Nike uses 3D printing for latest boot
03/03/2014
Insights from its 40 Yard Dash Project have “revolutionised the way Nike designs and manufactures footwear” said the company, helping to inform the Nike Vapor Carbon Cleat design less than a year later.
The new design uses an “amplified, tri-star” stud shape enabling maximum speed on turf while creating the traction needed to decelerate and change direction quickly, it said. The cleat’s upper is constructed using Nike Flywire cables, hand threaded through the plate and under the foot.
“To create a cleat that minimized slippage on the turf when cutting, 3D printing allowed us to test, iterate and create shapes not possible with traditional manufacturing processes, which in turn allowed us to push the limits of innovation faster,” said Shane Kohatsu, director of footwear innovation.
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is a 3D printing technology that uses high-powered lasers to fuse small particles of materials into a 3-dimentional shape. Traditionally this process is used for prototyping, but through proprietary material selection, Nike was able to create a fully functional plate and traction system in a fraction of the traditional timeframe and weight.
Share this story:
