20150342286) or the flatknit technology (US20080110048)
• the technology invoked in making the flyknit materials water-repellent  (US20150237948)
• the technology to combine tensile flywire ribs with flyknit (US20160090670)
• the knitting process for a monofilament heel and body (US20160058099)
• the knitting process to incorporate an ankle cuff, 
• the computerized design tools that enable virtual 3D prototyping of the flyknit uppers (WO2015200320)  to avoid costly single run prototype
• the knitting process to incorporate the tongue with the rest of the upper (US20150216257)
• the technology that connects the flyknit upper to the rest of the shoe (US20150208753) 
• the knitting of the knitted component (US20150272261)
• the incorporation of tensile threads to adjust auxetics - the perpendicular resistance of threads (US20160058098)
• the technology for obtaining the brilliant “lenticular” visual effect of different color, depending on the angle from which you look at the flyknit upper (US20160088894)
• plus, many, many more patented details.

  -----

      So, if you are looking for climate tech sports shoes, loaded with patented technologies --not only on the soles of your feet -- but for the uppers too, then check out Nike flyknit models! There are walking, running, cross-training, soccer cleats and basketball lo- and hi-top flyknits -- in dazzling colors too!

References   

Nike (1) Nike energy cut targets

http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/targets

Nike (2) Innovations

http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/better-world/flyknit/innovation

Nike (3) Nike Flyknit More haste, Less waste

http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/report/content/chapter/waste

Nike (4) Reduce waste

http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/targets/present/waste

Knitting industry - FlyKnit a seamlessly knitted running shoe

http://www.knittingindustry.com/nike-flyknit-a-seamlessly-knitted-running-shoe/

Oh, patents! Nike Flywire

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Ever wondered about the suspension cables that criss-cross the uppers of your Nikes? They may appear in various configurations as embroidered threads into the upper’s fabric, as ridges sitting on top, or as strings extending from the lacing apertures that you could almost pluck, sometimes sandwiched between two layers. That’s Nike flywire technology!

Flywire technology with its two sets of crisscrossed strands (41 and 42 on the figure drawing  is primarily designed to provide lightweight containment within the void of the shoe, so that your foot does not slip and slide off the sides of the sole or roll forward, especially when the upper is also made of lightweight and form-fitting or stretch material. In patentese, you might say that this is considering "the sole and upper are cooperatively connected." 

The crisscrossing and strategic positioning of the strands relative to the anatomy of the foot-in-motion are engineered so that the force load of each thread is known, and the spacing of the threads can be calculated.

 In the latest models, the threads are made of Vectran™, a fabricated liquid crystal polymer (LCP) fiber,  which has a tensile strength 5 times greater than that of steel and a thickness the size of a human hair! So that when these wires are incorporated into the upper, they provide stronger support that any other sort of materials previously used for maintaining upper support such as leather, polymer sheet layers, textiles or synthetic leather. 

There are however significant added benefits to the incorporation of flywire technology into the uppers of hundreds of Nike shoe models, chief among which is a concern for the sustainability of the shoe manufacturing process.

Indeed, according to US20120023778 titled Footwear incorporating angled tensile strand elements, where this technology is disclosed,  each material used in the upper of a Nike shoe has a specific function: textiles for breathability, foam compression for comfort, leather for durability, the combination of which adds weight, complexity and waste to the manufacturing process. That is, considering that the various material parts have to be cut, superimposed or connected together to form the upper. 

Thus, because of the ease with which flywire technology is incorporated directly into the fabric of the upper, whether woven or knit, it does not add waste or complexity to the manufacturing process. The upper requires a certain amount of thread with no “leftovers”. And whatever is used is usually qualified as “ridiculously light”, which means that athletes have less weight to carry, and thus the added capacity to perform better.

So, if you are looking for green technology… The sort that is surreptitiously part of a planetary effort to cool planet Earth, to reduce waste and emissions of greenhouse gases, then you might consider Nike flywire tech!

 The Abstract for US20120023778 titled Footwear incorporating angled tensile strand elements is included below as well as some of the figure drawings. 

An article of footwear may include various first strands and second strands. The cutting and second strands may extend from an area proximal to lace-receiving elements to an area proximal to the sole structure. The first strands may have a substantially vertical orientation and the second strands may have a rearwardly-angled orientation. The first strands may be located in a midfoot region of the footwear and the second strands may be located in both the midfoot region and a heel region of the footwear. Angles between the first strands and the second strands may be at least 40 degrees. Additionally, the second strands may have at least fifty percent greater tensile strength than the first strands.

Interlude - NIKE shoe music

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann


Girls rock! Here's what the guys are doing...!

Intermission... with more Nike Air

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

 

The StoryTeller with Nike Airs and other Barrio stories by Kleya Forté-Escamilla is one of my favorite short story books! This was a book on my daughter’s high school reading list, which I also devoured..... silently… since we had both conspired to agree that we could only mangle the beauty and joy of these books if we sat picking at them like vultures.  

Maxine Hong Kingston was also on the list, but I had something in common with Forté-Escamilla’s StoryTeller… I too wore Nike Airs! Plus I could hear her, and I was accustomed to Latino stories, part fiction part reality, or was it part reality, part another reality. I had read Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Isabelle Allende, but Forté-Escamilla was different. She was from the border. She hummed, suggesting and opening up worlds. She spun stories in a single sentence; and novels in a single paragraph. And I loved her English, and Spanish, and Spanglish, all in one breath. With her stories, she tricked poverty, oppression and the Barrio. I loved the magic of her prose to change everything even though nothing ever changed.  

Here is the opening paragraph for the story about Lucia, the Storyteller with Nike airs… and then … if you are curious about this curandera, and her airs, you can order the book from Amazon.

“By the time Lucia walked out of the Barrio, took the Greyhound bus to Tuscon, changed buses in San Diego, changed again to the junky #10 bus to Santa Cruz, hung loose at the Metro with all the punks wearing purple and green hair, who looked more like los juveniles de sombra –the shadow kids – than they looked like themselves, took the Express to Watsonville, got off at the exit to highway 152, trudged through the dunes and arrived at a little wooden house sitting in the middle of a stinking brussels sprout field, the women were already crying.” (Forte-Escamilla, p. 53).

 

Reference

Forté-Escamilla, K. (1994). The Storyteller with Nike Airs and other Barrio stories. San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Press

Oh, patents! Cole Haan Air

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

This one was a cinch…. When I looked for shoe size on the inside seam of a Cole Haan Air driving shoe, I also found:  “Made in India US patent 5713141” …! Tadah! It saved me time searching through thousands of Nike patents for the one used for extra cushioning in the Cole Haan Air collection, or finding an exploded view of the Cole Haan Air sole to figure out exactly what was imported from Nike Air. Although ultimately, I chanced upon the coolest xray picture of a Cole Haan Air dress shoe, which really shows how the cushioning technology is inserted into the sole of a high heel “professional” shoe for women. [See image to the right]

 
From 1998 to 2012, Cole Haan, a Chicago company founded in 1928,  actually belonged to Nike Inc. which explains the merging of Nike sports sole technology with Cole Haan dress code shoes for both men and women, although perhaps not the stroke of genius in the inventive step (with no pun intended…)!

The collection of Cole Haan shoes manufactured in partnership with Nike Air technology includes both visible and invisible Nike Air technology, inserted in the midsole of the shoe.  That is, the upper shoe is a Cole Haan leather design, and the midsole of the shoe is Nike Air patented, to give the shoe extra cushioning and comfort. For example, the Cole Haan Air collection includes upper shoe designs for pumps, driving shoes, professional shoes and even boots, for both men and women, which are connected to a Nike Air patented midsole providing a permanently gas-filled cushioning device, in the heel or foot portion, or both. 

 The inclusion of this midsole technology, functioning as a shock absorption device, makes a huge difference in comfort. And this is also easy to understand since we know, thanks to Nike sports research labs, that feet receive up to 10 times the body weight in impact, specifically, 2 to 3 times the impact for running, and 6 to 10 times the impact for basketball [US 35713141].

US5713141 titled Cushioning device with improved flexible barrier membrane discloses a shock absorbing device that improves on the previous gas or liquid filled bladders, in that it is made more flexible. This is a non-trivial matter since much research is required to determine which gases are used, at what pressure and how to insert the gases permanently, which also depends on the types of materials used to encase the gases so that the cushioning effect endures (i.e; to prevent tensile relaxation or stretching of the materials). 

The Nike Air Sole™ resulting from this research is a sole without pumps or valves that invokes multiple patents for each of its components, and each of the problems it has resolved, such as flex fatigue, heat sealability, elasticity, degradation, cost effectiveness, durability, recyclability, and waste. US 5713141 addresses both the choice of gas (nitrogen or a comparably friendly gas) and the materials used to respond to desired characteristic such as flexibility, low costs and durability.  

  Below, you will find included the abstract for US 5713141 titled Cushioning device with improved flexible barrier membrane, and a patent image of the air filled cushioning bladder. 

Products in the form of cushioning devices made from flexible membranes employing at least one layer including thermoplastic urethane and at least one layer of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol are inflatable to a relatively high pressure. The cushioning devices maintain the internal inflatant pressure for extended periods of time by employing a phenomenon referred to in the industry as diffusion pumping. Ideally, the cushioning devices of the present invention can be permanently inflated with gases such as nitrogen or air. Abstract US 5713141 

-----

US 5713141 is the patent for the patented cushioning device inserted in my own Cole Haan Air drivers…, also included below! 

 

Oh, patents! Nike+ running

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Every time I run, I launch Pandora and the Nike+ running app on my cell phone, which picks up data from the sensor inside the sole of my Nikes. During the run Nike+ will send a message every mile to inform me of the distance covered and at what speed.  At the end of run,  Nike+ will inform me exactly of  the distance I have covered, at what speed and even the number of calories burnt during the run! The app also tracks the route of my run, with the related terrain, weather and time information, and then adds the most recently completed run to a mileage counter. 

 I have almost 2000 miles covered pedibus……!

When something out of the ordinary happens in connection with a run, a very famous star such as Lance Armstrong or Serena Williams voices a pep message, such as:   "Congratulations on running more miles this week than last”!...

 

There are many additional functionalities associated with this app, such as the connection to your mobile ITunes playlists, or the possibility of setting goals to run faster, longer distances or more times per week or per month.  You can also connect with any one of the 11 million people who are members of the Nike+ community! And you can run statistics on the community too, such as how many miles, and where.

The patent for this invention titled Tracking fitness using a mobile device was filed in several places, including world-wide (under the Patent Cooperation Treaty), the US, Korea, Canada, China, Japan and Europe (under the European Patent Convention). The patent runs approximately 200 pages, and it contains 76 Figure drawings and flowcharts.

The invention arises as an easy way (from the user’s perspective) of monitoring performances. It is also designed as a motivator, considering the feedback that monitoring supplies, using both performance data and external means.

Below appears the abstract of the patent application US2012116550, titled Tracking fitness using a mobile device, and one of the patent drawings.  An image of the  Nike+ sensor, the Nike+ app logo and a screenshot of a run from the app are also included.

Abstract US2012116550

Athletic performance monitoring and tracking may provide multiple ways in which to track athletic movement and activity. In one example, an athletic monitoring device may include or be associated with multiple types of movement sensors and switch between the sensors or use both depending on various factors including type of workout. Workouts may also be tagged with various parameters including mood, weather, terrain, athletic equipment used and the like. In one or more examples, the parameters may be automatically determined based on location. User workouts and accomplishments may also be celebrated through messages from celebrities, family, friends and other users. In some cases, the messages may be triggered by various conditions. Coaching may also be provided to the user to help improve workouts and overall athletic performance. Running routes may also be automatically tracked, stored and shared.

 

Consistent with the invention’s rationale for motivation, this little app will really get you going!

 

Oh, patents! Nike Shox

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Your Nike footwear is choc' full o patents! Take Nike Shox, the revolutionary running footwear, turned sportswear shoe, with a strange looking heel made of rigid plastic columns. That heal embodies some sophisticated technology  including the columns designed to reduce shock from the ground, and a cantilevered heel plate acting as a flexible spring to further absorb the energy imparted to the heel area. The materials for the heel columns are also patented sorts of plastic.

Below appears the Abstract of patent US2011239490 entitled:Article of footwear with shock absorbing heel, awarded to several inventors from Nike in Oregon, with a patent drawing, and pictures of the latest iteration of Nike Shox for both men and women.  

Astract US2011239490 An article of footwear with a shock absorbing heel system is disclosed. The heel system includes a lower heel plate, a set of support members, and an upper heel plate. Also, the heel system includes a heel cover configured to hide the upper heel plate from view. The lower heel plate is associated with a cantilever portion that supports the upper heel plate laterally. As force is applied to the heel system, the support members may compress slightly and the cantilever portion may lower,absorbing energy and or shocks applied by the ground.

 If you like this footwear, you can customize it to your taste and specifications using Nike ID online.

Nike ID is design software available at Nike.com, although you will find out that software does not get patented as easily as the soles  and heels of your running shoes!

Mirrors of time (1)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann You will find that patents are like mirrors of time, and that inventions pepper your daily experience. Remember the 1929 crepe soles patent on the first week of class? Crepe soles offering slip resistance on wet surfaces. In 1929, crepe soles came as big news in comparison to leather soles, but still too slippery to wear for viable commercial success.... Now, in 2013, here are state of the art sole structures and systems, brought to you, for example, by Nike, Inc! That is, soles with sensors to connect to all your body metric, Bluetooth-enabled, mobile devices, and peek-a-boo sole systems so that you can really see the shock absorbers in your soles! That's almost 100 years reflected in the soles of your shoes! US2013019694 - Footware having a sensor system "An article of footwear includes an upper member and a sole structure, with a sensor system connected to the sole structure. The sensor system includes a plurality of sensors that are configured for detecting forces exerted by a user's foot on the sensor. The sensor system also includes a port that is configured to receive a module to place the module in communication with the sensors. The port includes a housing with a chamber configured to receive the module and an interface engaged with the housing and having at least one electrical contact exposed to the chamber.Additional retaining structure and interface structure may be included". [Nike, Inc.] US2012324761 - Footwear with cavity viewingsystem A sole structure for an article of footwear and a method of making the sole structure is disclosed. The sole structure can include an outsole and a midsole. The midsole includes a cavity with a protruding portion. A U-shaped transparent member is configured to cover the cavity so that the protruding portion remains visible from within the cavity." [Nike Inc.]